Introduce Yourself.

[Spanner]

Gidday, I'm new here and thought I would introduce myself.
Spanner's the name. I've been homebrewing now for a couple of years. First got into it 'cause it was cheap and my old man gave me a fermenter and stuff. Havn't turned bback since.
I have made a lot of different beers, all out of the can, and find Black Rock, Beermakers and Coopers to be the most exciting. I have made Wheats, Bocks, Pilsener, Stouts, Lager, Olds and all in between.
I once made an Old-style beer with 75grams of Milo in it and it was lovely!!
I have also made a chilli beer that I was rather impressed with.
I am also a huge fan of the Sydney Roosters Rugby League club, I ride a Yamaha XJR 1200, and do a stint on the local community radio station where I spin some blues and rock.
Well, thats Spanner.
Who are you?


Spanner :chug:

 

[GMK]

Hi Spanner,

I'm GMK.
I have been brewing for the past 4 years....started off with kits - went to kits with west brew packs, to kits with partial mashing of grains. Looking to be all grain brewing in a couple of months.

If you need any advice on kegging or parts - drop me a line - i can get cheap reconditioned taps and other stuff - put in the 3 keg systems this year...
I have lived in Canberra for the past 3.5 years and have been a member of the Canberra brewers club for the last three.
I have entered my beers in the ACT state comps (last three years)and have approx 10 placings (1, 2 or 3) over the this time.
I have sent beers to the nationals with 2x Seconds, 2x thirds, 2x 6th, 2x8th in my categories.(2000 7 2001)
I have made the best kit beer in ACt - 2001 and the third best kit beer in the country that year. ( they cancelled the category in 2002...a pity really.

I have made alcoholic ginger beer, berry beer, cider and my first mead is in the primary as i type.
Mostly i like IPA's, darks, stouts, irish ales, and strong ales - barley wines, scotish etc. I rack and dry hop my beers- some say too much - but hey, i brew for me.

I live in oxley with my wife and three children - 9, 7 & 4.

If you ever get some free time and are down south - drop me a line and come over for a beer - currently have an excellent stout and a heritage lager on tap at the moment.

 

[Doc]

Hi Spanner,

I'm Doc.
I've been brewing for a couple of years after my mother-in-law bought me a home brew kit for xmas.

Started out small with just the one fermenter, no knowledge but lots of ideas and dreams.

Three years down the track I now have many fermenters, many kegs, many fridges, and still lots of ideas.

I'm now brewing all-grain with the odd kit thrown in to keep supplies up.
I've worked on ginger beer and cider recipes to get the perfect recipe for SWMBO.

I'm about to try my hand at my first alcoholic lemonade.

By day I'm an IT Stratagist/Consultant for a large multi-national, and was previously trained in Electronic and Software engineering. This explains why I'm always online, and everything has sensors and web interfaces.

I only recently started entering competitions. I've picked up a couple of places for both kit and all-grain (AG) brews.

Historically I prefer darker beers, so I also tend to brew quite a few of them. I also have gotten a taste since I met my wife for Austrian and Germany beers (her father is Austrian).

I've brewed everything from Lager, Pils, Stouts, Porters, Wits, Wheats, Trappists .... and as mentioned Ginger Beer and Cider.

I live in Sydney and am married with a son (9 months old).

Welcome to AussieHomeBrewer Spanner.

Doc

 

[Jazman]

hi Spanner in the jazman i have been brewing on and off for 6 years but im into now i have room to do so iam from sa and love aussie rules go power..

I mainly brew kits with grumpys masterbrews which has grains and hops ect in them and tomorrow i will do my first partial mash a baviarin lager.

Ilike aussie bitter beer and coopers pale ale style.
I like irish stout ,imperial stout,irish red ale,european lagers,amd i love czech pilsners.
so iam exploring new ways to make better beer i reckonmend using liquid yeast.

I now only do partial mashes 23/8/03 i have done 4 so im going to get set up soon for all grain

 

[kook]

Hi I'm kook (obviously) and I've only been brewing since august 2002. Come a long way in that time frame though. Started off Kit + kilo. Progressed to using malt extracts and extra hops. Then started playing with steeping grains. Now my brews are mostly extract / specialty grain full boils. Hoping to get into all grain by the end of the year. Brew almost every weekend now, brewed today (extract / specialty grain IPA with hop flowers, plugs, and a liquid yeast starter).

Started out with one fermenter, suddenly became 2. Now I've got 4. Bought a keg system a few months back, only got 3 kegs at the moment but that will grow soon.

I work in IT, I'm a tech for a large WA business reseller. Been doing that almost 3 years fulltime now.

I'm a perth brewer, will be going to the next west coast brewers club meeting to see what its like.

