Why or how did you get into homebrewing?

I always wanted to try, but once my wife got pregnant I needed another hobby to take place of my much more expensive, and time consuming hobby car resto/customizing. So whats your story?

My dad and I always talked about it and before he died he made some weird kit in large hot water bottle and it tasted funky. That turned me off of home brew for a long time. Then I saw the Alton Brown Good Eats beer episode and that did it for me - and no, I don't boil my grains

I read Barbara kingsolvers book about living for a year on their own food... That got me involved in making cheese. Several cheese making supply websites also sell beer stuff, so the seed was planted. After I got pregnant and my boyfriend and I bought a house, we met the neighbors who brew, and that sealed the deal. I bought him a kit for Christmas that year, and we took off... Only thing I didn't realize was that it would become my hobby, and not his... But he helps me bottle and drink, and comes to the club meetings with me.

The first time, I was reading a Popular Sci/Mechanics magazine and saw a add for E C Kraus and made two batches of beer. The second one was a disaster. Bottle bombs, etc. The second time, my cousin re-gifted me a Mr. Beer kit for Christmas. That was about 2 years and 196 gallons ago....

Always wanted to try it and toyed with the idea for years. Now I work in a pub with a brewery and one of my mates just started up after a few years off. Kinda put the buzz in me again so I bought a starter kit.

Brewed up my first batch today.

I was back home one spring break and was hanging out with my brother and his roommates. One of them brews, and he had a corny of brown ale in the fridge which was really good and my first introduction to homebrew. I was just getting into craft beer at the time as well, and the more I learned about beer the more I wanted to know how it was made and was pretty infatuated with the idea of brewing my own. So about a year of off and on reading and research later I got my starter kit from Midwest and started from there.

I work as a chemist for a research and testing firm. I've always enjoyed beer but never gave much thought to brewing my own. About a year or so ago, we initiated a project on water chemistry and one of the possible applications was beer so we set up to make a few batches in the lab to test the theory. Well... thlngs ended up looking better on paper then in practice, the project was abandoned and we moved onto other things.... however.... the I was infected with the brew-bug. I put together a brewing rig at home and started with extract kits... I went to partial mash and concocting my own recipes then made the leap to AG a fee months ago... its a really cool hobby that I can indulge in now that one of the offspring is out in college and the other is a senior in HS...

I brewed a little in College, roughly ten years ago, but never made anything drinkable due to lack of commitment. Got a real job, got a wife and a cat. Had kind of forgotten about it until this past Christmas when the wife got me a starter kit. I have the funds and drive now which were lacking in College and a willing test subject (not the cat). Brewed four batches in about 6 weeks. One is nearly gone and just bottled a smoked porter this weekend. I'm hooked!

My father brewed when I was growing up and I helped alot. When I was out on my own, it was natural for me to start brewing

I got brewing kit for Christmas. Simple as that.

My mom bought me a kit for my birthday last year...best present EVER.

There was a groupon for starter kit that seemed like a good deal. I always loved beer and was intrigued by the thought of brew and the groupon pushed me over the edge.

By the way, it didn't turn out to be that good of a deal. In the 10 months since then I've added, 2 brew pots, all-grain equipment, wort chiller, kegorator/bar, etc.

A friends dad tried it and gave up on it. I bought the pot, burner, IC, carboy, bottles, etc for $50, found a copy Joy of Homebrewing, and have been at it for over 10 years.

I got a starter kit for Xmas from the parents about 15 years ago. It's been love ever since

I had always been interested in homebrewing ever since my uncle started in the mid 90s. At the end of 2010 I started getting really into craft beer and after the new year I decided I needed a hobby that is more productive than gambling. Now I've got a keggle, blichmann burner and a 50 foot wort chiller and am turning out batches weekly.

My GF are both grad students that work on Saccharomyces as a model organism for protein/gene function. I also used to assist my former roommates in brewing 5 gallon batches and we made some good beer (and some bad).

Anyways, my GF bought me a starter kit from morebeer.com, and now we are off to the races. Third batch is going into the fermenter this weekend, and I've already started a yeast bank in the -80 at work.

I talked about tryi8ng for a long time. A Brew Shop opened near my house and my wife bought the equipment kit for a Christmas present.

Little did she know I would get so addicted.

Went to the bookstore and was just browsing. I am avid beer fan, and my friends call me a beer snob at times.
So as I'm browsing I see the book "the joy of home brewing" picked it up, read half of the book and decided I wanted to do this. I posted on a few message boards, made a few inquiries and bought palmer's how to brew. Read through that and brewed my first beer ( after spending $250 on equipment).
First brew came out great, brewed palmers Cincinnati Pale Ale. Ever since then I've been hooked despite brews 2 and 3 were not good.

What's funny is that , told my wife that this would be a cheaper way to get the craft beer I love. HA! All I do is add more equipment.

guys at work brewed and overheard them talking about it...I LOVE beer...Why not!!!

My neighbor got a starter kit for Christmas 2 yrs ago. We were sitting in the garage drinking a St. Arnolds devine reserve #11 and decided to take the plunge. Bottled our first batch this weekend. Can't wait to try it. If it tastes anywhere in between a Keystone Light and Dogfish 90, I'll be a lifelong homebrewer.

