After a most enjoyable second AG Brew day with a friend we were discussing the merits of our new found hobby. Why do we do it? Is it because it makes sense financially? Is it because it’s a challenge (to make a truly great beer)? Is it just a hobby to pass the time?? A combination of all 3 or something else?? Whatever it is I think I love it!!!
Why Do We Do It??
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AdeDunn
Member
All 3, in varying amounts depending upon the person.
For me it's about the crafting, the creation of something that can be appreciated and enjoyed. No different to my wife's crochet.
For me it's about the crafting, the creation of something that can be appreciated and enjoyed. No different to my wife's crochet.
Poochops
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I was really happy with some of the kits I made in the earlier days of my brewing journey, I remember thinking how can something this good come out of a blimmin tin, especially as my forays into hb in the late 80s all tasted like boiled *****.
But I soon realised with kits, good as some of them are, you get what you're given and there's no craft to it save making sure everything is clean and you don't let it get too warm. So I started partial mash brewing and then some allgrain Biab brews and that's when the penny dropped, that I can influence all sorts of outcomes in the beer I make. Even the few mediocre batches I've done I'm proud of, and the other dozen or so have been so very much better than I ever hoped or thought they could be. So for me it's about the craft and learning, that it's cheap doesn't really come into it but it's a bonus. I've got loads to learn but each brew I get to try new things and really enjoy it.
But I soon realised with kits, good as some of them are, you get what you're given and there's no craft to it save making sure everything is clean and you don't let it get too warm. So I started partial mash brewing and then some allgrain Biab brews and that's when the penny dropped, that I can influence all sorts of outcomes in the beer I make. Even the few mediocre batches I've done I'm proud of, and the other dozen or so have been so very much better than I ever hoped or thought they could be. So for me it's about the craft and learning, that it's cheap doesn't really come into it but it's a bonus. I've got loads to learn but each brew I get to try new things and really enjoy it.
Drunkula
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It's like cooking.
Beer kits: cup-a-soup.
Extract: buying a pre-chopped soup pack and adding your seasonings to it.
All grain: picking the vegetables, meat, spices and making a right balls up of it for a while until you make something your friends will eat without going cock-eyed. Then you find after a while you've got to justify to yourself and a swmbo that you need a pressure cooker, sous-vide machine, gas chromatograph, pasta extruder... etc,etc.
So for some it's curiosity and the need to create. Some others are kinda happy with cup-a-soup and toast and there's not much wrong with that.
But if they make packet gravy when there's lovely meat juices and a bag of flour in the cupboard then LEAVE THEM TO ROT!!!
Beer kits: cup-a-soup.
Extract: buying a pre-chopped soup pack and adding your seasonings to it.
All grain: picking the vegetables, meat, spices and making a right balls up of it for a while until you make something your friends will eat without going cock-eyed. Then you find after a while you've got to justify to yourself and a swmbo that you need a pressure cooker, sous-vide machine, gas chromatograph, pasta extruder... etc,etc.
So for some it's curiosity and the need to create. Some others are kinda happy with cup-a-soup and toast and there's not much wrong with that.
But if they make packet gravy when there's lovely meat juices and a bag of flour in the cupboard then LEAVE THEM TO ROT!!!
druid
Junior Member
Im a kit brewer ( just starting to play with hops/partial mashes/cold steeping etc) and I will admit, my primary reason was money. Where I live (Canada) I think the majority of the cost of booze is taxes. But......I am finding that aside from the obvious savings, Im really enjoying the flavours I can achieve.
( just an aside......why did I just get a spelling error when typing flavour? this is a UK site......)
anywhoo...reading about others recipes and what was added has opened a whole new thing for me. This site has been hugely helpful/inspirational now brewing has become a VERY enjoyable hobby. Too bad the lot of you live on the other side of the world....I get the idea you might be a bunch of fun to drink with.
( just an aside......why did I just get a spelling error when typing flavour? this is a UK site......)
anywhoo...reading about others recipes and what was added has opened a whole new thing for me. This site has been hugely helpful/inspirational now brewing has become a VERY enjoyable hobby. Too bad the lot of you live on the other side of the world....I get the idea you might be a bunch of fun to drink with.
AdeDunn
Member
The spell checking library is usually in your browser, rather than the site bud. I use Opera, with UK English dictionary, and it doesn't tell me off for typing flavour, but does if I type flavor. :thumb1:
Like most, I started with kits too. Of all of the kits I brewed, I only actually found 1 that I enjoyed drinking, the rest varied from meh to downright nasty (my wife still drank them though)! Even the premium kits were a fail sooner or later (the Youngs AIPA I brewed was lovely for ages, then fell off a cliff and now just has a grassy/herbal bitter flavour that I can't stand). Folk kept posting how much better beer made with extract or all grain was, and I wasn't entirely convinced until I took the plung and did my first BIAB brew. Seriously, if you have the time give it a go, you will NOT regret it! Kits don't come close on even a bad all grain brew. lol
Hi!
So you were brewing Boddington's clones?
Can't remember what 1st sparked interest but early on I was determined to proove to my dad you could homebrew good wines and was myself under the immprsion for some reason you couldn't make decent beer from a kit. Then after making 1 kit beer I went all grain immediately and my 1st all grain was nothing like the beer I was aiming for (several litres less and well over 5% from a 4% target and much darker) but thought on my 1st taste why can't I get a pint this good in a pub.
I like it because I get to make something I enjoy the end result of.
I enjoy the process and the science behind the various variables which affect the outcome of the final product.
The tinkering and building stuff is also a big plus.
