diff --git a/ext/hermann/hermann_lib.c b/ext/hermann/hermann_lib.c
index f906ec6..41bb781 100644
--- a/ext/hermann/hermann_lib.c
+++ b/ext/hermann/hermann_lib.c
@@ -322,9 +322,6 @@ void consumer_init_kafka(HermannInstanceConfig* config) {
 	rd_kafka_set_logger(config->rk, logger);
 	rd_kafka_set_log_level(config->rk, LOG_DEBUG);
 
-	/* TODO: offset calculation */
-	config->start_offset = RD_KAFKA_OFFSET_END;
-
 	/* Add brokers */
 	if (rd_kafka_brokers_add(config->rk, config->brokers) == 0) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "%% No valid brokers specified\n");
@@ -794,11 +791,13 @@ static VALUE consumer_allocate(VALUE klass) {
  *  @param  topic	   VALUE   a Ruby string
  *  @param  brokers	 VALUE   a Ruby string containing list of host:port
  *  @param  partition   VALUE   a Ruby number
+ *  @param  offset      VALUE   a Ruby number
  */
 static VALUE consumer_initialize(VALUE self,
 								 VALUE topic,
 								 VALUE brokers,
-								 VALUE partition) {
+								 VALUE partition,
+								 VALUE offset) {
 
 	HermannInstanceConfig* consumerConfig;
 	char* topicPtr;
@@ -819,6 +818,17 @@ static VALUE consumer_initialize(VALUE self,
 	consumerConfig->exit_eof = 0;
 	consumerConfig->quiet = 0;
 
+	if ( FIXNUM_P(offset) ) {
+		consumerConfig->start_offset = FIX2LONG(offset);
+	} else if ( SYMBOL_P(offset) ) {
+		if ( offset == ID2SYM(rb_intern("start")) )
+			consumerConfig->start_offset = RD_KAFKA_OFFSET_BEGINNING;
+		else if ( offset == ID2SYM(rb_intern("end")) )
+			consumerConfig->start_offset = RD_KAFKA_OFFSET_END;
+	} else {
+		consumerConfig->start_offset = RD_KAFKA_OFFSET_END;
+	}
+
 	return self;
 }
 
@@ -1007,7 +1017,7 @@ void Init_hermann_lib() {
 	rb_define_alloc_func(c_consumer, consumer_allocate);
 
 	/* Initialize */
-	rb_define_method(c_consumer, "initialize", consumer_initialize, 3);
+	rb_define_method(c_consumer, "initialize", consumer_initialize, 4);
 	rb_define_method(c_consumer, "initialize_copy", consumer_init_copy, 1);
 
 	/* Consumer has method 'consume' */
diff --git a/ext/hermann/hermann_lib.h b/ext/hermann/hermann_lib.h
index 0a66836..e7130c7 100644
--- a/ext/hermann/hermann_lib.h
+++ b/ext/hermann/hermann_lib.h
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ typedef struct HermannInstanceConfig {
 	int isConnected;
 
 	int isErrored;
+
 	char *error;
 } HermannInstanceConfig;
 
diff --git a/lib/hermann/consumer.rb b/lib/hermann/consumer.rb
index 3283eca..4f2fdef 100644
--- a/lib/hermann/consumer.rb
+++ b/lib/hermann/consumer.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 require 'hermann'
+require 'hermann/errors'
 
 if Hermann.jruby?
   require 'hermann/provider/java_simple_consumer'
@@ -17,13 +18,18 @@ class Consumer
     #
     # @params [String] kafka topic
     # @params [Hash] options for Consumer
-    # @option opts [String]  :brokers    (for MRI) Comma separated list of brokers
-    # @option opts [Integer] :partition  (for MRI) The kafka partition
+    # @option opts [String]        :brokers    (for MRI) Comma separated list of brokers
+    # @option opts [Integer]       :partition  (for MRI) The kafka partition
+    # @option opts [Symbol|Fixnum] :offset     (for MRI) Starting consumer offset.  either :start, :end, or Fixnum
     # @option opts [Integer] :zookeepers (for jruby) list of zookeeper servers
     # @option opts [Integer] :group_id   (for jruby) client group_id
     #
     def initialize(topic, opts = {})
       @topic = topic
+
+      offset = opts.delete(:offset)
+      raise Hermann::Errors::InvalidOffsetError.new("Bad offset: #{offset}") unless valid_offset?(offset)
+
       if Hermann.jruby?
         zookeepers, group_id = require_values_at(opts, :zookeepers, :group_id)
 
