Homebrew virgin

[Davdandy]

Hello folks.

First of all a small intro.

My name is Dave or David and i live in the small town of Leigh up t`north.Married with two girls and i am 52 years old.

Ok,i like beer as most people do and have found the idea of brewing my own an interesting concept.My dad did it many many years ago and also made wine but i was too young then to appreciate it.Now i have been thinking about giving it a go.I know absolutely nothing about the hobby so will need to know everything from scratch.I am a virgin in every sense of the word.

My beers in the boozer tend to be mostly of the bitter variety,i like John Smiths for instance but do enjoy the many real ales.I am not into the dark brews or indeed the very light but a nice golden bitter goes down a treat.Funny enough i also like San Miguel but not really a lager drinker,not sure if that makes sense but hey ho.

Ok,enough for now,i just wanted to say hello.Hope to speak to you all soon and get some great tips from you all.

Regards.Dave.

 

[SiWHU]

Welcome aboard Dave.

We're a friendly bunch on here. There's some good posts on here to let you know what you need to get started. A basic brew kit with bottles hydrometer bucket etc. plus ingredients to make around 40 pints shouldn't break the bank and is likely to come in at around £50 (or under)

Get your kit together and once you get your first brew done, I predict you'll be hooked!

 

[Davdandy]

Thanks SiWHU

I hear from others not to bother but also hear from people like yourself that i will love it.What is it that some people do not take to it,is it poor kits or lack of knowledge.

 

[ManseMasher]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum Dave :

A good place to start is here - http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51684

 

[Dads_Ale]

Welcome to the forum.
Kits have improved over the years but once you are hooked the Dark Side awaits :twisted:

 

[wildmanbrew]

Welcome bud, i only started a week or so ago. Lots of friendly advice to be found here.

 

[Davdandy]

Thanks again for the welcomes.Be prepared to hounded to death with questions.:lol:

 

[ManseMasher]

The only daft question is the one that isn't asked!!

 

[Hoppyland]

I hear from others not to bother but also hear from people like yourself that i will love it.What is it that some people do not take to it,is it poor kits or lack of knowledge.

Hi Dave! My wife's also from down south :lol: (Stretford, not a million miles away). It's a 10 hour drive for us, and we try to keep family visits to a minimum!

My personal take is that whether or not you like it depends a lot upon why you want to do it. If it's just to save money, then I'd say forget it. Start costing your own time, and account for the odd mistake along the way, & you won't really be saving much.
I'd think of it a bit like cooking. You can get reasonably good ready-meals, but it can be a lot more satisfying to cook from scratch. However, you've got to want to do it, and enjoy the process. And if you do, you'll be turning out much better than shop-bought grub.
Not that home brewing need be complicated. If you start with a decent quality kit, then it's reasonably straightforward (don't ask me about kits, though, as I haven't used one for a long while now). A kit will get you used to how it's done whilst cutting out some of the faff and bother (or, if you take to the hobby, cutting out the interesting and enjoyable bits :))
Best of luck - it's good fun, and there's plenty of help and knowledge on here. And, once you've mastered a very few basics, you'll easily be able make something as good as John Smith's, and tweak it to your own tastes. Go for it!!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Great post hoppyland.

Dave you might find this of interest - http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=43755

 

[Davdandy]

Its not a money saving venture Hoppyland so don't worry on that score.I would like a hobby and one that i could take too,beer i like.:lol:

 

[clibit]

It might not save Hoppyland money but it saves me money. My latest batch in the fermenter is 10 litres, I'll bottle about 27 x 330ml bottles, and I used 2kg of grain that cost about �£2.50, about 50g of hops that cost about �£1.50, and the yeast is re cycled.

There's gas to cost out, not much, a teaspoon of gypsum and Irish moss, bottle caps, but it's under a fiver total.

I have spent very little on equipment either. The time I spend is the issue. If you can find the time, you can save a fortune. And learn loads, and make better beer than you can buy in the vast majority of pubs, or any supermarket.

 

[Davdandy]

Time is not really a problem,i work during the day of course but most evenings are free,more often than not i go upstairs playing a game of darts or watch the telly,because being downstairs while the wife watches her mind numbing soaps and reality rubbish drives me insane.And at least one day at the weekend is free so shouldn't be a problem finding time.

 

[clibit]

It started out as a money saving venture when I was skint, but now I mainly do it cos I can make beer that suits me perfectly, and I enjoy doing it and learning about it and helping others to learn.

I once costed out a brew that I realised hadn't cost much, and it came to 13p per 500ml bottle. I would say 25p is typical for all grain brews. A kit brew will cost around 20 quid for 40 bottles, so 50p each.

 

[Davdandy]

50p a bottle sounds great,better than £1.25/£1.50 a bottle for a San Miguel for instance.

 

[TartanSpecial]

One thing I recommend is to start collecting bottles now....Xmas is a good time, esp if any neighbours drink bottled beer. If you have a local boozer they may be happy for you to take some. Then you can post on techniques to remove labels.:smile:

 

[Davdandy]

Bottles is no problem. I go through about a crate a week.

 

[Covrich]

One thing I recommend is to start collecting bottles now....Xmas is a good time, esp if any neighbours drink bottled beer. If you have a local boozer they may be happy for you to take some. Then you can post on techniques to remove labels.:smile:

Yeah good luck with any St Austell bottles :lol:

 

[ONBP]

Welcome to the Forum. Look forward to chatting to you about beer :-)