Story Time - How did you get into brewing and craft beer?

[WFox93]

I'm sure there are many threads on this already but I thought it'd be fun to start a new one and maybe get some new stories.

For me, it actually started roughly 3 years ago.
Up until 2015 I actually hated beer. I thought it was the most vial, disgusting pi$$ water dink. Then, I got a new job and met a beer enthusiast. He never shut up about limited release beers, local breweries, he would even travel across the country in the name of beer. Through talking with him he eventually got an idea of the flavors I liked in other things. He eventually talked me into trying a brown ale or a porter. I had the opportunity to visit a local craft brewery where they had a brown ale, so I took my chance. It was delicious, sweet chocolate with roasty coffee flavors. I was in heaven. I decided to try more and more within the dark malty beer categories and I was in heaven.
By summer 2016 I was a self proclaimed craft beer enthusiast. I was trying and drinking anything I could get my hands on. My horizons broadened as well and I was drinking Pale Ales, Hefes, some IPA, Stouts, Browns, Porters. It was an incredible experience. By late 2016 I was starting to save for purchasing my first house and my parents kept asking me what I wanted for my birthday and christmas. Too which I answered "House things." Well, my mom made the joke over thanksgiving dinner that she would just buy me a beer making kit. fastforward two weeks and I opened up a shiny new Mr.Beer Hopped Malt Extract kit. Came with everything I needed. Just add water and the supplied yeast.
On the first week of 2017 I started my first batch, I want to say it was a czech pilsner. It tasted pretty good, so I moved on to the next one the kit included, a mexican "Lager" (I now know it was technically and ale). I started tweaking different extract kits from them doing partial mashes and steeping grains. It was all great fun but it was missing something. I finally made the move to all grain and that's when it really felt like magic. I finally found a hobby that gave me a fizzy feeling inside, the same one I normally got from driving fast on back country roads or going to the local race track for amateur night.
I've now been brewing for over a year, I just finished my first keezer build and will be brewing my 4th or 5th all grain batch this weekend. Oh... and I, the person who used to hate beer, has become the source of answers just about any beer related questions my friends can come up with.

I know that's a bit of a novel but I thought it may be fun to share our journeys in beer. Thanks for all those who have provided knowledge and insight on this wonderful money pit of a hobby. Let's hear your bee/brewing stories.

 

[Brewsit]

That’s a crazy quick progression to a beer and home brew lover. I started brewing in 2008 when my dad invited me over to help him with an extract kit he picked up. At the time I wasn’t really that in to beer in general, I had explored some Sierra Nevada and Lagunitas (lived in Northern California) but I preferred mixed drinks. That first batch was a disaster, we didn’t have any idea what we were doing and managed to pitch the yeast in hot wort (only realizing that’s not how it works after re-reading the directions) and had to go to a local wine shop to find some new yeast. It was supposed to be a blonde and we got a Belgian yeast, because words that start with “B” should pretty much be the same, right?

Anyway, the beer fermented and what came out was pretty awesome. I was so amazed that I could magically create a delicious beer even after screwing so much up that I fell in love with it. We soon after went to MoreBeer and took an all grain class, and my dad went all out and got a 3 pot Blichman system... we brewed on that until I left Northern California in 2011 and the rest is history... well, see my basement brewery build thread for the rest of the history.

 

[WFox93]

That's awesome and that basement brewery is a thing of dreams.

 

[seatazzz]

I've loved beer all my life. When I was little, about 4, my dad would tell me to get him a beer. I don't remember the first time I tasted it, but it was love at first sip. From then on, when I got Dad a beer, if I brought a small glass I would get about 1/2 inch. By the time I was a teenager (in the 80's) I could have a full one once in a while if I wanted. And I wasn't one of the kids who drank just to prove I could. I've never liked getting piss drunk, just love the flavor of beer. When I got married the first time (at the tender age of 20), my husband bought me MGD which was "the" thing in 1987. Soon I was looking for something more. I didn't discover IPA's until the 2000's and that was an eye opener.

In late 2015 some friends gave me a Mr Beer kit they'd had for a while, and I gave it a shot. Turned out pretty bad (VERY old yeast) but I was hooked. In the year and a bit since then I've graduated to a full all grain system that produces some great, some meh, and some nasty beers, but I've never gotten discouraged enough to quit. Also (and yes I know I'm beating a very dead horse) I've had the great good luck to start working for a professional brewer who is in the process of moving to a larger premises and really values my help and input. I've never been happier with a hobby in my life.

