For over ten years, I have made my own beer at home. I started this hobby in order to see whether it was really possible. Then, I continued making my own beer after discovering that what I made tasted pretty good and was less expensive than the imported beer that I had been buying.

For nine of those ten-plus years, I brewed beer on a self-imposed island, knowing generally that there were other people making beer, but not really exploring the social aspects of sharing recipes, learning new techniques, or finding out where the best "deals" were for ingredients and equipment.

Joining the homebrewing community on the Internet changed all of that. Now, several times per week, I actively participate in a homebrewing newsgroup, bulletin board, mailing list, and chat room. Sometimes, I even log on to one of several homebrewing cams, where you can actually see beer being made.

As a result of my online experience, I've become a better, more enthusiastic homebrewer and have "met" a number of great people. So if you can legally drink, pour yourself a tall one, relax, and have a homebrew cybertour.

If you only have time to surf one homebrewing site, The Brewery is your "must see and bookmark" site. It includes a very helpful bulletin board, recipe archives, library, recipe calculator and software, list of local homebrewing clubs, and much more.

Skotrat's Brew-Rat-Chat is a virtual pub for homebrewers. Here, you can chat about homebrew and post pictures relating to homebrew. Talk to experienced homebrewers with chat nicknames like Real Ale, Malty Bob, Strange Brewer, and Mikeweiser.

Other parts of the site contain recipe archives, a bulletin board, links to brew cams, and instructions for subscribing to Skotrat's free Internet homebrew club.

The Real Beer Page contains a wealth of information about beer, brewpubs, microbreweries, homebrewing, and the beer industry. Over 75,000 pages about beer, searchable brewery and pub databases, beer festival and homebrew event calendars, and news about beer.

Rec.Crafts.Brewing (usenet) is a very active newsgroup with an unusually high content/spam ratio. A great place to ask questions and obtain advice. If you don't have a newsreader, you can access this newsgroup on the web by surfing to DejaNews and searching for "homebrewing."

The on-line version of "Brew Your Own" magazine offers feature articles, recipes and more. A great publication for the beginner to intermediate homebrewer. This site includes a generous sampling of articles and recipes for this paid subscription magazine.

Homebrewer's Digest is the most advanced homebrewing mailing list on the Internet. You can subscribe to the daily HBD by emailing homebrew-request@hbd.org with the word "subscribe" in the body of the text (no quotes required). Searchable archives are on the site.

On-line Catalogs and Ordering: There are probably several dozen homebrewing stores on the Internet, and everyone has their own favorites. If you aren't comfortable ordering on-line, most sites have toll free numbers that you can call to place your order. Two sites that have favorable shipping policies (no charge with minimum order) are Hoptech and MoreBeer.

Homebrewing beer is a great way to make good beer for less money than you would pay for imports or microbrews. What starts out as a method to save money quickly becomes a pleasurable obsession and a great way to meet new people online. Have a good one, and make it a homebrew!