How did you get into home brewing?

[Idrum6969]

Mr Beer started this adventure for me. Unlike "The Jelly Of The Month Club" this gift really did keep on giving the whole year through. Once I got a feel for the process I picked up a couple books. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing & How To Brew. I bought enough gear to move up to a 5 gal extract beer. I have never looked back......... I owe some motivation to Dawson, Keeler & Walton on Brew TV as well. Those guys shared some useful info that I use every time I brew. I also have expensive taste in my beer. I figured in the long run I could make beers I liked for about the cost of two six packs. Little did I know the investment I would have in this hobby. How bout you? What made you jump into the world of homebrew?

 

[Braufessor]

Always loved beer, got hooked on trying all different types of beer toward the last couple years of college. About 3 years out of college, my best friend started brewing/ working occasional shifts in a microbrewery.... I was quickly on board, immediately hooked, and putting together my homebrew setup - ordered it from Williams Brewing. Started with extract for maybe 10 batches and then went all-grain. And now ..... closing in on 17-18 years of brewing.

 

[wickman6]

I started with a winemaking equipment kit, and a Riesling. I made a few wines from kits, then branched out to fruit wines thanks to Jack Kellers website.

Beer was always on the horizon, but I was intimidated I must say. I read up on the process and quickly realized I already had nearly everything to make the jump. The internet was a baby compared to now, so info wasn't so readily available as it is now. After some digging I decided I can do it, with the help of Midwest Supplies and their extract kits.

I brewed a few of those, then went all grain. The rest is history.

 

[Onihige]

I think I've mentioned this elsewhere, or at least parts of it. But oh, well...

It all started at my sisters wedding, several years back. They were serving mead for the toast. I think it was a spiced mead, smelled like gingerbread cookies. And as soon as I had my first sip of mead, I knew I had to make some of my own!

I started researching, but not enough. My first recipe barely came with enough information and it didn't turn out well.

Then my father handed me a beer making book, in Swedish... from the 90's. It was quite outdated, but it opened my eyes to the fact that I hardly knew anything about a beverage I had dismissed as something inferior.

So I started buying all kinds of beer, everything from American lagers to domestic porters and English Brown Ales.

Newcastle Brown Ale was the first one I really liked, but nowdays I can't stand it. But I suspect I got a bad bottle last time...

All grain seemed complicated (HOW WRONG I WAS!) so I decided to try Coopers Real Ale kit, failed yet again.

Next time I bought 4 kg of DME, some Hallertau Mittelfrüh and White Labs London Ale. Epic success!

Then I found out about BIAB, and I felt stupid for not starting there.

Read up some more, then my father also wanted to brew. So I taught him, which in turn helped me understand brewing even more.

 

[Idrum6969]

I think I've mentioned this elsewhere, or at least parts of it. But oh, well...

It all started at my sisters wedding, several years back. They were serving mead for the toast. I think it was a spiced mead, smelled like gingerbread cookies. And as soon as I had my first sip of mead, I knew I had to make some of my own!

I started researching, but not enough. My first recipe barely came with enough information and it didn't turn out fell.

Then my father handed me a beer making book, in Swedish... from the 90's. It was quite outdated, but it opened my eyes to the fact that I hardly knew anything about a beverage I had dismissed as something inferior.

So I started buying all kinds of beer, everything from American lagers to domestic porters and English Brown Ales.

Newcastle Brown Ale was the first one I really liked, but nowdays I can't stand it. But I suspect I got a bad bottle last time...

All grain seemed complicated (HOW WRONG I WAS!) so I decided to try Coopers Real Ale kit, failed yet again.

Next time I bought 4 kg of DME, some Hallertau Mittelfrüh and White Labs London Ale. Epic success!

Then I found out about BIAB, and I felt stupid for not starting there.

Read up some more, then my father also wanted to brew. So I taught him, which in turn helped me understand brewing even more.

I went through the process of trying all sorts of beer to get ideas of what I wanted to brew as well. Where I live we have a limited market on craft brew or micro brews. It has gotten better in the last few years...... And I to like the BIAB as well. That may be my favorite method of brewing these days.

 

[zacster]

There was a shop in NYC called "The Little Shop of Hops" that was across the street from Lord & Taylor, the big department store. I bought a kit there, buckets, capper, racking cane, bottle wand, hydrometer, and extract ingredients, and gave it a try. My first batch came out OK, I tried a few more and they kept getting better. It was something for me to do with a 2 year old in the house. I used bleach to sanitize, and would lay out paper towels on top of my table to put all the equipment down. I did it for a few years and then stopped, I think because we then had twins and just had our hands full.

About 10 years later, one of my twin daughters needed a science project, and somehow we came up with fermentation. I looked for the homebrew shop and it had long ago closed, and there were no others in NYC. I found one out in Bayshore LI, and drove out, picked up a new kit since most of my old equipment wasn't usable as it sat in a damp basement, and started again. Then I found the online shops, then 2 new homebrew shops opened in Brooklyn, with the Whole Foods also opening up a homebrew section. I've moved up to BIAB, kegging, and my next thing is to grow my own hops!

 

[Conan]

Some pretty cool intro stories, folks!

