Hello from New Orleans

[D_Rabbit]

Need to say welcome here. Recognized your avatar from your comment on my article. Thanks for reading it and welcome to the community!

[berryman]

Welcome to The Borg Gerry

[Gerry_P]

Need to say welcome here. Recognized your avatar from your comment on my article. Thanks for reading it and welcome to the community!

Ah, you wrote "Mr. Beer to Mr. Ribbon". I did enjoy that article. Not only do I not look down on Mr. Beer, I wish it had been around when I started brewing. I don't understand the snobbery over it. It's no different than starting out using any hopped extract, except for the design of the lbk vs. a more conventional fermenter...or formentor...whatever. Mr. Beer also starts new brewers out with smaller batches instead of diving into 5 gallons. I'm enjoying the flexibility and variety I can get with smaller batches, so I consider that a plus.

Speaking of that, I saw a cool little starter kit for 40 bucks at Barnes and Noble the other day. It came with a 1 gallon glass jug with a stopper and an airlock, extract, and little bags of specialty grains and hops. I like how it gets you right into using extract-enhancing ingredients, which seem to intimidate some new brewers. The name of the kit escapes me at the moment...

EDIT: Craft a Brew...that's the name of it. You could choose between hefeweizen and pale ale kits.

[John Sand]

Many here started with MrBeer, I did. I agree that it's good to start small, and simple. I was quickly hooked, but I still like simple: BIAB. And I need to remind myself to brew small test batches and specialty batches. For me, five gallons of Dubbel or Pumkin is too much. Two gallons is just right.