Why Did You Start Homebrewing?

[Doc]

I got started when my mother-in-law got me a starter kit for xmas.
Haven't looked back since. I quickly got another fermenter, then another, then a kegging system, then more and bigger kegs, then went all grain ..................


Beers,
Doc

 

[kook]

I read a bit about it on the net and saw people were brewing beers that were of the same style of imports I was paying $$$ for. Bought a fermenter, brewbelt, hydrometer, few other things off a mate at work pretty cheap (he'd rarely used them and didnt think he would again). Went to a HBS and asked all about what I had to do. Started out with a kit and a kilo(dextrose75%+cornsyrup25%), fermented at 28-30 degrees with a brewbelt. It tasted .. crap But I kept on trying cause I was sure I could make good beer. Came across more resources on the net (OCAU HB thread helped a lot), and learnt more and more. My beer then progressed from a weird tasting substance that looked like beer, to average beer, now the last few brews I've been pumping out taste great

 

[dane]

A mate got me started - never really thought about thinking of brewing my own beers. But after a visit to the local HBS and a taste of what they had on offer I was hooked.

 

[JWB]

:unsure: I was interested in how they made the stuff.
I started brewing before the home brew kits came on the market. (liquid malt.pride of ringwood hops.bakers yeast.)
brewed in a plastic dustbin. Tasted terrible but I drank it.
Over the years ive gone from full mash brewing to kits.
Learnt by mistakes. (plenty made)
now usualy brew kits (modified to my own taste)
I only make a full mash when the spirit moves me.


Cheers JWB :chug:

 

[famousguy]

One of my mates at uni got me into it, we had some great nights at his place drinking his latest brew(s). I finally got into it myself after stumbling across a complete kit (that hadn't been used as everything was still in original packaging) whilst sifting through peoples trash during a council pickup.

On that day I scored a Home Brew Kit, a Rinnai 3 burner BBQ (since renovated) and to top it off got a full time Job (not out of the trash though). Gotta love those rich people on Sydney's northern beaches.

Next pickup I scouting for a fridge that I can use for a keg setup (and yes some people do throw out fridges that still work)

 

[brewman]

I started because when its done, I can say, hey I made that

 

[RegBadgery]

I started brewing in the 1980's - must have seen kits at the supermarket. I knew nothing about alternatives to cane sugar at the time and eventually my brewing lapsed due to flavour problems.

I got back into it a few years ago - started with ESB kits, then adding grains - right now I'm brewing from grain - enjoy the process and the results.

cheers
reg

 

[Moray]

I started brewing when I was 16, in 1984. Brought a h/b kit from kmart, and started my first brew, with the fermenter under my bed. I had offset corner bunks, so i could hide the fermenter behind the chest of drawers.
Mum found it a week later, not sure if it was the smell, or the bubbles from the airlock that gave it away. Anyway She was pretty cool about it, let me finish,( and drink) the brew. I've been brewing on and off ever since. I mostly brew kits, but always use malt, never sugar and usally add extra hops. I've had a couple of disasterous attempts at full grain. One day when I have the space I will get together the right gear, and try full grain again.
I also make red wine, 360 litres this year. As well as mead.

cheers
Moray :chug:

 

[Shed]

I also started brewing back in the mid 80's.
I was living in a shared house with a couple of mates and we thought we could make cheap beer. (None of us had much money)
We bought a complete kit, (Brigalow brand) with all the gear and ingredients for about $20. On the first batch we naturally made the fatal mistake of thinking we could increase the alcohol content by doubling the priming sugar - All 30 bottles exploded over a period of about 2 weeks. The first bottle blew up in the kitchen one night, went off like a bomb - woke us all up!
The next morning we drew straws to see who would carry the remaining bottles outside.

We never did another batch with that kit.

A few years ago a friend re-introduced me to it and I was pleasantly surprised at how much more variety was available. I started again with a Can + Kilo and then got introduced to this forum - Over the past 4 months my beer has improved so much... Thanks guys!

