I found a site that has a great idea, and I'll participate in it this month. It's called "The Session", where "Beer bloggers 'gather' to drink beer based on a single theme." This months theme is "How did it all start for you?". Boak and Bailey's UK Beer Blog are the hosts for this month, and they ask "At what point did you realise you were a beer lover/geek/enthusiast? What beer(s) triggered the conversion? Did someone help you along your way, or did you come to it yourself? In short; how did you get into good beer?"

Well, I don't think that there was an epiphany beer that got me started, but rather a series of them. I would buy a six or twelve pack of beer from the local liquor store, and I would look for something different other than the staple Budwieser, Coors or Miller beers that everybody else in line at the checkout counter had. I bought German beers, Irish beers, Canadian beers, Craft Brewery beers, or anything else that looked interesting. Some I didn't like, some I loved. But there was still this feeling that I was missing something.

My uncle has been brewing his own beer for years, and I've tried many of them. Again, there were some that I didn't care for too much, while others I wished I could have more of, but I never thought about brewing my own. That was until I was contacted by one of my high school classmates. She was trying to organize our 20 year class reunion and asked me to help. One of the people who became part of the planning committee brewed his own beer, and I started asking questions. A few months after the reunion, I visited my uncle and asked him if he could show me how to brew. He took me to the local homebrew shop, bought the ingredients needed to brew a couple of batches, and showed me the basics. He then sent me home with the ingredients for the other batch. I bought some equipment that I needed to brew, followed the procedures that he showed me, and came up with a nice beer that I brewed myself. I was hooked, homebrewing became my hobby.

I started with ingredient kits, and then started experimenting with recipes that I found online. And, I've found that I like a wider range of beer styles than I even knew existed. I joined the South Shore Brew Club last year to learn more about brewing, and started this blog. I bought more equipment. And now, I'm planning on converting my basement into a brew pub. That will take a while, but as I learned from brewing beer, good things take time. Homebrewing is my hobby, and the fun is in the process. The reward is the finished product that I get to enjoy as long as it lasts, which for some, isn't long enough. The great thing about brewing is that I can make the beer I enjoy so much again, and again, and again.