What got you into homebrewing?

[ohiobrewtus]

For me it was seeing commercials about the SA Longshot competition. I tried a Mr. Beer around 2002, but it sucked. I always wanted to try to make my own, and seeing those commercials motivated me to buy a kit.

The kit came and I brewed the next day. The day after that I ordered another kit and the obsession began.

 

[Professor Frink]

A coworker of mine brought in some beers one day, and I asked him if I could watch the next time he brewed. He still brews once in a while, but I just can't stop brewing!

 

[bluedragoon85]

The way I got into brewing was the movie Beerfest. I know, what a dumb way to get into brewing, but me and a friend watched it (we had already drank a few drinks) and thought it would be so cool to make our own beer. Two days later I was researching how to make beer on the internet, came across this site and life has never been the same.

 

[cmcarpenter]

I saw the mr beer setup and started researching making beer. I noticed mr beer came with packets and there was no boil so I did some research on REAL brewing and a bought a Homebrew set from Northern brewery and here I am today!!

 

[Hanr3]

I got one of those store bought beer kits for Christmas couple years ago and it has lived in my basement since, never opened. Then a buddy of mine started brewing his own and I was hoooked. I am currently remodeling the basement man cave so I can brew my own. I think I;'ll dig out that Mr. Beer kit and give it a whirl while I wait to order a real kit.

 

[Teewinot]

I've drank many a beer in my life (I'm quite sure I'm alone in that! LOL). Started out underage in rural so. Indiana with nothing else to do but create our own fun which typically meant drink beer. Back then it was for the buzz and cheap was great.

After college, my beer drinking changed from quantity to quality. I discovered that beer should be "respected" (whatever that means) and that there are many, many great beers out there. Then my father-in-law bought me a "kit" (bucket, sugar, can o' malt, etc.) around 1990, along with Pap's great book, but I didn't act on it. I stored it away but kept it all. Fast forward to a year ago, and I overheard my backyard neighbor mention homebrewing to someone else. I asked him about it and he immediately brought me one of his brews. I was blown away. No way he created this great beer in his kitchen. So I dug out my 16-17 year old "kit", tossed out the old ingredients, and jumped in. I love the hobby! I soon found my way here and was completely hooked. I'm still brewing extracts and bottling, but plan on going all-grain soon. I even have 4 cornies in my basement in anticipation of serving my own draft beer! Now I just need EVERYTHING else!

I don't post much, but literally LIVE on this site daily! I'm blown away by the ingenuity of everyone here! Projects galore are ahead for me. The knowledge sharing and fellowship of this community is another amazing aspect that CANNOT be overlooked. This website makes me want to brew!

Thanks to everyone here!

 

[beoir00]

My friends and I have always been on the lookout for bars in our area that provide a solid selection of craft beers. In the Boston area they're countless, fortunately for us. We'll order a bunch of different pints and analyze them. Really on an informal level. But one night a bartender asked if we brew our own because we always nail our critiques as if we either work for a craft brewery or brew at home. So we broke off into a couple teams, bought the equipment and never looked back.

 

[jmlabeck]

OK, I haven't seen this one before. I used to belong to the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism). They study medieval culture, of which brewing is a part. This was WAY back, the early 70's before it was legal. I tried a homebrew, with "stuff" floating in it, and thought, OK that was .... interesting.

But the process intrigued me. I came across Charlie P.'s book years later, and he convinced me that yes I could do this.

Bought a kit at the LHBS with some christmas money. That was about 15 years ago. Been brewing ever since, strictly extract and specialty grains. I love that I can make ANYTHING I want. I also love that it can be as cheap or expensive as I want.

Unfortunately, right now everything is on hold while we save up to replace the water heater.

 

[malkore]

I'm an 'Other'.

When I was 17 I joined the Society for Creative Anachronism ...which does a variety of 'dark ages' stuff.

among things like scroll making, heraldry, weaving/sewing/embroidery, and martial combat...was brewing. mead making is really what got me started.

twas a brief stint. when I was 21 I started making beer and mead again.

