Hi! First-timer down the Jersey Shore

[Kidchyron]

Hello HBT! After more than a year of thinking & reading about homebrewing, these small kits (from Brooklyn Brew Shop) turned up in the Whole Foods Market I live next to. That was all the sign I needed that the time had come to take the plunge, so I bought one (Chestnut Brown Ale) and went to it.

Two days ago I cooked up my first batch. When the fermentation appeared to be going badly (as, it appears, happens often to newbies), I freaked out and hit the Internet. This forum came up on a lot of my searches, and after reading through a few of the threads it seems like my kind of place, so I think I'll stick around.

Assuming this first brew doesn't drive me bonkers, that is. (Just now switched out a blow-off tube for an airlock, per BBS instructions, and noticed the wort in the carboy is almost utterly krausen free. But all the friendly HBT advice to newbies seems to come back to "don't panic, don't dump your batch, and let it finish". You all know way more'n me, so I'm doing my level best to stay calm...)

See you all around here!

 

[celticcolorado]

Welcome to home brewing! Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Kidchyron]

Well, the month was full of typical noob fears - "where's the krausen?" "why is my airlock so still?" "oh crap I touched the wort!" etc. - but I listened to the wise ones here at HBT, whose advice boiled down to "be patient, never dump a brew, whatever you think you did you probably didn't ruin it". And whaddya know - they were right.

Imagine the pleasant surprise, after all that worrying, at hearing the hiss of escaping CO2 upon opening the bottle, and seeing the real honest to dog head in the glass when I poured! And then drinking it... not the best-tasting beer I ever had in my life, but probably, right now in my mind, the best beer anyway. Because I MADE IT, because it's definitely beer - and because it's pretty decent beer at that!

Just wanted to share. First time brew: success! ROCK AND ROLL! :rockin:

 

[celticcolorado]

That is great to hear. Cheers to many more great brews!