New from Madison, NJ...

Hello.... just checking out the forum... looks pretty good so far.

I started brewing way back in 1991, extract batches and partial mashes. My brewing took a back seat for the past 5 years, as I was a small apartment dweller in Hoboken and Manhattan. But, now I'm back in the burbs so I'm back, and better than before.

I'm just about finished consuming my first effort back in the drivers seat, a mega IPA all-grain.... pretty funny story... brewing was a nightmare, I had no clue what I was doing... 22lbs. of grain for a 5 gal. batch... my equipment is sized for typical 5 gal. brewing soo.... long, long, day.... anyway, I was sure I screwed it up good, definate stuck mash, forced the sparge, couldn't get the temp. right... ugh.

When I measured OG it read something like 1.010, so I thought there was no hope... There was fermentation, but I figured at best it was a near-beer...

I kegged it anyway... and a month later gave it a whirl... you know what, I liked it!

(I always start with IPA because I think all the hops and powerful flavors hide mistakes nicely).

So, I figured I stumbled upon a recipe for great near beer... that is until one night when I was watching the tube with the Mrs. and she asked "how many of those are you going to drink?"... "I don't know, hell maybe 1,000 , it's only 2% alcohol!" I cheeriliy replied. But after another couple of mugs, I started to feel a familiar feeling --- Hey! there's buzz in this beer! Whoops. I guess I forgot how to use a hydrometer.... I was smashed.... oh well...

Anyway, it's nice to be back... I just brewed an American Ale (AG) and it wen't really smooth... Hefe-Weizen and Nut Brown are next to go...

Thanks for the forum... I'm getting back to reading!

Welcome to the forum jfliv, and welcome back to brewing. Glad to hear there's beer in your beer.

Jersey represent :rockin:
Morris county, top of the food chain!!

Welcome! I'm from Jersey, born in Princeton, raised in Hillsborough.

It seems like a ton of NJ brewers are coming out of the woodwork lately. Welcome!

I don't live in Madison, but I will in a month!

I'm from MA, and moved to NJ about 5 years ago (did I already mention that)... anyway, I guess I was suprised when I started to brew, that there were so few supply places...

Where do you Jersey boys get your grain? Do you know where to get CO2 refilled?

Thanks for the red carpet treatment...

I don't know of any LHBS, I use B3 and AHB.
There's a winemaking place in Clifton (Corrado's) that has some homebrew stuff, but the selection can be a little thin.

jfliv said:

...after another couple of mugs, I started to feel a familiar feeling --- Hey! there's buzz in this beer! Whoops. I guess I forgot how to use a hydrometer.... I was smashed.... oh well...

Click to expand...

Welcome to the jungle.

I still get a little giggly at the thought of my home brewed buzz.

CO2, try welding gas and fire extiguisher places. I go to Carbonic in New Brunswick ($20 for 20lb on the spot fill).

Supplies I mail order from www.brewbyu.com for small quantities and drive down to Brewapp.com in Freehold for bulk grain and emergency stuff.

Thanks for the help!

CO2 needs? Paintball fields usually havea CO2 fill station