Sergeant Hops
Member
- Joined
- May 9, 2020
- Messages
- 8
- Reaction score
- 6
So in high school I was terrible at Chemistry. I thought oh Math isn't too bad, I can knock this out. Oh, Basic Science, Biology? I survived that. Introducing CHEMISTRY. Dun dun dun. I struggled and probably wouldn't have passed if it were not for a girl I was dating in the class who coached me through. I've never been too great at cooking either. I've followed recipes and made amazing enchiladas and sauce, and I can crack open a box of mac n cheese or can of soup like no one else, but I'm no whiz in the kitchen like my wife is 
. Now just over 10 years later I find myself doing what feels like mad science experiments 
, cooking up delicious liquid bread 
. Funny how things turn out in life 
.
Now, I'm not sure how relateable Chemistry and Homebrew are, so don't chastise me in the thread
, lol. Paying attention to the water you use, how much water and grain, the temperatures, air, and especially your type of yeasts used, and all of the other many steps and factors that come into play....to me it all feels very sciency! Especially when I get out my graduated cylinder, hydrometer, refractometer, scale, and all my other doo dads, equipment and gadgets, as I throw on an apron and start sanitizing stuff. What I do know for sure is I love every bit of this.
I'm in the military right now (going on 7 years active duty Air Force Security Forces), so we move around every few years. When we got to San Antonio, Texas, I ran across a homebrew store, and it sparked our interest. My wife had prior experience at a micro-brew where I met her, as an assistant brewer and brewed a lot of batches on a bigger level (100-150 gallon batches). I had prior experience devouring beers. We now have a little one, another little one on the way, bunch of dogs and cats, so our house is a madhouse.
I started homebrewing 6 months ago, but in that short time I've brewed 11 Ales, 1 Lager, 4 Wines, and 2 ciders (only one of the beers and my first cider turned out bad.) My Black Currant IPA, Spicy Habanero Red Irish Ale and Peanut Butter Jelly Brown Ale have knocked peoples socks off so far.) I started out with extract kits, but quickly got out of that and did an extract from scratch on my 4th batch. It turned out to be one of my best beers, and everyones favorite. I finally got the equipment and a little know-how to do an all-grain batch for the first time a couple weeks ago, and so far it is going great! Definitely not going back to kits or even extract in general, although I enjoyed the conveinence. Highly recommend Brewers Best kits. I loved mashing
and controlling the whole process. Just waiting on the taste test! 
I hope to gain a lot of advice and get insight here. I'm still learning so much. Feel like I know nothing still.
. Now just over 10 years later I find myself doing what feels like mad science experiments , cooking up delicious liquid bread . Funny how things turn out in life .Now, I'm not sure how relateable Chemistry and Homebrew are, so don't chastise me in the thread
, lol. Paying attention to the water you use, how much water and grain, the temperatures, air, and especially your type of yeasts used, and all of the other many steps and factors that come into play....to me it all feels very sciency! Especially when I get out my graduated cylinder, hydrometer, refractometer, scale, and all my other doo dads, equipment and gadgets, as I throw on an apron and start sanitizing stuff. What I do know for sure is I love every bit of this.I'm in the military right now (going on 7 years active duty Air Force Security Forces), so we move around every few years. When we got to San Antonio, Texas, I ran across a homebrew store, and it sparked our interest. My wife had prior experience at a micro-brew where I met her, as an assistant brewer and brewed a lot of batches on a bigger level (100-150 gallon batches). I had prior experience devouring beers. We now have a little one, another little one on the way, bunch of dogs and cats, so our house is a madhouse.
I started homebrewing 6 months ago, but in that short time I've brewed 11 Ales, 1 Lager, 4 Wines, and 2 ciders (only one of the beers and my first cider turned out bad.) My Black Currant IPA, Spicy Habanero Red Irish Ale and Peanut Butter Jelly Brown Ale have knocked peoples socks off so far.) I started out with extract kits, but quickly got out of that and did an extract from scratch on my 4th batch. It turned out to be one of my best beers, and everyones favorite. I finally got the equipment and a little know-how to do an all-grain batch for the first time a couple weeks ago, and so far it is going great! Definitely not going back to kits or even extract in general, although I enjoyed the conveinence. Highly recommend Brewers Best kits. I loved mashing
and controlling the whole process. Just waiting on the taste test! I hope to gain a lot of advice and get insight here. I'm still learning so much. Feel like I know nothing still.
. Especially since I reuse and wash bottles. Wash, rinse, store, and then sanitize them all right before bottling. I have fun sanitizing though, especially all the equipment. Its a worthwhile chore knowing the end product 
). My big brother is a genuis, he made straight As in high school and he dropped out. Later he got his GED, joined the Army, got out pursued his passion and is doing very well now. You can always do something, there is always time 
. I take online classes now and want to quit all the time, but gotta do it while its somewhat free.