My roommate in college mentioned one day that we should just brew our own beer. We split a starter kit from MidWest (Night-cap Cherry Stout), we started collecting bottles, and brewed the sucker. I still remember the day the we opened the boxes. We burned our boil kettle one day when it was cold out and had to stop brewing for a couple years. In 2011 I started again and have been AG ever since. It's probably my most-loved hobby currently. Kyle

 

[fergyrock]

My wife heard about our local HBS talking with some co-workers and decided to get me a basic home brew setup for my birthday and said I need a hobby that keeps me thinking, learning, at home more and doesn't injure me (that's if you don't count the boilover burn from my first stovetop batch ).

I have always loved creating things and typically only drink bigger, hoppy and unfortunately more expensive beers so it was a perfect match. I am only about a 15 brews in but I was quickly hooked and made the investment to brew AG after my first 5 batches. SWMBO knows what best for me and I am lucky she is so supportive.

 

[osagedr]

Was a member of a wine club where we all made kits. One day one of my clubmates was talking about making a beer kit. Told me beer kits had come a long way so I decided to try one. Moved from kits to extracts to AG and never looked back. Retired from making wine now!

 

[adiochiro3]

I love to cook and BBQ, and occasionally thought about trying my hand at brewing. SWMBO frowned disapprovingly whenever I mentioned it because "You have enough hobbies."

Unexpectedly ran into an old friend of mine at his garage sale last fall. He was dumping his home-brew kit because he "didn't have the patience for it." Gave it to me in exchange for a six pack of my first batch. Hellofa deal, IMHO. SWMBO rolled her eyes, but could hardly object at the price. His kit had everything but the ingredients. Got the kit on Saturday, and was brewing Sunday afternoon.

BTW, SWMBO loves the aroma of brewing wort and has loved every style I've brewed so far! :rockin:

 

[Hackwood]

I had been thinking of brewing my own beer for 10+ years. Finally decided to make the jump early last year. Brewer's Best kits for 10+ that were all good-great besides one that I "messed with". Doing all-grain now, 10 gallon batches and splitting half and half into kegs and bottles.

LOVIN' IT!

 

[ThaBuddhahood]

Worked with this guy that gave me a brewing kit, so I started saving bottles, and worked up to a BB kit. This guy can be a real prick sometimes , hahaha..., but I consider him a good friend , greatly appreciate his support , and advice. Now converting to all grain 10 gallon batches, kegging , and bottling also.

 

[Walking_Target]

Started out as a kid helping my dad out; that stopped when I was about 12 at the same time we moved to another city.

At about 17 I picked up medieval re-creation as a hobby, which lead to tons of research into traditional mead and cider, as well as a few illicit batches. The farmer's market and online shopping really are amazing....

I was just turning 19 when I got into extract brewing (legal drinking age is 19 here) and this opened up all the home brew shops to me; been doing extract and meads off and on since then, and have just recently broken into the world of all-grain brewing and kegging.

Really, it boils down (pun intended) to preserving knowledge. My area of the country, almost nobody home brews, they do it at "brew your own" shops. I can see in another 10 years that in this area, home brewing will become another near-lost artfrom.

 

[mosquitocontrol]

I got a kit for my husband for his birthday. He was never really interested in brewing so it was a free gift for me! 3 years and a lot of batches later he got more interested in the process and now he brews by himself occasionally.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

where I grew up, you had cheap beer (Busch & Busch Light) and expensive beer (Bud & Bud Light). when I was a teenager, I found flavor: Guinness & Fat Tire. I always knew my grandpa & granny used to make beer and my other grandpa used to make wine (and an occasional beer), but I never really thought about doing it myself. I moved to Vegas in '99 & worked with a machinist that brewed. he invited me over for a brew & bottle day. next payday we went down to the HBS got hooked up with equipment & a stout kit. the stout ended up nasty through many faults of my own. never gave up & never looked back.

 

[Beernik]

The LHBS donated starter equipment kits to the NPR station fund raiser. I think I had to donate $75 to the station to get it. Then my wife gave me two recipe kits for my birthday.

 

[Nightshade]

Times got tight and we had to move to where we are so I could find work. Ended up getting hired kn at a brewpub as a cook...I hate cooking as a job, just don't like that aspect of cooking.

So after a few months I learned some of the guys there brewed together so I asked if I could sit in on a session or two and learn brewing. Sat in on a few portions of brews due to work schedule issues but found it fascinating as a process, so I read about process, grains, recipes and hops.

Then the brewer at work left and a position needed filling, so I volunteered. Couple weeks worth of crash course brewing lessons on the equipment and I was now the brewer. Two months later I was designing and brewing my own recipes alongside our regular brews.

Now that I finally have all my gear together I am brewing three gallon batches at home and have been doing this for the last two months.

Yeah I did it a bit backwards, but I love it all the same

 

[Yaason]

I've been a fan of beer and the processes of making it and I always wanted to get into brewing my own at some point. The catalyst for getting me to finally start was when I saw "Beer Wars" in the theater. Went to the LHBS the next day and got a kit. Been putting money into this wonderful hobby ever since.

