How many IAers are homebrewers?

[craig phillips]

Mark’s Ipod loading thread seemed to indicate there might be a number of fellow homebrewers here on IA.  I knew there were at least a couple of us, since favorite beers at home or at the fishin’ hole are common topics.  

But now I’m curious – how many of us are there?  So as not to hijack Mark’s thread, I’m askin’.

If you home brew:

How long at it?
Extract or AG?
Favorite beer style(s)?
Part of a cult (brew with buddies/club or solo)?
Kegs or bottles?
Any really cool equipment (brewing towers, modified keggles, bottle labels, kegerators, etc.)?
Approximate level of beer nerdiness (self-scored or externally judged)?
What’s in the fridge/kegerator?
Other (best places to buy supplies, favorite forum, etc.)

As for me
– been brewing almost two years.  Did about 3 extracts then switched to all grain.  
–  All ales, like all the standards (IPAs, stouts, porters, but partial to browns).  Have a home recipe brown ale that everyone seems to really like.
–  Frequently brew with 2 buddies, but also brew alone when I need to.  
–  Kegs – the only way to go.  Have 11 corneys on hand now and need a few more.  
–  No really cool stuff, just keggles and cooler for mash tun, but working on getting a freezer to get 8 kegs in.  Using an old fridge now that holds 3.  Also planning a tower made from an old metal spiral staircase, to be called “Stairway to Beer Heaven.”
–  Not a 10th level beer nerd yet, so I’m probably a 7.  Can’t distinguish the use of Amarillo vs Chinook for flavoring hops in a commercial microbrew, or expound on the relative merits of 2-row vs MO as a base grain for hours, but don’t ever ask me how to make beer if you don’t want to know really badly.  
–  Current inventory:  Fridge – Full Moon Brown Ale, IPA and Grateful Dead Guy brown.  Conditioning – 2nd keg IPA, 2nd keg Full Moon Brown, Boulevard Pale Ale clone attempt, Bourbon Barrel Porter, Souped-Up Stout, Cream Ale.  

Craig

[Eric Weller]

Craig,

[craig phillips]

Eric,

I’m not doing lagers yet.

[Colin M.]

Does wine count?

[Phil Landry]

I’ve been at it for around 8 years.  I don’t do all grain, but I do use grain in the mix along with extracts.  My favorites are Amber Ales, IPA’s and California Steam ales.  I brew solo, usually in 12 gallon batches and I’ll bottle two gallons and keg ten gallons.

[Eric Weller]

Man that is quite the keg setup.

[Phil Landry]

I use two six gallon furmenters and split the wort before cooling and adding yeast.

[Eric Weller]

Ahhhhh!

[Mark Schafer]

I’ve been learning from a buddy but I’m ready to go out on my own he lacks any adventure but I’ve learned a lot. The wife is reeeeally happy that I have another crap heavy hobby. At least this one keeps me at home. I have also been kicking around adding some basic items to the store any thoughts in that regard would be helpfull.

[craig phillips]

Watch craigslist for college kids getting rid of Bud or Miller 15.5 gallon kegs and make keggles out of them.

[Eric Weller]

Craig,

Kegs – the only way to go.

[craig phillips]

You’ll find as you continue in this addicting activity that most beers get better with some age.

[Mark Schafer]

Craig, how about some of your picks when it comes to suppliers and web sites.

[craig phillips]

I buy most things from Northern Brewer – good, reliable kits, $7.99 shipping on everything but bags of grain, good selection.

Austin Homebrew supply is also good, and Rebel Brewer is a new site I just found that has some good sales on hops and small batches of grains.

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