How old were you when you started?

[Dragonfly]

I am somewhat of college "partier" but brewing my own beer has given me a new found appreciation for good beer.

Ditto man. When I go to a party & people are drinking the hell out of some natty lite...

I just laugh at them with my 1 liter flip-top bottle of homebrew

But you've got to give some away! That's half the fun of it for me

 

[dancingbarefoot]

I just started brewing, and I'm 28. At least at the homebrew shop I don't get carded.

 

[Walker]

First home brew about a month ago, age 19, but I do not give it away, I drink every bit of it. I am somewhat of college "partier" but brewing my own beer has given me a new found appreciation for good beer.

When I was in college, I would make a 5 gallon batch from a $25 kit and sell it to friends for $1 a bottle. If you unload half of the batch that way, the other half is yours for free. Of course, this is TOTALLY illegal, but I wasn't terribly concerned about the legality of a lot of things when I was in college.

-walker

 

[Dragonfly]

Walker - how did you deal with bottles? Did people actually return them to you? Or were you constantly raiding recycling bins?

 

[Walker]

I was only selling to my friends, and they always returned the bottles to me. They also would save the bottles from any beer they bought in the stores.

I might sell a buddy a 6 pack of homebrew, and the next week he would bring me back more than 6 empties.

-walker

 

[Windaria]

No no no... you weren't selling the beer, you were renting the bottles for $1, the beer just happened to be in them.

 

[Cheesefood]

I was about 15 when I first tried to make an alcoholic beverage. I had no clue what I was supposed to do and ended up tossing a stinky mess of bananas, water and bread yeast in a Cool-Whip container.

Never got around to drinking until my sophomore year of college. I wasn't a big fan of hops in high-school, but did like Hops' cousin (a bit too much).

Always wanted to brew, but didn't get around to it until I turned 30. When I was 19, I did a story for my college TV show where I interviewed a local HBS owner. His story really took interest, but I never had the money to start.

I had asked for a Mr. Beer several times and never got one. Earlier this year, out of boredom I did a search, found an HBS and started making beers which have gotten progressively better.

 

[Driftwood]

This is funny... I didn't realize so many of us are so young and so new to this... the impression I got from my HBS was that beer homebrewers were a dying breed, if I wanted any advice (before I found sites online) I had to ask the old dinosaurs who still did it, guys in there 50s+... started to think no one my age (27) did this stuff...

My HBS is slowly fazing out their beer brewing supplies, going strictly to wine... heh, I was the only guy to ask for specialty grains in 6 months...

Maybe people get bored of it after a while, of give up when the beers don't come out well... Or maybe the older brewers don't know how to use the internet, I don't know. But I see lots of us here have just started in the last year, lets hope we never get tired of it!

P.S. No offense to the dinosaurs... :cross:

 

[justbrewit]

i started about 10 years ago, i brewed one batch before i joined the army, i brewed 2 batches(the same day) once in the barracks. then for some reason i stopped. i guess because i went to an army school, then i got married. i kept trying to start up again buying i piece of equipment here, buying a piece there. then i got deployed. now i'm in germany, land of beer!! (lol) and i choose now to start brewing again.(about 3 months before i leave here) and brewing that batch last night made me fall in love with this hobby all over again! i'm not stopping again. i love the smell of it all when its cooking, i love the smell of hops. we, i'm rambling, you guys get the idea!!!

almost forgot, i was 21 when i brewed my first batch and right now i'm 3 months shy of my 32nd b-day

 

[Windaria]

We have dinosaurs here? Cool... where's my camera, Jurassic park here I come!

<and just for a bit more levity>

http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/cartoons/10-18-2005.gif

Since he is supposed to be the older guy, it always strikes me as funny that they depict him as the dinosaur so often... oh well.

 

[david_42]

In the PNW, they start young and just keep going. Last spring, a guy showed up at the Oregon Brew Crew meeting to sign up. This was the day after his 21st birthday. He had a 4 year old barley wine he brought to share, that he had made. Said he started at 13, because ... he couldn't buy beer legally.

Nice BW as I remember.

 

[El Pistolero]

We have dinosaurs here? Cool...

Well there were...but now we're all lumbering up towards BC to give Driftwood a long, slow, dino butt kicking.

 

[Windaria]

Out of curiosity... do the residents still vandalize and take down those "Entering Houston" signs when you drive into Kingwood?

 

[Tony]

Started at 42.

 

[El Pistolero]

Out of curiosity... do the residents still vandalize and take down those "Entering Houston" signs when you drive into Kingwood?

You mean those signs with the green border and big shotgun holes in the middle? Why would we mess with those?

 

[unionrdr]

I cut teeth on grandma's keg charred moon. Step granddad was a "runner". Started making wine at 15 till about age 30. I was 54 when I started brewing beer.

 

[krackin]

I beat Union by a couple of years.

 

[BucknerBrauhaus]

Wow -- reviving an 8 year old thread!

My first beer was at 2 YO (My grandfather fed them to me to keep me quiet. Since he was a doctor, they must have been medicinal).

My first homebrew (someone elses) I was 36.

My first time brewing, I was 50.

 

[Glynn]

I brewed my first batch in 1993 at the tender age of 33

 

[hungry4hops]

Started at 27, my brother got me a starter kit as a wedding gift

 

[SteveHeff]

I was 25 and introduced to brewing by a friend in Switzerland. I was hooked. Been brewing on my own for the last 4 years.

 

[Sudsy426]

For my 31st birthday, this past May my wife bought me a nice beginners kit from a lhbs. I am soon realizing I will be pouring money into this hobby for a long time.cheers

 

[sfgoat]

Parents bought me a starter kit for my 19th birthday 8 years ago. Been brewing since.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

First beer I was probably 19, first time homebrewing I was 28.

 

[Clonefan94]

I started at age 41. I'm 42 now. Just coming up on the one year anniversary of my first brew. It's crazy how much I've learned in one year. Even scarier is to have all the notes and realize how much beer I have drank in that year.

 

[seph]

I was 33, started about this time last year.

 

[bobeer]

I had my first taste of beer when I was about 10 years old. I started homebrewing at 29, I'm now 31. My 3 hobbies are brewing, guitar and modding my f150 truck. They are all money pits but bring so much joy to my life!! Cheers!

 

[wickman6]

I started with wine, when I was 21. Then quickly decided to brew, also when I was 21. I'm 33 now, but took a 5 year hiatus ending 3 years ago. Now I'm addicted to the process again!

 

[DrewschBag]

I started when I was 23. I wonder how many brewer's went on hiatus after the birth of their first born?

 

[Kolsch_Meister]

I started at 59 with a fermenter that my son in law gave me..