it's a disease i tell ya ...

Hello I'm Ed and I'm a brew-aholic.

Heh. I got into this hobby with the idea, first off, of saving some money, but mostly for the idea of making some tasty brews. Well the idea of saving money is ludicrous! Yeah, per batch there may be a *little* bit of savings compared to buying a brew of the same quality, but the little bit saved, takes soooo long to recoup, that by the time that MAY have happened, you have already dropped so much more in *other* stuff.

Initially, the cost was for a mid-range beginner's kit. Basically, everything you need to brew. Only thing I needed were bottles and a brewpot ... and that was good enough .. so I thought.

Ever since, I have added a bigger brewpot (at the cost of $65), 2 broken hydrometers and a thermometer (~ $20), another 6.5 gallon glass carboy ($35), a used ugly, but working, refrigerator ($45), had Melissa order me a temperature regulator ($59),  and today, added even more to this bill -- this is all aside from the stuff needed to brew in the meantime AND before eventually switch to all-grain -- which likely by the time I get a basic setup will approach two MORE bills.

Back to today. Today, I needed to get some material to make up a trellis for my hops to grow on. This came from "free" hops. Yeah, the hop rhizomes were free, but to get started growing I needed to invest in a trellis system.

My idea was to use metal pipe to build it as it would be more durable than wood or just about any other material I could think of. So since my rhizomes are now starting to sprout green, it was time to build one. I have been trolling Craigslist for months now in search of some used pipe to score a deal, but the rhizomes, are saying "your time is up, bub" so it had to be done soon.

Dad is in a spending mood, and suggested we go to Lowe's and get it. After seeing the costs of pipe, I about sh*t! -- and it ain't *my* money!

I tried to talk him into waiting to allow me to re-group and find a cheaper alternative, but Dad said, 'no shortcuts, just get it ... that way you won't have to f*ck with it again'. His words made sense, but I still wish I could've found a cheaper way. This wound up adding another $120 to the already faltering and escalating 'i'm brewing to save money' premise.

Yeesh! and I ain't done yet!