 

[dreamboat]

I'm dreamboat.
I've been brewing for only a couple of years, but made the move to all-grain early on, after just 20 kit brews. I have never made an extract beer....straight from kits to the real mccoy.
I brew all types of beer, but usually 5% abv or bigger, but next weekend i will buck that trend and make an easy drinkin wheat beer.
I live in sunny Brisbane (one of about 100,000 displaced kiwi's that have moved here), with the wife and 6 month old baby (6 months today actually).
I also brew the occassional cider, and found the results from kit ciders to be very dissappointing, so i make them up from the base ingredients now.
I work as a civil engineer in the water treatment field, with a company that does design/construct work in drinking water plants and commercial swimming pool water treatment. I am able to obtain lots of goodies through work, and also have access to fellas to do my welding and the like for me. Had a counterflow chiller made for me a few weeks back, and that will get a run next weekend also.


Cheers
dreamboat

 

[Spanner]

GMK, can you fill me in on the canberra home brewers club?
I purchase my gear from Kaleen and live in inner north.
Thanks,


Spanner.

 

[Gough]

Spanner and GMK,

Sounds like a great brewclub setup you guys have in Canberra. I'm envious. Especially if the guy from the Wig & Pen is involved. I was down that way for a conference a year ago and tasted some of his beers not knowing anything about the place and was mightily impressed!

As for introducing myself, I'm Gough (or Shawn to my non-cyber mates) and I'm a kit brewer moving into extract brewing. I've only been at it a bit over a year now, but I'm starting to brew some decent beer. I brew lagers in the winter (love that Czech style Pilsner) and Blacks/stouts in the warmer months. I've picked up heaps of info from this board and hope to be in a position to make a contribution myself soon.

Other than brewing footy is my major passion - Go Those Mighty Knights!! Good to see the Roosters have some fans outside Bondi - can't wait to meet your blokes in the semis After this arvo's big result against the Broncos I'm not feeling any pain :chug:

Anyway, good brewing,

Gough.

 

[GSRman]

Howdy,

I'm Steve, ive only done about 5 brews, my last being an extract irish ale, thats in the secondary now..

yeah nice...

 

[Snow]

Hi, all. I'm Snow (AKA Steve). I made my first brew in 1987 and brewed for about 6 months then got sick of the crap I was making and gave up. I got re-introduced to homebrewing early last year and did some serious internet research on the subject and realised I shouldn't be making crap beer. 17 brews later and all my friends ask for a homebrew when they come over and leave their crap commercial beer in my fridge :angry:

I started with kits, moved to extract and tried my first partial mash a couple of weeks ago. I like malty beers and go mainly for the amber ales, vienna lagers, porters, stouts, etc, but do the occasional pale ale and light draught for the missus.

I am 32 years old, live in Brisbane, am an environmental scientist, have one wife and two kids (both girls) aged 3 & 4. My team is the Qld Reds and my other passion is mountain biking (I know it's at odds with my profession, but hey- you gotta have balance, right?).

Looking forward to hooking up with a brew club and entering in a few comps, soon. Any suggestions, Dreamboat?

Cheers - Snow.

 

[fergiej]

Hey Fiscus, maybe this should be a separate area in the forums? I've enjoyed reading about other members backgrounds.

I'm Fergie, been brewing on and off for 8 years but have only really got into in the last 18 months. I like trying different brews and have just started to partial mash and will move to full grain soon (hopefully). Also brew ciders and mixers for the wife.

I work on a remote mine site and am away for a week at a time (and home for a week). I am married (wife actually brought me my first home brew kit) and have three ruggies.

I have learnt heaps from the forums and found everyone to be helpful.

And doc just cracks me up.

Anyway enough rambling.

Take care.

Fergie

 

[PostModern]

G'day, I'm Rob.

I'm a tree hugging, VW restoring, vegetarian hippy from the Illawarra. By day I work in IT for the state government as a Database Administrator.

I started brewing years ago (80's) but gave up when all the brews tasted like cider, vinegar or worse. I restarted early this year and have learnt a lot in the last 5 brews. I initially brewed kits, but now do extract and specialty grain brews. I like heavy ales of all colours but plan to put on 2 lagers this Winter - a Christmas Special to share with my family and a nice dark Doppel Bock to cellar as a 2004 Winter Warmer.

My best brews so far have been my first 2 non-kit beers. An APA which went thru 3 stages of fermentation and a lot more malt that I can remember now. It's about 6.7% and has hops to match. My second started out life as a Belgian Wit, but once I learnt that wits needed unmalted wheat, I have changed it's description to "Orange Hefe Weizen". It is creamy, vaguely citrusy and quite strong. You either love it or hate it.

Anyway, I'm into homebrewing for several reasons. Mostly because the only commercial beers I like cost too much and I have kids in private school (boys aged 6, 4 and 1.5) but also because I like having control of the beer's composition. I also like how every homebrew (extract and AG especially) tastes different and in that way is individually the work of its creator. I think the reason we have so many varieties in the world of beer is because of the individuality of the brewers. Today's recipe error or experiment is tomorrow's new style

Anyway, I live in a big old house in the hills above Bulli beach with my partner, our kids, our 2 dogs, our various car projects, PC's and so on. I still bottle, as I plan to build a new house on this block later and plan a keg room right under the bar. I can live without the hassles of an extra fridge until then.

