How long have you been brewing?

[JustDave]

I started in June of '07. Extract, partial boil, you know the drill All of my beers had the same flavor regardless of the recipe. I thought it was great at the time, but looking back it was terrible.

Then I started reading more and getting more into it. I eventually switched to AG, and my beers have improved considerably. Not sure whether that's due to doing a full-boil now or the AG process itself, but that's a subject for another thread.

I got into it because I love cooking and I love beer, so it seemed like a logical progression.

[Batches_Brew]

Started in late July.

[Poppa]

1980. We just bought a house and couldn't afford anything like beer. Old cans of extract with dry yeast under the cap, but it was beer. Crappy beer, but beer.








Poppa

[Brewmando]

Started March 07 as well. Spent the last half of 06 researching and not being able to get brewing off my mind. Started on a Tues. night after an afternoon at the bar and was pretty toasty when I started and tanked when I put the airlock in at 5 to midnight. It still turned out great! Will start working on my mash tun this weekend so I can start doing some all grain action.

[PseudoChef]

Brewed first batch day after my 25th b-day - July 19, 2007.

[Tankard]

It's been about a year for me now.

[Redweasel]

I did not know you brewed Tank.

[MrMarbleHead]

I did not know you brewed Tank.

Ahahahaha that was good....

[vtchuck]

its been about 40 years since my first homebrew... I was maybe 14 or 15 and a buddy and I made a batch in his cellar.... a can of Blue Ribbon Malt, 5 lbs of sugar, 5 gallons of water and a packet of bread yeast. It fermented on the furnace and we poured it warm into gallon cider jugs. Went out into the woods and drank it like moonshine. We got sicker than dogs.

In the early 80's, I took another shot. Cans of extract, corn sugar, dry yeast and open fermentation in a plastic bucket. I mostly remember washing bottles in the bathtub and bottle bombs in the basement.... and that cider taste.

Started again in February 07. It was a long cold snowy winter and I was bored to tears. Moved to all grain by August 07 and started kegging everything shortly thereafter.

[blacklab]

I started back in '93 when I got a starter kit for my birthday. I made probably 10 batches of absolutely crappy can/extract beers on my stove. Well, some were OK, but some were just straight awful. The hobby sort of faded away and I didn't brew another batch until '99, when I brewed a batch for my wedding. It actually turned out pretty good (Porter) and was an liquid extract + steeping grains recipe on my stove.

Life got in the way, then In Oct '07 I was walking on my lunch break and randomly walked by the LHBS store near work. Walked in, and of course walked out with another starter kit and a good quality extract kit. Instantly got way back into it, and after three extract batches, went full AG in Dec. '07. I make IPA's, APA's, and hefe's nearly exclusively and I"m told they rival those available in local brewpubs. I love both cooking and good beer, and having both with my friends and family. So it works out pretty well.