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Hey, I'm a mediocre home-brewer in North Dublin who turned to brewing due to disgust at the rubbish in my local off-licence about ten years ago.

My main interest is in historical brews; meads, braggots and un-hopped ales. Looking to learn from people, and feed a dream about brewing commercially...someday.

John

Welcome, John. It would be interesting to hear more about historical beers/brewing techniques.

Welcome to the site John. There's lots of learning oppertunities for all of us, and I know I'd love to hear more about pre-hop and unhopped styles of ale. Been thinking about doing a few test brews along those lines myself, so would love to see some good start points.

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Check out Gruitale.com - they have some easy-to-read intros on the theory & botanicals needed. Getting a hold of them is a little trickier.

wildweeds.com has pretty much everything you need to start, and harvest time is just over, so it's a good time to experiment. Alas, I'm currently between breweries (I usually work out of houses of reasonably hygenic bachelor friends), so haven't made a brew in a while.

I've heard really good things about yarrow & mugwort beers though; if you can get through the initial very-bitter taste, they have a helluva kick.

John