Most of my early days of homebrewing were total disasters. I brewed a lot of cloying beer with strange off flavors and didn't really know what was causing any of it. Information wasn't as readily available online as it is now.
It was around October of 2007 when I finally decided to give brewing another shot. Northern Brewer had a few kits that piqued my interest. I think the first successful beer I ever brewed was a New Belgium Phat Tyre Ale extract kit. I never knew that homebrewed beer could be that good. However I still had the feeling that I had a long way to go.
Finally on September 12, 2009 I found a site that changed everything I knew about beer. The site was Homebrewchatter.com. Its members consisted of a group of passionate and knowledgeable homebrewers. It was more than just a web site or forum. It was a community. People were helpful and even though they were much more knowledgeable than I was. They had a passion for helping other beginning brewers.
One of the forum members was nice enough to give me the recipe for an IPA that he had converted to extract. It was delicious. I was amazed that an extract beer could be that complex.
I continued being active on the forum and learning everything I could about beer and homebrewing. That October I felt confident enough to attempt my first all-grain brew. It was a pumpkin porter and although it wasn't one of my favorite brews, I sent it in for a beer swap. Everyone who received it gave me pretty good reviews.
Although I didn't particularly like my first all-grain beer, I had still taken the first step to making my beer better and that single step planted a seed of desire in my heart for good beer.
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