Growing Obsession!

[bighoss]

So watched a few episodes of Brew Masters on the Discovery Channel. Which in turn sparked my interest in the whole beer brewing process. Well it's been oh I say 2-3 weeks now, and I can't quit reading. It's like I'm obsessed with soaking up as much information as I can about home brewing. Also I can't seem to get away from this site. I seem to check it and read stuff for at least a few hours a day every day. Which I think is making me a bit anxious for tax season to role around so that I can get this new hobby going. I've thought about just doing it in my basement, but I've decided that a small concreted area is perfect for extending the garage, and adding a brewing room. Ugh seems like time is standing still, and I'll never get to start. lol

 

[JohnnyO]

Hey Bighoss, welcome. It is truly an obsession! I do recommend that you start small, and grow from there. It's great to think about the bigger plans you'd like to do. But master the basics first!!

I don't mean to be a buzzkill, but I'd hate to hear about someone who jumped into the deepend and started a big plan, then change directions. Sometimes what you think is going to work for you might not work later on.

 

[Crazybrew04]

I agree with the start small for 2 reasons. One before you put you tax return into it make sure you like doing it. Two, if you start small say extract brewing you can start cheap you just need the basics a stove and a 2-3 gallon pot buckets blah blah blah, plus it sounds like your like me you get the OCD going. so by starting small it will help to feed it

oh and a good beer recipe program

 

[ultravista]

I really enjoy watching brew masters too, it is a great show. While the production schedule is huge, the philosphy is the same - don't be afraid to experiment.

 

[Marko73]

Welcome bighoss! I have to agree with JohnnyO. Start small and learn the process and then grow. Half the fun in my 'journey' has been adding equipment. or at least obsessing over it.

 

[bighoss]

Oh I totally understand what your saying. I'm not gonna go and buy tons of equipment, and try to go AG right away. I plan on starting out small with a starter kit of equipment, and pick an extract kit to brew for my first batch. I'm figuring I'll try to stick with extracts for at least 6 months or more. Then step up to extract/partial mash brewing. Not sure how long I'll want to go with that before I will want to go AG, but I'll decide that once I get to that point. First I'm just going to go with a bunch of extracts. Oh and yeah Crazy I do agree seems like a bit of OCD with all of this LOL. But the whole extending the garage was already planned before I started getting any interest in home brewing. It was just today that I thought about using that addition as a brew room. Anyway thanks for the advice.

 

[stevo155]

I agree with these guys about not starting big but don't start too small either. I started extract with a 5 gallon pot, upgraded to a 7.5 gallon pot when I went all grain, then a 10 gallon when I realized the 7.5 g one was to small.

See if there are any brew on premises places nearby and make a batch or two. Then you can say, "I would really love to do this at home".

Before you know it, you'll have a full all grain system, fermentation chamber with temp controller, ph testing equipment, a kegerator with never enough kegs in it, etc,...

Obsession? What makes you say that?

 

[acolman]

I have been in it for just over a year now and the obsession is unending! The thing is the knowledge is so vast and deep (like everything in this world) that it never seems to end. Make sure to check out the basicbrewing podcast at basicbrewing.com. Once you have gotten through all of the archives you will have only looked at the surface from a distance! Thankfully it will give you a seriously good knowledge base on most aspects of brewing. I recommend starting with the videos. Their DVDs are great too!

Start simple and relax dont worry have a home brew.

Complete jOy of homebrewing by Charlie papazian is our bible by the way. Read it! It makes life worth living!

Have fun

Andres

 

[bighoss]

Cool, I'll look into getting that to read. Was planning on buying quite a few books to read through. Hopefully my brain can absorb all of the information.

 

[stevo155]

Complete jOy of homebrewing by Charlie papazian

All respect to Charlie, I would suggest John Palmer's How to Brew first. You can get the first edition online for free at www.howtobrew.com, but the 3rd edition in print has been updated.

Also, check out John Palmer and Jamil Zanisheff on The Brewing Network's Brew Strong ( www.thebrewingnetwork.com ) as well as Can You Brew It? ( Commercial clone beer show ) and The Sunday Session.

Brew Strong!!

 

[bad67z]

BH, sounds like you got the bug like many of the rest of us. You have a great HB shop in Akron not that far from you (one of the better one's I have found in OH). Here is the link.

I would also suggest you check out the podcasts here, I have read a lot of the books and the podcasts sure help drive home the topic. I have listened to some of them 3 times and got something out of them each time.

Merry Christmas.

Mick

 

[BeerWars]

You think the obsession is bad now? Wait till you brew something that tastes awesome.

 

[twst1up]

hehe, this story is all our stories. I've become less obsessive since my original obsession reeled me back in after a very long time. But I'm almost done my brew stand, and I hope (say this every year) that next year i brew more than i buy.

And this IS a great site, and the people, for the most part, are responsible for that

 

[bighoss]

Yeah hopefully I enjoy this hobby as much as I think I will.