Judging from old rec.crafts.brewing posts, I got started in 2002. I liked SNPA, but I thought it was too dry. I found a clone recipe, and I fiddled with it. I even added fresh ginger.
I was like an expectant father, trying to do everything perfectly. I got my nice clean wort into my sanitized bucket, and then I dropped the bubbler grommet into it.
My solution was to sanitize my arm (bleach) and reach in and grab the grommet. The beer was really good, although I quit adding ginger later. I named it "Strongarm Ale."
I was bottling then. Somehow I thought kegging would be more aggravation. Boy, was I wrong.
I don't miss that giant stash of mismatched bottles.
Things are so much better now. Electric brewing and BIAB. No more mandatory secondaries. Duo-Tight and EVAbarrier. All you young punks don't realize how bad we had it. I brewed in a 10-gallon kettle on my stove. I mashed with towels around the kettle. I threw my fermenters in the pool because the tap water ran about 80 degrees. I still do that.
Now I'll hear from the guys who started in the Eighties.
When I got started, I had to drive from Coral Gables to Hollywood, Florida, for supplies and equipment, so around half an hour on a good day. An old hippie had a brew shop, and he got me started. I think his name was Jeff. Fresh hops. No pellets. He closed his store to run off after a girl, so I discovered Dan Listermann, Austin Homebrew, and Morebeer.
I have never done extract brewing. I figured I would eventually get into all-grain anyway, so extract seemed like a waste of time. I've never brewed anyone else's recipe (exactly) or brewed to a strict style. I imagined a taste in my head, and then I tried to make it.
Back then, I was smoking Cubans. I arranged my diet so I had room for 4 beers per day. I used to sit outside with a Lusi or a Romeo y Julieta Churchill, enjoying that brew.