Review of Mr. Wizard

So I have finished reading Mr. Wizards articles regarding putting your wort on hold to make the brew day a little less of a hassle on the brewers wife. I totally agree with Mr. Wizards advice of not to put anything on hold, just due to the fact that bacteria can grow on the wort leaving some off tastes. Definitely wouldn't want that to happen if I were brewing an all grain batch. On the second article that Mr. Wizard answered. This was in response to a brewer going all out and opening his own nanobrewery. AWESOME ADVICE!!! Once again, kudos to the brewer that wants to expand his brewing. Defiantly go through and start getting all that paper work completed for tax purposes, cause we all know the government needs the money...I would love to open up my own brewery but I think that would be something I would do once I have retired from working the 9-5. Hopefully someday I can come back the this article and research the actions I would need to take in order to follow through with opening my own brewery. Well that's all for now...stay tuned for more great reading reviews from this issue of BYO.

Happy Brewing...

Jon A.

The gear is in transit...

Well it about time...no just kidding Midwest...my equipment is now in transit for me to begin my last batch of Raspberry Red Ale. This is I am hoping to be a great beer for the late spring and summer months. If you all didn't catch the updates that I have made to the blog, I am now offering adsense via Google, for those who want to find local homebrew equipment and supply carriers. Check them out...
I have in my about me section stated that I am currently a subcriber to BYO (Brew Your Own) Magazine. I will attempt to write unbiased reviews of the articles so that y'all can enjoy what my take is on their beliefs. So stay tuned if you are not currently subscribing to their magazine. But just in case you want to subscribe, check out www.byo.com, very reasonable subscription cost.
I also wanted to throw out there some great and ecomical ideas for keeping yourself intrigued about the hobby of homebrewing. If you look at my other blogs that I am currently reading you will be able to find out a whole vast of ideas that other homebrewers are currently using for their setups. Check them out, you might even be able to find out more information about the hobby itself, but this is not my attempt of shooting myself in the foot, PLEASE READ MY BLOG TOO!!!
Thanks to ALL of YOU for reading this blog(CHAD) Hope you are all having fun.
Please stay tuned for the first review of the current BYO article Stretching Your Brewing Budget:tips and techniques to make more beer for less.

Happy Brewing...

Jon

P.S. Pictures to come from my homebrewing experiences.

The ball is a rolling...

Well here we go. After an unexpected little surprise my mail carrier left in my mail box, I was able to purchase the last few items that I needed to continue my hobby of home brewing. Last night I purchased from Midwest Homebrewing Supply based out of Minneapolis, MN(www.midwestsupplies.com). Since I have been trying with all my might to get some information on quality products and after viewing some other companies catalogs I have found that if you go with Midwest you will definitely get more bang for your buck, which is great in this economic crisis that we are currently going through.

This go around I purchased some replacement items after breaking them on my last homebrew experience, which is probably not uncommon for most first timers. I purchased a floating thermometer for 5.95, a triple scale hydrometer for 5.95, a SUPER AGATA Bench Capper for 37.95, this is because I literally snapped my Emily capper into pieces on trying to bottle my first bottle and almost broke my wrist, Brewer's Best caps 144 count for 2.95, and for brewing this time and because I wanted the wife to enjoy the fruits of my labors a Raspberry Red Ale for 26.95, which is an amazing price for a brewing kit that includes everything that you need to make about 54 12oz bottles of homebrew. YUMMY!!! I also picked up a package of Irish Moss which is a seaweed derived fining. This clarifying agent accelerates protein coagulation during the end of the boil which helps prevent chill haze. I bought this for 1.40, which is great cause you only use a teaspoon for every batch of beer you make, so I am hoping this will last me at least for a few batches of homebrew.

The goal for this go around is to post pics of me homebrewing and for y'all to really understand how easy and fun this hobby can truly be. So I hope you all enjoy this little excerpt and look forward to seeing and reading more with pictures to come.

Happy Brewing...

Jon Anderson

Preferred Retailers

So I have a list of preferred retailers of homebrewing equipment. Since I live in the Chicago Metro area, mostly Lake County, IL. There is this nice little place in Libertyville, IL. No need to say I found them via this blog, but www.PerfectBrewingSupply.com is a great place to find what you need in order to get started. They have a full assorment of supplies and they also sell grains for those of you who wish to step up your brewing techniques and go into all-grain(grain mill also available-not sure if there is a charge, but unlikely). As for me I am still playing around with extract brewing. Hope all who read this and live in the area can stop on by to help out small businesses.

I have also subscribed to Northern Brewer, Midwest Brewing(MN), and Williams Brewing(CA). These three companies all have online access and store for purhcasing items, and for those of you who also would like to try home wine making they offer those items as well. Oh yea, MOREBEER.com is another website that has great info and good pricing.

Feel free to stop on by BasicBrewing Radio and Video website, that's where this little hobby of mine all started. Thanks to James and Steve...they have great podcasts and videocasts as well...with a vast variety in their libraries...and they are always brewing something tasty...

Until next time...Happy Homebrewing...

Jon Anderson

This is my first...

So for those who even care to read this blog post...I am new to blogging and homebrewing, and I figured that I would share my experiences with those and whom ever wanted to give advice for anyone to read. Eventually I want this blog to be a sounding board for all to share ideas, recipes, trials and tribulations about their experiences of Homebrewing and what honestly worked best for them. I am by no means an expert, I have only been homebrewing for about 6 months, but I feel that making your own delicous crafted homebrew should be something that all can enjoy even if it doesn't hit their tastebuds. Even if you are not interested in homebrewing maybe you know someone who does and I hope that you can share in there experiences just as I have with all my friends. As time goes on I further hope that this blog post will become an area where all can find resources to homebrewing in your local areas.

Well kudos to all who are sharing in reading this blog and I hope that I can at least entertain you with my positive and negative encounters with what I hope will become a lifetime hobby for all.

Thanks again for reading the first post,

Sincerely,

Jon Anderson