During the course of some conversations with people I am sometimes accused of being a 'beer snob' based on the fact that I would rather drink a Long Trail Ale than a Bud Light or a Coors Light (I hate the taste of Coors Light).  The problem is, I'm not a beer snob at all - but I do have a taste for the more fuller bodied beers.  

I "grew up" on the MillerBudCoors (MBC) type beers.  In fact a large chunk of my college years was spent drinking Genny Light from cans, kegs and bottles (I went to college in upstate NY).  At the time, I really liked it, and from time to time I will pick up a sixer for nostalgia's sake.  The point is, it was easy to drink mass quantities of Genny Light - and lets be serious here, that was the whole point.

But now, I'm old and I just don't have the time to devote to drinking mass amounts of watery not that alcoholy beer.  I need something to satisfy my taste buds' desires, as well as, my increased tolerance and reduced amount of leisure time.  

To bring it on home, this is just another reason why homebrewing is great - cause you can make some nice full bodied beers with a decent amount of alcohol.  But, you can also make beers that are lighter bodied with a decent amount of alcohol that will be similar to an MBC type beer, especially if you make lager beers (which I currently do not).

Anyway, I am not a beer snob.  I can recognize the finer things in life, but I do not look down on beers because of what they are, or beer drinkers because of what they are drinking.  I love beer, and am just glad to see when others are enjoying one too.

That's right.  I admit it.  I get a joy from taking the red cap off of my airlock and sniffing it as it bubbles away.
As I type this, I have a Pale Ale bubbling away in the basement.  It is fermenting like crazy, if my records are correct - I may get over 90% attenuation, which would be a record for me.
That's fine and all - the great part is the smell.  The hops are coming through nicely.  Its a pleasant surprise, as it is another JTR recipe formulation from scratch.  I'm not joking when I say that just a year ago I was a clueless "noob" in the beer world.  So a successful brew is still a pretty significant thing for me.
So, if you dont mind, please excuse me - I need to go sniff my airlock...