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Author Topic: Ray Allen  (Read 6128 times)

Offline rayallen

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Ray Allen
« on: January 17, 2011, 09:38:45 PM »
Im new to the Board so I figured this would be a good place for my 1st post.

My name is Ray Allen and live in San Antonio, TX. Will be 27yrs old on Feb 1st. Married going on 7 years in April.

My beautiful wife Nikki and I enjoy beer a lot. Not the cheap bud light, millers, coors etc.. We prefer a good quality beer and do not mind spending a little extra to have it. Some of my beers of choice Hoegaarden, Blvd Wheat, Smithwicks, Newcastle, Alien Ale just to name a few. My wife prefers IPAs, as of lately Dogfish head.

My wife and I travel a lot and there is always a emphasis on finding new unique beers and brew houses while away.

I have been wanting to brew beer for sometime now. This Christmas my wife surprised me with a Brew kit from Brewers Best out of Flagstaff, AZ which if you havn't been is a great place. She bought the kit and it came with the basics needed and a copy of Zymurgy An Introduction to Homebrewing, I read the entire magazine last night in bed. A great read and so easy to understand. Im 100% positive I could brew a beer right now; maybe not a good beer, but a beer none the less. Im a sucker for Wheats/Weizens and Nikki bought that for my 1st brew.

Im fairly decent at water chemistry from years of being in the saltwater reef aquarium hobby, so I know way around using a hydrometer which is going to come in handy. Im also a fairly good cook if I say so myself and have a decent palate.

I have not purchased any bottles yet, but will be doing that this week. Really excited about brewing my 1st beer and hope to start no later than this weekend.

Thanks for reading and hope to be posting a lot more hear in the very near future.

Ray Allen
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Offline Mark G

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2011, 09:42:49 PM »
Welcome to the forum. You'll find lots of great people and great advice here. Good luck with your first brew!
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Mark Gres

Offline theDarkSide

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2011, 09:47:46 PM »
Welcome!!  Is the wife going to get involved in brewing too, or will she just be quality control? :)
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Offline rayallen

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2011, 09:56:48 PM »
Quality Control, lol.

I have a group of friends lined up ready to be quality control/ guinne pigs.
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Offline hamiltont

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2011, 10:04:42 PM »
Welcome to the forum Ray!!!

You might hit those QC friends up with a request to save brown pry-off bottles for ya too. Just remind them to rinse them out real good right after they're poured.  It amazes me how much gunk can grow from those few drops left in the bottle. Cheers!!!
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Offline rayallen

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2011, 11:37:48 PM »
thanks for the tip on the bottles
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Offline realbeerguy

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2011, 12:03:11 AM »
Welcome to the hobby obsession ;D

Also, to get most of the labels off, soak bottles in amonia water.  Won't take long, some float right off.
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Offline euge

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2011, 01:03:16 AM »
Howdy Ray!

Welcome to the... er, obsession.

Our water not so good for beer. More on that later but for your beginning efforts you might as well go get some Ozarka from HEB. If you have a RO system that should suffice for the extract brews but if you plan to move into grain brewing then you'll need a heads up about what to do.

You'll find a wealth of information, experience and opinion here at the AHA.  Don't feel that any question is too silly or ridiculous. Please ask away...
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Offline maxieboy

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2011, 01:22:17 AM »
Quote from: rayallen on January 17, 2011, 09:56:48 PM
I have a group of friends lined up ready to be quality control/ guinne pigs.

Yeah, they'll come out of the woodwork!  ;D Welcome aboard, you're in the right place. What's the Rob Schneider movie, YOU CAN DO IT! Good luck!
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Offline EHall

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2011, 01:23:26 AM »
you guys live up in Flagstaff?
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Offline rayallen

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2011, 01:50:31 AM »
Quote from: euge on January 18, 2011, 01:03:16 AM
Howdy Ray!

Welcome to the... er, obsession.

Our water not so good for beer. More on that later but for your beginning efforts you might as well go get some Ozarka from HEB. If you have a RO system that should suffice for the extract brews but if you plan to move into grain brewing then you'll need a heads up about what to do.

You'll find a wealth of information, experience and opinion here at the AHA.  Don't feel that any question is too silly or ridiculous. Please ask away...

Good to see a fellow south/central Texan.

Thank you for the water advice. My house has a water softner and I do have a RO/DI unit for drinking/cooking and my saltwater aquarium. The TDS reads 0 on that baby.

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Offline rayallen

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2011, 01:52:46 AM »
Quote from: EHall on January 18, 2011, 01:23:26 AM
you guys live up in Flagstaff?

No, but my wife and I stayed in Flagstaff on a Vacation to the Grand Canyon. We loved Flagstaff, reminded us a lot of Austin, TX except with mountains and a little colder.

We have put Flagstaff on our list of places to visit often.

Again thanks to everyone for the warm welcome and beer advice!
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Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2011, 02:08:01 AM »
Welcome Ray.

Flagstaff is a good base to jump off of for some big adventures.  Still small enough, and isolated to have its own vibe.  Spent a lot of time there in the last 20 years.  Last few not so much. 

If you understand water for your fish.  Read howtobrew.com on the water in the mashing all grain part.  Should make sense to you.

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Offline bluesman

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #13 on: January 18, 2011, 02:25:39 AM »
Welcome to the AHA Forum Ray!  8)
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Offline rayallen

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Re: Ray Allen
« Reply #14 on: January 18, 2011, 03:54:08 AM »
Quote from: hopfenundmalz on January 18, 2011, 02:08:01 AM
Welcome Ray.

Flagstaff is a good base to jump off of for some big adventures.  Still small enough, and isolated to have its own vibe.  Spent a lot of time there in the last 20 years.  Last few not so much. 

If you understand water for your fish.  Read howtobrew.com on the water in the mashing all grain part.  Should make sense to you.



Thanks for the welcome, I will check out the link you provided. Anything to help me on my brewing journey is a plus.

Quote from: bluesman on January 18, 2011, 02:25:39 AM
Welcome to the AHA Forum Ray!  8)
Thanks! Glad to be here.
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