 

[GregR]

I'm in the 'other' camp as well. really it all started kind of random. a good drinking buddy and I love to go to the local brew pubs in San Diego (there are quite a few of them). one day we were talking about "the coolest sounding job titles" and we both agreed "brewmaster" is probably very close to the top of the list(right up there with astronaut, doctor, pirate . . .). after that we just decided to give it a try. no one really got us into it and we knew absolutly nothing. HAH we still pretty much know nothing about it but we are addicted.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

I am almost ready to quit my job and chase my dream. Wish me Luck

Once again, your doing it the slow painful and best way I know of. Best of luck and I hope someday to walk into the best D@mm micro-brew ever and order a drink of yours.
Thank you for chasing the dream.

 

[homemadebeer]

I got into it as a uni student

like most guys at uni i wanted to drink a million beers

and like most guys at uni i had no money to do it with

these days, i have more money and less time, but i still prefer to make my own because it's fun and sometimes it even tastes great

 

[peterfuse]

i lived in oregon for a year and i loved the microbrew culture. when i came back to ireland i found that there was nothing really similar back here so i had to brew my own.

 

[Teacher]

I love cooking. I also love making things. I also love beer. I just put those together, and voila!

 

[neuron555]

I've always liked good food and drink, and one of the pleasures in life is trying new things. One of my good friends used to brew and I always liked his beer, but then he accumulated a bunch of little kids and his stuff ended up in the back of the basement. When my youngest left for college, I figured it was time and asked him to show me the way. I like cooking and experimenting anyway, so now I have the obsession and supply my buddies. Pass it on!

 

[zythos]

I started brewing because I enjoy beer. Mostly because I enjoy beer with flavor. Some time back I discovered microbrews and craft beer. This is what really got me started. I thought to myself that it would be great if I could make my own beer. I looked around online and found Mr. Beer, it seemed like the perfect way to start brewing. Fortunately, I looked a little bit harder and found an Ale Pail kit for sale on ebay which included the basic brewing equipment. I found a Brewer's Best IPA kit and placed my order. Shortly after that I discovered HBT and my first beer was born. Since then a few of my friends and family have had their interests peaked by my hobby. Nothing like sharing a bit of home brew with friends and seeing their faces when you tell them you made it.

 

[phissionkorps]

Got into it when I lived in Lubbock. The beer selection there isn't exactly tops and neither are the prices (except at the bars). I was a bio major, so it seemed like a natural path to take.

 

[portlandbeergeek]

I was tired of paying way too much for decent beer. $9 for a six pack that would last one night? Can't afford that. And what, quit drinking? Quitting is for losers! Then I remembered brewing a Fat Tire extract at work a couple years back and remembering how good that crudely made can of malt syrup ended up tasting. I started brewing on my own in April and I've got 12 batches under my belt. First 4 were extract, next four partial mashes of at least 6# of grain, and the last three have been all grain. And a 5 gallon of apfelwein to round out the dozen. It's been fun, and just the other day my wife asked me if this hobby was getting serious. Oh no, it already got serious back when i made my MLT out of pickle buckets Looks like I might have to sell off some records to get a proper setup.

Long story short, it was mostly financial but it's fun and I can make better beer than I can buy. And I can make beer I WANT to drink.

Cheers!

 

[hoss75]

I was about 18-19 and discovered that :
A) I liked good beer over the usual stuff at college
B) I couldn't easily buy good beer at that age
C) Discovered no one really cared if a 19 year old walked into a homebrew shop.

 

[Beards Brews]

I had a friend in college who brewed (he is now part owner of Red Light Red Light in Winterhaven, Fl - a great bar for beer selection). I was always amazed at his creations.

Then, earlier this summer my wife bought me this little black book about beer. I read through it and came to the brief mention of home brewing. I remembered that my friend used to do that and that I really enjoyed his brews, so I started digging and found this place as well as a LHBS not too far from here. The rest is, as they say, history.

 

[Karlberg]

I got into home brewing because my wife wanted to order pilsner malt for a special finnish dessert and to reach the minimum order value I had to order "How to Brew"...
So, it is all her fault!

 

[martinirish]

I always have been interested in how things were made especially everything related to chemistry, then tasted some microbrewery beer and finally wanted to make beer. I was 17 and also started to study in chemical engineering technology, now I'm obsessed with process control! Some of you would freak out to see my Excel files! Am I the only one compiling statistics?? ahah

 

[solstice]

I had a friend that made wine and he explained how easy it was to make your own.
I got into brewing beer because my parents got me a starter kit for christmas this past year.

 

[CarlosM]

I got into the idea of brewing maybe in 2005-2007 where me and a friend were getting random beers each weekend (along with scotch) And to be honest I hated beer, but enjoyed getting wasted. My first beer with "flavor" was Guinness (I almost puked). But beer still intrigued me.

