Hello from Chicago

Hey,

I made my first foray into homebrewing with a friend of mine back in 1999 using a Mr Beer kit. Both of our attempts came out sour and we gave up.

A few years ago when I first started going out with my wife, we realized that we shared a passion for microbrews. She had known some people that made their own wine and mead, and she encouraged me to try brewing again. We took a class at a beverage supply store on the southside of Chicago and brewed up a batch of pale ale.

She gave me 5 gall kit for Christmas, and I'm off to try again.

I wish you better luck this time, try getting your hands on some star san and have a go at it. If your beer goes sour this time, don't toss it, save it to make some other more fancy beers.

HopEd said:

beverage supply store on the southside of Chicago .

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Was that BevArt on western??? That dude makes some amazing mead.

Welcome - I'm from the Chi-Town burbs of Brookfield.

Check out this website... www.howtobrew.com

This has all the basics covered. Its really easy to make good beer if you are willing to do a little reading.

There are many kits out there that can help you turn out some awesome stuff. Read the directions twice and try to limit your beer intake during the brewing process. (at first) And get little anal about cleanliness. If you do this you will get good results.

What do you like to drink commercial-wise?

Welcome from the S.E. suburbs. I hope you have better luck this time around. I think you'll find the community here QUITE helpful with any questions/problems that you may encounter.

Welcome! Lots of folks from the area here. "How To Brew", referenced earlier, is a great place to start!

Welcome from the Boston area...

GO CUBBIES (hopefully you're not a White Sox fan)

Welcome! I live out west but commute in to Addison so I still tell people I live near Chicago.

RiverSwillBeer said:

Was that BevArt on western??? That dude makes some amazing mead.

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Sure was. That Sweet Desire stuff in the sexy lady bottle is mind-blowing.

Schlenkerla said:

Welcome - I'm from the Chi-Town burbs of Brookfield.

[snip]

What do you like to drink commercial-wise?

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Cool, I used to live in that little sliver of Riverside that's west of 1st Ave. You ever hang out at Brixie's?

I drink alot of Sam Adam's, but my fav is Sierra Nevada. However, since it's summer, any day I get my hands on Gumball Head is a good day. I'm also glad to hear that Bell's has gotten around their distribution problems.

Cape Brewing said:

Welcome from the Boston area...

GO CUBBIES (hopefully you're not a White Sox fan)

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Damn right, GO CUBBIES.

Hey there HopEd ..... dont know if you realized this but there is a group of us Chicagoland people that have a group .....http://groups.homebrewtalk.com/Chicago_land_brewers

Check it out... Its brand new so not much happening right now but it will pick up.

HopEd said:

Cool, I used to live in that little sliver of Riverside that's west of 1st Ave. You ever hang out at Brixie's?

I drink alot of Sam Adam's, but my fav is Sierra Nevada. However, since it's summer, any day I get my hands on Gumball Head is a good day. I'm also glad to hear that Bell's has gotten around their distribution problems.

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Yup!! Brixies, Cordials, Johhny B's, Georges Too.

I went to RB in '84, so did my wife '86....