My first brew was done in college when I was living in the Fire Department and working as a volunteer firefighter. I brewed it in the department kitchen with a lot of 'advice' from the full-timers who brewed. About 40min into the boil, house fire call. I had to radio back and have the guys manning the station cover for me so the fire chief wouldn't know I was brewing beer.
They managed the rest of the boil and it was cooling off by the time we got the fire out and came back to clean hoses. I threw it in the carboy and put it in my locker, in the communal fire department bathroom/shower room. I cannot tell you how nasty that bathroom could get, 6-10 guys showering, shaving sh. . . well you know. Then you throw on top of that coming back covered in oil and grease from car accidents, soot from fire calls and who knows what from medical calls. But it did get sparkling cleaned each week.
2-3 weeks later, I bottled it in Blatz returnable bottles I bought off the local liquor store. A few weeks after that my first batch was being shared. I wouldn't say it was good, and I am pretty sure somewhere in the fire department there is still a sixer of that stuff hiding out. For some reason that, all the terrible 2-3 batches my brother had made and shared with me did not discourage me fro brewing again. I remember in my freshman year, we used my brother's home brew as the 'punishment' beer in drinking games.
I made one more "sh*thouse brew" in my "Biffy Brewhouse" as the full-timers coined it before moving out of the fire dorm and dropping brewing for about 10 years. The 2nd batch wasn't any better than the first. I still have the two glass carboys that I paid $20 for brand new as well as a few minor pieces of brew equipment. They followed me to multiple apartments in multiple states for many years.
What were you first/worst brewing experiences?
They managed the rest of the boil and it was cooling off by the time we got the fire out and came back to clean hoses. I threw it in the carboy and put it in my locker, in the communal fire department bathroom/shower room. I cannot tell you how nasty that bathroom could get, 6-10 guys showering, shaving sh. . . well you know. Then you throw on top of that coming back covered in oil and grease from car accidents, soot from fire calls and who knows what from medical calls. But it did get sparkling cleaned each week.
2-3 weeks later, I bottled it in Blatz returnable bottles I bought off the local liquor store. A few weeks after that my first batch was being shared. I wouldn't say it was good, and I am pretty sure somewhere in the fire department there is still a sixer of that stuff hiding out. For some reason that, all the terrible 2-3 batches my brother had made and shared with me did not discourage me fro brewing again. I remember in my freshman year, we used my brother's home brew as the 'punishment' beer in drinking games.
I made one more "sh*thouse brew" in my "Biffy Brewhouse" as the full-timers coined it before moving out of the fire dorm and dropping brewing for about 10 years. The 2nd batch wasn't any better than the first. I still have the two glass carboys that I paid $20 for brand new as well as a few minor pieces of brew equipment. They followed me to multiple apartments in multiple states for many years.
What were you first/worst brewing experiences?