 

[javert]

Back in my younger days beer (commercial beer) was merely the group's way to party and get wasted since it was slower and more controllable than spirits. Once I graduated, parties were over and drinks were for actual tasting commercial beer were utterly unsatisfying. Luckily, one day I was invited to an Irish pub where I was recommended to have a taste of the local beer which was an Oatmeal Stout. Dat flavor, that head, that body, THAT MOUTHFEEL, that alcohol content... I became a fan and started to frequent craft beer stores in order to sample as much brands and styles and possible, although porter and stout established as my favorites since that first love.

Once at work a colleague once talked with me about beers and after learning I was a fan of craft ones proposed me to start brewing. At first it felt daunting with so many different aspects but we got started and eventually got the gist of it. Sometimes there's lows but now we're brewing twice a week and selling beer with a branded label which is awesome. Soon we are upping our rig and ready for world... er our city conquest!!

 

[treacheroustexan]

Awesome story OP! I moved out of my parents house at 18 into my own apartment and bought a Mr. Beer kit on Amazon(when I turned 21 of course....) and that's when the obsession began. All the kids were playing beer pong and getting trashed at parties in high school, but all I wanted was Great Lakes Christmas ale. That was my gateway into craft beer. Fast forward 5 years, just bought my first home where I'm building my dream basement brewery and I currently brew on a Grainfather.

 

[TGFV]

Helped brew wine with my mom as a teenager and used to take a share of them from the stash, but didn't get into brewing beer and craft beer until about a year and a half ago.

I had taken a few years off drinking just before my daughter (my first kid) was born due to money issues, being busy with a newborn, work (and honestly didn't even think of drinking for a good long time) and after getting a much better job thatvwasnt constantly cutting my hours (plus paid nearly 75% more, had OT, benefits and better hours) considered getting into it to make ciders for cheap drinks.

Eventually saved up and when we rented a bigger place I bought a small set up of a person getting out of the hobby to do extract kits and decided to make my own beer to save money on Coors (still my bmc of choice when I do rarely drink it). Eventually started out trying different craft beers and fell in love with them and now try to make my own versions of the different styles (plus it is damn cheap to make it at 1$ a bottle compared to buying it for 6.50 plus tax)

 

[gunhaus]

I have written a couple times in the past that i was exposed to home made beer at a young age. As a kid in the 70's, we had a number of Dutch and German families in our rural area that had 1st generation immigrants. We also had a large number of Amish families in the area. Many of these families brewed regularly, and it was not unusual as a kid to go to someones grandmothers house, and see her brewing a batch of beer or wine or cider.

In the early 80's I got a hankering to try it myself, and I ordered one of those kits out of popular mechanics - The one with the smiling guy with the neatly trimmed beard holding a quart mug and promising i could brew commercial style brews for pennies a glass! I was into LeBatte's at the time and the idea of pennies a beer sounded cool! What i got was a kit in a can with some liquid malt that i think cam from Stroh's and featured recipes for muffins and biscuits on the side. Some yeast that came from an archaeological dig, and a bag of what I assumed was supposed to be hops. The end product was somewhat beer like, and beer colored, and totally gross. I gave up as soon as I started.

Fortunately, only a couple of years later i fell in with a co-worker who was a true brewing junkie. HE was really into the process, and a really gregarious guy who had run around the area befriending anyone who brewed and had rounded up a fair amount of knowledge. He had Charlies book - that was the first i had heard of it - and he gave me a copy that was worn, torn, stained, and wonderful! He gave me some beers he had made - And i KNEW then I had to figure this thing out!

That was around 86 or 87 and I never looked back. My friend helped me first find some sources for ingredients, and he coached me on all grain brewing as i progressed. We built gear, experimented, made some good stuff and some serious swill. My friend developed ALS and passed WAY too young - but he introduced me to the hobby and to people young and old who brewed locally on a fairly regular basis.

I have been at it since. I have had periods where ingredients were tough to get, and i had to put brewing on hold for times, but wines, and ciders, and meads we always there too fill in the gaps. A house fire ate much of my gear, but i rebuilt the set ups better than ever. I have met some great people, visited some great bars, pubs, and breweries all over the country. And i don't see slowing down at it anytime soon. I always try to payback my friends that set me down this path, by teaching newbies whenever I can. I introduced a couple of newcomers just this Christmas time, and I think they are hooked - That's as good a tribute as i can think of for my teachers.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I developed a taste for beer when I was a teenager. Dad would have a beer with his lunch when we went pheasant hunting and one day he offered me one. Cold, crisp and refreshing.

