new to home brewing

hey just joined recenlty and I'm considering home brewing. since I'm your usual BMC drinker I don't know if I'll end up doing it or not or even if it's worth it. also since it seems like alot of BMC drinkers get slamed on here don't know if this will be worth my time. I've never had an affinity for heavy dark beers so we'll see...

but none the less I'm currently lookinginto home brew and am reading Palmers book and just trying to glean some info from this site

Welcome to HBT!

One thing - "heavy dark beers" are but a fraction of the beer world - I suggest going to a good liquor store and buying a few craft brews - anything from IPAs to Belgians to Bocks. Surely there will be something you like, thus something you can brew.

Welcome to HBT!

Home brewing is a really fun hobby and IMO worth it but a couple things you should be aware of if you only like BMC. The first is that home brewing will cost you more than buying a case of mass produced beer. The second thing is that BMC style beer is some of the harder beers to produce and requires the equipment to lager.

I do not want to discourage you from home brewing because most of us want to turn everyone in home brewers and craft beer drinkers. After you drink some of your own delicious home brew, you may think differently about the BMC you have been drinking. We have turned more than a few BMC drinkers to the other side.

well thanks for the insight and I'm still on the fence.

I have learned to like some other beers like Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams and Bell's (locally here in MI) Oberon (sp?). so it's not like I'm stuck in my mind to only drink the BMC's. also I'm begining to think if I compared the price of the above specialty beers at the store compared to homebrew then perhaps I could shave some $$ off the price.

Also I really like DIY type of things. for instance you pry couldn't build your own kitchen table for less than buying one but it's a something you might enjoy and/or be proud of afterwards.

Burt:

Welcome!

Don't, for even one second, defend yourself for liking BMC. They're your taste buds. Please them.

You probably can't start brewing and expect to make something like BMC for less than you can buy it for at the store. For me, it's kind of like fly fishing. Nobody does it for the free fish.

What you can expect is to find that brewers are generally great people, and the beer world is huge -- there's something there for every taste, whether you like lighter beers or heavier ones.

With homebrewing, you can make beers that are fairly close or better than the BMC's. Yes, its cheaper to make Ales rather than Lagers, but not all of them are that heavy. You can make Blond and Cream Ales that have a good light flavor and color, but to me far exceed any of the BMC beers out there.

For me it took homebrewing for me to appreciate the heavier varieties, mainly because I was able to see the affect differing malts and hop combinations had on taste. I still like the lighter varieties, but like to throw in a curve every now and then.

I hope you decide to give it a try. Cheers

+1 on Blondes and Creams. Also Wheat beers are light and tasty.

Welcome

Welcome and come to the dark side, it's worth the trip.....