What got everyone into Homebrewing initially?

[filthyastronaut]

My dad and my older sister have made a few extract batches while I was growing up, and I was always around to help. The beer was okay to terrible. I remember my dad using half a packet of S-04 for a batch of beer because "the beer fermented too fast last time and tasted like bananas!" A couple years ago, my girlfriend (now fiance) whimsically decided she wanted to make dandellion wine. It was literally dandellions steeped in water with some slices of citrus, and a bunch of sugar. Made one gallon and pitched S-04. Ended up being really underattenuated, sweet, and hoochy, but it honestly didn't taste too bad. At that point I decided I wanted to try brewing and made this recipe: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/01/homebrewing-pale-ale-for-beginners-extract.html and that didn't turn out too bad. The bug bit me at that point.

 

[Oldskewl]

Initially I figured I could brew beer cheaper than buying at the store. I kicked the idea around for over a year, but was overwhelmed by the cost of all the equipment. My boss gave me a Craft a Brew kit he had gotten as a gift and never used. That hooked me. I was surprised at how well it turned out.

 

[yourlastchance89]

I'm from Boise, Idaho initially but I finished high school living with my father's family in rural Kentucky. Initially beer to me was Natural Light in a keg at a field party around a fire. I was totally ignorant to craft beer and it's culture and history. I enlisted in the USMC not long after high school and that perception didn't change much until I EAS'd and returned back to Boise. The craft brew scene had really taken off since I left. My girl and I went out to 10 Barrel (before they were bought out) and I was blown away by how good the beer was. That was the spark. We pretty much lived there for a while and we would frequent other local breweries. There was an home brew store less than 2 miles from our house and entering it the first time was when it finally hit me with the spark to try it. I bought some books and signed up for a how to brew class the owner was hosting. I casually read and researched for about a year before I finally told myself only back in December to pull the trigger. Invested in some equipment, found a beginner recipe, got the ingredients and here I am 4 months and almost a dozen batches later doing BIAB, lagers, kegging, and I'm in 3 clubs. I love it and I plan on doing it as long as I can. I'm constantly learning new things and I am always wanting to take it up to the next phase. Hopefully within the next year or so I plan on competing but it has definitely become a very serious hobby

 

[Dee]

I thought about it, off and on, for years before I decided to jump in.

It always seemed like my kind of hobby, just sitting around, doing absolutely nothing for two or three weeks at a time.

 

[BeerMakesPeopleHappy]

Good question!

With a history of about a decade of wine making, I decided to try a couple of cheap beer kits. They were garbage, and I gave up.

Then about 5 years later, I took a trip to Germany which introduced me to some of the most amazing beer I'd ever had. I was inspired to try again, and go all grain. I knew if I could create something even remotely close to what I drank there, it would be the best hobby ever.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Homedrinking is what got me into Homebrewing.

 

[cubalz]

I friend gave me a copy of Charlie Papazian's "The Joy of Homebrewing" in 1990 and I have been hooked ever since. 27 years later and I love it now as much as I did in the beginning and perhaps even more so. The thought of me taking grain and converting into sweet wort and the yeasties making alcohol completely mesmerizes me to this day.

 

[Lefou]

What got me into this? A lot of things.

I blame my wife. The Mr. Beer kit. My family, some of whom were amateur vintners and moonshiners during Prohibition.
I blame the Germans. Especially the Germans.

Like a lot of guys, I've been to Germany more than once. In my opinion, our weak commercial lagers never compared well to Continental beer, especially the Marzens, bocks, and weizen beers of Bavaria.
After coming home from Afghanistan in spring 2002, three of us made a beeline to the Kitzbuhl in Austria with pitstops to Munich's Brauhaus. One of my favorite memories is sitting, munching soft pretzels and drinking there. Fast forward 15 years later, I'm making better stuff at home for less than what can be bought off the shelf.

Happy brewing and "Prosit", to one and all.

 

[brewcat]

I'm just in it for the chicks.

This I have to try.

 

[Docjay]

I had my first homebrew experience in 1996 while stationed in 29 Palms with a buddy. Flash forward from that 5 gallons to 2008. Growing up my friends dad had always homebrewed and as such my friend Dave brought a keg of Oatmeal stout to a game night at my house. I lived about 1000 feet from the LHBS and as a present SWMBO went in and asked the owner how much to start brewing and got me a gift cert. that was many batches, many competitions and a lot of homebrew.

 

[RevKev]

I always had a fancy of Chemistry and getting to know the more in depth phenomena is what interested me in beer. So when I started researching I realized brewing is something I could jump full force into... And I did...