Greetings from a hungover Buffalonian

[gbob]

Greetings fellow brewers, drunks and other assorted dirtbags.

I just found this podcast two days ago and I'm a new brewer. I'm on my second batch, and the third is being brewed tomorrow. Batch 2 was drunk last night, and I came upon the terrible discovery that if you let friends drink your beer, then 5 gallons a week is far too small a batch. Teach me to make beer that's too tasty.

What I love about it is the knowledge that each batch is only going to get better and better as I learn more about the art. Laugh at the newb, but for now I'm doing extracts with dry hopping. I know, I know. Eventually I'll get into the realm of all grain brewing and the like, but for now I'm just excited to be able to make some damn fine beer.

Seems like this is a good place to hang out and talk beer. All I can ask is that you be gentle the first time...or at least buy me some freackin' flowers after.

[BrewTa2]

Welcome to the inanity!

Douche bags, not dirt bags.

Nothing wrong with extract. The main things to learn early on are sanitation and fermentation control and yeast health. Get those down now and the move to grain will be a piece of cake.

We'll go slow - just relax and open up. The first time only hurts if you fight it.

[BadRock]

Welcome aboard!

[bub]

Well with an attitude like yours, you seem to be in the right crowd...
Ask plenty of questions, we will answer them, and take a little piece of ass as payment.
One of these twats will post the orientation package.. GET on it twats.
I said package.
BUB

[boobookittyfuk]

welcome to gay pride parade!

so you're from buffalo too? maybe we could hold hands sometime.

[Bugeater]

Booboo, is your avatar your idea of holding hands?

Anyway, welcome to the forum. Don't worry if we make fun of you. We make fun of everyone. We are equal opportunity that way.

Let us know if there is any way we can help. We even have a couple of of recent Ninkasi award winners here. If you don't know what the Ninkasi award means, just think of folks recognized by the American Homebrewers Association as the best homebrewers in the world.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[gbob]

If by "holding hands" you mean me drinking your best beer, getting drunk and insulting, then stealing your empty bottles then count me in! If, however, you mean "forced sodomy" then....well....how good is your beer exactly? Seriously, if you know of any meetups for brewing, I would love to know about it. Hell, the best way I can learn the art is by watching how other people do it.

Buggy, the sheer amount of brewing knowledge round these parts is downright intimidating when it comes right down to it. Hell, compared to some of you I'm a spastic monkey who is just figuring out how his opposable thumb works while the rest of of you are landing on the moon. There are some differences. Monkeys, for example, have much better personal hygiene then I do.

Here's a serious question. I have the most basic setup. I understand the basics of brewing, but not the vocabulary. I've done extracts three times, and I'm wondering if I want to be able to be a good brewer what's the first step I should take? Just experiment for a while and then branch out? What was the first ballsy experiment you folks did when you started to branch out? Keep in mind that I'm on a budget for the next few months. Ever since my wife figured out how to read online banking statements my spending has been curtailed.

Anyways, thanks for the welcome everyone.

[beerocracy]

I think the two biggest improvements you can make are full-wort boils and fermentation control. They don't have to be drastically expensive either. Around Thanksgiving you can usually pick up a turkey fryer burner system with a 7.5 gallon pot for 50-60 bucks. For fermentation control, Google "Son of Fermentation Chiller". You can build one of those for $50 or so.