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Ok, so the title above is a bit misleading - I have never even brewed a single batch of beer completely by myself before - but I figured I would start with an inspiring title and hope that through some hard work, and a lot of delicious fun, the title would eventually be appropriate.
Let me begin with some background on why I want to brew my own beer.
Don't let the authorities know, but my first taste of alcohol might have come a bit before my 21st birthday. I won't act like that is probably any different from when the majority of Americans had their first drink. As a guy, you learn, whether it be through the ads from the champions of the no-flavor light American pilsners, through TV shows and movies, or through watching older men around you, that you are suppose to like and drink beer. I will admit, the first time I had beer, I wondered why anyone would want to drink something that tasted like that! (Of course I had the same reaction to coffee but now drink black coffee everyday). However, after a few nights of buying a 6 pack and only drinking a bit of each beer, I finally started to develop my taste for beer. Not only did I start to enjoy the taste of it, but I began to understand why so many people enjoyed beer, above and beyond their enjoyment of the flavor alone.
A lot of my early experiences with beer were prior to having a real job, and as a poor college student, it only made sense to drink cheap American pilsner as it was widely available and as it was affordable on a college budget. I would notice at convenience stores and in bars that there were beers other than those I routinely saw advertised on TV but at that point I didn't realize there were other flavors and styles of beer - so why pay more to just get a slightly different version of what I could get for cheaper? Sometimes I felt like others who drank only those beers were being a bit snobbish.
However, as my beer drinking experience grew, I realized that almost all beers tasted the same and the idea of adding some variety to my experience seemed like a good idea. At first, I simply tested the waters, getting a Sam Adams here, a micro brewed ale there, and then drinking the "cheap stuff" the rest of the night. However, once you start down the road of having beer with real and complex flavors, it's hard to not want to follow it and see where it can take you. Soon drinking beer became an adventure - my friends and I enjoyed going to bars where we could do "around the world tours" and we patronized stores that specialized in offering those beers that weren't even on the minds of grocery store owners.
Luckily, as I was beginning to enjoy all these different styles of beers - from the hoppiest of ales to the complex malty flavors of porters and stouts and everything in between, I became aware that I was learning to love beer in a great time in its history in America. I was among a growing crowd of people just like me that were learning that the big three brewers didn't represent all that beer could be - there were a world of flavors and styles out there - all offering an interesting perspective into history and culture while these same styles were still very dynamic - favorite styles were being further refined and boundaries were being pushed to where beer had never been taken before.
While my palette was being expanded by the variety of choices that were suddenly available in bars and stores, I also started to hear a bit more and more about homebrewing. When I first heard of it, my mind would conjure up images of backwoods stills and bootleggers racing cars down mountains with moonshine - even though I knew there was a difference between liquor and beer - for some reason there seemed to be an air of uncertainty, danger, and intrigue with homebrewing.
This began to change though as I was lucky enough as a college student to get the opportunity to do an "internship" at Bully Hill Vineyards in the Finger Lakes region of NY. I know you might be wondering how this experience relates to making beer - but as I learned about the winemaking process and led wine tastings and tours of the facilities, I realized that making wine wasn't mysterious and certainly didn't seem as complicated as I had thought beforehand. In discussions with the winemakers and in spending an entire summer working there, I realized that not only did making your own wine sound fun, but it also seemed like a great opportunity to make something that you really wanted, the way you wanted, and to be able to create something to share with friends. I still can't believe I got college credit for the opportunity to learn so much, have a lot of fun, and interact with some great people.
A couple years later, some of my friends let me know that they were going to start brewing beer on a regular basis. My friend Scott (on this site as svossler - check out some of the maple syrup infused beer recipes he has added) had grown up in a household where wine and beer making occurred on a regular basis and he and his cousin Steve own a maple farm and so they wanted to make some maple syrup based beers. I was intrigued the first several times that we made these beers up there - termed Mapale - a combination of Maple and Pale Ale - and decided that it was a lot of fun. This Mapale was responsible for some great nights of fun at Scott's house as it was on tap in a kegerator for this occasion and that occasion. Having gotten use to the concept, and having enjoyed this homebrew, I had to laugh when my father would tell me to be careful and make sure we didn't go blind (I let him know that is not an issue with making beer - but could be an issue when operating a still and making liquor).
Making the beer up there inspired me to learn as much as possible about homebrewing - as I suddenly understood that brewing your own beer was easy and a lot of fun. And it was one of those "hobbies" that your friends could truly enjoy when you handed them a cold beer you had made yourself. The more and more I read in different books, online, and heard from others interested in homebrewing, the more I became convinced that it would be a safe, fun, and interesting thing to get into.
Being that I had been developing web sites for a few different organizations and without really finding the type of site I would want to be a member of to learn about making beer, and being able to share the experience with other like minded individuals, my friend Bernie and I decided to make the site that you are now reading this entry on - Brewasaurus. So now that we have the current version out (don't worry - there are many, many more things we would like to add to the site and plan to release over time), I thought it was time to start on my journey from a beer-lover who has participated in the brewing process several times to being a brewmaster. And don't worry I realize its going to be a long process and I don't fancy myself to be a prodigy - its going to take lots of trial and error and beers drank to get anywhere near the level of some of the great brewers in this world. But I plan on sharing this journey in regular updates to this blog and I will begin in the next week or so as I take the first step and order myself a brew kit to start!
As soon as we add comments to these entries - feel free to send me your thoughts on anything I write - until then, feel free to join and post something on my profile!
