It was on St. Patricks Day in 1989 that I brewed my first batch of beer, a five gallon extract IPA kit that I had bought from Alternative Beverages.
When was your first?
August 11, 1992
Pacific Crest Porter
OG 1.055
Sometime in 1993. I brewed an extract PA but put less than an oz of hops in it. What I really wanted was Bass ale. ;D Anyway my brother loved it.
mid July, 1971.
2 3lb Cans of Blue Ribbon hopped liquid malt extract, purchased at the supermarket. If I recall correctly, the cost for the 2 cans of syrup was under $7
I used 2 cans of malt (instead of the instructed 1 can with 2lbs sugar) at the urging of a friend who said 2 cans of malt and no sugar would ‘make it stronger’.
He was obviously wrong about that, but as fate would have it he inadvertently steered me towards an all malt brew. LOL.
probably august 15 or 16 2009.
my ex-girlfriend took me to a learn to brew class and bought me starter stuff the week before, august 6 2009.
a wheat porter from the brew shop. it wasn’t bad.
i still tweak the recipe a couple times a year. i’ve totally changed yeast strains.
i’m going all grain in a few weeks!
March 2005. Mr. Beer Nut Brown ale.
January, 1990. It was a kit brought over by a friend from London called Dogbolter Bitter.
Amazingly they still make that kit - I had a sample at a supply shop a couple years ago - and it tastes just the same as I remember.
January 1995 a week or so after Christmas (my first kit was a Christmas gift from my mom). A can of John Bull liquid extract, a few pounds of sugar and the yeast packet under the can. It turned out awful but I was hooked. 8)
November 1999. I can never remember what batch came first - the porter or the red ale. But either way, I was immediately addicted. My girlfriend at the time had bought me a couple of how-to books on homebrewing, knowing only that I enjoyed craft beer. After about the third batch, she told me, “I’ve created a monster.” How true. The relationship quickly died, but the passion for homebrewing only grew into an ever-bigger monster.
Spring 1995, I can’t remember the exact date (I was still in school and we were also expert indoor gardeners). It was an extract kit of ordinary bitter. Turned out pretty awful, but my roommates and I drank every last drop within a weekend. I didn’t brew again until many years later, but the seed was planted.
October of 1992. I will have to think about a 20th anniversary beer to make in October.
Early in 1992. A ‘Basic Ale’ from the Whip & Spoon. One can of ‘light hopped’ extract, one pound of Dutch light DME. 1/2 oz Hallertau for 30 minutes and 5 minutes each. Whitbread pack.
1986 IIRC. A generic PA liquid malt recipe that can with “the kit”.
In Charlotte? I have bought a ton of stuff from them over the years. Online and road trip.
August 2009! I bought an EPA kit and made my first batch on our old electric stove in a split batch. Still the best beer I’ve ever made!
I’m sure glad I can’t say that! :o My first batch was so bad I could hardly give it away.
December 1992. My wife bought me a kit and supplies from a guy trying to start a homebrew store. His methods were as good as his ingredients. Take one can of Coopers malt(prehopped),pour into 2 gallons of water, heat on stove but do not let it boil. Add 2 pounds of corn sugar, dissolve and let this cool on the stove for 2 hours. Then add 3 gallons of cold water to the plastic bucket(which I still use today). Stir this well and add the little package of yeast from the malt can. Ferment a week at room temp, then rack to secondary-he preferred the collapsible water bags for camping. That was some yummy stuff I’m sure but we drank it and loved it. 2 more batches like this and I moved on to steeped grains, all malt extract, and adding hops. Believe it or not this made better beer and I was hooked.
Yep, that’s the place. There were no HBSSes in Orlando back then. I bought a lot of equipment and supplies from them the first few years I brewed. The UPS driver and I became good friends. I taught him how to brew.
June 2010. Coopers Stout Kit. Making it I was the antithesis of RDWHAHB. But the relief of trying it and being pretty happy that I had brewed my first beer and it I liked it was a great feeling! \o/
And I did it in Italy of all places. Not bad for a Texas boy!
Now if I can just get into all grain. 8)
Andiamo yall! 
Hi, My name is Tony and I’m a brewing addict…
I started making beer with some friends that had all of the brewing equipment around 1999/2000. I didn’t do much, washed bottles, measured ingredients, etc but i was still part of the process and I knew i enjoyed doing it.
We then moved and about 10 yrs later my wife bought me a Mr. Beer as a joke. We followed the kit instructions, it came out pretty terrible but I was hooked again and ordered a full brewing kit from williams…