For saving money? not so much, unless you're making kits and just have the necessary kit. Otherwise, there's always nice new shinies to swoon over.
Oh, and I've found that homebrewing always has the nicest community surrounding it. (Yes, that's you lot)
I enjoy the process and the science behind the various variables which affect the outcome of the final product.
The tinkering and building stuff is also a big plus.
For saving money? not so much, unless you're making kits and just have the necessary kit. Otherwise, there's always nice new shinies to swoon over.
Oh, and I've found that homebrewing always has the nicest community surrounding it. (Yes, that's you lot)
AdeDunn
Member
I've certainly encountered worst communities... lol I once actually got "called outside" at a tarantula show! Was quite funny really, pip-squeak just stood there trying his best to pretend to be hard whilst I just glared at him in silence... lol All because I had disagreed with him on an amphibian (yeah, not even the same part of the hobby... lol) forum....
Disagreements on here seem to be forgotten eventually, as they should be.
Anyway, I have a bitter that needs bottling...
I love the idea of saving money, although to be fair if we add in all the kit and 'incidental' costs I suspect there isn't much of a saving in reality by brewing our own !
For me its all about brewing great beer, the strength and flavour I like and the creativeness of tweaking/making recipes now I have an idea what I am doing.
I also like selecting, buying, using and fettling with the equipment !
As hobbies go, for me its hard to beat !
For me its all about brewing great beer, the strength and flavour I like and the creativeness of tweaking/making recipes now I have an idea what I am doing.
I also like selecting, buying, using and fettling with the equipment !
As hobbies go, for me its hard to beat !
stigman
Landlord.
Im definitely dont brew to save money, If anything i now spend more on beer than I used to. I keep buying expensive beers all in the name of research i tell myself. (and SWMBO)
Linalmeemow
Landlord.
Depends how much you brew - I reckon I've saved hundreds in the three years I've been brewing, and that's after buying some nice shiny kit...
Yes, why do I like to read? Why do I like to cook (already 30 years+)? Why do I like digital electronics and microprocessors?
Brewing seems to be something that interested me because I like to cook. But it is due to a visit at Struise Brouwers that somehow my nickel fell, oh, it is possible to brew at home? Because they give every Saturday afternoon a course on brewing. I think that was in 2009.
Mind you, it still was not until 2016 that I started, because for me the figures did not add up. What, always brewing 20 l? When will I drink all that, and I like to make much different brews. In 2016 the Dutch chain Hema offered a brewing kit from the Brooklyn Brewshop, for only 4l. However, due to circumstances I ended up with another kit, which was LME based (3 l). At least I got a start in fermenting. Then starting reading, and finding out what brewing is all about. In order to go to all-grain brewing, I needed a mill. Well, look at my avatar. That coffee/spice grinder belonged to my great-grandfather who was a grocer. My parents have it in their possession. Well, with that, kitchen utensils, a cheap IKEA thermometer and the rests of the kit I started all-grain brewing. I upgraded to a real malt mill, bought a pH meter, and a 17-l kettle, but most of the time I try to improvise and get things on the cheap. I have built a bigger filter using two food-grade plastic buckets which I recuperated from the local fries shop.
So, why do I do it? It is a combination of things: crafting something for oneself, trying to do things on the cheap (but buying something when it is really needed), streamlining processes (I am a software engineer, but I also worked in factory automation), I have built my own software (still a spreadsheet really) for creating my recipes. I think it is also a way of being busy with something physically as opposed to writing software.
And other people are impressed when you mention that you brew, and are impressed by good fresh beer.
Brewing seems to be something that interested me because I like to cook. But it is due to a visit at Struise Brouwers that somehow my nickel fell, oh, it is possible to brew at home? Because they give every Saturday afternoon a course on brewing. I think that was in 2009.
Mind you, it still was not until 2016 that I started, because for me the figures did not add up. What, always brewing 20 l? When will I drink all that, and I like to make much different brews. In 2016 the Dutch chain Hema offered a brewing kit from the Brooklyn Brewshop, for only 4l. However, due to circumstances I ended up with another kit, which was LME based (3 l). At least I got a start in fermenting. Then starting reading, and finding out what brewing is all about. In order to go to all-grain brewing, I needed a mill. Well, look at my avatar. That coffee/spice grinder belonged to my great-grandfather who was a grocer. My parents have it in their possession. Well, with that, kitchen utensils, a cheap IKEA thermometer and the rests of the kit I started all-grain brewing. I upgraded to a real malt mill, bought a pH meter, and a 17-l kettle, but most of the time I try to improvise and get things on the cheap. I have built a bigger filter using two food-grade plastic buckets which I recuperated from the local fries shop.
So, why do I do it? It is a combination of things: crafting something for oneself, trying to do things on the cheap (but buying something when it is really needed), streamlining processes (I am a software engineer, but I also worked in factory automation), I have built my own software (still a spreadsheet really) for creating my recipes. I think it is also a way of being busy with something physically as opposed to writing software.
And other people are impressed when you mention that you brew, and are impressed by good fresh beer.
I started with a 1 gallon AG kit the missus and kids got me for father's day last year. I've now got 8 BIAB under my belt and I'm obsessed. Constantly looking at recipes, buying bigfer and better kit, trying new beers and making notes on my mobile about aromas etc. I started for cost I suppose, 40p a pint is good for quality beer that you'd be paying £2 for in Tescos. But this is turning into a serious obsession which I hope one day may become a job rather the a hobby. If we don't have dreams.......
I do it so's I can get s***faced on the cheap, and sup way better ale than folk have the audacity to ask money for.
I hear you gunge old pal!
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