Fast forward to the 80's and I discovered Anchor steam. Then, on a trip to KC I had a pale ale from a new craft brewery. I would bring growlers home because they didn't bottle. That was boulevard in their infancy.

Around 1990 I found a homebrew shop and started doing extract brews. I brewed for a couple years until kids came along. I stopped and sold all my gear. Mid 2000's I got a kegerator and always had good craft or import beer on tap. I wanted to get back into brewing but I had sold all my gear. At that time, home all grain seemed like voodoo.

About a year ago my wife gave me a brew day with a pro at a local micro brewery and I was hooked. The head brewer still had his home brew equipment and sold me an entire AG cooler mash tun based setup. The rest is history.

 

[kevin58]

We used to drive to Ann Arbor Michigan for parties, pizza and beer in the late 70's and there was one pizza joint that served a delicious brown beer in pitchers. I never found out what the beer was but when homebrewing became legal in the 80's I began a quest to recreate it.

 

[jayrome2722]

I made grape juice out of some wild grapes as a kid, and my dad told me stories about how my grandmother used to make elderberry wine. That got me interested in making wine, which I gave a try in 1999 for the first time. The first go round didn't go that well and turned out more like vinegar. Also that year was the first time I ever had Honey Weiss and Spotted Cow. There wasn't a lot of other craft offerings back then, but I knew I would much rather have that than Coors Light. So after getting my act together making wine, a few years later I tried making beer. I screwed up that first batch too. I accidentally added acid blend that I used for wine instead of the corn sugar for bottling. Nevertheless, I have been making both beer and wine ever since. To bring it full circle, in honor of my grandmother I served home made elderberry wine at our wedding.

 

[foam_top]

Like many, I didn't know the spectrum of beers went beyond the cheap, mass produced lagers. As much as I don't like to admit, I once considered Budweiser my favorite beer. One day I found myself at a microbrew-restaurant that didn't serve commercial beer. I ordered the house IPA without even knowing what it was. That beer opened my eyes. I could go on about my beer journey but let's just say I started trying different styles and never looked back.

Fast forward many years, around 2014, being the do-it-yourself type of guy, I started researching what is involved in homebrewing. It seemed very complicated and I gave up researching quickly. For some miraculous reason, I gave it a second chance about a year later. The second time just "clicked". I ordered an extract Amber ale from Adventures in Homebrewing and have been brewing since.

 

[S-Met]

Long journey here. For Beer, most of my family was Budwiser/BL drinkers. We would have wine - which we thought was good and would the occasional spirits. My dad would have the occasional Michelob - I remember those cool tapered teardrop bottles. As kids we would always get sip to try. Never really liked Bud/BL, I don't really recall liking Michelob either. Fast forward to teenage years, I recall the occasional Sam Adams in the house, usually a gift from someone in one of the seasonal samplers. I didn't really care for those either. Parts of my family as well as my neighbors were from Mexico and for parties we would have Bud/BL, Corona, Tecate and occasionally Pacifico and loads of Cazadorez reposado (centenario anejo for special occasions). Regarding the above beers, I didn't mind Pacifico and when drinking Tequila would drink Corona or tecate like it was water. Funny, since it practically is h2o.
High school parties were usually more beer than liquor and BL or Coors light would be a premium at those parties. So... yeah, I didn't drink beer then.

Just out of high school, one of my friends offered me a beer and handed me a Pyramid Apricot hefe (gateway beer). While I'd agree that it is a bit of a girlie drink (no offense to the ladies here) I did realize that it finally had flavor and was enjoyable. The door was finally opened, but not too wide. I started drinking hefe's - not just the fruity ones and would generally try anything not piss-yeller. Guinness became a fav when available but expanding of beer palate was muted until after I turned 21 and could legally acquire my own.

After getting through college and beginning my career, normal coworker things like hitting a local pub after a long shift. We had a Pyramid tap-room near by and I fell in love with the k-street Nitro stout and rather enjoyed some of their non-hef style ales. Micro's were still new to the area, but appearing in some of the local spots. Being 90 min south of Chico, SNPA was everywhere, but I wasn't really digging the flavor. I'll drink it, still not my favorite but a good fallback that I can get almost everywhere. The big draw was Porter and stout, then ambers and pales, but mostly I preferred a nice bottle of wine or champagne (still love me some champagne, Cava and prosecco).