So one day while buzzed I asked my friend how hard could it be to make beer. We decided to do one, but he backed out and my gf bought me a mr. beer kit (xmas 07). I went through about 3 batches of em (enjoyed every last drop, and still got some of the bottles that came with it) quickly stepped up to partial mashes within the first month of brewing.

A few months passed 4-5 AG batches under my belt(13 batches total) and I couldn't be happier at 22 broke as hell with at least 5 gallons always fermenting and friends to drink it with (although they only like my malty batches).

what brewing does for me is therapeutic, the grinding of the malts, boiling strike water, the wonderful smelling mash and the orgasmic smell of hops. It interests me as no other hobby has, it instills me with a sense of pride kind of like "DAMN IT, I MADE THIS AND NO ONE CAN TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME"

RDWHAHB

 

[batches_brew]

After making this label in class, a bunch of my friends said they would most definitely buy it if I brewed it. Then I found out it's illegal to sell home brew. Dammit.

In reality, the only beer I've ever enjoyed was micro-brew. That and Pacifico, but that was in Mazatlan with a six foot fish, smothered in tortillas and salsa in front of me. Now I'm hungry.

Home brewing had been a brief idea I would entertain for a moment, from time to time, but the label gave me the push I needed to really do it.

 

[Amiaji]

I guess my interest in homebrewing started when I was a kid. We went on vacation and was visiting someone who was a homebrewer. I thought it was really cool that you could brew your own beer. The thought had festered in the back of my mind for years until a few months ago I decided it was time to try it. Started reading up on it on the internet and found a LHBS not too far away. Bought a kit and a recipe and havent looked back.

 

[tom777]

Not sure how we ended up talking about this, but one day a co-worker of mine mentioned he brewed his own beer. This got me a bit curious as I didn't know anything about homebrewing at the time other than that my dad had tried a little wine making way back when I was a little kid. In January of this year, my wife bought me a starter kit and it was all downhill from there.

 

[Rudeboy]

Other.

Couldn't find a Bock in the Spring of '07.

I've always liked Beer and came from British Columbia (the Oregon of Canada) lots of MicroBrewers. So I just lived on store bought. Although at $10 a six pack it is kinda expensive.

Moved to Alberta and couldn't find a Bock in the Spring of '07 so I said "F'it I'll brew my own." Started researching on the Interweb and the rest is history.

I went to get a "Kit and Kilo" kit, at what is now my LHBS, and the guy said to use a "Brewhouse" kit.

I made about 6 "Brewhouse" kits and enjoyed them all before switching to AG for the last 20 or so. I did try and do a "Kit and Kilo" kit three times. First with a kilo of corn sugar and the second and third time with DME. You know the word undrinkable is thrown around a lot lately. But all three times these were UNDRINKABLE .

I've always thought if I had started with a Kit and Kilo method I probably would have quit and if I ever passed a site like this I would have thought you were all morons as clearly Homebrew tastes like ****e. A very close escape.

Also grew up 4 blocks from a brewery and loved the smell of Wort.

Rudeboy

 

[juse]

My first exposure to homebrewing was my grandfather. He made his own wine & I remember watching the rubber glove on top of the fermenter puff up and move around. I had no idea what it was, but knew it was something pretty cool.

Later on, I was in the Navy stationed on Whidbey Island off the coast of Washington State, close to Seattle. This was during the 90s and was when grunge music and microbrewing was getting into full swing. I was always a beerhound & was in hog heaven being around so many brewpubs and such. One day I met a guy named Tilley who started working with me out in the line shack. He brewed his own beer and tied his own flies. He showed me his tiny brew setup, it fit into a military writing hutch. That was some of the best beer I've ever had. He also showed me how to tie a wooly bugger & I caught a 28" brown trout off of the first one I tied...


So, fast forward about a dozen years and I'm back in Dallas & getting tired of driving across town to get my dopplebocks and IIPAs. It was only a matter of time before I started brewing my own


...

 

[biberbauer]

After watching that Sam Adams "all our employees learn to brew beer" commercial with some friends in college, I thought to myself, "man, that be a great gig to work there. It almost sounds like they're forced to learn to make beer. I like it." After seeing the commercial several more times, I realized that I probably wouldn't ever work for Sam Adams, and that I might as well look into it on my own.

