How the HECK??

[dandan]

Was out walking the dog today with my friends and they asked WHY and HOW have you ended up Home brewing?

And it got me thinking! My main reason was escapism!

To cut a long story short.....I ended up in hospital in January and had a major operation on 23rd of Jan, because of the op I lost my job, I had a long recovery ahead of me due to the fact they lasered /cut straight through my abdominal muscles, was getting bored at home watching telly, my dad had been given a bottle of a fellow allotmenteers blackcurrant wine and I suggested to open it on my 23rd birthday and it was gooooood!!! This gave me a brain wave!! And I searched the internet and came across BrewUK (Gregs site) and ordered a wine kit with some birthday money, after one brew I was addicted! I’ve gained kit off freecycle! And my parents are good as they let me use space in the house to brew but they do get rewarded :drink:

:thumb: That’s my excuse, whats yours??? :thumb:

 

[tubby_shaw]

I have a terrible thirst for knowledge :geek:
If something catches my interest I want to know as much about that subject as possible :ugeek:
When I discovered alcoholic drinks I wanted to know how they were made, then I wanted to make them, then I wanted to make them better :thumb:
I never stop learning, I have recently had a clarity problem that I am trying to bottom out now, I think it's the mad scientist in me :lol:

 

[Aleman]

Was in the 6th form, and listening to two friends of mine discussing this 'beer' they had made . . . . that got them plastered really quickly and was really stron cause they added more sugar than it said . . . Thought . :idea: . . . I could do that . . . . so made a John Bull kit up with 3 times the sugar . . . water straight from the tap fermented it in the airing cupboard . . . . bottled it . . . . drank it . . . threw up . . . . learned lesson

Walking through the market I came across a market stall selling homebrew stuff including a book called Brewing Beers Like those you buy . . . bought book . . . made beer (Abbot ale . . . our favourite beer in the dark ages when GK was still a micro ) . . . drank beer, liked it . . .went to uni, did biology degree (with interest in plant biochem) . . . applied knowledge to making better beer . . . carried on for the last 28 (I think :hmm: ) years . . . . . . One day you'd think I'd get it right :lol:

So I got into brewing the usual way . . . Making cheap alcoholic **** to get you drunk quickly . . . . luckily I learned that you can brew quality beer even cheaper . . . so did.

 

[ano]

At sixth form a friend's parents opened a pub/restaurant (he was a friend before that before you ask) so I spent a fair bit of time over there. I think I always wanted to be an ale drinker rather than your stereotypical British lager boy, it just seemed more civilised and the product felt of a higher quality. I learnt a little about pub setups (the friend worked behind the bar and I helped clear the lines a few times) but it's all forgotten now.

After the end of A-levels we went to Scotland and went on a number of whisky distillery tours (I'd developed a taste for that too at his pub), there I learnt that making beer is a simple process (steep malted grain, boil, ferment) if difficult to perfect (see Aleman's post). So I got interested in beer production.

Spent some time at Warwick uni (doing Maths and Physics) and became a regular in the union bar that served real ale. Such a regular in fact that my lecturers had to write to me to get me to attend the course. I didn't and dropped out in 2005 but not before attending the largest non-CAMRA beer festival in the UK at the union. This cemented my love of beer.

Since I was a young 'un we'd been making elderflower based things in summer and my dad had a boot's fermenting bin and had done some of the old kits and made some country wines so had a little knowledge to help me. In around 2006 I saw at a garden centre on the A5 some kits and got one for a tenner. It was drinkable. Somehow found the Jolly Brewer in Wrexham (from a farmer's market I think) and they helped me get a few more bits and bobs and another couple of kits under my belt. The internets provided so much information that I was made to think all-grain brewing was some kind of magical dark art which you need years of experience with just to produce something palatable. Luckily it isn't and I made my first AG brew last year with my home brewed setup.

That was longer than it needed to be but hey.

 

[So-Kal]

After more than 40 years of not being a drinker, I am now someone who likes a drink. Unfortunately, working in the NHS means I can't afford to fund my new-found hobby without cutting down on other luxuries (like food).

