Nope, can't say that I smoke. As a matter of fact, I've never smoked. My grandmother died from lung cancer when I was 7 and it just soured me on the entire idea permanently.

Drinking? I'm not much into wine at all. Beer I'm a little iffy on. I drink small quantities of some of the more exotic stuff just to try it, but I've never developed much of a taste for it. I homebrew my own though because I like making it - I just need help drinking the stuff when it's done :). When I do happen to drink I typically prefer spirits. Mostly bourbon (and other whiskeys too, but bourbon is my favorite :)), but I've been enjoying a bit of rum lately. Vodka I can tolerate, but gin, tequila, and brandy are on my "DO NOT TOUCH" list. If they'd ever legalize home distillation I'd like to try my hand at making homemade whiskey, but alas, being down in the bible belt I don't see that happening within my lifetime.

Most (all?) drugs are enjoyable when you're using them, it's what happens to your body afterwards that's the problem.

:D I'm still a quitter! :D

I used smokeless tobacco for about eight years. I quit after leaving the hospital my dad was in one day for his non-tobacco related cancer. There is no momentary pleasure that would be worth going through what I saw my dad go through in the last year of his life. It has been quite the deterrent for me.

I am a hardcore Libertarian. I worry about myself and my family. Everyone else can make their own life choices.

Started this again recently...im a bit angry

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...en_LongCut.png

Get away from the Mr. Beer kits and get a good 5 gal. extract brewing setup. Once you get good at extract brewing, move to partial mash and then to all grain brewing. All grain is starting from scratch but the cooking process is time consuming but very very worth it. I'm still at the partial mash step, actually making a Sam Adams Summer Ale clone kit this weekend.

I'm a brewer -- I do the mini mash brewing and have several excellent recipes I use. I always have beer brewing, fermenting or aging. But since I've taken up cycling again, haven't been much on drinking it myself. Sheesh! But -- I digress. Excellent advice, stay away from the kits.

i really enjoy my coffee and microbrews, specifically IPAs in the summer after riding, & sometimes wine. what can i say... i'm in the pacific northwest. the willamette valley produces some great wines, pinot noirs, has great breweries, etc... my 1st road race a few years ago ended @ one of the larger wineries, so of course i picked up a nice bottle to take home. i'll even fill up one of my water bottles w/ coffee & creamer for winter & fall morning group rides, & now with the kleen kanteen stainless steel bottles, discoloration & odor isn't an issue.

i gave up smoking years ago, mainly. it's a horrible horrible habit. i would never do anything like smoke a cigarrette w/ a yellow bracelet on! :rolleyes:

Yep - if you're doing extract brewing it can be insanely easy. Need 1 bucket with an air-tight lid and grommet as a fermenter (I just use the single primary - no secondary yet). With extracts it's kinda like making tea. Boil your water, add the extracts, and then boil for as long as the directions/recipe says (adding in the ingredients specified at time intervals. When done, pour it in the sanitized fermenter, take a hydrometer reading, then pitch your yeast seal it up and add your airlock. Wet 3-4 weeks, and the beer is ready for bottling (which I presume works the same way with Mr Beer).

Partial-mash and all-grain are more complicated (and I've not taken that step myself), but overall the process is very doable. The main thing is just making sure everything is well sanitized - basically everything that will touch the beer and in the immediate vicinity needs to be sanitized, and beer is loved by bacteria almost as much as humans. You need to make sure that there is nothing the take root in the beer - particularly prior to fermentation (afterwards the alcohol in it helps to keep out some weaker infestations).

Exactly ...... I'd like to add that fresh liquid yeast can make a huge improvement over dried yeast. And making a starter a day or 2 ahead of time for the yeast helps. Mashing is a good step to take when you feel you've done enough with extracts. It's not really difficult, but does take a bit more time .... more satisfying though. .... kinda like building your own frames & wheels vs buying a bike off the shelf.

I prefer Hat Sherman black and golds. Though dunhill cigs are okay.

So yesterday was a first for me --- while riding a man was riding in the opposite direction. He was all decked out in his riding gear on a nice bike. Had on the helmet, bike jersey and shorts, wearing his cycling shoes and gloves with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. That just looks odd.

Beer, pastries, ice cream, French cassoulets (my wife makes a killer one with tasty duck fat and I think bacon too).

Thanks for the suggestions. I got my Mr. Beer as a wedding anniversasry.(Best gift ever) So I plan on at least fermenting a few batches on it. Currently on my first. I plan on bottling this weekend. Using my own amber bottles. The plastic ones that came with the kit didn't do it for me. I think that the Mr. Beer will teach me some basic techniques such as the sanitizing, bottling, etc. Once I use up the 4 cans of wort that I purchased, I may consider moving on to the next step.

Pot.....no weight gain unless you give into munchies, lowers stress and cortisol levels in the blood and its just awesome!! :)

Use a vaporizer or a nice bong and you wont have any lung issues

It's really not bad for you at all [compared to cigarettes or drinking] if you can remain productive and control your eating.

Don't forget to boil the bottle caps too.