my name is smears, and i'm an alcoholic

[smears]

Like the title says, my name is smears, and I'm an alcoholic.

I hit rock bottom right around the time they legalized good beer in Alabama, and I realized that I could never purchase as much as I like to consume.

Rather than pimp myself for more beer money, I started to make my own beer. Believe it or not, it actually saves time over pimping myself.

Because I am a noob, I have only brewed with extract. This is also the case because I do all my brewing in a small apartment, on a stove and I keep the buckets of beer just sitting around my living room.

I've done nine batches so far, (5 gallons of course). I'm about to do my 10th.

Nice to meet you guys.

Glad to be here.

 

[o4_srt]

Welcome! All grain can be done on the stove, in a pot. Check out the brew in a bag (BIAB) method.

 

[gregger]

Don't worry man! Brewing only with extract doesn't mean you are a noob really, and being a noob, doesn't mean you can only brew with extract! Plenty of good brewers brew in the confines of a small apartment. I just stumbled across this thread which may help with the process if it gets difficult with limited space....

 

[SDMBREW]

I'm an alchy too. I brew all grain because its cheaper than extract which means more beer and I get drunk more often. Its win win. Cheers welcome to the forum.

 

[smears]

You guys all make very good points.

 

[smears]

So I feel like I've gotten alot of valuable information from this site. I totally appreciate you guys. So, I'm gonna give some information myself, even though the value of it may be almost 0.

My girlfriend for my birthday last year got me the equipment kit to brew my own beer. End of August 2010 I brewed my first batch. Since then, I have not purchased a single beer. No bottles, no cans, no pints, no nothing. I have only drank beer that I made at home.
I'm not sure if I'm brewing about as often as the average brewer, or if I need to brew more to catch up, or if I'm already brewing more than average. I literally know almost nothing about homebrewing, or homebrewers other than myself. I'll try and chat here more so that I can become more assimilated into the culture.

For now, a bit of information about myself and my brewing preferences.
1st brew- true brew double ipa kit. boiled the grains, tannins yeah yeah yeah, drank the beer, loved it anyway.
Since then I've followed directions more closely, I've learned how to control temps better, I've experimented w/ some hops and w/ adding a bunch more extract. So far, I've been happy w/ everything I've made. Some may not have been ideal, but to my untrained palette it was all good.
I've also brewed, (not in order)
Rouge Imperial IPA clone (AHS)
True Brew Oaked Imperial Stout kit
Brewers Best Imperial Nut Brown kit
Brewers Best Imperial Pale Ale
Brewer's Best Russian Imperial Stout
Yeti Imperial Stout clone (AHS)
Magic Hat #9 clone (local homebrew store kit)
Delirium Tremens clone (local homebrew store kit)
Orval clone (local homebrew store kit)
Dogfish Indian Brown Ale clone (local homebrew store kit)
Rouge Double Dead Guy clone (local homebrew store kit)
Double Bastard Ale clone (AHS)
True Brew India Pale Ale kit

On several of the brewer's best and true brew kits I added extract, added and changed the hope around to make them thicker and more bitter.

So that's what kind of beer I like, and a description of my brewing habits.

Anyone got any ideas on what I should brew? I've got a chimay blue kit going in next. Suggestions anyone???

 

[gregger]

Doesn't look like you've made a good wheat beer yet. Being summer, you should do a good wheat beer with a little fruit, spice, or citrus zest. Very easy to do, very fun to drink.

 

[Homercidal]

Whatever you like to drink is what you should brew. or, if you like different things, like me, then just find something unusual and go for it.

I like a good wit, which is an easy beer to brew, but has coriander and lemon zest, for a different taste. Also you could go with a Saison, which is a bit harder to brew, and would be difficult for an extract brewer (They can be hard to attenuate on extract). Or a Hefe or American Wheat (all of these beers have wheat in them).

Or, just for fun, forget buying kits and recipes, and just look for something in the recipe list here, or find a basic recipe and try using different hops, malt, or yeast! Maybe find a good IIPA recipe and just go crazy with late hop additions and dry hopping.

 

[smears]

I've been wanting to do something like, or nearly like the Sam Adams Imperial White. A couple of the kits I got I threw in a few more lbs of extract and more hops. I just took that true brew india pale ale kit and added 2oz of bittering hops, (to make 4oz total) then an oz of flavor hops in addition to what was in the kit, and then more aroma hops and some dry hops plus 4.4lbs of extract. It came through the siphon a nice light yellow-y color. I'm thinking it'll be really good when the summer heat kicks in.

If anyone knows where I can find a recipe like the Imperial White, let me know and I'll brew it!

 

[Kegcowboy]

There is a brew club here called CCSD and there slogan is " We are a drinking club with a brewing problem" WELCOME

 

[smears]

That sounds like a fine organization. I hope you guys take over the world.

 

[smears]

I was thinking of starting a thread to request some recipes. Specifically, that sam adams imperial white, and some three philosophers. Instead, I figured I'd just mention it here. Is there a sticky thread or something some place around that might lead me to these recipes? Also great divide hercules, and any terrapin clones like their india brown ale, or rye squared, or gamma ray would be awesome. I'm dying here guys. Must........brew......more.....beeeeeerrrrrrr........