 

[Indy]

i read a really stupid book about landing jumbo jets all that stuff, they went through beer and how easy it is these days to kit brew beer...
bought a can 'n kilo, used old bottles, my parents old wine barrels (not used for years) they actually told me about the barrels when i started talking about beer 'n all that...

i was quite happy with the result (definately needed improvment tho)
been on and off for a while now

 

[PostModern]

As a teenager uni-student years ago I got into it thinking I'd be saving a fortune! Beer mostly came out bad (kit 'n kilo, fermented too warm etc, like everyone else in the 80's) but was drinkable. I stopped for a long time. I like nice beer but can take or leave Aussie mainstream stuff. That's not the way beer should be "take it or leave it"... Aussie Premium beers and imported beers cost too much for what they are, imho, so prompted by the mighty OCAU homebrew thread I got back into it. Thankfully with a better budget this time round

So far I have 3 blacks under my belt. Now starting on Pale Ales and Wits.

 

[Jazzafish]

I started brewing when I turned 18 for the novelty of making my own beer and getting my mates trashed for a cheap price. Only kit and kilo stuff, maybe if I wanted to go full on... a finnishing hop! REALLY BAD!!!

Naturally my first beer was ok, then it just got worse. Shake my head thinking of how I brewed the beer! It only lasted 3 batches of bad beer and a hatred towards bottles!

A few years on and I have returned to brewing mainly for the craft of it. Also the quality it can produce. Mainly doing partial mashes at the moment while I gather a complete AG set up. I still have a hatred towards bottles, but that is defeted with a keg system!

 

[Plastic Man]

First did some brews with my brother back in about 1984. Coopers kits. From memory I think we thought they tasted great, though the idea of cheap beer was the main motivating factor. Theres still about 100 full long necks of my brothers last few brews under my mum and dads place that must be 20 years old !!! I remember back then getting semi interested in the whole thing and some guy explaining to me that some people actually brew up the wort on the stove. Sounded very weird. Information was not easy to get pre internet and the available books back then were pretty crap.

Gave up for about 20 years and I think the seed to get going again was the purchase of the James Squire sample slab a few years back. You got a 6 pack each of the amber, porter, pilsener and IPA, PLUS a copy of Willee Simpsons great book black and tan. The beer was a revelation after a life of mega swill and the book opened up a whole new world. Once converted from mega swill my mates and I ended up buying cases of Mountain Goat and Grand Ridge instead of tooheys and VB. Great beer but it was getting bloody expensive and I think at that stage the first kid popped out and we lost an income.

Cant go back to mega swill but cant afford the good aussie stuff so home brewing seemed the only way to go. Problem is I reckon Ive spent double the cash on the hobby than if Id just stuck with the cases of mountain goat but think of the fun Id have missed out on.

So I voted cheap beer but probably more correct was I like aussie micro beers ( & they are too expensive to buy).

Cheers.

 

[Hopsta]

I started bit over a year ago, a new HBS opened up in the area and every time i drove past it i got more and more keen to go in for a look. One day i pulled over popped in and walked away with a starter kit and some bottles, 3 weeks later i had 4 kegs in a keg fridge.....

 

[Sean]

Other: I started brewing to better understand the process, so that I could be better informed when talking to (professional) brewers.

 

[user 384]

I love ales and in Oz it was pretty hard to find one. Most of the beers sold were psuedo lagers. So a mate and I tried a few kits....better but not quite what I was after. Did 1 extract brew.... better again, but still not quite. Did 1 partial mash.......the beer was horendous, but I was on a mission. Next beer was all grain (why spend all that time mashing only half your fermentables). This beer was soooo much better to everything else I had made.

Now with the number of good new beers like LCPA, Mountain Goat etc, I'm not sure if I would have picked up the hobby, but I'm hooked so I keep brewing.

Cheers
MAH

 

[Daintysquid]

Basically the price was cheap so gave it a go and yeah still doing kits though.

 

[tangent]

Nothing wrong with kits Dainty, my extract brews are still the best while I'm trying to improve my mashing.
I started on the homebrew path because I was on the dole at home and my Father was sick of me drinking his beer (although it was crap beer - Worst End Dirt).
So we started brewing 24/7 and drinking bucketloads of Coopers Stout.
Just kept going from there...

 

[Murray]

A source of cheap piss when I was young, in a nutshell.

 

[Jye]

I like building all the equipment and gadgets

and the beer is a plus :beerbang: