Brewing beer and beyond?

Due to time and fiscal constraints, I haven't brewed in four months. My roommate, however, just completed a Winter Ale, packed full of various spices that came out just in time for the bitter winter cold. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I haven't wanted to brew, I just haven't had the resources or the time.

I'm starting to think it's about time to get another batch going again. Like raising a child, I found that brewing, nine times out of ten, will give you something to be proud of. Although, there is that ten percent chance of you getting something you'll want to beat and push down the stairs.

I'm looking for somewhere to get affordable brewing supplies, i.e. hops, grains, malt, and yeast. I have all the supplies to make the beer, I just need the ingredients now. It would be nice to have ingredients as cheap as $20, but I'm guessing that isn't feasible. I've been throwing some ideas around from my Northern Brewer catalogs. It seems that you can create a decent batch of beer for around $30 or so. Has anyone had any experience with that? If it's as promising as it looks, I must give it a shot. However, sometimes it seems too good to be true.

I have also been looking for a means to make some cheap hooch. Not necessarily 'Shine, but something along those lines. Drinkable, drunkable, pure cheap booze. Any suggestions?

I'll try to be better about posting in the future.

Until then.

Better than I expected?????

So this weekend while having a few beers with friends, homebrewing came up in conversation. Quickly realizing that my Gold Ale and Honey Amber Ale were ready to drink. I shot around the corner to my house and filled up a 6 pack with three of each style.

I passed tasters around to my friends and we all sampled the beer. Being very critical of my own work, I thought it was good, but not nearly as good as everyone was raving about. They began discussing my beer, talking about the different flavors that they could taste. I didn't hear a bad comment about it.

I listened to what they had to say, and once I paid more attention to it, it became clear to me that I wasn't giving myself enough credit. I am thoroughly happy with what I have come up with. Perhaps it is pure luck, but I think this beer (Primarily the Honey Amber) is something that I should reproduce and do yet again.

Along those lines, I was thinking of perhaps entering into a competition. Whether or not I get entirely annihilated by the competition, I think it will be a fun event. If nothing else, it will be a great networking opportunity and a good chance to develop some good ideas and share my thoughts with experience brewers.

These are the things that are currently going through my mind and I'm going to look very closely into what Philadelphia has to offer along the lines of competitions. Clearly, just starting out, I don't want to jump right into the upper echelon type competitions just yet.