Dies to Removal

Hey guys, fairly new player here. I've been lurking here for a while now (mainly the RDW Primer and Dos Rakis thread) and figured I'd introduce myself. I started playing magic this past fall and in an attempt to not be such a scrub I started lurking over at MTGS. I came across these forums while I was over there, and ended up learning more about the game from the RDW Primer than my entire time over at MTGS. Big props to Zem and everyone who contributed to it. I've been a competitive gamer for quite some time (Quakeworld, Quake 3 Arena, DOTA, WC3, online poker, ect) so competitive MTG really interests me. I'm an Izzet player at heart, but I love all things red. I'm currently messing around with Rakdos Suicide and I'm having a blast with it. Aside from Magic my other interests are vaping, craft beer, drumming, and poker and could easily talk someones ear off about any of those.

I don't usually make intro posts
like these but the sense of community and everyones dark sense of humor here really stood out to me compared to other forums, so I thought I'd introduce myself. I hope you guys don't mind if I stick around and try to learn a few things .

I don't usually make intro posts like these but the sense of community and everyones dark sense of humor here really stood out to me compared to other forums, so I thought I'd introduce myself.

Hay man, I think you're going to do just fine around here

Welcome aboard our ship of fools!

Welcome!

Do you brew your own craft beer?

Welcome!

Do you brew your own craft beer?

I've been wanting to, but most of my spare cash has been going into vaping and magic. Too many hobbies and too little time . A few of my friends are really into brewing and they love it. I'll give a try one day, but I want to do it right. I refuse to buy those shitty kits.

I started out in wc3 too. Izzet sucks.

I skip the vape and move straight to the billy

Welcome!

Welcome!

I'll bite. What's vaping?

Also:
If you're going to brew your own beer the right way, I might suggest you start out with brewing mead; almost all of the stuff you need to brew it can be commandeered into beer brewing when you want to upgrade, but it's a lower cost, is a simpler process overall, and gives you a feel for the process. Hell, if nothing else, since a bunch of your friends brew their own beer, you can always just stick with mead and be the guy who brings the sweet drinks.

Vaping is another word for using E-Cigs or mods. I used them to quit smoking cigarettes a couple months ago and recommend them to anyone who wants to quit smoking tobacco. You still go through the motions like you're smoking, but instead of cancerous tobacco smoke and tar, you simply inhale safe(ish) vapors with nicotine in it. It ends up being a hobby because of all the different gadgets you can get. The one I use doesn't even look like a cigarette like the disposable ones you get at a gas station, it looks like one of those big laser pens. It's a lot cheaper in the long run than smoking and it can get even cheaper because you can make your own e-juice and come up with crazy ass flavors. You can also use the same devices as vaporizers for THC and hash oils if that's your thing for a more stealthy toke.

I'll have to try brewing mead, that sounds like a good place to start. Have you brewed stouts or porters? Is the
process any different from brewing IPA's? That's all my buddies seem to brew, which isn't a bad thing, I'm just a big fan of darker beers.

Thanks for the welcomes fellas!

Heavy weed smokers generally don't like vapes but I've heard great things about quitting smoking with them, I just generally enjoy the flavor of tobacco

I'll bite. What's vaping?

Don't pretend like you didn't already google that.

I didn't, actually. I felt like getting the grittier version from a self-admitted fan.

@nme: I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, I don't brew myself but a lot of my friends find it entertaining. I do a lot of reading on self-sufficiency too, and an, um, inordinate number of articles are about brewing, so I've osmosed quite a bit of knowledge on the process. With that in mind, yeah, brewing an IPA is easier than brewing a darker beer; you're adding a few steps and the ingredient/equipment list is longer.. but it's not so much more difficult that it accounts for all the people who choose to brew IPAs instead; I've developed a theory that most home brewers just like IPAs more, because anybody who thinks "Hey, I should make my own alcohol at home!" probably enjoys drinking enough to want to consume large quantities of
their end product, and IPAs are just easier to drink.
I found this interesting recipe in a book of old recipes from Colonial North America for a grog that most of the colonists used to purify their water, since alcohol is the natural enemy of bacteria. It's just:
1 shit-ton of sugar
1 gallon of water
1 lots of yeast

And you let that ferment for a day or so in a bucket. The end result is a super-sweet liquid that'll catch you a slight buzz, and it's so butt simple it was usually tasked out to the children who weren't old enough to understand how to make bread (all in a society that from time to time blamed a crop failure on magical witches, keep in mind). Brewing isn't hard.

I vape god's plant