Held annually on the first Saturday in November, Learn to Homebrew Day was established by the American Homebrewers Association in 1999 to encourage homebrewers to introduce their non-brewer friends and family to the hobby of homebrewing.

Consider yourself encouraged.

I’ve been homebrewing since 1997, albeit with a few lean years in there.  My journey is a typical one. Start out with extracts, move to adding specialty grains, and eventually take the leap into all-grain brewing.

That’s when the quality of my beer jumped leaps and bounds.  Kegging quickly followed, as did the kegerator.

Now that I’m totally hooked, I’ve started slowly adding gadgets here and there. A grain mill was my latest step.  Now I’m eying a  yeast starter stir plate.  Some form of efficient temperature control is on the list for the next year or so.

Some take homebrewing very seriously, but it’s not a serious hobby. Its great time spent alone or with friends, creatively getting your hands dirty, turning raw products into an infinitely varied beverage we call beer.  It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

So cheers to homebrewers everywhere today.  And if you’ve been thinking of taking the plunge, today is as good a day as any.

Visit your local homebrewing shop for some hands on explanations. The American Homebrewers Association has some great, free information for beginners to experts.  Many other sites have excellent video tutorials to answer most of your questions, like this series at Northern Brewer.

Plus, I’ve yet to meet a homebrewer who was not ready, willing and able to share some knowledge along with plenty of their hand crafted beers.  Now, it’s up to you.

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