Hi,

My name is Felix. I'm 39 years old and live in Utrecht. For years, I have the desire to brew my own beer. My father brewed his own wine when I was little. Endless hours we went out berry picking together. At that time I was fascinated by the large yeast bottles gurgling in the kitchen ;-)

During some visits to local food markets in the area I interviewed a number of local brewers and asked them how they started their hobby / career. I could not find a suitable course close to my house so I thought, I'll buy a book and then just start ;-) I bought the book "The Brewer's Bible" by Brian Kunath, which I find a fantastic book, I have the dutch version. I prepared myself, bedtime reading sessions and last Saturday I brewed my first bear that now is fermenting healthy and happy. I already took the first sample for measuring the gravity (and a a lousy excuse to taste it haha)

I have the most simple setup you can imagine. It seemed good to start so slowly and learn all the tricks. After this extract brew I will start and make another extract brew but this time using steeping grains.
I look forward to experimenting to learn mashing.

I absolutely love the online tool from brewer's friend to store and share and log your brews. The site and forum have a ton of information. I hope to learn more from other people around the world brewing and also to get in touch with people around the Utrecht area in the Netherlands.

I wish you a great, healthy and inspiring 2015

Cheers,

Felix