Brew to Drink OR Drink to Brew??

[State of the mind]

I sometimes find myself drinking bottles of beer to free up enough bottles to brew again. And this prompted the question; Why are you so passionate about brewing, is it drinking the final product, brewing it, or a bit of both?

For me, I have to be more motivated by the brewing aspect. It's not that I don't enjoy my beers, it is just that after having drank 3 or 4 beers in a batch I start to think about how I can improve the next batch, which prompts me to start thinking about future brews. And before I know it I am drinking to Brew again. :rofl: :rofl:

What you need is to have is an employed drinker. :hmm: :hmm:

What about you guys?

 

[Tony]

Pure obsession... uncontrollable and all-consuming obsession for both drinking and making. I suppose I wouldn't make it if I didn't drink it though!

 

[Samarith]

I think I prefer the brewing to the drinking to be honest.

My first two jobs were as a lab tech and my first two 'degrees' are in chemistry and physics. I just love messing about with all the glassware, instruments and chemicals.

 

[ano]

I don't think I'd brew if I didn't drink.

 

[Growler]

What you need is to have is an employed drinker. :hmm: :hmm:quote]


can I be the first to offer my services :drink:

 

[State of the mind]

I don't think I'd brew if I didn't drink.

That is not what I was asking. I was just asking which you are more motivated by.

can I be the first to offer my services :drink:

Haha. It would be a full time job though. :drunk:

 

[Aleman]

Definitely the brewing for me . . . Or more probably the building of the brewery . . . . . (s) .. . . When I brew big batches I'm starting to give a couple of kegs worth away nowadays

 

[corby_brewer]

I can honestly say that i enjoy brewing more than drinking!!!!!
Given the chance i would brew every day of the week, but i only drink my beer or wine on a Friday and Saturday. And then ill only have about 4 or 5 pints of beer or 2 or 3 glasses of wine. I tend to give about 10 pints of evey brew away.

 

[Hawks]

I started out brewing to drink, then I got absorbed into the brewing, the building and expanding of equipment. Now I do find myself trying to finish / share / buy a keg so I can brew another as well as thinking what is next to build / improve, so now I guess it's the brewing. :thumb:

 

[ano]

I don't think I'd brew if I didn't drink.

That is not what I was asking. I was just asking which you are more motivated by.

And that was my (perhaps a little cryptic?) answer. I wouldn't brew if I didn't drink so I must be motivated by the drinking over the brewing. Maybe i'm missing something here or have a little too much.

 

[Moley]

I came back to winemaking and brewing as a drinker, purely because I was spending far too much on commercial alcohol, haven't had a pay rise in 3 years, and pub and supermarket prices only ever go in one direction.

My first kit beers were brewed to drink, but now I've crossed over to the dark side and discovered that I can brew as good as or better than anything I can buy, for a fraction of the cost, there's as much pleasure in the brewing as the drinking, especially when I can give some away to friends and colleagues and they say “oh wow, that's amazing, did you really make that?”

 

[warra48]

When I'm brewing, I'm motivated by a great hobby by which I can produce fantastic beer to my taste.

When I'm drinking, I'm motivated by the amazement I'm drinking beer I've brewed and which is to my taste.

The question is not capable of a logical answer. It's like which came first, the chicken or the egg?

I love both equally, depending on what I'm doing.

 

[State of the mind]

My first kit beers were brewed to drink, but now I've crossed over to the dark side and discovered that I can brew as good as or better than anything I can buy, for a fraction of the cost, there's as much pleasure in the brewing as the drinking, especially when I can give some away to friends and colleagues and they say “oh wow, that's amazing, did you really make that?”

Yeah, I was down to my last few bottles for "Last Minute Amber" today and unfortunatley had to go to the supermarket and buy beer. something I have not done for three months or so. :nono:
I went for the Belgian recipe Stella. It was horrible and made me realise why I started brewing in the first place. I may aswell have brought vodka and diluted it with water.

Made me realise that I do enjoy the drinking aspect of the hobby more than I may have said before.


However one bad aspect of brewing is that you are introduced to good beer, and once you get a good taste for it, say goodbye to drinking Carlsberg, Fosters ect again. :hmm:

 

[mysterio]

I find the whole process pretty laborious, especially with all the cleaning. So the actual drinking, tinkering and perfecting is why I do it. Thinking about everything I can do to make the beer better and having fun experimenting with ingredients. Brewing is mainly washing up which I really do not have time for. The bottom line is, I've got 10 gallons of beer brewed to my specification on tap whenever I need it.

 

[Dunfie]

I don't think the analogy completely works for my situation. I completely dropped the idea of brewing for cheap beer almost as soon as I started AG. Now I spend far too much time, than is probably healthy for an adult, planning my next brewing upgrade/gizmo/recipe/experiment etc.

Having said all that, I have complete respect for thy guys who have a very basic setup and rattle out a regular brew for personal consumption. I just have no idea how they stop themselves saying something like "I wonder how I can get my boil on quicker?".

 

[Tony]

Now I spend far too much time, than is probably healthy for an adult, planning my next brewing upgrade/gizmo/recipe/experiment etc.

Oh yes... I can recognise this. In the most recent 'discussion' with my wife about my brewing, I totaled up 5 hours for brewing, 1 hour for racking into secondary, 2 hours for bottling (including cleaning, sterilizing, filling, storing and cleaning up). I do one brew a month - that's 8 hours - not a great deal across a month. However (and the piece I omitted from the discussion), I spend countless hours planning, changing, playing, creating wish lists, tweaking in beersmith, researching, reading.... etc etc.

heh heh

 

[Sean_Mc]

I love a drink and mainly stick to bitters and stouts, but my conditioning cupboard is a mix of my favourites plus lagers and pale ales :wha:

Nothing like having a mash on with the radio on in the background and a pint of something on the workbench.

 

[bones]

When I'm brewing, I'm motivated by a great hobby by which I can produce fantastic beer to my taste.

When I'm drinking, I'm motivated by the amazement I'm drinking beer I've brewed and which is to my taste.

The question is not capable of a logical answer. It's like which came first, the chicken or the egg?

I love both equally, depending on what I'm doing.

Yep... sorry i share the same opinion..

I love to brew but equally love my my brew : : :

 

[snail59]

I dont know yet. I like a nice pint and ive found some nice beers just lately. Doing my 1st AG brew tomorrow so will find out if I enjoy the process. I have throughly enjoyed building my brewery and will enjoy updating and improveing it. So it looks like I could be a fan of the whole shooting match as a combination.

 

[rickthebrew]

I like many others started brewing kits as an alternative to drinking supermarket deal lager - I prefer ales and bitters but the price of decent bottled beers is scary :lol: So after six months of kit brewing with money saving being the prime motivaton I moved over to AG :drunk:

It`s all about the planning, execution and results with brewing AG, its a bonus that it works out better value - of course this isn`t true if you factor time in but as my hobby time is not an issue - a brewday of 5 to 6 hours can leave plenty of time inbetween for other jobs (like cutting the grass or cooking a curry ) Or sampling last months brew!!
So what started of as a way of not drinking cheapo lager has turned into a slight obbsession, there is nothing like inventing your own recipe and working with the raw materials to make some thing unique, and proudly saying.....

I brewed that