OVHA Chat

I just wanted to drop a line and say hello. I have finally broke down and ordered my first homebrewers kit from Midwest Supplies. I have been thinking about doing this for years and have finally clicked the order button. If all works out, I may even be able to start the first batch this weekend. If anyone knows of any pointers, please let me know. How does one become a member of the Ohio Vally Homebrewers Association?

Rob

Welcome to the brew world.Best tip ever is to be obsessive about sanitation
before and after brewing.Just washing out your equipment afterward may not
be enough{ from experience}.Bacteria cant grow in a seemingly clean fermenter in between batches an resist standard sanitation techniques.If
your fermenter{usually plastic ones of the kit variety}has an odor from the previous batch,there is a chance that some really ugly bug may have found its source and made a home.If regular cleaning won't remove the odor...
chances are it also won't remove the bug either Chemicals are available that will rid the odors and stains thant provide breeding grounds
for the brewers enemy,bacteria. Also keep records and label everything.
Nothing short of infected beer is worse than making something fabuluos and
not being able to figure out how it came to be. Anyway,pay
attention and don't get too cocky at first...one step at a time.
GOOD LUCK

First time advice: Watch your boiling pot. Once you have the heat under your pot....don't take your eyes off it. Nothing is worse than a boilover clean up. The pain caused by your wife beating you with an iron skillet on your mellon will go away, LONG before your done with the cleanup.
Joining OVHA is easy. Go to a meeting. Pay your dues. Look for the sticky note on meeting schedule. Come down Wednesday, meet some new friends.

Welcome to a great hobby and welcome to the board! Everyone is welcome to sit in at our meetings; if you like what you see, then feel free to join. You can park in the back of the building and enter the door at the bottom of the stairs. We usually meet in the room on the left.

Welcome. A few of the things that really helped me get started were:
I read this free book on the internet http://www.howtobrew.com/
[url]. Whenever there was a conflict between the kit's instructions and the book, I went with the book. Kit instructions can be dicey. The other big thing was that I asked a ton of questions on this website, and still do. It is a first class idea generator, and when you to something that makes you think you are an idiot and really screwed up your beer, you will find that someone else did the same thing and it probably did not hurt your beer. Relax don't worry, have a homebrew!

Hope to see you tomorrow night at Germania 7 PM