Well, actually from Richmond, TX. Just south of the Westpark Tollway just east of Mason Road. SWMBO and I moved to the 'burbs a couple of years ago.
I'm Jeff, and I've been lurking around here for awhile (quite a while, actually), but just recently started posting.
A bit of background: I started homebrewing my freshman year in college, though I can't remember what actually got me interested in it. (It was a Mountmellick can with some additional LME, pellet hops, and a Nottingham dry yeast. I remember being shocked that it actually tasted like beer - pretty good beer, actually - when it was finished.) I brewed throughout college, and worked at DeFalco's home brew supply shop my senior year. (Easily the best job I ever had, btw.) I continued to brew for the next few years (2 years of work, 2 years of grad school), but then tapered off... I guess I started brewing in 1991-2 and eventually tapered off in the early 2000's. I'm slowly working my way back into it, though. I brewed an attempt at a dry Irish stout for St. Patty's Day 2010 (it was tasty, but a touch too high OG and I never got the "corny in a 10-gallon cooler with ice nitro system" quite balanced), but haven't brewed again yet for want of equipment (meaning a kegerator, 'cuz I'm too lazy to wash all those bottles)...
Happily, SWMBO is allowing a keezer build for my 40th bday present, so I'm planning to ramp back up.
Love me some Guinness, and looking forward to perfecting a "Dry Texas Stout" and keeping it on tap at all times. I basically wanna make Guinness with just a touch more chocolate.
I started off an extract brewer, and I quickly moved on to partial grain, but I pretty much stayed there... The "major" improvements to my beer came from using better yeasts, and occasionally, bottled water. I am, however, interested in going all grain at some point. I've noticed my homebrews tend to leave a sticky residue in the glass that I don't get (or notice?) in commercial beers - will going all grain "fix" that "problem?" Or is it more an issue of incomplete fermentations or water chemistry? (I've always just fermented at Houston room temp, around 72. You'd think that'd be warm enough to get whatever sugars were going to ferment to do so, particularly with yeasts like Nottingham or even Chico.) I guess I'm after a really "clean" beer - anybody ever have the Houston Brewery's Pale Ale and IPA when it was open in Houston? Some of the best beer I ever drank.
At any rate, I'm here, looking forward to contributing something at some point, and very thankful for the site and all the great information y'all share here.
-j
I'm Jeff, and I've been lurking around here for awhile (quite a while, actually), but just recently started posting.
A bit of background: I started homebrewing my freshman year in college, though I can't remember what actually got me interested in it. (It was a Mountmellick can with some additional LME, pellet hops, and a Nottingham dry yeast. I remember being shocked that it actually tasted like beer - pretty good beer, actually - when it was finished.) I brewed throughout college, and worked at DeFalco's home brew supply shop my senior year. (Easily the best job I ever had, btw.) I continued to brew for the next few years (2 years of work, 2 years of grad school), but then tapered off... I guess I started brewing in 1991-2 and eventually tapered off in the early 2000's. I'm slowly working my way back into it, though. I brewed an attempt at a dry Irish stout for St. Patty's Day 2010 (it was tasty, but a touch too high OG and I never got the "corny in a 10-gallon cooler with ice nitro system" quite balanced), but haven't brewed again yet for want of equipment (meaning a kegerator, 'cuz I'm too lazy to wash all those bottles)...
Happily, SWMBO is allowing a keezer build for my 40th bday present, so I'm planning to ramp back up.
Love me some Guinness, and looking forward to perfecting a "Dry Texas Stout" and keeping it on tap at all times. I basically wanna make Guinness with just a touch more chocolate.I started off an extract brewer, and I quickly moved on to partial grain, but I pretty much stayed there... The "major" improvements to my beer came from using better yeasts, and occasionally, bottled water. I am, however, interested in going all grain at some point. I've noticed my homebrews tend to leave a sticky residue in the glass that I don't get (or notice?) in commercial beers - will going all grain "fix" that "problem?" Or is it more an issue of incomplete fermentations or water chemistry? (I've always just fermented at Houston room temp, around 72. You'd think that'd be warm enough to get whatever sugars were going to ferment to do so, particularly with yeasts like Nottingham or even Chico.) I guess I'm after a really "clean" beer - anybody ever have the Houston Brewery's Pale Ale and IPA when it was open in Houston? Some of the best beer I ever drank.
At any rate, I'm here, looking forward to contributing something at some point, and very thankful for the site and all the great information y'all share here.
-j