Funny thing was, I wasn't really a huge fan of beer at the time (and also just shy of 21), but I bought a copy of Palmer's book, and read some in it before bedtime for a week or so. I later got Stephen Snyder's "The Homebrewer's Bible," and was absolutely glued to it. I'm not a huge reader, but this book just had me hooked. I almost immediately brewed my first batch, and after tasting that first bottle, I've been obsessed. Not to mention, homebrew parties reeled in the ladies (esp. with EdWort's Apfelwein in the kegerator!). Few people have seen student loans disappear so quickly, and I'll drink to that.

 

[balto charlie]

My story is really different. In the early 80's I signed up for a vitamin C diet study between NIH and USDA(my employer). I was paid almost 700.00 to eat ONLY their meals and nothing else for 4 weeks. Being a poor young father I thought I can't pass up the money. Well during the restricted 4 weeks all I could think about was what I couldn't consume...beer. Well thinking turned into reading. I spent my lunch time in the USDA library reading about beer. I found some really old books about the brewing process. A light bulb went off in my head and the search for supplies began.
What you must realize is that this is the world before Al Gore invented the internet. Finding shops(usually somebody's basement), knowledge (Zymurgy, eventually), brewing buddies(my friends, but they only drank) were hard to come by. Over time I found all that was needed. I stopped brewing in the mid to late 90's due to kids and house stuff. Now I am back...for good! No more diet studies...I ain't poor anymore.
Charlie

 

[ChefBrew]

"the bird" hit it, spot on. Alton Brown, from Good Eats, gives a great show on making your own beer. Ofcourse, he makes look so easy, and that great amber colored beer he pours out makes you thirsty. Regardless, making your own beer can lead you to having some pride in a craft; I enjoy understanding the process by which beer is transformed. It's taking raw, natural ingredients and making simething good, and you get a buzz while your at it.

 

[gabeweisz]

My SWMBO gave me the Mr. Beer kit about 8 years ago ... she actually encourages all this

 

[Spoonta]

got given a fermenter thought I sould fill that

 

[babbott]

i went to the dogfish head brewery, missed half the tour but saw how simple the sabco unit was in the lobby and heard the owner talk about it.

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

My wife and I would always see the Mr beer kit in the stores and she'd ask if I wanted one. I always said no, becuase I didn't have much time to brew, I'd heard that homebrewing is hard and the beer you get it crappy (how wrong I was!) and the Mr Beer kit looked kinda cheesy. One Xmas I had no idea what the she was getting me for xmas other than there were 2 big boxes, one of which she said was fragile.

lo and behold, she had gone to the LHBS and got a full starter kit - 2 buckets, glass carboy, tubing, a couple cans of pre-hopped extract etc.

within 2 weeks I was a lifetime supported here, it's been all down hill from there!

 

[grasshopper1917]

I got tired of payng 40 bucks every weekend for a case of 24 beer

Now I get about 55 bottles of whatever style I want for 30$

 

[Boodlemania]

Good Eats episode interested me, but not to the point of obsession...

Traveled to Munich last fall for business and was BLOWN AWAY at how wonderful the weisbier was there. Ate lunch one day in Aying and had a couple liters of Ayinger. Biergarten at the Munich airport, it goes on an on.

Fast forward to the day InBev bought AB. I was listening to the news while driving to work. This story came on and I thought "Hmm. Wonder if the AB beers will be any better?" Then thought again about how wonderful the German beers were, lamenting on how I couldn't get them here. Even Erdinger in the bottle wasn't the same. During my 18 mile commute to work, thought through all this and decided "F$%# it. I'll make my own."

Got to work and started using the intertubes to research. Got a BB equipment kit and a couple BB extract kits just to practice technique. Brewed my first batch in July and my 2nd a week later. Waiting to see how they turn out before I try my first weisbier recipe.

The folks at this site have been AWESOME answering my questions. I read here every day.

 

[Apollo]

I saw Mr. Beer kits over the last few years and always thought that it would be cool to get one and make my own beer. A few weeks ago I was in the LA area for a family members b-day and another relative was there that brews and he gave me the final push I needed. So I spent a week reading on types of gear and procedures and decided to purchase a kit from Midwest.

 

[Hermish]

My under-age brother encouraged me to start making beer with him, and got me started. He soon got bored with it, and I started to get more into it and now I just keep spending more and more money. And making better beer.