I think I should take a moment to introduce myself.
I'm Keith Conley, AKA Drac0 as I go about in the digital world. I live in Pensacola, FL and am the IS Manager of a local company here and also run my own web hosting business that I hope to someday use to leave my day job.. It's a dream that I'm working at.
I used to do the Renaissance Fair thing some years back when I lived in Fresno, Ca where I became exposed to home brew and the making of various libations. I kinda got hooked on Mead. I found I could buy it a Beverages And More but Chauncers Meade turned out to be only a seasonal item and it wasn't all that great anyway. I decided that if I wanted it more often then only at Christmas, I would have to make it myself.
To date, I've only made three batches of Mead, a Strawberry Melomel, a Guava Melomel and a Traditional Orange Blossom Honey Mead. All turned out pretty well.
After a series of layoffs, (the computer industry in Cali is messed up..) my wife and I decided to make a move for a change. We left Fresno and landed in Pensacola, FL. Talk about culture shock! We didn't have room for all our stuff so I ended up either selling or giving away a lot of belongings, my brew equipment included.
Fast forward 5 years and I'm back. I just bought me some new carboys and other equipment. I'm about to start a wild flower traditional mead, but I'm also going to start getting into beers. I never could stand most of the commercial beers out there, either too watery or just bland. I decided to start with a kit and move up to all grain as I progress along, after all, mead takes a while to age and I want to have something to drink.
I want to get into the more technical side of things. I'm a techie by trade and I like to know how things work. I've read with great interest the threads about yeast banking and sounds like something that would be a rewarding challenge to get into. Besides, with my wife's biology background, I have some of the more expensive items, such as a microscope already.
I ordered a stir plate from stirstarters.com (that's how I found out about this website) and just received my 2 liter flask today. Looks like I'll be making my starter tonight and looking forward to a brewday tomorrow!
I'm Keith Conley, AKA Drac0 as I go about in the digital world. I live in Pensacola, FL and am the IS Manager of a local company here and also run my own web hosting business that I hope to someday use to leave my day job.. It's a dream that I'm working at.
I used to do the Renaissance Fair thing some years back when I lived in Fresno, Ca where I became exposed to home brew and the making of various libations. I kinda got hooked on Mead. I found I could buy it a Beverages And More but Chauncers Meade turned out to be only a seasonal item and it wasn't all that great anyway. I decided that if I wanted it more often then only at Christmas, I would have to make it myself.
To date, I've only made three batches of Mead, a Strawberry Melomel, a Guava Melomel and a Traditional Orange Blossom Honey Mead. All turned out pretty well.
After a series of layoffs, (the computer industry in Cali is messed up..) my wife and I decided to make a move for a change. We left Fresno and landed in Pensacola, FL. Talk about culture shock! We didn't have room for all our stuff so I ended up either selling or giving away a lot of belongings, my brew equipment included.
Fast forward 5 years and I'm back. I just bought me some new carboys and other equipment. I'm about to start a wild flower traditional mead, but I'm also going to start getting into beers. I never could stand most of the commercial beers out there, either too watery or just bland. I decided to start with a kit and move up to all grain as I progress along, after all, mead takes a while to age and I want to have something to drink.
I want to get into the more technical side of things. I'm a techie by trade and I like to know how things work. I've read with great interest the threads about yeast banking and sounds like something that would be a rewarding challenge to get into. Besides, with my wife's biology background, I have some of the more expensive items, such as a microscope already.
I ordered a stir plate from stirstarters.com (that's how I found out about this website) and just received my 2 liter flask today. Looks like I'll be making my starter tonight and looking forward to a brewday tomorrow!
Be sure and check out all the sticky's. Insightful knowledge awaits you.
