I saw this today, and thought it might be fun. Anybody have one?  Is there a better system out there? This one looks like you have to buy their mixes, for the most part.  Brewing my own beer sounds like fun.

brewing your own beer is a little time consuming, but VERY worth it once you get a system down!  i get all of my gear from here...

www.stpats.com/

youll wanna do some research on home brewing before you set out to brew your own...its a little more indepth than most think..but as i said..well worth it once you get it figured out and are able to drink your first homemade brew!!  you wont wanna drink store bought beer again.  my last batch was a jalapeno amber...it was great!!!  good luck amigo!  

Have I got a site for you. Check this out, but don't tell anyone, it's classified.
http://www.homedistiller.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?Cat=&PHPSESSID=

I've homebrewed off and on for about 6 years. If you use better equipment, you can make a lot better beer. You can get a lot better control over the process and have a lot more choices in the styles available.

These guys got me started. www.williamsbrewing.com

Don't bother with the beer machine kit. The beer is sub par. Sometimes it barely has alchohol in it.
Try one of the ale kits where the barely is already malted. It's not very hard. It's mostly cleaning. There is even a video with a Williams kit. Warning: this hobby is addictive. You will just want to know more and more. Your beer will become cheaper, and fresher. You can tweak the beer to taste just how you want it. My first beer was their Holiday beer. Damn it was good! Everyone that tried it, loved it. Even people that don't like beer. Here is the link.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/
Good luck.

OK, I checked out the Williams kits, and I think that is the way to go. They sound like a much higher-quality apparatus.  Any other info would be appreciated!

I think I just found my Christmas present.  Now to call Mom...

Go read [url]www.howtobrew.com[/url].  Lots of good info.  Also check out the forums at [url]forum.northernbrewer.com[/url].

[img]http://home.nc.rr.com/juanpiedra/brewset.jpg[/img]

Burp!

The Waterford Brewery setup.