I happen to make all of the above!

northernbrewer.com <- the place I go to for everything

Thank you, I shall check them out! I particularly want to do Mead for getting started on a first brew, but I'll probably expand after that.

They have little podcasts of sorts on the site. And one in particular focuses on the making of a good mead. Look for the BrewTV link on the site.

And if you have any questions about the process at all. Feel free to ask me ^_^

Thank you I shall! This site already looks a LOT better than some of the others. It's got a lot more information and the starter kits look like they are very comprehensive too.

It is probably the best out there and the prices are cheaper than most local brew stores. Still if you have a local one it's good for last minute things.

Having Googled for local, my closest local shop is about an hour away. I suppose if I was really missing something that would be the place, but hardly works for "last minute" at these gas prices! Heh. Shipping may be cheaper! :)

I don't brew myself, but my dad brews his own mead and wine. However, he lives in New York, whereas I don't.

I'd love to try to brew something myself. I found a new taste for mead a ways back, and would love to try and make my own.

The on-line resources I've seen seem to have it being not to difficult to do, a bit of time and require a little space, and the initial start up is probably going to be close to $200 for the first batch, but should be relatively inexpensive after that since a lot of the equipment is reusable.

I've always wanted to brew my own mead, but I just don't have the stuff to do it =P

However, my friends in the SCA brew their own mead and beer and have even won awards for it :) I can send you their Email if you like and you can contact them :)

SCA does do the best mead. :)

If you don't mind noting me there info I might indeed contact them about it. Course looking around at info already I might find there is to much info out there too! Heh.

You might also check if you have any local homebrew supply places? I've never done it, but I bet the staff at places like that love helping out newbies, and they might have workshops or something?

It seems there are two in Jacksonville, none in St. Augustine, so I could check into them though they are both about an hour out (So, debatable how "Local" that is, especially given gas prices!) Though definitely an idea to look into.

Thank you for the idea, I hadn't thought to google local shops. :)

I have been brewing mead for 10 years now let me gather some info and message you. But I have to say that I learned most of it from people that were part of a SCA troupe out of Kissimmee FL.

SCA does do the best mead, heh.

My grandpa's friend brews a mean stout..

Stout will be on my brewing list for the future too.

My father-in-law won a regional pro/am brewer's competition with his Wünderbock. I can ask him for resources.

Thank you for the offer, I think I've gotten enough other resources though, I wouldn't want him to be pestered to much! That's awesome to win a competition though. :)

Call me and I'll give you Starchild's information

Indeed, Starchild would definitely know! Thank you. :)

At my old house, the neighbor across the street would make his own beer. Smelt horrible to me at the time, but I still find it intriguing.
I'd love to find a way to make wine <3

Wine doesn't appear to be much different in procedure beyond what ingredients you use. Though it does seem to take longer to ferment.

I don't plan on drinking any of the above but one thing I wonder about is wine. If I understand correctly it is made from some kind of berries but what makes it "wine" instead of a sort of juice?

Well, Alcohol and fermentation are what make it wine vs. just plain juice.

Basically wine is fermented fruit that is fermented by the addition of yeast to the juice and allowing it time to convert the natural sugar of the juice into alcohol.

I have a friend who does. I'll link him this journal later and get some hints and such for ya. :D

Thank you. :)

I brew beer! Or rather, I did over the winter but haven't found time since school started back up XD. I got my supplies from a local homebrew store, but I'll be looking to get the next supplies online somewhere. I bought a "kit" put together by the store that they included the recipe in, but it didn't have as much information with it as I would have liked. If you frequent reddit, there is a homebrewing subreddit that is pretty active and has a bunch of tips for the brewing newbie. There is also a book that I bought, called How To Brew by John Palmer. It lays out the steps of brewing in great detail, which I found to be much more useful than the brewing steps the store gave me in the recipe.

Thank you, I appreciate it!

And How to Brew by John Palmer... I think that is also the book that Hali reccomended at his party that is also On-line, the older version at least. I couldn't recall the name and author but that sounds really familiar.

Thank you. :)

That would be the one! Yeah it's online too, but I went ahead and bought it so I could spill beer all over it when I was brewing XD. It was at the local chain bookstore, so you probably wouldn't even have to order it if you wanted to buy it.

Yep, reading that a bit on-line now and it's quite awesome, and much easier to understand than some of the other guides. I really like his first chapter since it doesn't tell the "Why" which a lot of things try to explain and make it sound to confusing.

Though I am someone who wants to know the "Why" though I've found in a lot of cases I already know it due to learning of cooking and bacteria. It's really all about the cleaning and sanitizing!

I like that about his book too :) Good luck with your brewing!

I do liqueurs, but that's completely different.

Liquor is something I do want to try eventually, but I believe that involves some distilling and concentrating and is quite a bit more labor intensive?

Liqueurs is something a bit different. Although, come to think of it, I've done moonshining too.

Liqueurs is the practice of flavoring alcohols to make, for example, home made schnapps. It usually involves soaking fruit and spices in the strongest alcohol you can obtain for a few months, draining it, letting it sit for another week, using a gravity filter, then adding simple syrups to sweeten it. At least in my case, that's how I make my own. I currently have a pot of sour watermelon liqueur steeping, that I really should find the time to strain and gravity filter...

I'm in no rush. Usually the longer it steeps, the better it becomes.

Done it all. Moonshine, Mead, Liquers... I love doing it. Probably should do it some more at some point. :P