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- Feb 10, 2014
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Hello there…
I’ve been lurking the boards for a month or so, and I formally joined last week. I figured it’s time to stop hiding and say hi.
Hi.
I am a newbie-brewbie. We got a Brooklyn Brew Shop Everyday IPA kit for Christmas but were a little daunted by all the unfamiliar instructions and processes. Fortunately, there is a LHBS not too far away, and they have events or demonstrations most weekends. . Before brewing our first batch, we visited our LHBS for a start-to-finish BIAB demo. Boy, am I glad we did! I think the BBS kit was a great way for us to get started (I love that it is all-grain), but that demo really helped us. We learned a bunch and adapted our process accordingly. Since then we have brewed several gallons – we’re sticking to 1-gallon batches for the time being – and have had great fun.
In the demo we attended, the LBHS owner used BIAB, so we have followed suit. So far, it has worked well for us. In addition to that first BBS kit, we also got a Chocolate Maple Porter refill. With that refill, we started experimenting – we added a little candied ginger to the boil. Those BBS kits (our first two gallons) have been bottled for about three weeks. That porter…ohmygoodness. It is delicious. I can hardly keep from drinking all of it, even though I know that it will be even better in a few more weeks.
Thanks to the incredible recipe tool on this site, I have been able to work with more ingredients and start to understand how to build recipes. We’ve made two visits to different grain-selling stores, so we’re learning about that, too. I’ve used (and tweaked) several recipes from the site so far; after reading some forum posts, I just realized today that it would be appropriate for me to let the original brewers know that. (Sorry! I’m new at this.)
Yesterday, we bottled a stout and another porter; we have a dIPA in primary and yet another stout in secondary. Today is a surprise snow-day (woo-hoo!), so we’re going to get some brewing in, I hope. Next on the agenda are an IPA, a vanilla porter, and a Schlafly Tasmanian IPA clone. I hope to get at least two of those done…and it would be awesome to get all three brewed.
In any case, now that I have rambled on and on and on, I’ll finish this up. As I mentioned above, I love the recipe tool. Being able to search and copy and modify is wonderful. I am very thankful for this site. Since I’m so new at all of this, it has been wonderful to have such great resources available. The forums have already answered so many of my questions.
I will admit, though, that all the changes (and apparent discontent) make me a bit nervous; I can’t imagine how all you veterans feel! However, it seems that, at the core, the members have wanted to stay and continue to participate in this community despite the recent turmoil – it was that (and the reassurances you-all gave to another newbie) that convinced me to go ahead and join up.
I’m looking forward to learning even more…thanks for such a great site.
~Deidre
BrassBraBrewing
I’ve been lurking the boards for a month or so, and I formally joined last week. I figured it’s time to stop hiding and say hi.
Hi.
I am a newbie-brewbie. We got a Brooklyn Brew Shop Everyday IPA kit for Christmas but were a little daunted by all the unfamiliar instructions and processes. Fortunately, there is a LHBS not too far away, and they have events or demonstrations most weekends. . Before brewing our first batch, we visited our LHBS for a start-to-finish BIAB demo. Boy, am I glad we did! I think the BBS kit was a great way for us to get started (I love that it is all-grain), but that demo really helped us. We learned a bunch and adapted our process accordingly. Since then we have brewed several gallons – we’re sticking to 1-gallon batches for the time being – and have had great fun.
In the demo we attended, the LBHS owner used BIAB, so we have followed suit. So far, it has worked well for us. In addition to that first BBS kit, we also got a Chocolate Maple Porter refill. With that refill, we started experimenting – we added a little candied ginger to the boil. Those BBS kits (our first two gallons) have been bottled for about three weeks. That porter…ohmygoodness. It is delicious. I can hardly keep from drinking all of it, even though I know that it will be even better in a few more weeks.
Thanks to the incredible recipe tool on this site, I have been able to work with more ingredients and start to understand how to build recipes. We’ve made two visits to different grain-selling stores, so we’re learning about that, too. I’ve used (and tweaked) several recipes from the site so far; after reading some forum posts, I just realized today that it would be appropriate for me to let the original brewers know that. (Sorry! I’m new at this.)
Yesterday, we bottled a stout and another porter; we have a dIPA in primary and yet another stout in secondary. Today is a surprise snow-day (woo-hoo!), so we’re going to get some brewing in, I hope. Next on the agenda are an IPA, a vanilla porter, and a Schlafly Tasmanian IPA clone. I hope to get at least two of those done…and it would be awesome to get all three brewed.
In any case, now that I have rambled on and on and on, I’ll finish this up. As I mentioned above, I love the recipe tool. Being able to search and copy and modify is wonderful. I am very thankful for this site. Since I’m so new at all of this, it has been wonderful to have such great resources available. The forums have already answered so many of my questions.
I will admit, though, that all the changes (and apparent discontent) make me a bit nervous; I can’t imagine how all you veterans feel! However, it seems that, at the core, the members have wanted to stay and continue to participate in this community despite the recent turmoil – it was that (and the reassurances you-all gave to another newbie) that convinced me to go ahead and join up.
I’m looking forward to learning even more…thanks for such a great site.
~Deidre
BrassBraBrewing
