by Brian Smith

We welcome you to participate in our new online forum service, the Brewboard. We feel confident you will quickly find these new forums to be a great way to communicate and share your beer and wine experiences with hundreds of others in the homebrewing community.

If you are looking for some impartial advice, or maybe a second (or third or fourth) opinion, post a question or comment on the Brewboard! If you are new to the homebrewing hobby, chances are you've had a few moments where you feel like you're doing something wrong. Or maybe you think there's gotta be a simpler way to do something. Believe us, we've all been there! That's why we think there's no better way to promote this wonderful hobby than to help make it as interactive as possible. Our hope is that many of our great customers will share with you their experiences via these forums. Homebrewing really is a community, and we think the Brewboard will reflect that fact.

You will notice that we've added new navigation tabs at the top of our pages. It now includes a tab for the forums. You can click on the tab to go directly to the forums section of our website. Also, you may notice a new icon floating around (see right) of Roman Ale. This too will take you to the forums.

Anyone can anonymously browse and learn from these forums, but to make a posting, or to reply to one, you will first need to register with the Brewboard. We know... we know... not ANOTHER user ID and password to memorize @$#&*! Don't worry. This is simply the best way others can identify you and your posts, without having to expose your full name or email address. If you've ever posted to an online forum before, you know that it helps to recognize others. It lends familiarity to the web, which is often too fractured and impersonal.

We have divided the Brewboard into several forum categories. One category is devoted to general discussion about beer, wine, mead, and cider. Another is devoted to swapping recipes.

A third forum is devoted to buyers and sellers. Here you can post any product or service you may want to sell online. The postings are free. Shopping and haggling are left to you. We at Homebrew Adventures will not intervene on behalf of either the buyer or seller. It's a free and open marketplace.

A fourth forum is devoted to homebrew clubs. Here you can set up and maintain a separate discussion group for the sole use of your club. You have the option to make it either publicly accessible or members-only (password protected).

Finally, we have devoted a fifth forum for you to post special event information. Are you organizing a homebrew competition or wine tasting? Make a post here and give yourself some added publicity. All posts are free. Are you interested in participating in such an event in your area? Check it out here.

We think you'll enjoy the many features that come with the Brewboard. We've included a host of icons and functions to help you express yourself. You can add links, files, photos, emoticons, etc. You can edit text and dress it up with color or special graphics. Additionally, you have full control over the level of privacy you desire on the Brewboard. You can disclose as much or as little about yourself as you desire. We've left it all up to you.

This Brewboard has been beta-tested for a brief time, so we are confident you will not have any difficulties. However, should you find a bug, or you simply have a suggested improvement, we encourage you to email us. Like everything else on the web, this is a work in progress. We are always open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance for your posts and Happy Homebrewing!