New here and to brewing, intro

[CSAYank]

Hey! My name is Ricky. I grew up in South Florida, I have a wife and 7 month old daughter as well as my big retard ( German Shepard/Black lab mix. I love him, but he's one goofy SOB ). I currently reside, unfortunately, in New Jersey, I was in Kodiak Alaska before that and Florida before that. I have tried many different beers/wines/liqueurs in my travels and am very excited to make my own. I got started with a Mr.Beer kit, just started fermenting yesterday. I'm looking past this and wanting to get into brewing from scratch. I also want to start making some wine with my wife, a little hobby/project we can have together. Anywho, I look forward to learning much, meeting and speaking with all of you and making some great beer and wine!

 

[Newsman]

Welcome to the addiction... I mean hobby.

 

[BigJack]

Welcome to the hobby. And you can brew anything you want in a Mr Beer fermenter- just less of it than with bigger set ups. I use mine for all-grain, brew-in-a-bag batches.

 

[Cyclman]

Welcome to the hobby, and the group, from CO

I do wine and apfelwein with my wife, she enjoys it, especially sharing it on girls night out.

 

[CSAYank]

Thanks for the welcome guys. Yes, I've read up on people using the Mr.Beer kit to brew other batches and I plan on doing the same. What I was getting at is: the Mr.Beer kit comes with a concentrated, already to go wort. All you have to do is add it to warm water, add the yeast and let ferment. What I was getting at is that I am excited to make my own from scratch completely. One of my buddies just finished his first batch and it came out pretty damn good

 

[dude3516]

Welcome aboard from another Fl native. I'd recommend getting away from the Mr. Beer kits as they are only so-so. If you're set on doing 1 gal batches, Brooklyn Brewshop sells All Grain recipe kits that were a pretty tasty intro to beer brewing for me.

 

[Roadie]

What I was getting at is that I am excited to make my own from scratch completely.

Completely from scratch? Ok, buy some land, get a tractor/combine, grow some barley... j/k.

When I started I skipped the extract route and immediately jumped into all grain. Making your own wort does give you a sense of accomplishment though it extends your brew day.

To me the main difference between beer and wine production is that with most ales you are done and drinking it in less than 2 months. With wine (not that I've ever made any but I hear) it's more like a year or longer. Also to make wine I think a lot of people just get a kit with juice and ferment that, adding some chemicals at different times, racking and waiting. For me that isn't as much fun as it's similar to the cider I've made. If you have that kind of patience though then definitely go for it.

 

[Melana]

Welcome! Glad to see new people.

 

[McKnuckle]

Hi Ricky, fellow Jersey boy here, lived here since '74 so more or less native (sorry ) Welcome to the group. Any questions that have local relevance, such as LHBS recommendations etc., feel free to PM me. Have fun!

 

[CSAYank]

Welcome aboard from another Fl native. I'd recommend getting away from the Mr. Beer kits as they are only so-so. If you're set on doing 1 gal batches, Brooklyn Brewshop sells All Grain recipe kits that were a pretty tasty intro to beer brewing for me.

I'll definitely take a look at those. This was just a kit to get me started that my wife bought for me. Enjoy the sun, I miss it lol.

 

[CSAYank]

Welcome aboard from another Fl native. I'd recommend getting away from the Mr. Beer kits as they are only so-so. If you're set on doing 1 gal batches, Brooklyn Brewshop sells All Grain recipe kits that were a pretty tasty intro to beer brewing for me.

Thanks, I'll definitively take a look at those. This was just a kit to get me started that my wife got me for Christmas. Say hi to the palm trees for me, I miss them.

 

[CSAYank]

Welcome aboard from another Fl native. I'd recommend getting away from the Mr. Beer kits as they are only so-so. If you're set on doing 1 gal batches, Brooklyn Brewshop sells All Grain recipe kits that were a pretty tasty intro to beer brewing for me.

Thanks, I'll definitively take a look at those. This was just a kit to get me started that my wife got me for Christmas. Say hi to the palm trees for me, I miss them.

 

[AnOldUR]

I currently reside, unfortunately, in New Jersey [...]

hmmmm . . . should I (we) take the person? :cross:

Where in NJ? It's not all bad.

 

[CSAYank]

Ok new question....how do I delete posts here? I just noticed that posted 3 times

 

[CSAYank]

hmmmm . . . should I (we) take the person? :cross:

Where in NJ? It's not all bad.

It's not. I live in a nice enough area in Ocean County, we'll say close to LBI. Due to my job description and recent happenings in the world, I'm not too big with sharing more details than that. But if you're from the area, you'll get the idea. I'm from South Florida and lived in Alaska prior to this.....laws and ways of doing things here are different and not as appealing to my personality lol.

 

[CSAYank]

Completely from scratch? Ok, buy some land, get a tractor/combine, grow some barley... j/k.

When I started I skipped the extract route and immediately jumped into all grain. Making your own wort does give you a sense of accomplishment though it extends your brew day.

To me the main difference between beer and wine production is that with most ales you are done and drinking it in less than 2 months. With wine (not that I've ever made any but I hear) it's more like a year or longer. Also to make wine I think a lot of people just get a kit with juice and ferment that, adding some chemicals at different times, racking and waiting. For me that isn't as much fun as it's similar to the cider I've made. If you have that kind of patience though then definitely go for it.

Smart ass huh? That's good, I was hoping there'd be a few smart asses on here like myself haha

 

[Newsman]

Smart ass huh? That's good, I was hoping there'd be a few smart asses on here like myself haha

Stick around... you'll find that smart asses are quite common on this board. It's the sober, stick-in-the-mud types that are an endangered species around here. :cross::cross::cross:
A couple people to watch out for... Revvy, and Yooper to start with. Both wonderful people, but they are definitely fun to hang out with here! :rockin:

 

[CSAYank]

Well ya don't have to worry about me being a stick in the mud type, that's for damn sure. I don't get offended and report people over little crap. I'm pretty well behaved until I get a feel for the general feel/attitude of the board haha.