Re: Anyone Homebrew?
You need to get the Charlie Papazian book. It is old, but it has all the stuff you need to know to get started and to advance some even. LOTS of good stuff in that book, he is also responsible for getting homebrewing made legal again (under Carter?). I think it is called "The Joy of Homebrewing". Make sure to get his quintessential book on the subject, the early one. He wrote a few later ones you aren't ready for/won't be interested in yet.
Homebrewing can get just as much indepth as shooting. Maybe even more. I got into it first using a couple of glass carboys and some decent gear (easy to get in WA state --the biggest homebrew store around is just a few miles away). My buddy got out of the army, and while I went full bore with shooting, he really got into homebrewing. So between the two of us, we mash our own grains and do it all from scratch. He has a custom built setup that probably cost him thousands to make and we can make 15gal.+ batches pretty quickly and easily.
Extracts are a good place to start, there is a Paulaner Hefe clone recipe that is damn close to the real thing, I was surprised, but most pure extracts don't turn out that great. The addition of partial mashes is an easy next step and that helps, but once you go full grain, that is where the magic starts.
We have brewed beers that are just stellar. Since most hops in the US come from right down the street, we get fresh ones. I also have three half-barrel planters out back with four different rare, hard to find hops strains we plan on using for our fresh batches. We like all kinds, but we gravitate towards IPAs, but not the super bitter ones. Hops can be manipulated for bitterness, but also for aroma and flavor --and fresh hops makes a stellar beer. Not too bitter, more like a pale ale, but with much more flavor and aroma.
Yeah, you can really get into it. But there are certainly better sites dedicated to the craft. Just be leary of the recipes. A lot of folks put up recipes and never go back and tell how it turned out --useless info!
And yeah, sanitation is KEY. Again, read Papazian and he'll go into the difference between sterilization, sanitation, etc. And all the proper methods, etc. The book should be MANDATORY for new homebrewers, it really should. You'll still use it years later even if you really get into it since it covers all grain too.
You can also join local homebrew clubs if you have any available, and the ones around here meet and discuss stuff, learn things, have classes, etc. Good thing is you also usually have access to their knowledge, help, and their all grain gear so you can brew great batches. You can usually store and ferment it there too. The dues aren't all that expensive either, since most clubs are held in stores they figure you'll be buying your grains and stuff from them.
Finally, I'd have to say stick with White Labs Yeast. The yeast lends a lot of the flavor to certain styles of beer, and these guys have it down pat. Large selection, strong yeast count per vial, and if you make a starter (VERY easy, and covered in Papazian like everything else you need to know) that starter will get the fermentation going so fast it'll make your head spin. Almost immediate, no chance for bad microbes to ruin you beer or give it any off tase at all. Can't stress White labs and starters enough.
Good luck, I could go on forever, which is why I recommend looking into some of the online homebrew sites, preferably the good ones (not sure which ones are today --we gravitate in our own circle and have certain recipes lined up already). Here probably wouldn't yeild the kind of info you need. Buy yeah, some of us do. Funny thing is that I seldom drink too, but I thouroughly enjoy brewing, the smells are just awesome.
The leftover grains can be used to make tons of healthy all grain muffins and energy bars too. No shortage of great recipes to recycle that stuff. If nothing else, the dried out stuff makes good animal feed I hear tell.