But back to beer, Arrogant Bastard was the next big stand-out beer at the recommendation of a coworker on a night out. Talking about it the next day spun down another series of conversations where I learned that another coworker's husband has been a homebrewer for years (20 or more).

After a couple years of after work gatherings, parties and conversations, the homebrew friend invited me out to their semi-annual home-brew camp trip, but I declined as I had other plans set. This happened for a few more years, get the invite, but conflicting plans or existing obligations prevented the trip. Finally the beer-glasses aligned and I could make the trip.

Lets just say I had no Idea what I was getting into, but I loved every minute. 3day camp trip where invite-only home brewers and friends convened for sharing beer, camping, games and outdoor shenanigans. There was always something on tap - usually 5-6 at any given time and an average of 15-20 kegs for a 3-day weekend. Usually 1-2 ciders and occasionally a mead as well as some distilled spirits.

Beer-drinking: check. Home brewing - still a few years out. But one year I happened on a mass of Meyers Lemons (3 different friends had big yields on their trees). Wife and I decided to juice them since we couldn't possibly use them before they went bad. We made cubes and froze them, but barely dented the fruit. I started talking with my home-brew friends and we conceptualized a sparkling lemon wine - methode champenoise. This surprisingly turned out ok at first, but really developed over the next couple years into something very dry and drinkable. Next attempt was a White Peach sparkling. Not a flop, but strong alc. bite that took 2-3 years to soften. Next was ciders and a few other fruit wine variants - all but one turned out good (the plain FAJC was just bland - the Coors light of Ciders). By this time, I had a kegging setup for the ciders and my home-brew-buddies finally convinced me to attempt brewing.

To my surprise, my beer was good but my brewmates were not at all surprised. After all, years of brew-talk and guidance from experienced brewers along the way. 1st brew was Pale ale, but not overly hopped. More like a pub ale. I don't drink much (work), but enjoy the process. This means I only do a handful of brews/ciders per year but tend to think about them and enjoy them when I can and the process of being capable of making my own is relaxing and therapeutic in its own way.

 

[MMP126]

I dont post much, but this seems fun, so I will try.

When I was a kid, my parents didn't drink much, so it wasn't very prominent in my life. I remember my mom giving me a few sips of Red Dog when we were on vacation. Maybe when I was like 7 or 8.

From there, I had a childhood friend, and his dad had a 5 tap commercial style kegerator in the garage at his house. We would sneak in, grab like half a cup, spill beer everywhere, and get yelled at. That was my first real experience with beer. I was like 11 or 12 at the time.

When I started driving, I had a friend that liked to drink. He was stuck on Bud Ice, which was fine. But, I always wanted to try more. After a little while, we moved into obtaining all of the Sam Adams we could find. Every time I saw a new 12 bottle variety pack, I would call him and he would go buy it, and we would sit and share it. I was about 17-18 at the time.

From there, it took off with my brother in-law. He introduced me to everything under the sun. Last straw was a trip to Belgium, where I had the best beer of my life. After that, I was hooked on all things beer.

I just like to do things on my own, and create my own things, rather than buy them. I think that is why I got into brewing beer. And I love it. My first few were atrocious (What I thought was sanitizer was really only cleaner, so nothing was sterilized for 2-3 brews). But, I am getting better, and I love it.

 

[doogster]

Acquired a taste for beer at a young age sipping on my dad's PBR, Bud, and the like. Growing up in St. Louis, I also LOVED the smell emanating from the AB brewery next to Interstate 55 as we would drive by (no flames for the AB reference please... it was the roots of this amazing hobby/love of beer).

Fast forward to 1991 - on a skiing trip near Denver, my old college roommate said he'd bring some of his homebrew up to the lodge. I laughed it off. But... one drink of "Ol' Vic's Wooden Shaft Ale", a dark ale named after the "Old Victoria" hockey stick he used as a mash paddle, and I was HOOKED. Best damn beer I had ever tasted!

I went back home to Dallas, and immediately picked up a Billington's MicroBrewery Kit, complete with 5 gal glass carboy, sturdy capper, caps, extract, corn sugar and yeast, and I proceeded to make a spectacularly - sub-par beverage. At the time I knew little about temperature control, sanitation, etc. What I produced was a bit of a "cidery" mess, but all my friends THOROUGHLY enjoyed the free drunk... and the rest is history.

