Who am I?

Before I jump right in, let me tell you a little about myself.  My husband and I are in our mid-thirties, live on the east coast of the United States and have been brewing beer off and on for over a decade.  We started years ago, took a (too) long hiatus when life got in the way, then started brewing again in 2009 with a close friend.  The hubby, friend and I got together to start brewing again and, since we already had most of our equipment, all it took was finding a recipe, purchasing the ingredients and actually doing it.    We agreed that we were going to do it in March and finally did it on May 30, 2009.  Yes, it takes a while to get things done when work and weather are not working with you.  We started with a porter that turned out pretty well and encouraged us to continue on our quest.  I will post recipes and ratings for those brewed back then in another post later.  Well, as often happens, we ran into too many obligations and horrible weather and didn't brew from October 2010 until April 16, 2011.

We do not consider ourselves to be anything more than amateurs.  We have created our own recipes, but have also used many that we have found on the web or in books.  I decided while we were driving to the beer store to get our ingredients this past weekend that I was going to start a blog.  I figured there are probably many other homebrewers out there who, like us, enjoy brewing and enjoying their brews and may find some insight from us, or may share theirs to our benefit. 

I will post pictures, but please know that any names that may be mentioned in my blog have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent. 

A few things someone who is just starting out should know.

1. Don't expect to drink your beer the day you brew it.  Good beer takes time, so make sure you have at least a few 12-packs of your favorite beer to get you through the brew and fermenting time, more if you're lagering. 
2. Brewing beer is not illegal.  You should always check your local laws, but as long as you don't brew more than is allotted for your household, you can brew legally.  In our state, we can brew up to 500 gallons per person in the household per year.  This means we can legally brew 1,000 gallons of beer per year.  We have never even come close to that number.  If we brewed a batch every week of the year, we would still only brew 260 gallons.  So brew away!
3. Sanitation is KEY!  Let me repeat that: Sanitation is KEY!  It is a necessity.  If you don't take the time to sanitize, you're wasting your time.  Your beer will always taste "skunky" and it will discourage you from continuing to brew.
4. Brewing beer takes time.  Yes, I know I said that earlier, but I'm referring to the actual process.  If you're brewing, plan for it to take at least 2 hours and up to 8 if you're brewing all-grain batches as we are.  Plan a day for brewing so you're not rushing around at the end and forget important steps. 
5. This is probably the most important thing to remember:  Don't stress out about it!  Relax and have a homebrew.  This advice was first brought to my attention by Charlie Papazian in his book The Homebrewer's Companion.  Brewing is a lot of hurry-up-then-wait.  Be sure to have some beer, some friends and/or a good book to keep you occupied during the wait cycles.
6. Get fresh ingredients.  Google your local homebrew supply store, then go see them.  No, don't call or email them.  Go see them.  Ask them questions.  They should have a good knowledge of beer brewing and they should be able to tell you where they purchase their ingredients and how long they have had them in stock.  Grains should be stored properly in a dry place and yeasts and hops should be refrigerated.  If they don't meet up to your standards, find another homebrew store.  Our local homebrew store is owned by a husband and wife and they are fantastic.  They can tell you the chemistry of beer (something I won't bore you with in my blog-much).
7. Have a partner to brew with you.  It never hurts to have another eye to watch the brew and to help with the setup and cleanup.  Besides, it more fun with a friend or two.
8. Be prepared to have many more friends.  Homebrew draws people as you would never imagine.  I will post more on this later.  Also be prepared for your friends who drink Bud Light or other flavorless brews to not like your beer - at first.  We have converted almost all of our friends to enjoying good beer.  One told me that I ruined Miller Lite for them.  Good!

Welcome to my blog!  I hope that we can learn a lot from one another.