[Stephonovich]

First, I've been gone for a long time, in case anyone cared.  In the past four years, I managed to get married, join the Navy as a Nuclear ET (Electronics Technican - means I operate the reactor) get through school, get on a boat (USS Missouri), and be fully qualified.
 
In news related to the title, however, I picked up home brewing.  I searched the forums, and found a few threads, but the latest was in '05.  So, here it is again.
 
I didn't start until I was 21, thinking for some reason I'd get ID'd when signing for receipt of packages.  As it turns out, neither the government nor UPS cares if you're receiving metal pots, barley, and yeast.  Anyway, my first batch was nothing like it was supposed to be, which I later discovered was due to getting a lager beer and then making it in the dead of summer in Charleston, SC, and not doing any lagering.  Wasn't bad, just completely changed the taste.  I later made a dark ale, a Hibiscus Pepper Saison (absolutely brilliant beer), and a generic summer ale that, for me, was great because it was the first time all the gravities turned out perfectly per the recipe.  I had one tragedy beer - mistakes included forgetting to add an ingredient at the correct time, underestimating and then over-compensating for the amount of makeup water, and finally culminating in bottling it without adding priming sugar (carb tabs to the rescue!).  That beer ended up being horrible.  The others, all great.
 
Right now, I have a lovely Turkish Coffee Stout in the primary fermenter, which I'll be racking over to the secondary in a few days.  Initial impressions are that it should be dark on the order of Old Rasputin, and I'm guessing about 7.5% ABV, so a tad weaker in that respect.  Wort was quite tasty, though.  
 
Things I'd like to try in the future are an extreme IPA (Think Terrapin's Hopsecutioner, not DFH 120 - not that I have anything against 120) and a clone of Innis and Gunn.
 
My brew setup cost me about $300; about $75 of that was various parts for my homemade counter-flow wort chiller, which I'm extremely proud of.  Immediate upgrades needed are a thicker boil kettle, as mine can't support the ball valve I drilled into it anymore, despite repeated judicious application of epoxy putty and silicon caulk.  Future upgrades are an All Grain setup, and a wort pump.
 
Pics of a brew I did, but mostly of my setup are available - http://picasaweb.google.com/stephonovich/HomeBrew02?feat=directlink
 
Please chime in with stories, current/future projects, DIY aspects, anything!

 

[ClemBurmingham]

Just got in to home brewing.  Dad brewed around 14 years ago.  I mentioned the idea and he was up for it.  We didn't start out with much.  Currently I just have a beginners kit since I didn't want to start dropping a lot of money if the first batch didn't come out right.  First brew was a Kolsch.  3 weeks in bottle was on the 1st, it tasted okay, enough for me to continue on this path of home brewing.  Second one which is currently in the secondary fermenter is a witbier with the addition of cinnamon and honey.  If I continue on the next purchase I need to make is a larger brew pot, parts to make myself a wort chiller, and finally a glass carboy.
 
Happy brewing.

 

[Stephonovich]

I went all in with the first setup, partially because it was a birthday present to myself, and partially because I thought it would make me want to keep doing it if I screwed up the first batch.  
 
Immersion chillers are stupid easy to make - a 25 foot roll of copper tube and whatever adapters you need to make it work.  I made the counter flow because it looked cool, and had better efficiency - a single pass takes boiling wort down to whatever my cooling water is (minus losses).  Truth be told it was a pain to solder together, and I'm still occasionally chasing leaks.  Lots of fun to make, though.