Fast progression through brewing

[g-love]

I was just sitting here reading HBT, which has become pretty much all I do with my free time these days.....

I started reading about brewing in July and I haven't stopped since I started. I have read the Complete Joy of HB, most of How to Brew, and I just started the Homebrewers Companion. I brewed my first batch 2 weeks ago, and then another last weekend, and I am planning on doing a 3rd this weekend. I am pretty much reading and listening to anything brewing related I can get my hands on....... I can see this becoming "my thing." I find myself interested in the science and the art of brewing.

I am sure people have moved through this hobby pretty quickly and become awesome at it. I was just wondering if anyone had any really cool stories about how fast they went coupled with improved quality of beer. I am sure lots of people have brewed tons of beer quickly but that doesn't mean that it was good beer.......

Anyone start off from nothing and open a brew pub in a short time frame, or start a nano brewery? How about going to work for a commercial brewery because of their interest in the hobby?

 

[munche]

I started brewing in like...March-April, and I just finished my Kegerator with a 4 tap system and I've got 4 fermenters.

So yeah, i've progressed pretty fast I guess

I mean I don't own a brewpub, but you know, goals.

 

[g-love]

It's funny you mention the 4 tap keg system, because kegging is my next step. I asked SWMBO how many beers we should keep on tap at a time and she said 5. I f'ing love that chick!

 

[cheier]

I just started in October by just throwing myself into it with some beer kits. I'm still doing 23 liter beer kits at the moment, and I've put my 6th batch of beer in the fermenter this week. I've mostly invested in gear for kegging, and bottling from kegs. I decided to go the route of making sure I can handle the process of fermentation and serving before I start investing in gear to do all grain brewing.

I've since started reading through a bunch of books. Haven't finished any of them yet, but my list and progress are:

Tasting Beer (16%)
Brewing Up a Business (1%)
Brewing Classic Styles (12%)
The Complete Joy of Homebrewing (20%)
How to Brew (4%)
Beer School (14%)

My current brewing status is:

Festa Brew Brown Ale - Finished drinking and gifting
Brew House Honey Blonde Ale - Bottled and just started drinking
Festa Brew Double Oatmeal Stout - Kegged and bottled
Brew House Winterfest Ale - Kegged last night
Festa Brew Continental Pilsner - Fermenting in carboy
Baron's Canadian Golden Ale - Fermenting in primary

My goal when I get my gear for doing grains is to try and do at least 1 batch a week. I'm hoping for that to be in January.

 

[zanemoseley]

I've actually gone out of my way to not get too deep too quick with brewing. I find myself getting overly interested in hobbies and buy tons of crap but my interest fizzles out at some point. I'm trying to take it slow especially with big ticket items and enjoy the process. With that said I am still brewing 10g AG batches and have recently gotten into lagering with a dedicated/controlled 15 cu/ft chamber and I also have a keezer. But I got decent deals on most of my equipment and try to avoid the big dollar items with the bling. BTW I'm approaching my 2 yr brewing anniversary.

 

[g-love]

I hear ya on the buying of all the crap. I have done the same thing with my other hobbies. I feel like this one will last though because the one constant through my other hobbies is that I've always enjoyed good beer.....

My personal intention is not necessarily to move super fast. I am just alway amazed at what some people can do when they set their mind to something. I've never had that kind of self control.

 

[Nickme23]

I started getting interested in brewing about 2 years ago, brewed my first batch 3 or 4 months ago, started with an extract kit that was great, second batch was an AG attempt that I messed everything up you can name, slight lacto problem, turned out fine cause I added some fruit and made an awesome cherry brown ale that tastes like a piece of cherry pie no joke. The third and fourth batches were done on the same day, both AG, Hefe and a Mild. Kegged them both after a week in primary. Both were Uh-Mazing. Brewed another mild about 3 weeks ago, I have that keg almost drained. It's the best beer I've ever tasted. I just brewed my 6th batch (Northern English Brown) and I've hit my numbers spot on, still in primary, been a week and hopefully I'll be drinking it next weekend. I have a brown ale planned for monday that is my first completely original recipe (we'll see how that goes). So I've brewed 6 times in probably 4 months and I'm already brewing beer that is at least as good as most commercial stuff I've tasted and to be honest I think it's better than almost any commercial brew I've ever had. I'm about to sell my truck and buy enough grain for a year, a couple Blichman kettles and some other equipment to help me get a little more precise in my brewing and upgrade from the 2 tap keggerator I made to a 6 tap keezer. I think I'm making great progress. So do the people who've tasted my beer!

 

[Mermaid]

LOL Funny you should say that. I brewed my first batch in May. It was an extract kit with steeped grains I bought from NB. I fell down the basement stairs and broke my ankle on what was supposed to be my second brew day.
Second batch was a partial mash dubbel brewed at the beginning of August.
Third batch was a partial mash of Rogue's "Dead Guy" ale.
Fourth batch - My first AG recipe, a Belgian honey blond, is going to get bottled tomorrow.

I do absolutely plan on continuing to brew AG, smaller batches since I don't have the space to do larger AG batches, nor the space for a kegerator / lagering setup.

However, it's definitely in my future plans.

If I won the lottery and/or came into some money, I would open a Bed & Breakfast with a brew pub attached. Thinking how much fun it would be to enjoy comfort food and a pint or two, then walk back to the B&B and settle in for a restful sleep. If I had a pile of money I would definitely take some classes at Siebel.

 

[wonderbread23]

I like the fact that you've read a lot before getting too deep into it. It'll help you prevent a lot of mistakes new brewers make. Personally, I've been brewing for nearly 2 years (and have done about 30 batches over that time). I'm a bit of a research nerd and have read probably about a dozen books, spent way too much time on this forum, and listened to 100's of hours of The Brewing Network podcasts. Obsessed... possibly. Next big expenditure... NHC 2011.