Fermentation Friday November 2009: The Beer Bits 2 Homebrew Community

Thanks to Just Another Booze Blog for hosting Fermentation Friday for November 2009. I know I'm early, but, with my record lately I better get it done ASAP.

Our mission...

Please tell us about your homebrew communities. Are you into the BN, BA, weblogs and other 1337 f0rm5 of 21st century brewing? Do you while away the evenings in crowded halls with you area's finest, sampling and talking homebrew into the wee hours? Does your brew crew keep you sane? Or do you get your fix sitting at the bar plotting the next move? How do you keep them all going and what does each bring to your life?

So now I have to go on about these jack asses I brew with. Well. I might as well start with Jeremy the bastard who single handedly shook me out of my brewing slumber after more than four years. Jerk. Then there's Brian who keeps drinking my beer so I have to make more, especially the malty ones. Brew your own damn beer! I can't leave out Gavin who keeps telling me I need to open a brewery and stops short of lending me the money. Can't really complain too much about him though, he's growin' some kick ass hops and even sharing. I keep asking Matt to stop by, but somehow he's too busy...whatever. Oh, and who can forget good ol' Dad. The one who answers the phone sayin', "It would be nice to have some homebrew about right now." I guess I owe the guy somethin', heheh. Ok, glad I got that off my chest. I'm just kidding of course. These guys have been very supportive and helpful over the years. They drink beer like nobody's business.

Outside of my brewing helpers, I can count several others among the influential brew-illuminati. Ted, Tom, Del, Bryan and Mike are some that come to mind. Have you ever brewed a "Dead Cat Saison" or "Liver Slayer"? How about a Flanders Red? What about a wild ale with wormwood? Did I mention that one of them owns a homebrew store? Hell, Bryan, my neighbor and good friend has his own craft beer site and brewed a saison that just keeps getting better. BTW thanks Patrick for not homebrewing.

Now it might seem like I have a vibrant community of homebrewers around me, and I do. I don't always reach out to them, though. I'm kinda one of those dudes who enjoys figuring things out for themselves. I don't want to embarrass myself I guess. Funny thing is that I have the most fun when working things out with others. Is this when we all have a group hug? Anyway, here are a few of the local influences. They are not just homebrew-centric some venture into craft beer as well.

Artisan Homebrew for being my Local Home Brew Store :-)
Sly Fox for Monday nights and fer showin' the Stillers games ;-)
Victory Brewing for inspiration and good beer.
Exton Beverage for their sixtel inventory and the people who work there.
Keystone Homebrew for supporting the homebrew community so well over the years.
Monks for the beer dinners and wonderful owners.
TJ's for their excellent beer selections. (and they link to my site)
The Drafting Room 'cause they really know how to do craft beer.
Iron Hill for sharing their yeast with me on occasion.
BUZZ homebrew club. The closest club whose meetings I've never attended. (just call me hermit)
The Brew Lounge for being the closest website to my house. I don't want to swell his head.

Mentioning TBL is a good segue to the world of blogs and all that cool stuff on the Internet. Why would I include these people? Many of whom I have never met. Well, you have to remember that I'm the guy who keeps to himself a bit. That means I need to do some research on my own. Here are some sites that stand out...gotta get a beer I'll be back...Ok, I'm back. While I've never met any of these people I would have to say they have had a significant impact on my brewing.

The place where I learned a ton about using soda kegs :-) Thanks Paul.
The Real Beer discussion community.
A recipe database called The Recipator.
Beer Smith software.
PFIFF! for existing and expressing that in words.

So there you have it. Homebrewers, stores, breweries, brewpubs, friends, relatives, neighbors and even the ones represented in bits and bytes make up my homebrewing community.