 

[DaNewf]

Started drinking Young's Double Chocolate Stout. Loved it but hard on the wallet. I started looking on the internet to see how hard/expensive it would be to make something similar. I was just curious really and not expecting anything to come of it but I happened across the Craigtube Easy Home Brewing videos. I thought to myself "that does look easy". So I bought the Cooper's DIY and gave it a try. That was last december.

In the past year or so I've done 4 wine kits, 2 1 gallon all grain batchs, 3 5 gallon, partial mash batches, 4 1 gallon hard ciders and a bunch of Cooper's canned kits. It's a fun hobby and most of the beer I made is at least as good as the cheaper stuff (if you can call $2.00 a bottle cheap) I drank before I got hooked on Young's.

 

[GrogNerd]

this article (that I still have) from the April '93 issue of Details magazine

after I got out of the Navy, late '93, I brewed 6 or 7 batches, mostly extract with steeping, but I did one 15-gallon partial-mash before I moved to a smaller place and had to leave my equipment at my dad's.

for 18 years.

back into it last October and have 6 more batches under my belt.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Started brewing Christmas day 2011 with the Mr Beer kit my wife gave me as a present. I'm very hands on and didn't feel like I was really brewing with their kits, so after 4 Mr Beer batches I jumped into 5gallon all grain batches. I have started enterering competitions and earning medals and basically become obsessed with brewing. Before I started to brew my go-to beer was PBR and boy have my tastes and beer budget expanded since then!

 

[zmanzorro]

I had a few buddies that homebrewed in college. So when I graduated and moved for a job, I picked up The Joy of Homebrewing and got started from there.

 

[Spicemon1972]

I've loved beer since I was 16 and took a two week trip to Europe (The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland & Austria) with my high school choir. When I got home, my dad said "Well, I guess you had some beer while you were over there, so here you go." and handed me a Busch Light in a can. I took one sip, made the bitter beer face and said thanks but no thanks.
Fast forward a few years and I went to college and drank some pretty awful commercial beers - I call this my dark period.
In my 20's I got really interested in good beer and started buying the better craft brews and imports whenever I could. I built up a palette and was enjoying myself quite a bit. Never once did I think of brewing my own.
Add 18 years and my neighbor, also a beer nerd, invites me to a local "learn to brew" day. I was hooked! Within weeks I had bought a starter kit and my first extract kit and it has been pure beer love ever since. I have been brewing for about a year now and I love the whole process - recipe creation, brew day, bottling - each part has become something I do with great joy.
This year, I will be moving to All Grain to gain even more control of the process.

 

[Disintegr8or]

I like beer, I was bored one weekend and needed a new hobby.
Since I like to make things, I read about home brewing all weekend and ordered a starter kit on the following Monday.

 

[Toga]

I always wanted to try brewing batch of beer. One night I was watching good eats with my wife and the homebrew episode aired. It re-sparked the interest and I told her I would love to try it one day provided we had room to do so. Well fast forward a few years and a move to a house with enough room.... she remembered and surprised me with a kit for xmas. I have been brewing up a storm ever since starting with extract and worked my way to all grain.

 

[Conelrad]

Some friends from work homebrew and kept trying to get me into starting myself. I said, why should I start brewing when I can just go your houses and drink your beer!
Well they keep the peer pressure up for a few months and I finally caved. Went straight to kegging and having lots of fun. Have a few trips to the UK and Europe under my belt so I appreciate the "good" beer. It's nice to be able to make it yourself.

 

[NewJersey]

ive always liked beer, have bartended for a decade, and started to talk about doing it in 2010. at that time the only store that sold homebrew supplies was like 40 min away. (boohoo, right? lol)
last summer a great lhbs store opened up literally 1 min from my house! a friend and i brewed partial mash beers at his store and bought the equipment necessary to turn my spare fridge into a kegerator. big outlay, but screw bottling.
as soon as i had my kegerator setup my mind was made up. i dropped a wad of cash on my setup and have brewed a dozen beers since the summer. love it
i daydream of opening a brewpub/restaurant on the reg now. ugh
i love reading about/making beer as much as i enjoy consuming it!

 

[Idrum6969]

A lot of use got intro brewing for the same reasons. The first time I made beer I was hooked! It has turned into a obsession for me. It is one of the most rewarding labors of love......

 

[E-Bot]

Well for one my Grampa was a winemaker and was pretty fond of drinking. It makes me feel a little closer to him now that he's gone.

What really got me to get in to it was taking a microbiology class last semester. I was having so much fun with it that I started thinking I needed to have a hobby involving microbiology. My class actually took a tour of Swamp Head brewery and that's when I decided I would make beer instead of trying to culture B. anthracis

 

[Butchv12]

I got started in the early 90's --- a can of extract and 5 pound bag of sugar. Don't laugh..... you can make a better beer than B/M/C using this method. There were not many shops then and the internet was fairly new --- most of my ingredients came from ads in the back of magazines. Wow have things changed since then.

I started brewing because it was a cheap way to drink beer --- I have continued to brew because it's a fantastic way to always have GOOD beer in the fridge.

I have been all grain for the past 10 years or so, and just recently started making 10 gallon batches.....