And then the kids bought me a wine kit for Christmas, and being a computer geek, I then had to read all about it on t'interweb, and I found this place and have been inspired to want to try all sorts........

:thumb:

 

[Moley]

Going back about 25 years a friend and his Dad made some wines, which seemed quite good, so me and my Dad thought we'd give it a go. Quality varied but we got quite productive at one point. When I eventually got married and moved out we shared out the kit and DJs (about 12 each), I carried on making some for a while but I was working all hours, kids came along, winemaking gradually tailed off and stopped. I hadn't made any for probably 15 years.

Every now and then I've looked at brewing kits in Wilko or a local DIY store and thought I'd give it another go, and then with people starting to watch their spending at the moment, I worked out what we were spending on booze.

I probably have a couple of beers most nights, or most of a bottle of wine. Even with 4-for-a-fiver ales from Morrison's and £3-4 wines that's easily twenty quid a week for me, probably a tenner for Mrs. Mole, before you realise it there's a grand-and-a-half a year.

I think that's a good enough reason why my brewing bin and DJs are now full again (lost my Dad 5 years ago, his DJs are still up Mom's loft, but won't be for much longer).

 

[paulbrrtt]

Hell of a good post though when you think about it. Homebrew isnt exactly mainstream but its surprising how many people try it. In my younger days had no interest in school left with no qualifications and all i wanted to do was get blotto listen to rock music, go hunting and go fishing. But as i have got older my tastes have changed completely. I dont drink (very rare) I took up metal detecting a few yrs back and love reading up on history etc, I even do a lot of gardening. Dont hunt anymore though i still fish regular. If someone had told me 20yrs ago that I would be into homebrew,history etc I would have thought they were on drugs. Strange how things turn out. It must be that river cottage effect on me lol

 

[falafael]

i used to brew about 20 years ago, and then i could never get beer right, but wine, now i was great at that, anyways i stopped brewing to go backpacking for 3 years, then work, marriage etc, but last september i got back into it, can't remember why now, but i think that every time we went to asda i was buying the real ale bottles at 3 for £4, and then the lager bottles for the wife, like moley, it soon adds up, so i started brewing again, my first attempt was a woodfordes kit, and that was a disaster...but luckily i have made some great beers, although lately i have had a few go wrong, i also like experimenting as well, like my fruity bitter.

I have also gotten more into winemaking and it seems to be overtaking my beer making just lately, i have made some belters lately, and look forward to increasing my stock of wine as well....however, i have now decided to stop brewing lager since i can't get it to taste right, but will continue with the bitters/ciders, and wine of course....one day i also hope to go AG as well, but given the current climate, its on the back boiler for now....money needed for the house at the moment!!! :)

 

[damfoose]

I started brewing about a year ago but for years before that I had had an intrest but never got around to actually brewing. Then the unimanagable happend SWMBO fainted and managed to get herself a very bad head injury almost killed her so she went on the sick and because she could not give a back to work date 6 months after the injury she was fired these things happen so we are getting buy. Now I like beer but at over £1 a pint I started looking for a cheeper way of getting some beer oh home brew so I did a few kits and did alot of research found and joined a few forums and decided the kits were OK so I started adding some bits to them to make them taste fresher, Kits in them selves are not to bad but they did not quite hit the mark and after I had done 10 or so kits Aleman came p with an offer I could not refuse go see an AG brew and he also had some kit he would sell to me so off I trundled thinking ive not lost anything after the kits and equipment pretty much the day was fantastic and I came away with a demi full of his emperial stout and pretty much a full Ag plstic set up all I needed was a mash tun.

Now I brew because its fun relaxing and it gives me something that to me is better than the pub stuff, I will and do happily sit outside just watching the thing boil away , Brewing for me has turned from a way to save a few coins into something that gives me pleasure to do and my mates free beer to get happily plastered on, I supply the cheep beer they bring the spirits for their other halves cant get any better than a few mates around enjoying some good holesom home brew that usually does not give head aches.

Happy brewing their is allways time to get a brew on...