The Year in Beer

This past Sunday marked a year since I’ve been brewing.  I just want to tell you first and foremost it has been a great year.  Homebrewing beer has been so rewarding for me on so many levels. I’m grateful to everyone who has subscribed to this blog as well as my tumblr as well as my YouTube channel.  Through these means I’ve been able to share my passion for my new hobby with everyone willing to read some words on a page or watch me talk on a video.

I started homebrewing because I really love beer.  Since I started keeping track I’ve had nearly 400 unique beers.  Now that I homebrew I can make beers that I want to drink, not just ones that are sitting on a shelf.  A coworker of mine started talking to me about homebrewing and to be honest, I was reluctant.  Mostly because I’m not the cleanest guy and the thought of sanitizing everything really scared me.  But then after my first batch I thought, this isn’t that bad and I didn’t ruin my beer.

I started out with a Christmas gift I asked my wife to get me; A Mr. Beer kit.  There are some out there that think Mr. Beer isn’t homebrew.  Well, they’re wrong.  I’m putting fermentables together and adding yeast to produce alcohol, so I’m homebrewing  If you’re interested in homebrewing, but are afraid like I was to get started I think it’s a fine choice.  you’re really only spending $40 or $50 on something as opposed to at starter kit which could run you $200.

Taking a stepped approach worked for me.  After two Mr. Beer kits I found someone selling a starter kit on Craiglist for $100.  It came with a primary bucket, carboy, brushes, hydrometer, and everything else I needed for my first ‘big boy’ brew.  I decided to go with an extract kit from my local homebrew store because I really didn’t have a good idea of what I was doing.  It was about $40 (the cheapest they had).  Low and behold, I didn’t ruin my beer.

All of the items I bought for that first extract batch I’m still using today with my all-grain batches.  Over the summer I decided to go all-grain for a few reasons, but mostly for two: to continue to grow as a homebrewer and to save money on what I was spending on extracts.  My first all-grain batch was a Sierra Nevada clone from Brew365.com and it ran me $24 for the batch.  I dove right in and low and behold, I didn’t ruin my beer.

From there I started doing things like parti-gyles, washing yeast, milling grain, buying 50lb bags of grain, and buying hops in bulk.

This has been a great  year for me on so many levels and I’m glad your here to witness it.  I’m now going to crack open a bottle from my first batch I made a year ago in celebration.  In other words, I’m going to sit back, relax and have a homebrew.