Hello, I am a brewer from Oregon. I brew for work and for fun. I always look forward to brewing homebrew batches when i have the opportunity. This seems like a great group, thanks for sharing your experiences. I started out by buying a home brew shop when i was 21, wow that was a lot more work than i could handle at the time! I did get to know all the regular customers and i still love the idea of being able to craft something extra special using only the finest ingredients! That is what you can do as a home brewer! no one telling you that a single ingredient is too expensive! Go have fun, experience all the different ingredients, take your time, no time clocks to worry about. Home brewers have it great!Take care everyone