Ello from Arrij...

[Grumpy Jack]

... or Hello from Harwich! :

I've been homebrewing out here on the Essex coast for about 18 months so far, since my kids got me a kit as a present. I mainly brew single can kits, predominantly Coopers, though I've made a couple of double can kits (Woodforde's) and I've tried experimenting with some cheaper kits and boosting them with different sugars and hop bags.

I've also made a few ciders and wines, again mainly from kits but my best cider comes from Lidl apple juice cartons with a bit of sugar and trono or other yeast enhancer and dried ginger root, gives a real edge to it and I reckon it costs about 35p a pint :thumb:

I'm looking to branch out a bit more and brew from scratch, but I need to make the jump and it's so easy to do kits that I'm hoping the forum will fill me with enthusiasm to do it!

 

[Moley]

Kits are very easy, and the results are far superior to anything I ever remember brewing many years ago. However, budget kits always seem to have “That Homebrew Twang”, whatever you add to try to improve them. Premium kits are rather expensive when compared to ‘the real thing’ and still seem to lack something.

The jump to AG brewing is quite a big one, there's a lot to learn but all the information is right here. You need to put time and money into building your equipment and a brew day goes from half an hour up to a few hours, but the results are worth it and you will never go back to brewing another kit.

Welcome to the forum :

 

[Wez]

Agree with Moley ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Welcome to the forum :thumb:

 

[Tony]

Nice to meet you GJ!

:

 

[CptnCrackoff]

Hi, nice to see another member from the Tendring peninsula!!
:thumb:

 

Welcome GJ, AG's the way to go and it doesn't have to be expensive.
Dave Line's Big Book of Brewing is an excellent starting point, then progress to the "how to's" on the Forum.
If you get bitten by the "shiney" bug, then it can get a little expensive.

 

[Grumpy Jack]

Thanks for the welcome guys! :thumb:

I bottled my Tom Caxton dark last night, my 3 year old attempting to help with the caps and generally getting in the way is always entertaining but I think it's good for them all to see what goes on and maybe they'll want to help a bit more... :wha:

I always find that beer in pubs these days doesn't have the depth of flavour and strength that I get when I'm playing around with the cans and sugars and hop bags etc but they are a tad limiting... so I'm certainly up for putting a tentative foot over to the dark side... but I'm gonna take your advice and read up a bit more on here to get my head round what's needed and what's a luxury, I can sure as hell only afford what's needed to start with so I want to get things right.

Greetings to CaptnCrackoff - shame we lost Harwich HomeBrew where I got my first kit from, but have had a good chat with Andy at Colchester and I've a mate there who's started turning to the dark side too, so I see fun days ahead...

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