Greetings from Massachusetts

[Metal_Militia]

Hello all, just joined this site a day or two ago, was looking for an intro thread.

Anyway, never brewed but have been reading into it a lot lately. Gotta save up some $$ to get a kit but looks like a lot of good options out there. I'd like to make an amber ale to begin with.
Lots of good info around here, lots of subforums! Love the 'show us your label' thread too.

Nice to be here, I really need some hobbies in my life lol. Anyone from MA or NH let me know! I didn't see to much on my area as far as groups or anything, but I did just join..



Also.. what exactly do people do with a 5 gallon batch of home brew?? It's a lot of beer! I feel like I would need more variety.

 

[AussieBrewerInColorado]

Welcome to the forum and to the world of brewing. You'll get hooked after your first batch. Lots of good recipes and advice around here, so if you get into any issues just let us know and we will be glad to help out. Try to find a homebrew club in your area, they're invaluable, find a lot of people who know a lot of stuff. Colorado here.

What to do with 5 gallons? Share mostly. I do 10 gallon batches and my brews don't last too long, share with neighbors, brew clubs, and enter them in comps, you'll wonder where it went so fast.

Good luck!

 

[Calichusetts]

Hello and welcome aboard...there are a few good clubs around Mass and many mass brewers on this site. The Wort Processors of Boston is maybe the biggest. There is one on the south shore as well. I do one gallon and there is a growing small batch community on this site. I share too but just don't like drinking the same beer over and over again. I get to experiment more too.

 

[stratslinger]

Whereabouts in Mass? I'm originally from Springfield.

As to what exactly do people do with 5 gallons? Drink it, of course! I mean, of course you'll wind up sharing it too - you'll be surprised at a couple things, once you start brewing. First off, it's something like having a boat, I'm told, in that you'll start to accumulate more friends fairly quickly, or the friends you already have will come around more often, to join you in enjoying the spoils of your new hobby. Which isn't a bad thing. You'll also find that, with more of it around, your consumption will more than likely increase over what it was before you started. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, so long as you don't get carried away.

As to wanting variety - well, this stuff does keep fairly well, and there's no rule saying you have to finish drinking (or sharing) one batch before you brew the next! Browse around this site for a bit, and you'll find plenty of folks have a good variety of beers bottled, or kegged and on tap (I've got 4 taps going, and have a small handful of bottles kicking around too), so variety doesn't have to be an issue unless you choose to make it one!

 

[mjaadland]

Whereabouts in Mass? I'm originally from Springfield.

As to what exactly do people do with 5 gallons? Drink it, of course! I mean, of course you'll wind up sharing it too - you'll be surprised at a couple things, once you start brewing. First off, it's something like having a boat, I'm told, in that you'll start to accumulate more friends fairly quickly, or the friends you already have will come around more often, to join you in enjoying the spoils of your new hobby. Which isn't a bad thing. You'll also find that, with more of it around, your consumption will more than likely increase over what it was before you started. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, so long as you don't get carried away.

As to wanting variety - well, this stuff does keep fairly well, and there's no rule saying you have to finish drinking (or sharing) one batch before you brew the next! Browse around this site for a bit, and you'll find plenty of folks have a good variety of beers bottled, or kegged and on tap (I've got 4 taps going, and have a small handful of bottles kicking around too), so variety doesn't have to be an issue unless you choose to make it one!

Well said! This is how and why I love this hobby.


Matt

 

[WouldBeBrewmaster]

Welcome to HBT and to this crazy, wonderful hobby. We're in Beverly and joined the North Shore Homebrewers a little over a month ago.

 

[alane1]

you don't need alot of $$ to make beer, get yourself an ale pail, a lobstah pot, a racking cane w/tubing and a bottling bucket.the rest of the stuff you probably have lying around the house. i.e a wooden spoon, a cooking thermometer ect.Good luck!!!

 

[Cyclman]

Welcome from CO!

 

[Metal_Militia]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I am in the Lowell/Middlesex area myself. I was able to find a website for middlesex homebrewers.

 

[Greyhound]

Welcome from Shirley, MA.

 

[prandlesc]

Welcome from the South Shore. I'd suggest you check out a local club or home brew shop that is participating in the AHA Big Brew Day which is also known as National Homebrew Day. You'll be able to see and meet brewers in your area and learn about the hobby from those who are pretty serious about it and about having fun.

I personally found that I was running out of beer with 5 gallon batches and moved up to 10 gallon batches for my mainstream stuff. One or two gallon batches are a great way to try new and funky brews or develop a solid recipe. I have to admit I went from having a beer or two every other weekend with some glasses of wine in between, to a beer or two an evening and almost no wine at all. I have enough variety on hand now that I nearly always have something that I really like on hand.

Welcome to a great hobby!

 

[Homercidal]

Welcome from Michigan! (The beautiful up north, but not UP up north part!)

5 gallons is a lot for me too. I usually brew that much and give some away and sometimes it's just enough to keep me in beer between opportunities to brew. But you can also brew 2.5 gallons if you wish. Nothing says you have to brew 5 gallons at a time, it's just kind of convenient with the equipment that is normally sold and is also just a stadard recipe size. You can easily scale a recipe down using a percentage of the grain bill, hop addition, etc.

However, I did find out that it's just about as much work to brew 2.5 gallons as it is to brew 5 gallons, so brewing 2.5 gallons felt like a terrible waste of time when I brewed up something really nice. But there are lots of people brewing 1 gallons, 2.5, 3, 5, 10, etc. It's your choice. Smaller batches means more variety and more brewing.

Enjoy!

 

[noiz2]

I find 5gal about right most of the time. I've Benny doing a modified parti gyle so now I'm often brewing 10 gal but two different beers. Neighbors have kept me from having to drink it all...
Brewing more batches really helps you get better so having folks who will help force you to brew more batches is good.