Black Island Brewer
An Ode to Beer
Hello Brewers!
I just thought I'd use this forum for it's stated purpose and introduce myself.
I'm David Whitwell, from Tacoma WA. Have been brewing since 1995, though not continuously. I got started when my dad bought my wife (now ex) and me a homebrew kit - it was a bit of a dig at her, as she didn't like any beer other than Coors light. The kit came with Randy Moser's first book - I forget the title - but it's the one with all the forms and graphs. When I made my first batch of beer, I pretty much did everything wrong, and was rewarded with, well, crap. Infected, got worse over time, eventually poured it all out. Started over, got Charlie's book, and tried again. Started brewing decent extract/specialty grain beers, mostly the bolder styles - Russian Imperial Stout, Barleywine.
At the time I did not have internet service, but did get the Home Brew Digest via my local BBS and Fidonet, and got more and more interested. Eventually joined a brew club, got more and more into it, eventually went to all-grain, expanded my styles, started designing beers (thank you Ray Daniels), had my 3 tier system, corney kegs, CO2 canister, oh, hell, all the bells and whistles. Okay, yes, I didn't have a mechanical stirrer, and no glycol jacketed fermentors, but I was there. Loving life.
Then the divorce happened. Life got mondo crazy, sold off nearly all my brewing stuff, keeping just enough to make mead. Now, 4 years later, I am remarried, my beautiful wife LOVES beer (and wine and mead), and she talked me into making a batch for an upcoming beer party we're having.
Wow, have I missed it. Have a nice brown porter bubbling away, and realized that I really love brewing. So, here I go again!
Glad to have found this forum, and really appreciate the format, much easier than HBD and RCB. Looking forward to drawing on the collective wisdom again, and to having great homebrew again.
Life is Good!
David
I just thought I'd use this forum for it's stated purpose and introduce myself.
I'm David Whitwell, from Tacoma WA. Have been brewing since 1995, though not continuously. I got started when my dad bought my wife (now ex) and me a homebrew kit - it was a bit of a dig at her, as she didn't like any beer other than Coors light. The kit came with Randy Moser's first book - I forget the title - but it's the one with all the forms and graphs. When I made my first batch of beer, I pretty much did everything wrong, and was rewarded with, well, crap. Infected, got worse over time, eventually poured it all out. Started over, got Charlie's book, and tried again. Started brewing decent extract/specialty grain beers, mostly the bolder styles - Russian Imperial Stout, Barleywine.
At the time I did not have internet service, but did get the Home Brew Digest via my local BBS and Fidonet, and got more and more interested. Eventually joined a brew club, got more and more into it, eventually went to all-grain, expanded my styles, started designing beers (thank you Ray Daniels), had my 3 tier system, corney kegs, CO2 canister, oh, hell, all the bells and whistles. Okay, yes, I didn't have a mechanical stirrer, and no glycol jacketed fermentors, but I was there. Loving life.
Then the divorce happened. Life got mondo crazy, sold off nearly all my brewing stuff, keeping just enough to make mead. Now, 4 years later, I am remarried, my beautiful wife LOVES beer (and wine and mead), and she talked me into making a batch for an upcoming beer party we're having.
Wow, have I missed it. Have a nice brown porter bubbling away, and realized that I really love brewing. So, here I go again!
Glad to have found this forum, and really appreciate the format, much easier than HBD and RCB. Looking forward to drawing on the collective wisdom again, and to having great homebrew again.
Life is Good!
David
