Boy oh boy... settle down. Hehe. It's like you've got your mind all made up, you know what you're good at, you know what you know, and you know what will work for you. Alas, I fear, you may be missing out on the good advice of people in the process.
Me, I know little of brewing beer, but I know there is a natural progression to things. There is a cycle to life. And you should follow it. There is a reason for it. You suggested making wine in the summer. But I suggest making it in the late fall- you know... around the time that grapes are harvested. Doesn't that make sense? Aren't fresh grapes better than 9 month old grapes? I always thought so. Brew lagers in the winter when temps are colder. Ales in the summer. And shoot firecrackers on the Fourth of July. It makes sense, right?
Ok, you agree that there's a progression to these things. Well there's also a progression and a cycle in learning a new skill. Don't get too ahead of yourself. Like you, I'm not starting with a "kit"... just some recipes. But besides that, I'm keeping my ambitions low- because I'm already sticking my neck out by not going with a kit. And I'm reading a HELL of a lot before I even get started. And I'm drinking a lot too.. but I prefer, of course, to call it "research".
So my advice is to Read Read Read. Don't question or disagree with ANYTHING you read until you've either got a solid experiential reason for disagreeing, you've read contradicting information from experts, or you truly feel that to follow the advice would result in a danger to yourself or others.
Here's how I see your current situation. You like Mass-Porduced Ice Beer. You've tried Sam Adams. And those are you basis for deciding your objectives. But as I see it, you still have sooo much more tasting to do! In the past three weeks, I have sampled over 34 different beers.
At one brewpub, I had a sampler of 10 beers.
At another brewpub, I had two 6-beer samplers.
Those were small glasses ~2.5 ounces each. Nothing big.
Last night my gf brought me a sampler 6 pack from Bell's. We shared it and it is now gone.
I had a Summit ESB
I had a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA.
Those were the Microbrews. In addition, I also had a Paulaner Salvator, a Warsteiner Dunkel, a Budweiser, and a Goose Island Bourbon County Stout.
Only five of those were full beers- the others, I shared, split, or got in a small sample size.
Seriously, if Sam Adams is your benchmark for good beer, you have a LOT of learning that you can do before you start brewing. This will greatly accelerate your education. That isn't to say you can't, or shouldn't, just go for it. I'm just saying that it doesn't sound to me like you have an appreciation for the variety that exists out there.
Bottom line, if Ice Beer and Sam Adams are what you are trying to shoot for then, flavorwise, you are on the weak end of beer drinking. I fear you may simply not like flavorful beers at all. Reduce your Malt to about 3 or 4 pounds and use some rice syrup to increase the alcohol volume... at least until you learn what you like.
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