Brewing in Southern Oregon

[Stonearm]

I got my first introduction to homebrewing about 13 years ago in the autumn when a coworker mentioned they were going to be brewing some beer in the next couple of days. My response was "Wow cool. Can I come over and see how it is done?" It was a magical day for me. I'll never forget the memories especially the magical aroma that occurs when malt and hops meet in the brew kettle. I ended up playing brewer's assistant throughout the process over many batches and several months. I ended up changing jobs and getting a work schedule that didn't mesh too well with my friend's brew schedule. So brewing ended up falling by the wayside.

When this autumn rolled around my thoughts returned to the happy moments I had when I when I was involved in making beer. I picked up Charlie's book the next time I hit the bookstore out of nostalgia since that was my mentor's bible when I was assisting them. The next nudge to get back into brewing arrived in this month's val-pak mailing. My LHBS had a coupon for starter brewing equipment kits well below any price I'd seen them for. Factors were aligning. Now all I needed was blessings from SWMBO. I ran it by her and the response was favorable.

Last weekend I brewed not my first batch, but my first batch on my own.

It was a learning experience. I'm looking forward to getting it into bottles so I can get another brew day underway, hopefully with less stress and some homebrew on hand to facilitate RDWHAHB.

 

[david_42]

Welcome and don't forget to make something for her. This is the right time to make cider.

 

[Gristulin]

so stonearm, what did you brew? was it a kit? extract, partial mash or did you dive head first into ag? 13 years is a long vacation! welcome back!
zac
btw, imo this is the best forum out there! dont be afraid to ask q's, even the ones you think are silly. people are alway more than willing to help.

 

[Stonearm]

Went all extract for a pale ale from a recipe of my own devising, and some feedback from the proprietor of the LHBS. I wanted to ease my way back into things.

Next batch is likely to be a hard cider. Am thinking of a blend of apple and pear.

Pears are big here in the Rogue Valley, so I should not have much issue sourcing some local pears and/or juice.

 

[cjmcfoot]

Howdy and welcome,
I am brewing here in Medford myself. The LHBS you speak of must be Bob's store. (Grains Beans and Things?) He is great and he will really help you out. I do all-grain 10 gallon batches and it definitely takes more than one guy to pull it off. You should join the local homebrew club here as well. Have a great one, enjoy your time here on HBT.

 

[BrewToppers]

Welcome fellow Oregonian! Does Ashland have a LHBS or does everyone go to Grains Beans & Things?

Cheers,
Ben

 

[cjmcfoot]

No LHBS in Ashland that I know of. I do know they just opened one in KFalls.

 

[Stonearm]

There are three LHBS in driving distance.
Grains Beans & Things
Herman's Homebrew
Black Bird market

I prefer GBT because of location and that Bob is friendly and knowledgeable. GBT also caters to anothoer of my vices: Coffee. Once I get a proper beer pipeline going I think I'm going to get into home coffee roasting as GBT has some very nice home roasters for sale.

I've been to Herman's Homebrew and just didn't really get a good impression off of things. Nothing specific.

Black Bird doesn't really count as a LHBS. They are a medium sized general goods store ranging from guns & knives, to clothing, and just about everything else in between. They do sell brewing supplies, but it is more of a retail handling of things in terms of it is just another department. It lacks in the fact that there is nobody around just to answer brewing related questions or to talk beer with.

 

[RedRiver]

I didn't know that there was anything other than Herman's and Black Bird. I'll have to check out Grains Beans & Things. Thanks for this post.

We don't have anything down in Yreka.