I now brew in my basement brewery on a Grainfather (thanks TreacherousTexan for the Grainfather test run in your kitchen), am a founder/leader of our local homebrewing club... and make pretty good beers.

Doug

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Once upon a time...

Full Sail Nut Brown. Tried it. Loved it. Wanted more. They discontinued it.

And they lived happily ever after.

The End

 

[Mothman]

I had to think back to try to recall what,specifically, made me want to try brewing... And for the life of me I can't remember a singular event.

I do know that my history with beer is similar to what others have shared... That being starting out drinking macro lagers.

I never really drank as a teen, other than an occasional sip my dad would give me. Wasn't until I was I of age (19) that I started drinking on occasion, and my beer of choice was Kokanee, and it remained that way for years.

I never really cared about beer, it was just something refreshing to drink on a hot day.

Fast forward more years to me in my late 20's, early 30's and I was with my (later to become) wife, and as a gift one year she bought me a u-brew gift, and as a couple we went to rhe brew place and did whatever we did, with the worker there, to make a corona clone, and later returned to bottle it. Turned out ok at first, but went bad in a hurry and we dumped most of it.

A few years later I had an urge to buy the Joy Of Homebrewing book and decided to get the basics required to do a homebrew, it was a prehopped extract kit and that one didn't work out well either. I packed up the brewing gear and figured it wasn't for me.

But for whatever reason I often looked through the JoH book and was always intrigued by the more involved processes of steeping grains, hops, all grain, and recipes with varying ingredients. I particularly remember a spruce beer recipe using fresh spruce tips, which I still want to try one day.

So I maintained an interest in the process, despite feeling like I wasn't cut out for it.

Fast forward to about four years ago, I was still not a big beer drinker, and still mostly Kokanee, I got a desire to buy a few craft brews.

I was instantly hooked. Beer went from a default hot day drink to something with flavours and interesting ingredients and nuances and just plain good stuff!

That started me on the craft beer road and I continue to buy lots of bees, seeking out new ones to try (since that fateful day 4 years ago, I've logged about 370 unique beers, 330 or so being Canadian.)

Then one day a bit over a year ago, I more or less randomly got an idea that I should try brewing again.

I knew I still had my old basic gear. We had since bought a small house so I had a little (not much) more room... In particular, room to properly store the finished beer (my previous attempts we were storing in a hot water tank closet... The high temperature likely key to why the beers didn't store well)... In the new place I figured I could store bottles in the crawl space which is always cool.

I discovered this forum and got to reading! I realized that it wasn't (or didn't have to be) a difficult, complicated,process.

I also realized that I needed a few more pieces of gear, so I got that, bought an extract + specialty grain kit, joined my best buddy who also did some homebrewing, and managed to make drinkable beer (brown ale).

And it just carried on from there. My second batch was again an extract /steep recipe, but this time from a recipe I found here at HBT.

Third,and subsequent batches have been BIAB all grain. Some have been great, some decent, none bad (yet).

I'm still a noob (7 batches) and I just love the process.


I have a very simple, basic, system... Stove top BIAB , 3.5 gal batches, plastic buckets, I bottle everything.... But I love it. It's like science meets art meets delicious beer.

It feeds the small creative bone in me while also feeding the giant science / geek bone in me, I love doing it, I love reading about it, I love talking beer, I love drinking it.

I still buy more beer than I drink of my own, (my poor wallet) but this homebrew hobby fits in perfectly both in providing me with brews to drink, as well as teaching me a ton about what has gone into the commercial craft brews that I buy.

 

[aprichman]

I didn't like beer very much when I was a teenager, most of the beer I was exposed to was macro light beer. It was something people drank to get drunk at parties.

When I was 21 I tried a Sam Adams Oktoberfest. It was really flavorful and changed my opinion of beer. I found some beers I really enjoyed and started trying more and more. I gravitated towards dark beers.

A few years later I moved to Oregon where the beer culture was totally different. Some grocery stores had dozens of craft beers in 6 packs and bombers. My palate expanded and I started getting into hop forward beers.

I tried to make a couple of beers with a Mr Beer kit that didn't turn out great. Several years later I decided to try again. It's been 3 years since I tried again - now I'm brewing all grain and have a keg setup.