Hello,
My name is Chadwick. I wanted to introduce myself here to everyone at this fantastic web forum. I'm in my late 30's and I've decided to give home brewing beer another go. My father brewed his own beer for the last 30 years of his life. I grew up around it, but never really gave much thought about it. That was until after he passed away and I inherited his equipment. This was when I was in my middle 20's. I really had little idea of what I was doing but I jumped in with both feet. I purchased some kits and went to work right away making beer.
My first batch turned into a cider tasting brew that was difficult for anyone to accept as palatable much less as beer. This taught me the importance of keeping everything absolutely sterile. My second batch did much better, however, the bottles became explode-o-matics. This taught me about the importance of being sure the fermentation is actually finished. The third batch turned out much better. I did over do the priming on the bottling, but they didn't explode, rather, it became important to open the bottles over the sink and have a very large glass to allow the insane amount of carbonation to do its thing. The major problem was, it tasted...well, it tasted sweet as candy and there wasn't any hint of bitters or hop flavor at all. I learned about how loose hops that are 15 years old kept in a sandwich bag looses all of their magic.
I was frustrated, but determined. I found a place 50 miles from me that supplied home brewing materials and drove there to buy fresh stuff. I purchased 6lbs of dark DME, 2 ounces of fresh hops, new airlocks and seals, and a case of some strong micro-brew stout. As a friend and I was putting together this brew we where both enjoying the heck out of the micro-brew stout I purchased. I decided at the last minute that I wanted this batch to be extra high gravity. I stumbled over to the kitchen counter, grabbed the bag of sugar and added 2 cups to the wort at the last minute. Fully satisfied this will be a beer to end all beers, we passed out while waiting for the wort to cool. Fast forward three weeks later, if was time to open the top and transfer this to a priming container an bottle it. I like to taste a little sample to give me an idea of how a brew turned out at this point. I drew the ounce sample and sipped it. Augh!!!, Oh no. That wasn't sugar I added. It was salt! You cannot imagine the how broken my heart was. A week after that a friend asked to borrow my equipment to make a large batch of mead for his cousin who getting married in a few months. I agreed and he took everything. I never saw any of that equipment again as it turned out he, unknown by me or anyone, was also into creative underground farming. He was caught by the FBI doing that and all of the equipment was seized as evidence? I didn't want to go near that mess to even try to reclaim my equipment. I'm an outstanding law abiding member of the community and I don't want to be associated with that crap in any way what-so-ever.
This brings us to now. Its been 12 years since I've thought of brewing again. My wife brought it to my attention that the six-packs of beer I buy are rather expensive. Indeed they are. I cannot and will not drink the cheap domestic beers commonly sold everywhere. I like fine craft beers. Recently, the only store that sells decent beer has marked up the good stuff to $10 a six pack. As a result of this, I've decided to enter the realm of home brewing again. I've actually have my first primary fermenting now. I batched it last night and woke to a foaming overflow. I caught it early and thanks to this forum, I have a blow-off system in place now. I'll post in the regular forum with my recipe for this batch in a few minutes.
-Chadwick
My name is Chadwick. I wanted to introduce myself here to everyone at this fantastic web forum. I'm in my late 30's and I've decided to give home brewing beer another go. My father brewed his own beer for the last 30 years of his life. I grew up around it, but never really gave much thought about it. That was until after he passed away and I inherited his equipment. This was when I was in my middle 20's. I really had little idea of what I was doing but I jumped in with both feet. I purchased some kits and went to work right away making beer.
My first batch turned into a cider tasting brew that was difficult for anyone to accept as palatable much less as beer. This taught me the importance of keeping everything absolutely sterile. My second batch did much better, however, the bottles became explode-o-matics. This taught me about the importance of being sure the fermentation is actually finished. The third batch turned out much better. I did over do the priming on the bottling, but they didn't explode, rather, it became important to open the bottles over the sink and have a very large glass to allow the insane amount of carbonation to do its thing. The major problem was, it tasted...well, it tasted sweet as candy and there wasn't any hint of bitters or hop flavor at all. I learned about how loose hops that are 15 years old kept in a sandwich bag looses all of their magic.
I was frustrated, but determined. I found a place 50 miles from me that supplied home brewing materials and drove there to buy fresh stuff. I purchased 6lbs of dark DME, 2 ounces of fresh hops, new airlocks and seals, and a case of some strong micro-brew stout. As a friend and I was putting together this brew we where both enjoying the heck out of the micro-brew stout I purchased. I decided at the last minute that I wanted this batch to be extra high gravity. I stumbled over to the kitchen counter, grabbed the bag of sugar and added 2 cups to the wort at the last minute. Fully satisfied this will be a beer to end all beers, we passed out while waiting for the wort to cool. Fast forward three weeks later, if was time to open the top and transfer this to a priming container an bottle it. I like to taste a little sample to give me an idea of how a brew turned out at this point. I drew the ounce sample and sipped it. Augh!!!, Oh no. That wasn't sugar I added. It was salt! You cannot imagine the how broken my heart was. A week after that a friend asked to borrow my equipment to make a large batch of mead for his cousin who getting married in a few months. I agreed and he took everything. I never saw any of that equipment again as it turned out he, unknown by me or anyone, was also into creative underground farming. He was caught by the FBI doing that and all of the equipment was seized as evidence? I didn't want to go near that mess to even try to reclaim my equipment. I'm an outstanding law abiding member of the community and I don't want to be associated with that crap in any way what-so-ever.
This brings us to now. Its been 12 years since I've thought of brewing again. My wife brought it to my attention that the six-packs of beer I buy are rather expensive. Indeed they are. I cannot and will not drink the cheap domestic beers commonly sold everywhere. I like fine craft beers. Recently, the only store that sells decent beer has marked up the good stuff to $10 a six pack. As a result of this, I've decided to enter the realm of home brewing again. I've actually have my first primary fermenting now. I batched it last night and woke to a foaming overflow. I caught it early and thanks to this forum, I have a blow-off system in place now. I'll post in the regular forum with my recipe for this batch in a few minutes.
-Chadwick
