If you don't brew beer...why not?

You should do it anyway, just to get an idea of the process. You're not above it, if you've ever even done it.

 

Could not have said it better myself. Cheers

 

i brew a lot and i like a lot of my beers more than what you can get off a shelf. i make the best english porter i've ever had (obviously my view is going to be a little skewed), and NOTHING beats kegging an IPA, APA, or American Red/Amber and drinking it 2 days later. you'll never taste a fesher, hoppier beer.

 

Tiny apartment leaves little space, but the biggest reason is I don't have a place I could brew. Apartment sized electric stove top from the 70's, and a driveway that is shared with 3 other apartment buildings (dirt driveway too) would be a disaster. I need to brew though, it's seriously bothering me that I've become this invested in beer and haven't brewed a single batch.

 

To put in in physics terms: time, space, energy.

 

My dad brews quite a lot, recently taking his self-sufficiency to new levels with growing his own hops (and tobacco, and wine grapes...) - next years hop harvest should be around 75lbs (before drying). Watching my mum's reaction I can really see why other wives would be less tolerant to it. It's messy, smells pretty bad and takes up a lot of room - especially as he bottles too. All for a product which generally isn't as good as a lot of stuff, although the cost probably makes that aspect better.

You can really see her endless patience when he asks for the 582nd time upon entering the food cupboard "what's all this food doing in my beer room?".

 

I wonder how everyone would react iif the people who get called suckers and stupid for buying 50 dollar bottles of beer started calling people who couldnt afford them welfare getting , food stamp loving chumps. I mean I don't buy 50 dollar bottles of beer because I'm a tight wad , but why would I call someone else a sucker for spending their money on something they like.

That was slightly off subject , but seriously , if 20 bucks is a deal breaker , you do not need to be drinking beer period , not being harsh or mean , but if 20 bucks was going to break the bank buying and drinking beer would be the last thing I would be worrying about

 

Time, Full time jobs and 2 kids under 3.

 

As I read your post, I kept thinking about a guy I grew up with.
Still lives at home, barely "works", yet drinks and brews every weekend it seems....

 

This is probably a good place to ask this, as its the only thing holding me back based on where I live.

What is the probability of a huge mess when everything is done properly? None?

 

I lack the patience. I want to jump into the next batch and find out how I did immediately as opposed to 30-60+ days out.

 

Can't answer the poll because I do homebrew. I've noticed a lot of people saying that it's too time consuming and hard to fit into their lives. I have found that homebrew has become the perfect hobby for me in my stage of life. Married, 2 kids, and a busy career. A man's gotta have a hobby and this one allows me to indulge my hobby at home for the most part....so it doesn't take me away from my family the way golf, continuing to try to live the night life, or a lot of other hobbies could. Plus, it's just fun and rewarding to go through the process of perfecting a recipe to your personal palate. I'm to the point where I consume 80% homebrew and the other 20% is just all the special release stuff you gotta go and purchase like Hopslam, KBS, Behemoth...stuff like that.

If you are spending all that money on craft beer anyway, take it an spend it on homebrewing and enjoy the process.

 

The start up cost is not difficult to get over for me. The real issue for me is the volume. I don't drink a lot of beer quantitatively. I pick up mix-a-sixes and larger bottles. Rarely do I by a 6pk and never a case. I don't drink that much. When people are over I use it as a chance to open larger bottles to share. One day I hope to start homebrewing but it would have to be when I can get through a few gallons of beer in a short period of time.

 

Yep, in the same boat as you. Usually leave my drinking for the weekend. Even then it's not very much. Work week, forget about it. Work and home obligations don't leave me much time.

 

I give mine to co workers and friends and family , I like getting feed back from them plus they always bring me a couple bottles of beer when they run across a nice sixer. Works out pretty good for me that way

 

Read the homebrew forums on here and the other major home brew site and the mess is really minimal , I live in a house with a smaller kitchen , I do my cooking outside with a propane burner , the bottling is done over the dishwasher door so all the overfill and stuff goes into it.

 

Just brew a one gallon batch. 10 beers. problem solved.

 

Outside of the time and space constraints I have, I selected "I don't think I could make beer as good as my favorites". I mean I am sure some of you probably make great stuff, but I've never had a home brew that stood up to some of the world class brews on the market.

*my apologies if I offended anyone that has let me try their home brew, I am not saying they are all bad, just saying there are some big shoes to fill*

 

Problem with that is that its no difference in time if you brew one gallon or ten gallons , even though you may not "need" that much beer , hard to do the work for such a little turn out

 

You have not tried my Arrogant Bastard clone , it is so good you wouldn't know it was an Arrogant Bastard clone , haha