When I started homebrewing in 1989 the homebrew shop was my only link for information besides books, magazines and brewers in Portland, OR. After working for a few breweries then taking some time away from brewing I made my first batch last year in June. I was hooked again!! SWMBO gave me freedom to build the homebrew setup I wanted, one that could do all the things I believe are important.
Before I set out to build my dream set up I consulted the internet. That is when I found HBT and
Boathouse Brewery | est. 1996. From what I saw here and what the Boathouse guys are doing is how I came up with my ideas. The face of homebrewing has changed 10 times over since 1989 with more and more folks brewing, the internet sharing information, and the equipment built for the homebrewer.
Homebrewing to me was knowing what you wanted to accomplish and figuring out how to get it done. If that meant going to the hardware store, stopping by the brewpub and bugging the brewer you know, going over to a guy's house that you heard had a good set up, going by a dairy and looking out back for SS parts that your buddy could weld up or just drilling some holes in a bucket and boiling in a enameled canning kettle.
The long and short of my rant and rave is homebrewing to me is all about the people you interact with and using your creativeness to ENJOY the process of brewing........then enjoying the beer with your friends.
Looking around this site I can see there are some truly great brewers with very creative imaginations.
JJ, Besty Parks wrote me an email asking if she could put pictures of the brew rig in BYO. I was stoked and sent her a bunch to choose from and lo and behold a few months later.....waiting on my door step was a box with a mug and a few copies of the mag!
Hope I didn't lose anyone with my little early morning essay!