@@ -31,7 +37,7 @@ def initialize(topic, opts = {})
       else
         brokers, partition = require_values_at(opts, :brokers, :partition)
 
-        @internal = Hermann::Lib::Consumer.new(topic, brokers, partition)
+        @internal = Hermann::Lib::Consumer.new(topic, brokers, partition, offset)
       end
     end
 
@@ -49,6 +55,12 @@ def shutdown
       end
     end
 
+    private
+
+    def valid_offset?(offset)
+      offset.nil? || offset.is_a?(Fixnum) || offset == :start || offset == :end
+    end
+
     def require_values_at(opts, *args)
       args.map do |a|
         raise "Please provide :#{a} option!" unless opts[a]
diff --git a/lib/hermann/errors.rb b/lib/hermann/errors.rb
index 7a49014..6cba1c3 100644
--- a/lib/hermann/errors.rb
+++ b/lib/hermann/errors.rb
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ class ConfigurationError < GeneralError; end
 
     # cannot discover brokers from zookeeper
     class NoBrokersError < GeneralError; end
+
+    # offsets can only be two symbols or a fixnum
+    class InvalidOffsetError < GeneralError; end
   end
 end
 
diff --git a/scripts/consume_msgs_loop_localhost_mri.rb b/scripts/consume_msgs_loop_localhost_mri.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6af5341
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/consume_msgs_loop_localhost_mri.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+require 'rubygems'
+
+$LOAD_PATH << File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/../lib"
+$LOAD_PATH << File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/../ext"
+require 'hermann'
+require 'hermann/consumer'
+
+t1 = 0
+threads = []
+100.times do |i|
+  threads << Thread.new do
+    puts "booting #{i}"
+    c = Hermann::Consumer.new( "maxwell", brokers: "localhost:9092", partition: i, offset: :start)
+    c.consume() do
+      |msg| puts("Received: #{msg}")
+      if(t1 == 0)
+        t1 = Time.now
+      end
+      t2 = Time.now
+      elapsed = t2 - t1
+      puts("Total elapsed time: #{elapsed} seconds")
+    end
+  end
+end
+threads.each(&:join)
diff --git a/spec/consumer_spec.rb b/spec/consumer_spec.rb
index ee522b1..e57723f 100644
--- a/spec/consumer_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/consumer_spec.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 require 'spec_helper'
 require 'hermann/consumer'
+require 'hermann/errors'
 
 # XXX: Hermann::Consumer isn't really supported anywhere, MRI included right
 # now
@@ -9,7 +10,8 @@
   let(:topic) { 'rspec' }
   let(:brokers) { 'localhost:1337' }
   let(:partition)  { 1 }
-  let(:opts) { { :brokers => brokers, :partition => partition } }
+  let(:offset) { nil }
+  let(:opts) { { :brokers => brokers, :partition => partition, :offset => offset } }
 
 
   context "on C ruby", :platform => :mri do
@@ -36,6 +38,13 @@
         let(:topic) { '' }
         it_behaves_like 'an error condition'
       end
+
+      context 'with a bad offset' do
+        let(:offset) { :foo }
+        it "raises an InvalidOffset error" do
+          expect { subject }.to raise_error(Hermann::Errors::InvalidOffsetError)
+        end
+      end
     end
 
     describe '#shutdown' do
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 33d6ab7..e509ee0 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   c.formatter = :documentation
 
   shared_context 'integration test context', :type => :integration do
-    let(:topic) { $integrationconf['kafka']['topic'] }
+    let(:topic) { "hermann_testing_" + rand(100_000_000).to_s }
     let(:brokers) { $integrationconf['kafka']['brokers'] }
     let(:zookeepers) { $integrationconf['zookeepers'] }
   end