1 year lost to beer...

I am BRAND new to brewing... I have purchased a beginners kit from Midwest Brewing and I'll be firing it up when I get back from business travel.

Either way, I plan to lose an entire year to learning this craft and look forward to leaning on the many years of experience in this forum.

By the end of this journey, I hope to have achieved a patience and appreciation for this hobby...

- J

 

Prepare to "lose" a lot of money along with that year.

 

But gain a lot of fun and sense of accomplishment! Totally worth it!

 

You will lose more than 1 year learning beer

 

Get ready to feel like a kid rushing to the tree on Christmas morning again. This is a hobby that keeps on giving.

 

Ahh, the naive! "I plan on losing a year to learning this craft..." This stuff is like crack! Starts out small and builds from there. Pretty soon it's, "If we put the baby in the basement, we can use her room to put all the brew stuff in..." I used to chuckle at the folks who said how addicting home brewing was. Until, I too, was hooked. Hi everybody my name is Pete and I'm a brew-aholic. The crowd rejoins, "Hi Pete!" HB anonymous? Shudder.

 

This.

 

If you look at it as losing a year, you're off to a bad start. Look at it as starting your life over as a brewer. In a year from now, your former life will seem like a thing of the past, and totally insignificant when compared to your new life.

 

I felt like this just an hour ago when my order from AHS came in.

 

yep.. I am approaching my 40th brew and still have a ton to learn.


The good thing is I have made a ton of good brews, some that everyone that has tasted them loved them. My neighbor has declared me his new best friend ( I am getting him started brewing his own)


It is a great hobby/addiction. Itbis great drinking brews you have made. Hearing comments from others that drink your brews, making your own recipes.

Enjoy.

and learn the art of patience....... Time produces the best brews.

 

Guys...I agree. I just brewed my first batch. I have been back to Table Top Brewing, Cincinnati, 4 times since adding to my equipment base. Mostly small stuff like a mash spoon and auto siphon. Next I intend a large purchase like a wort chiller, another Carboy, or a new cornelius keg. I am very addicted already and don't even know how my first batch is going to taste yet. To anyone who doubts the addiction to brewing...you are in for a big stories!!!

 

It's funny after a bunch of years of not being able brew due military obligations, I was very very happy to start brewing again this year. I couldn't believe how much I missed brewing, along with rereading all my brew books and whatnot. Enjoy making your first brew and welcome to many years of addiction.

 

I'm right there with ya! I can't help but check the bucket every morning... I'm going to start a new batch this weekend because I'm getting impatient!

How many brews to folks have going at a time? I'm going to try to do a brew every 2-3 weeks until I can't afford it...

 

I do atleast 2 batches a month, I do more than that and I end up drinking more, and sooner (green beer).

I tried doing one a month and just stretched too thin for me. Also on average I do a strong brew (mead, braggot, barleywine) every 4 months or so, oh and an apfelwein about once every two months.... oh also the experimental brews... I guess I do more than I thought

 

This stuff is probably more addictive than crack!!!!!!!!!!

My first Mr. Beer kit arrived on around September 5th. September 8th first batch was fermenting in the garage two days later I was ordering another kit on Amazon, whilst getting impatient waiting for that kit to arrive I ordered ANOTHER kit!!!!!! Then got a 6.5 Gallon bottling bucket/fermenter. 22nd September started 2 more Mr. Beer 2.5 gallon batches, Saturday 25 did my first 5 Gallon batch..............

Have bottled 4 batches, started 8 batches in total and have tested about 2.5 litres of my inaugural brew. To say that I'm an addict is a bit of an understatement:fro:

Getting up a little earlier every morning to go down and check fermenting temps, swap out bottles of frozen water in the swamp coolers and again check them at night.

The anticipation of trying out my conditioning IPA, Oatmeal Stout and Cowboy lager, is pretty intense but I'm managing to maintain patience

 

the most addictive habit in existence... only bad, bad people do this ( says the guy with 20 gallons fermenting and 25 gallons kegged)

 

Eh, there are more expensive hobbies. Coming from being a guitarist and mountain biker, home brewing expense is the easy justification on the budget. And since I drink mostly Belgian beer, I've probably made back my cost in equipment with beer savings by now.

It is a drain of a perfectly good weekend day, though. ;-)

 

Just think about it as a food budget.You need calories to live and beer is part of that,and probably half your daily intake.But still.. its like food you need it for carbs and energy and stuff? Its not a crack habbit its not ciggarettes, its not hookers,its legal and its beer and God let us make it. Drink responsibly though of course.

 

i work at a store that has all the homebrew stuff you could want, get to talk about it with people pretty frequently (when i working in that part of the store) and i still get just as stoked every time i brew. just brought home the fixings for an irish red, my yeast starter is three days old and i can't wait to get going on it! :cross:

 

WELCOME TO THE BEST HOBBY EVER. The Christmas morning analogy was perfect.

3 kegged, 3 in "secondary" (which really just means I needed a bucket for primary) and 3 in primary. Sometimes more... and thats on top of malting my own barley.

Go all grain and buy in bulk. Now that Im a home maltster to I only spend .30 a pound plus hops

 

I don't look at brewing by how much money it costs, but by how much less expensive it is than comparable microbrews.

NRS

 

Oh yeah! May not be less expensive than keystones... but.. heh for craft beers. If you buy in bulk even better!

 

I don't think the time will be "lost", and I know it will take longer than a year...
thank you all for the good words... I feel like this it going to be quite the ride!

I figure it will take me a year to learn my process, and lifetime to perfect it!

- J

 

First welcome....

Why not get lost in it....its well worth the time and journey....

as for how many brews I keep going: 4 kegged and on tap and 4-5 fermenting away on deck in carboys....all the time. Its perfect, each week I can usually bring something new on tap...

remember its beer and its your own damn beer so its even so there is no way to lose!

 

Home Brewing doesn't have a dynamic rep like "Keith Stone"...
Everybody gets lost in home brewing to some degree. I've brewed 160 gallons since June of 2010. 20 gals given away, 40 gallons in the pipeline (by my best estimate..)

 

It is kinda true you lose alot of time being obsessed with brewing. Losing Alot of time worrying about stupid things when you could be thinking about brewing. Can i get an amen!

 

It's quite the adventure for sure. It hasn't been a year yet for me, I've learned a lot, also learned I have a lot more to learn.

I also went from an inconspicious Mr. Beer kit and cooler to a closet half full of equipment and fermentation fridge for doing 5 gal batches. With the intent of getting more items to either improve or making the process easier.

It doesn't end once you start, but it is rewarding in many ways on many levels.

 

It's not a loss as much as it is a journey. You brew, you never stop learning.

It's a good thing. You take it at your own speed.