average brewer's age

[Shrek]

I wouldn't say that I was ticked off with the commercials as my regular pub when I am home is excellent and always has a great selection of guest ales and they are well kept. The problem for me is the price these days. If I go out for a drink it is £3 a pint and if I go out it is normally about 12 pints so £36 just for me. If I have to take swmbo she likes a drink too so say another £25 pound. Then there is a taxi each way at £7 and it all comes up to £75 for a night out. Stay at home with HB and it costs me £6.

 

[phettebs]

Started brewing in early 2007 at 34. Did two kits and went AG. I'm 39 now. I don't brew nearly as much as I did those first few years. My kids are older now. Work is busier. But I brew enough to keep me in beer so I'm happy.

 

[rocket ronnie]

After home brewing was made legal in 1963 I began brewing at the age of 28 in 1966, that puts me at 73 now. There was not the array of supliers that we now have and I began brewing by buying a 2lb glass jar of malt extract from Boots the chemist, (making sure it was not the cod liver oil variety).
As supliers then began to multiply quickly it was easy to get into kits which at that time tasted better than the earlier way.
It was in 1976 when I went all grain and after tasting better quality beers by that way, I have never looked back since. Apart from Woodefordes Norfolk nog, which I believe cannot be beaten for an extract brew I brew all grain all the time.

 

[jimw86]

I started brewing in December 2008 with kits at 22. Moved to AG the nexy year and started in the industry at 23 in 2010. Dont have the get up and go to do it home so much anymore, olus need to spend some time with SWMBO. But planning to do more at home this year. Now 25

 

[Cussword]

Started at 15 with exploding sterilised milk bottles (they had crown caps) in my mum's pantry

I'm 58 in a couple of days

 

[Dr. B]

37 now, brewed my first strong ginger beer at 17, and have not stopped since, although some years have been quieter than others.

Also remember helping my dad pick dandelions, blackberries and tap birch trees for sap for wine back when I was little.

So I would say OPs friend is dead wrong!

 

[RobWalker]

tree sap? how's that work then? :p

 

[Dr. B]

You drill a hole in the bark, put a bored rubber bung in with some syphon tube in, dangled in a container.
Leave overnight and you get some sap collected in there.
Add sugar/water and you get a wine.
I never tasted it myself.

 

[orlando]

I started out brewing kits around 1974 and they were :cry: :shock: . Cured me for years, so much so I didn't brew anything until October last year when I brewed 10 gallons of cider using a Farmer friends cider making kit (scratter and press) and apples from his tree. I enjoyed the process so much it occurred to me that waiting 12 months to do it again was too long, so I decided to look into brewing beer again and was amazed at how everything had moved on. Decided to go balls out and went All Grain from day one (first brew 23/12/11). Thought I would have to budget around £300 for kit but am a little on the obsessive side so spent a lot, a lot, more . I am about to brew AG #4 ( a big stout that I'm calling Malt Teaser) having just kegged AG #3 this morning giving me back my fermenter/fridge. I will be 55 next Thursday, please no presents, a card will do and am delighted to see that that probably makes me a lot older than the average age, so the future of HB is looking good. I am a member of the CBA and have to say that I'm amongst, shall we say a maturer bunch than this forum and would like to take this opportunity to urge you young bloods to get involved in your local area. The experience and help you can get is so useful. I will give you another reason why I joined; I am able to bulk purchase hops around £1 for 100g rather than the £5 I get charged by the HBS :party:

 

[stu brew]

Hi Steve this is an j olver one


This recipe for Easy Peasy Ginger Beer is in Jamie's book "Happy Days with the Naked Chef"

140gr/5oz fresh ginger
4 tablespoons muscovado sugar
2-3 lemons
1 litre/1 3/4 pints sparkling mineral water
sprigs of fresh mint

First of all you need to grate the ginger on a coarse cheese grater - you can leave the skin on if you like. Put the ginger with its pulpy juice into a bowl and sprinkle in the muscovado sugar. Remove the rind from 2 of the lemons with a vegetable peeler, add to the bowl, and slighly bash and squash with something heavy, like a pestle or a rolling pin. Just do this for 10 seconds to mix up all the flavours. Squeeze the juice from all 3 lemons and add most of it to the bowl. Pour in the fizzy water or soda water. Allow to sit for 10 minutes and then taste. You may feel that the lemons are slightly too sour, so just add a little more sugar. If it's too sweet add a little more lemon juice. To be honest these amounts are always a little variable so just follow your own taste. Pass the ginger beer through a coarse sieve into a large jug and add lots of ice and some sprigs of mint.


Enjoy!

 

[RobWalker]

sounds interesting dr.b, when do they have sap, all year? might go over the fields at some point and have a look...

 

[Wheels]

My son got me my first kit for fathers Day last year. Put it to one side and forgot about it till Dec. Made it, loved it,(making it and drinking it) and gave most of it away for Christmas. I'm now on my 4th kit and i've even started making my own candi sugar.
Love it.
Wheels (age 47 1/2 )
:

 

[oldbloke]

sounds interesting dr.b, when do they have sap, all year? might go over the fields at some point and have a look...

CJJB says spring, first couple of weeks of March (variable by latitude and global warming, I expect)
Don't use a tree less then 9" diameter or you may kill it.
Bore just past the bark into the sap-bearing wood, not right into the dead heartwood.
Don't take more than a gallon.
Plug the hole afterwards.

 

[operon]

Just started this year, 32

 

[timbowden]

46 this year and started brewing when i was 16! (Although if you count helping dad with his boots beer kits then probably 8 years old! :whistle: )

tim

 

[zgoda]

I got my first kit on my 39th birthday from my wife. Now I'm approaching 41 and have 58 batches under my belt (one kit and 57 all grain). It all started with just 2 cans of wheat extract, now I'm buying grains in 25kg sacks and have my own barley crusher.

 

[Northern Brewer]

Here's my eldest daughter helping me stir in the hops - just over 2 year at the time, is this a record ..... :hmm: :)

 

[jobby]

47 started brewing at 17 and stopped soon after as the kits back then were not that good, tried a wherry kit last year and i was blown away by the quality so its continued from there to the point where i have 4 kegs and 120 bottles have though about maybe trying ag but to be honest im happy with the kits ive tried except the pear cider thats rank

 

[Baz Chaz]

According to my profile and my warped sense of Yuma I'm 5 years old on the 1st April :whistle:

56 this year, no cardigan, sandals or beard in sight just a shedload of barminess :lol: first brewed back in 1974

Nice haircut Northern Brewer, good to see someone else with a sense of style :lol:

 

[Northern Brewer]

Nice haircut Northern Brewer, good to see someone else with a sense of style :lol:

Baldness is the next stage in human evolution :thumb:

therefore, by deduction, if your have a full head of hair, then....... :whistle: :P