It was a mixture of Alton Brown's Brewing episode (love him despite his shortcomings there), a buddy of mine who talked about it, a love for beer, and a love for cooking. I won an American Express $50 cash card at my work and I get a discount at my LHBS so I took the plunge and bought my first kit and haven't looked back since.

By the way, cool idea for a thread.

Because beer is awesome.

My wife got me a Mr Beer kit for Christmas. I have since converted an extra cooler I had laying around to a mash tun and now do AG 5 gallon batches.

Christmas gift, although it was something I was bound to get into on my own anyways after a while

My wife and I got started on a whim when she couldn't find stone ruination.

"i wonder if we can make it?"

As it turns out, we can!

I am an fan of beer. More specifically, I am a fan of hand crafted beer that is designed by a brewer who doesn't care if it is loved by the masses, as long as he loves it. Needless to say my appreciation for micro craft brew has actually increased since I started brewing. I didn't get into brewing because I thought I could do better than the local micro brewers, I got into brewing because of the idea of making something I love. And just like every other brewer, if I don't love it, I have total control in changing it until I do love it. When you designed it, brewed it, changed it, brewed it again, and bottled it. Then you open the bottle, take a long sniff, and gently pour it into the glass. You hold it up to the light and watch the bubbles release towards the surface. It's alive. Finally, you take a nice long pull and everything that has led up to this moment seems worth it. You can't buy that satisfaction with any amount of money. That's why I home brew. .

It's a family affair. My dad has brewed beer for as long as I could remember. I can recall holiday picnics over the summer when I was maybe 3 years old charging my uncles 25 cents a pint and would then go pour them a pint from the keg and return to collect my quarter. Generally he brewed extract kits or SMaSHes but he also made some cider, mead, wine and also dabbled with some distillation. Most recently he took a mead that didn't turn out too well and distilled that. It was pretty awesome...but I regress.

After seeing him do it for years, I moved away to college and figured I could start with some dorm room hooch and progress from there... I did exactly that. I also gained a bit of a reputation to be able to brew while in college and had some agreements with a few fraternities. More of a bartering type system than anything else. I don't think I ever made money...

I'm now generally using more advanced techniques, processes and equipment than my dad uses... Basically I just make bigger badder batches than he ever has and quality is just as good if not better as well.

I guess in that respect I fulfilled (one of the) American dream(s)... to have a child excel beyond the parents capabilities... be it educationally, financially, or in this case, brewing.

Now I tribute to him by brewing under a label very similar to his and will continue to do so indefinitely!

Honestly, I started because I realized that making my own beer was way cheaper than buying it from the store. Here in Ontario the cheapest case of 24 you can possibly get is $29.95, and that's for the super discount beer. A 24 of Budweiser or Molson Canadian is $38. On the other hand, a 5 gallon batch costs $20-30. Of course there's the investment in equipment because I do all-grain, but those are one time payments and with the price of beer here and the amount we drink in my house, it quickly pays for itself. Of course, now it's much more than just having cheap beer, it's a fun and interesting hobby.

We had a homebrew class at my church. Seriously. That got me going!!

My buddy told me about how he brews at home and gave me a couple of his brews. I told my wife that I would like to start because I can't find craft brew where I live (seriously would have to drive 2 hours to Nashville ). She bought me my first kit for christmas. After my first batch (christmas day) I was hooked. Myself and my buddy went in together and got into all-grain that next week and we have been brewing like crazy ever since. Im gone every other month so this past month home I brewed 5 batches and I keep finding/formulating recipes for next month im home!

I picked up Dave millers homebrew book at the $1 book store about 15 years ago and sat with it for few years thinking I would get started then a friend made a batch with me...that was 10 years ago. I've taken breaks here and there and just got back into into it after selling my gear two years ago with no room to brew

My buddy and I had been talking about getting into brewing for a couple years, we just never put it all together. After starting a new job, I met a guy who was into homebrewing and he got me even more interested. I ended up starting on my own, without my friend, and have been brewing ever since (~2 years.) Now my friend is finally in a situation where he can start (he was always able to start; I constantly reassured him of that: he just never found the time until now) and we'll be doing joint batches before long.

I brewed a fair amount 10 years ago. Also did some wine.

I got back into it because I was looking for something to distract myself after my 18 year old son died in a car wreck December 20. I figured it is hard to crawl into a bottle if it takes you six weeks to fill it in the first place.

I honestly can't remember. I just remember being ate up by it around Christmas time and asking for a kit a few years ago. I've been draining our bank account every since

I love cooking and beer, so it was only natural to learn to make beer.

I got a beginner kit as a birthday present for my husband. I have no idea how or why I thought of it.

Of course, I brewed that first and 100+ subsequent batches before he even wanted to brew one! After 3 years he's finally showing interest to brew on his own.

One of my first dates with my current girlfriend was at a U-brew place. Basically, they have everything there and guide you through the process. Its an awesome date trick because you gotta go back and bottle it up in two weeks.

After we did that a couple times, I realized how much money I could save and how much more fun I'd have if I just brewed at home. That was about 4 years ago and she still supports my habit.

I honestly have no idea how I came up with the idea. It came to me as an epiphany in the middle of the night. I had only started drinking beer again about a year prior to that. I had been a Jack Daniels man for 10+ years and never touched beer.. When I got my first kit I had only tried as many brands of beer that I could count on one hand! Now, I rarely drink Jack anymore...

I want to start a brewery, so I started to brew.