The Begining

When I turned 21 I wanted to make wine.  I was inspired by some old carboys, a bottle capper, and other miscellaneous items my dad had laying around that he used to used to make wine and beer.  On my birthday he gave me his old equipment, some references, a tin of grape concentrate, and some yeast to make my first wine.  The first mistake I made was adding to much sulfuric acid and burning my nostrils.  Batch down the drain.  I made a cherry wine that had an essence of cherry but mostly tasted like bad alcohol.  We choked it down because we were in college and it gave us a buzz.  It seemed as though I could never get the pH right.  Too acidic, too alkaline.  Batch after batch down the drain.  And so much time invested.  I quickly got frustrated with having to wait several months to try my newest failure.  Then a friend of mine said that I could use all the same equipment to make beer and it only took about a month to the end results.  Sold!  I went over to his house for a couple brewing sessions and bottling session then, I bought a 3 gallon pot for the stove, a tin of goo and made my first beer, an irish stout.  Aside from the inevitable beginners boil over, it was a success and my confidence was lifted.  I could make beer!