I prefer my own...

[Kombinations]

So I was out last for a family celebration at a small golf club where Lion Nathan had an obvious monopoly on the taps and came to the realisation that I prefer my own... I thought I'd better introduce myself considering I have gained a lot of knowledge from this forum that has helped me get there.

A bit of back story: I was always someone who found something I liked and stuck with it until I was out with my boss and another colleague and tried the pale ale from the James Squire range nearly 18 months ago. I began to enjoy trying a variety of ales (haven't quite made it to dark beers yet) and a spoke to a colleague about his old homebrew days. I wasn't keen on spending huge amounts for nice beer! He was wanting to clear out his shed so I bought a few bits and pieces off him: a fermenting bucket, bottle capper, hydrometer, bottling wand and a few other items, then found some longnecks from a forum member on here who had upgraded to kegs. It took me another 6 months - 25.12.2015! - to brew my first batch (the wobbly thong recipe from here).

Through reading on here and other sites I had purchased an STC1000 to use with an old fridge I already had before my brewing my first batch as I didn't want to be turned off brewing by some off flavours that could be avoided by something as simple as temperature control. I was reasonably happy with how the first brew turned out considering it was a 'kits and bits' recipe. I then tried a stone and wood extract recipe from another forum which I was also reasonably happy with.

I wasn't real keen on bottling after a couple of batches but wanted to stick with home brewing so bought a cheap ebay keg starter kit for my third batch, which was again the 'wobbly thong' recipe. Cleaning only one keg instead of a number of bottles was a big improvement! I found a free fridge to use as a fermentation chamber with the STC1000 that can just fit two fermenters diagonally (once I cut out the shelves in the door).

My next two batches (batches 4 and 5 total) were both kits 'n' bits recipes, again from here: one the stone and wood clone and the other the hop hog, although both made to 21L to try to get a bit more body than the wobbly thong recipe. I kegged the stone and wood batch on Thursday and am enjoying it (along with the ability to force carb) and have just kegged the hop hog recipe but now need to man up and drill a hole in the side of my 'kegerator' for the gas line as the two kegs only just fit in my original old fridge but the 6kg gas cylinder won't with both kegs in there.

I'm sure I'll move on from kits 'n' bits at some stage but with kids, work and renovations its much quicker and easier at this stage. I might do some extract brews here and there but time isn't really something I have a lot of at the moment. I'll need to get the keg fridge set up with some taps and gas lines but what I have is working for the moment.

Anyway, a long first post but I have gained a lot of information in a short period of time thanks to a lot of reading through some of the masses of knowledge on this forum (and other sites) and am happy to say that I'm no longer a huge fan of what was my favourite commercial beer for a number of years - I prefer my own...

Thanks

Nick.

 

[droid]

welcome!

sounds like you're going good :beer:

 

[Bridges]

I thought this was going to be about farts...

But yes it is also very satisfying, and sometimes disappointing, when you grab a pale ale or some other beer and after one sip know you can, and have made better beer.

Welcome aboard!

 

[Kombinations]

I thought this was going to be about farts...

That would be this thread . I said I'd done some reading!

 

[MickGC]

Welcome mate, sounds like you are on the right track!

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Welcome to the craft.
As with the responses above your on the right track. My first home brew was like an introduction to craft beer. Something more interesting, better tasting than the common (and attempted equivalent) shelf products. That was the hook. The world is your oyster from then on as far as varieties and variations.

 

[trussyd]

It's a slippery slope.

Welcome! Enjoy the ride!

 

[Kombinations]

I do "blame" my boss for introducing me to
something different to the usual. I wasn't keen on spending $70 per carton to get that something a bit nicer than standard though.

I didn't mind some of the $10 6 pack specials at Dan Murphy's but am liking being able to approximate some nice beers by homebrewing even when just starting out.

Very happy I started with the temperature controller - esp considering the first batch was in summer. My uncle told me he used to just keep his next to the water heater in the cupboard to keep it nice and warm! Most people seem confused when I say I'm fermenting 'in the fridge'.

And yep, it's a very slippery slope. I'd better ease up on the spending for now... My wife was confused that I was started out talking about brewing as being something that could save $$$ but I ended up spending more!

It's definitely turning into more of a hobby. I've only got 2 kegs at this stage so a couple more wouldn't go astray and...

 

[Fraser's BRB]

Welcome!

Yes, my wife often wonders when the "cheap" part of this hobby is going to kick in. She doesn't complain when drinking the product though.

 

[mofox1]

Haha... yeah... it's a hobby, not a business (for most of us). Just drop hints that it's good your not into sprint car racing, or flying or... <insert expensive pastime here> and pass her a beer.

 

[Bribie G]

I'm often tempted to walk round the brewhouse and the malt shed and do an estimate of how much I have spent so far.

My cardiologist has advised me not to.

I guess I've spent around 1.5k on stuff just in the last 3 months (extra Kegmate, sacks of grain for the comp season, oxy kit, new taps, hops, yeasts, new fermenters, hops, hops, hops......)

Shit that's the equivalent of sixty slabs of Aldi's best Rivet Lager... what have I been thinking of, how long will this pathetic illusion persist, why is my keg empty.......

 

[AJS2154]

I'm often tempted to walk round the brewhouse and the malt shed and do an estimate of how much I have spent so far.

My cardiologist has advised me not to.

I guess I've spent around 1.5k on stuff just in the last 3 months.......

What is missing here boys is some relativity......you should only ever compare your hobby with a very expensive hobby when speaking to bossgirl. For example, mention the cost associated with an offshore racing yacht, or the restoration of a very rare Aston Martin. If you play the cards right, they will be feeling as though you somehow should be spending more on your meagre hobby.

 

[Bribie G]

I've said this for years, that it's a curse of modern times that there are a lot of people who are incapable of having fun unless they are attached to the other end of thousands of dollars worth of equipment.

At least my equipment gets me pissed. yay.

 

[manticle]

If I try to vaguely match my consumption with equivalent quality/preference beer, I see my hobby has paid for itself 50 times over.

If I cut down, I'd feel ripped off so drink up, make it work.

Apart from just crunching the numbers over a period, consider both cash flow and enjoyment. I enjoy brewing and I enjoy drinking. What I spend is mostly dictated by what I can afford. Can't afford a williamswarn, can afford $50 per month on a 6 pack from international beer collector.

 

[Kombinations]

Its pretty good having a hobby that should eventually pay for itself (provided the savings aren't spent on too much new equipment!) but I also enjoy pouring a beer that I made and actually liking it.

The stigma is that homebrew is the poor man's choice and tastes rubbish but thankfully forums like this show that it can be as low cost or expensive as you like and provided that you take care with the fundamentals the taste can be better than many commercial beers.