I received my homebrew kit for Christmas in 2006.  I brewed my first batch on January 14th.  Here’s a quick rundown of my first year as a homebrewer.

• First batch - Black Butte Porter clone.  I used a primary fermenter only with a blow-off tube.  I ditched the blow-off tube after this batch.
• Favorite beer - Either the Lake Sabrina Pale Ale or the Midwinter Porter.
• Number of batches brewed - 12.
• Biggest mistake - bottling my raspberry wheat beer before it was done fermenting.  I had a foamer on my hands - it still tasted good, though.
• Biggest disappointment - West Coast Stout.  I racked it from the primary too soon (stupid mistake, boring story) which left it way too malty for my taste.
• Best inexpensive purchase - my bottle filler.  I bottled my first batch using this little clamp on the hose.  It was messy and a royal pain.  The $3.50 I spent on the bottle filler was a very good investment.
• Best expensive purchase - my cornelius keg.
• Best lesson learned - Relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew!
• Goals for the next year: brew some new styles of beer, get the equipment to do full volume boils, move in the direction of all grain or partial mash brewing, and continue to have fun.

Anyway - onward!