I do go on sometimes...

Cheers,
PoMo. :chug:

 

[Boots]

Hi Spanner (and everyone else), I'm Mike

I've only been brewing seriously for about the last 6-7 months, but unfortunately only have time to do about a brew a month. In my late teens I was "popular" with my friends for my Kit and Kilo brews :blink:

I've done mostly Can + Booster Pack type stuff recently, but have done a Grumpy's extrabrew and am now working my way through their masterbrew range. I've got grand plans for extract brewing, but I think for now the Grumpy's kits are a good way to get my techniques down and sorted.

Started out brewing for the curiosity factory + I love beer + I wanted a hobby that ended up in me getting drunk :lol:

I live in the north / north eastern suburbs of Adelaide with my wife and 4 month old baby daughter (the latter being why I struggle to do more than a brew a month at the mo). To keep me out of trouble in the days I work in IT for a national manufacturer.

I love the heavy ales / amber ales, and have just started appreciating good stouts - which I will try brewing in a few months. I've also learned heaps from this site and all it's contributors.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Trev]

Well, it's almost a show and tell but here goes.

I'm Trev which is short for Trevor but it's an awful lot shorter to type

I made my first brew back in the late seventies when as a teenager it was a bit of a way to save money( yeah, I guess I'm way over the hill now). Like most of the folks here though it all tasted like shit, at least for the bottles that didn't self detonate out in the shed.

Gave it up for quite a few years, went back to it about 10 years ago, still made shit beer so I gave it up again!

Then about 2 years ago I thought I'd have another go but this time I started doing a lot of reading and listening to advice, some good and some not so good. Overall though all the ggod things I've leaned have been generated by discussions such as you get here, as well as a few good books - I reckon John Palmers is about the best single volume primer around, see How To Brew if you're interested.

I think it's also important to find a brew shop where you can have a half intelligent conversation and there is not too much crap shoved down you throat. Shop around if you can to see what you prefer.

I'm now doing extract brewing, speciality grains etc and have just got my kegging system up and running at home (absolute bloody joy).

[Personal Details] Almost 50 , live in the southern suburbs of Sydney with two grown-up sons and a daughter still at school. By day I masquerade as a telecommunications professional and dream of the day I can make a living from making beer, or at least tasting it. [/Personal Details].

Hope you enjoy it here, learn by our mistakes (an ongoing experiment), try a few of the recommended recipes (particularly Ken's Australian Draught - damn nice even with all those hops) and never be worried about asking anything.


Welcome,
Trev

P.S. Don't even think about making Chilli Beer not matter what anybody says!

 

[Snow]

Trev,

I hear ya re Ken's Aussie Draught! I just tasted my first batch of it last week and it's absolutely marvelous! Who would have thought a kit beer could taste so good! I can see why he's won awards with it. God I love this site!

- Snow.

 

[kbekus]

Hey all, I'm Kristan.

I live in Melbourne working as an IT unprofessional and having finally bought a house I've got the room to start brewing the way I want. I lived in England for a while and thought that the best thing about that country was it's pubs and beers, so I would like to try and replicate some British pale ales at home.

I've been brewing for only a year trying the kits with various adjuncts, and I'm keen to enter the bewildering world of all-grain. Thanks and good luck to all brewing endevours.

 

[Spanner]

You all seem to be IT or professional computery-type people!? :unsure:

I'm a simple working bloke who does his time at one of those multi-national herdware shops. (Don't want to say their name as it's free publiccity for the theives. h34r: )

How does one get one of those you-bueat computery piccies under ones name? (Ya like the "one"? Pretty bloody posh huh?)

Anyhoo, I'm having another stout. 6.5 % of heaven on a stick. Well, heaven in a bottle, but you get my drift...

I might shut up now :blink:


Spanner.

 

[Jazman]

Im a first class sheetmetal worker no I/t boy

 

[big d]

gday all
im big d been brewing for about 10 years now.
for what its worth im no i/t pro just a maintenance fitter working for a multi national company in arnhemland n.t
kinda one of oz,s remote brewers unless you count groote eylandt and im sure theres a few over that way.
im married with a coupla girls who keep the hairs on my back raised most days.
the wife loves my hobby as it keeps me drinking and away from the comp so she can hit ebay and spend my hard earnt sheckles.
home brew stuff is kinda hard to get here so im using grumpys gear a fair bit and so far its all excellant stuff.
im a big fan of kegging and have done so for about 6 years .
anyway thats me in a nut shell
gotta go fill my pint glass up with boston cream ale

cheers all
big d B)

 

[Linz]

Suppose I should have a go then....

Married..no rug rats...except the chihuahuas(9 of em)(www.estoes.00go.com)and the missus built the site!..and live S/W of Sydney

been brewing for about 2 years and just starting on the mashing(might have just got one right last Sunday).
No kegging....YET!
Im a fitter/machinist by trade but working in the fire protection industry.

Oh ... and I'm just starting to collect live yeasts....VERY crudely. :huh: