G'day from Australia!

[StevoTosh]

4 years ago my wife's brother gave me a basic extract brewing kit for Christmas. I loved it. The first brew was (in retrospect) terrible. But... I loved it.
I kept a record of this brew, as with the many since. I wrote my own brewing calculators, built ispindels, studied water profiles and kept records of everything.
All full grain now, from English Bitter to IPA, from Lager to Stout, I developed a love for brewing better beers than I could buy.
Throughout this journey I have regularly visited many home brew forums for advice, instruction and guidance. Homebrew Talk is one of the best.
A big thank you to all who have posted such useful info that I have not (until now) been able to respond to.
I am more than happy to share any knowledge that I have acquired in the hope that it may be useful.

 

[Chorgey]

Welcome to HBT from New Jersey

 

[Sammy86]

Welcome to the community!

 

[Tartan1]

I am more than happy to share any knowledge that I have acquired in the hope that it may be useful

That's the best part of this community. I can say I personally have learned a lot from those who have shared their ideas. Welcome.

 

[estricklin]

Glad you joined. Looking forward to seeing you around, and greetings from Oklahoma, USA.

Just out of curiousity, how’s the craft beer scene in Australia these days?

 

[StevoTosh]

Just out of curiousity, how’s the craft beer scene in Australia these days?

I'm not really into the craft beer scene. There are many small craft breweries popping up all over the place and I will occasionally try their creations but I'm usually disappointed.
I really like fruit and I really like beer but I don't reckon they go together. I tried a beer called crankshaft from a local brewery a few weeks ago. The experience was like eating a handful of raw hops and washing it down with alcoholic passionfruit flavoured soda pop. I wouldn't call it beer.

In saying that some of my beer may well be considered craft beer. I'm a chilli head and many of my creations contain chilli peppers. Some contain capsicum (bell or sweet peppers) and artichoke leaf for bitterness and umami ( Artichoke was used as the main bittering/flavouring addition in ales prior to the 9th century A.D. when hops was adopted as the 'only' bittering agent). I have brewed with spices like pepper and cardamom. I also experiment with wheat and rye malts, corn (maize) malt and flaked fermentables.
I'll give up on the hobby when I stop learning..... Never!