Hello from Houston, TX

Robert_B · Jul 6, 2009

Hey guys. Here's the obligatory introduction post:

I acquired a taste for good beer while serving in the military and travelling the world. My friends all label me a "beer snob"...

I've taken an interest in brewing my own as a means to a delicious beer that doesn't involve paying $12+ a bottle. So, I bought a book and started poking around online, gathering information and trying to decide what to buy and how to start. Here's where I am:

My local home brew shop sells a kit that appears pretty decent, with a 6 gallon plastic bucket for fermentation, 5 gal glass carboy for secondary, hydrometer, airlocks, thermometer, sanitizer, and so on. I'm leaning towards starting out brewing from grains, or at least a malt extract (not the canned stuff, is what I'm getting at) and kegging the end result (wife isn't excited about storing/saving/cleaning hundreds of empty bottles) for dispensing from a home-made kegerator (yet to be constructed, of course). I'll probably start accumulating equipment here soon and dive right in. I'm sure I'll be around here to pick your collective brain.

Any pointers/anecdotes/advice would be greatly appreciated, and I look forward to starting this new hobby and driving my wife nuts!

:mug:

user 30639 · Jul 6, 2009

Always good to see more Texans. Welcome.

Arkador · Jul 7, 2009

Another Texan for the grinder!

Robert_B said:
My local home brew shop sells a kit that appears pretty decent, with a 6 gallon plastic bucket for fermentation, 5 gal glass carboy for secondary, hydrometer, airlocks, thermometer, sanitizer, and so on. I'm leaning towards starting out brewing from grains, or at least a malt extract (not the canned stuff, is what I'm getting at) and kegging the end result (wife isn't excited about storing/saving/cleaning hundreds of empty bottles) for dispensing from a home-made kegerator (yet to be constructed, of course). I'll probably start accumulating equipment here soon and dive right in. I'm sure I'll be around here to pick your collective brain.

Any pointers/anecdotes/advice would be greatly appreciated, and I look forward to starting this new hobby and driving my wife nuts!

I started with the same equipemnt, that will be everything you need to start extract brewing. That setup should cost you somewhere near $80-100 dollars.

I would bottle a few batches to make sure you enjoy the hobby before going nuts on the kegorator, but will admit, my keezer has renewed my love for brewing, and was worth the $500 to assemble (all new parts)

texmedic49 · Jul 7, 2009

Howdy from Pearland!

These guys on here are a wealth of info.

DragonTail · Jul 8, 2009

Welcome

Robert_B · Jul 14, 2009

Arkador said:
Another Texan for the grinder!

I started with the same equipemnt, that will be everything you need to start extract brewing. That setup should cost you somewhere near $80-100 dollars.

I would bottle a few batches to make sure you enjoy the hobby before going nuts on the kegorator, but will admit, my keezer has renewed my love for brewing, and was worth the $500 to assemble (all new parts)

Yeah, I'm mainly skipping the bottling due to space constraints, and planning a build similar to something I saw on these forums (keezer on bottom, fermentation/lagering chamber up top). I'm sure it's ambitious, but I love beer and doubt I'll tire of the hobby in a week. Plus, once I get past the initial outlay, it'll be cheaper than buying beer. My wife calls me a princess 'cause I can't stomach the cheap domestic garbage...I have a penchant for the pricey german imports.