BeerBorg

I was just thinking back to how I got started in all this. My uncle says I had my first sip of beer (prolly PBR) from his glass when I was about 18 mos. old, and I kept coming back wanting more.

Jump ahead a few decades, and my best friend never knows what to get me for Christmas. She says I pointed at a stack of MrB kits on a showroom floor and smiled, but I don’t remember that. Well, when she went back to get one they were all gone so she hunted all over town and finally got the last one at a department store. I remember laying all the equipment out and following the directions exactly and thinking, “Wow, I’m going to make beer!” Then my LBK overflowed during fermentation and I posted my very first (panicked) post to that forum asking what to do. I immediately got several replies telling me to clean the lid with Star San (what the heck is that?) or boiled water, and not to worry. As I waited as patiently as I could for the bottles to carbonate, I started lurking on the forum and learning.

When time passed and I finally cracked open and poured my first one, I stood leaning against the kitchen counter and tasted it and thought, “This tastes kind of like cider. But it’s beer. I made beer!” I looked at it and sipped, and looked at it and sipped, and started making plans for the next batch.

Jump ahead another few years and my beer no longer tastes like cider. People ask for it. My brudders and nephew brag to their friends about their little sister’s/aunt's beer. I do a lot of all-grain now, and I usually keg instead of bottle. My best friend often wonders what she unleashed. She thought I would make what came with the kit then that would be it.

I love this hobby.

Mr Beer for me too. Kept looking at the kits for two Holiday Seasons at BJ's Wholesale, did some research about it, the following Christmas 2013 my wife's sons, one got me the kit the other got me the refills. Dec. 27th was the first batch, I think I did 2 within a couple days then another within a week or so, one straight up (CAL) one was a recipe from the site with some of the HME's I had and one was a DIPA with the HME's with steeped grains and dry hop. By March I was all in with AG and kegging!

I also started with Mr. Beer. I'd see those kits at different stores and online, just figured we couldn't afford it right now as we had other bills/etc. and would more or less forget about it. One day I seen on craigslist an ad from a guy who was within a couple hours from us, moving out-of-state, had 2 of them plus accessories and didn't have the room to move them nor the brewing area where he was moving to. It worked out pretty good and to make it a "family time" instead of just a trip up & back, we also went to the St. Louis Art Museum while we up there.

I started long before Mr. Beer existed, back in the days when dry yeast was scary, extract was scary, and AG really did always make better beer.

Then I had an infamous carboy explosion, and a divorce, and lived in a small apartment for some time and no brewing occurred.

Then, I used Mr. Beer to get back into brewing in "easy mode" due to time/space restrictions.

Now I'm back to AG sometimes.

I also started before Mr. Beer was born playing with old and funky ingredients in the late 70's and into the mid 80's before stopping to have a life. It was fun but an effort in futility and how I wish the toys and choices we have now were available then.
I even created a fake company and bought ingredients from Dover Vineyards (not sure if they are still around) at wholesale prices to save money and get better ingredients than the only, old and scary local homebrew store.
Thankfully, alot of things have changed and all for the better.

Your story is similar to mine, Amy. I was curious about brewing, but was very intimidated by what seemed to be a mysterious and arcane practice.

Then my wife got me a Mr. Beer kit for Christmas, and I found the MB forum before I'd even brewed my first batch. Slowly, with a lot of help from the MB denizens (most of whom are now Borg, natch), I advanced to extracts/steeping grains/hops additions, and eventually to AG.

My wife must wonder sometimes what she unleashed with that little LBK, as I now have a 5-gallon system, two 2.5 gallon systems, a lager fridge, and a keezer, and I brew nearly every Sunday.

Yeah, I love this hobby, too.

Yep, Mr Beer for Christmas. MrBeer didn't have a forum back then, but this guy (Chug) created his own... MrBeerFans. About a half dozen MrBeer batches followed by a couple 5 gallon extracts and then I went to AG. It was either 8 or 9 years back this Christmas. The Prof would know. He showed up just a few months after I did. I came into a few dollars and went to kegging and temp controlled ferementing in a second chest freezer probably two years into the hobby.