All Things Beer!

I was in a pub the other day with Orkney Beers all on tap -
Mmm, Corncrake is lovely!
I had tried the Skullsplitter before at the Orkney Brewery, but only out of bottles.  I tried it again the other day out of the cask. It's 8.5%, but it tastes really strong - I actually felt like (tasted like?) I was drinking hard liquor.  Very sherry overtoned to me. It was not unpleasant, but would take some getting used to I think. 

   

I like Corncrake too!  And Northern Light.
I've only ever had Skullsplitter on cask, so maybe I'm used to it.
 

So I suppose I could go through the 28 pages of comments on this thread, but has anybody here attempted making their own beer?  

I've recently started looking into homebrewing, and have begun acquiring some of the kit to get it going. I'm hesitant to just buy one of the beer kits where you just add the beer extract to some water and let it ferment, as I'd like to brew something unique using an actual recipe.  Anybody have any experience/advice/tips/suggestions on what I should try first?

Side comment: I'm going about this home brewing thing the complete opposite as to how I bake.  When I make a cake/bread/cookies, I immediately reach for Betty Crocker/Dunkan Hines/Pillsbury/etc.  So things could definitely get interesting!  (But I like to think of myself as fully capable of following a recipe, given that I'm an analytical chemist by trade...)

A few of us have brewed before... my last brew was like 20 years ago, and as i wasn't interested in quality at the time, I used the kit.  Everything turned out as expected, but nothing special.
If I took up brewing again (i think about it, but am highly unlikely to ever do it) I would definitely NOT use kits, and I know a lot more about beer than I used to, and am pickier about taste!  Also, I live 5 minutes walk from a brewing shop, so there really wouldn't be much excuse.

You should go for it!  I'd be interested in hearing how it goes. 

 PickledSakura, yes- have a bash and let us know how you get on! I am desperate myself, but I am not living anywhere at the moment where its feasible.

I had a lovely an teallach brewery stout yesterday - "The Hector" which I thought was really yummy!  Stouts are very nice from a cask...mmmmm

Ooh neat, a new pub owned-operated by the Caringorm Brewery is opening up in town!  

My ex and I brewed a little bit. I would say that if you're a complete novice, start off with one kit so that you can get a very basic grasp of the process, how certain equipment works, etc. That way, if it gets infected or anything, it's less of a disappointment. You're not going to learn everything off of it of course, but as far as fermenting and bottling and everything goes, it's good practice.

How much space do you need and where do you need to leave it to ferment. We have a small (10ft x 10ft I think) spare bedroom and wondering if that would be suitable, also would the radiator in that room need to be left on or off?

Ooh neat, a new pub owned-operated by the Caringorm Brewery is opening up in town!  

YAY ... for Trade Winds and Highland IPA!

My crowd are all mad for Oakham beers at the moment, and one of our favourite pubs was just admitted into the 'Oakademy of Excellence'... some kind of award thingy whereby they will now be guaranteed regular stock, as well as limited edition/seasonal/one-off brews, so we're looking forward to seeing what that holds for the future.  This could end up being our new local, seeing as the landlord in our old local has his head up his ars*.

Today was the start of the Ayrshire beer festival, and I booked the day off work to attend.  But my partner and his pals saw the beer list in advance and decided it wasn't worth travelling for. 

How much space do you need and where do you need to leave it to ferment. We have a small (10ft x 10ft I think) spare bedroom and wondering if that would be suitable, also would the radiator in that room need to be left on or off?

You'd need to keep it warm in there for at least part of the process... I remember our kitchen was too cold and we had to get a heating belt to go around the fermenting bin.

Just remembered! On 26 October we are going down to Staveley in the Lake District to the SIBA North West beer festival (at Hawkshead brewery).  Had a look at the beer list today and it looks pretty good... there are a couple of brews I am particularly looking forward to trying:

Cross Bay Brewery Witching Hour 4.4 colour: Clear Light Gold  aroma:Apples Banana Vanilla taste: Malty Smooth Vanilla

Hawkshead Brewery Great White 4.8 clour: Cloudy White Gold aroma: Wheat Spice Orange  taste: Biscuity Orange Spice

Going to Derby tomorrow for the weekend, Saturday afternoon session with my drinking buddy whilst the ladies go shopping!
Plenty of pubs to go at for us! Some with as many as 14 hand pumps on!

Ooh neat, a new pub owned-operated by the Caringorm Brewery is opening up in town!  

Cairngorm Wildcat - lovely beer, had it in Edinburgh.

Going to Derby tomorrow for the weekend, Saturday afternoon session with my drinking buddy whilst the ladies go shopping!
Plenty of pubs to go at for us! Some with as many as 14 hand pumps on!

Been to Derby (passing through) a couple of times, but have only ever stopped into the Brunswick.

Lots of yummy beer happenings!