Hello from Long Beach

Yes another newbie to this forum.

I have been home brewing since Christmas 2005 when my wife got me a Mr. Beer brewing kit. (She hates beer too. ) My first few batches kinda sucked.... but I stuck with it and the last several has been pretty good IMO.

Not sure what you guys feel about the Mr. Beer method of brewing. It sure is convenient, but I wonder if many purists might think it to be cheesy way to do it. A brewer at a beer bar near my work told me so. - He thought the method of "natural" carbonation was ridiculous. Well, I have been pleased with the results.... but I figure maybe I could learn some new tips from this forum.

So far the last few I have done were a Bock, a Winter Lager, another Lager type and a few Pale Ales. I just made an IPA batch last night, so hopefully it will turn out pretty good. Probably be about 5 or 6 weeks before I can try it though.

Hey there Paranoid, Welcome to the forums.

I live in Koreatown, about 4 miles west of downtown Los Angeles.

I know nothing about Mr. Beer , but if you like the results, how can it be bad

As for "natural" carbonation, most people who are bottling their beer end up priming with a little sugar. Just enough sugar to allow the yeast to produce enough C02 for carbonation.

Have fun,
~Chef

Welcome to the forum!

I used to live in Long Beach before I was able to escape LA

Welcome to the forum...I used to live in Cypress, now I'm out in Placentia. I still stop by Steinfillers in LB from time to time.

I started with a Mr. Beer set up too, but I found that the beer tasted better when I began make my own recipes with regular pale LME and hops from Steinfillers. They sell 1.4 lb. cans of Alexander's pale, amber, and wheat LME that work great in the Mr. Beer kegermentor. I used to make a nice pale ale with about 6 oz. of crystal malt, 2 cans of pale LME, and some cascade hop pellets. I still think that little keg works great for fermenting a smaller batch. Enjoy your brewing!

Monk

Welcome! If you're in Long Beach, stop by the homebrew supply store Stein Fillers on Norse Way off of Lakewood and Carson. It's the closest store around and they have everything you would need to take the nekt step in brewing. If you have not read www.howtobrew.com give it a read. The store has the new edition of the paper version book and I would really reccomend you get it.

Mr. Beer is a great way to get into the hobby, but if you are interested in taking it a little further and trying different recipes and styles, Mr. Beer won't cut it. This forum and the store are great resources. Good luck on the IPA!

Thanks for the Welcome.

I heard about Stein Fillers, but I haven't been there yet. I live way on the other side of town (Wrigley) and I seem to spend most of my time in the South Bay, so I don't make it to the other side of Long Beach very often. I do need to check it out though...... maybe this weekend.

Well, I live in the South Bay. There isn't anything closer by miles and lots of traffic on the freeway. With no traffic I can get there in 15 minutes.