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

In addition to "all of the above," my job just doesn't allow for it. I can get a phone call today that puts me out of the house from tomorrow until the end of summer. Not what I'd want to hear right after filling up a carboy...

 

Id rather be stuck with a gallon of shitty beer, rather than 5

 

Now if only I could change my families thoughts on craft beer. :-D Just my brother-in-law, the rest won't touch it. I have tried for many many years to change their thinking. I have now given up.

 

Ive not made a shitty beer yet , some that may not be award winning sure , but nothing shitty. Even shitty beer though is better than a good glass of soft drink

 

So , when people say,they have no space, or they dont drink that much, when I suggest brewing in one gallon batches do you think Im misleading or doing them a disservice?

 

Go to the home brew forums on here and the web , people brew 5 and 10 gallon batches in their studio apartments. As far as doing a disservice or do I think you are misleading them , I simply do not agree with your opinion , it happens in the world sometimes , when people disagree with us it doesn't mean the do not like us or they are saying bad things about us or that there is some deep seeded hate monger meaning behind it , I just simply disagree plain and simple nothing more. If you are going to put all the work into making beer I would rather end up with 5 gallons of beer as to 1 gallon , same sanitation , same cleaning , less materials and less to bottle , but the downside to one gallon batches far outweigh the upsides , in my opinion of course , and a large group of home brewers that I know

 

For me, it's simply the cost. I have a starter kit in the basement (buckets, capper, bottles, brushes, etc.), but no kettle. Not to mention, I also need sanitizing solution, a chest freezer with Johnson controls, a stir plate and Erlenmeyer flask, a wort chiller, and after I get the extract brewing down, full grain puts me in for a mash/lauter tun, etc., etc.

Now, I know that technically, to brew an extract, the only thing I would really need that I don't already have at the bare minimum is the kettle and the sanitizer. However, ice baths are a huge pain in the ass. I don't want to simply pitch my yeast into the wort, I want a yeast starter to get the maximum number of cells. I'm probably paranoid, but I'm fairly certain my basement temperature fluctuates wildly depending on the season. So really, it's not so much the cost, but my perfectionist nature with something like this would almost force me to either drop the cash for all this stuff or to not do it at all.

 

I'm sorry... this is a pet peeve of mine. It's sanitization not sterilization. And the focus should keeping everything clean. Sanitation is the insurance policy.

 

I homebrew a bunch, and regularly make beers just as good as commercial. When someone mentions starting out, I always recommend getting the most basic starter kit possible, because 1) who knows if they'll like it, and 2) all of that stuff can be used if they do like it.

As for cost, if it's a hobby you'll enjoy for years, the equipment cost should be amortized over the life of the equipment and how many batches go through it. When I'm thinking about buying a $15 bottle of Rodenbach Grand Cru or making it myself, the economics become obvious. Factoring in the opportunity cost of the time spent is misleading too, because it's not as if I'm substituting wage-earning time for homebrewing time. I mean, how much, in dollar terms, is my Sunday morning worth? Up to get started at about 6, everything cleaned and put away by kickoff sounds like a nice fall day to me...

 

"other".
Although it is a bit intimidating, that's not the reason I don't brew at home.
Main reason is lack of TIME and SPACE.
Unfortunately for me, homebrewing is something that would not fly at my house....sucks to be me....oh poor me....

 

I fail to see any down side. I think both 1 gallon and 5 gallon both serve their own purpose. But to each their own.

 

If you want we can trade some homebrews though , I would like to try some of the stuff you make , always interested in trying other peoples brew , let me know what you like , i have some Ipa's , DIPA's , Arrogant Bastard clone , a white mocha coffee stout creation and a barley wine bottled , I have an IPA and another type of stout kegged , if ya lived closer I would share those , I think they are the best

 

I'm kind of testing the waters and making a cider at the moment.

 

This was me for a solid year. I had a friend who all-grain brewed frequently (Sometimes three times in one Saturday!) and I would buy cases of homebrew off of him. He eventually had it to where he had a refrigerator devoted to kegs of his beer so I would usually get to enjoy a variety of styles of delicious homebrew whenever I would go to his place. I also watched him brew many times and collaborated on an IPA with him once (I chose the hops and malt and he did the rest. Ha) and it turned out absolutely delicious. I moved away to Florida a year and a half ago but he, shortly after, moved to Vermont so it's not like it would've been around forever anyway. I miss the fresh taste of homebrew and wish I could do it myself but, on top of not having the space in my small apartment and it being too time-consuming, I spend way more money than I should already. To brew the homebrew I'm accustomed to tasting, I would have to do all-grain mash and that's pricey to do right. Not to mention that homebrewing is very comparable to cooking (recipes, timing, ingredients) and I'm a horrible cook.

 

But I love it when I brew!

 

HA! Maybe one day! I'm still learning. My second AG batch, a porter, is going to be done conditioning this weekend, hopefully. My first batch of IPA came out...well. Mostly not good (3 of 10 bottles were good). I was able to trace back what went wrong to the sanitation of my bottles.

 

Oh, I do too. i do it on saturdays when the Fiancee is at work. Music cranked,and just in my own world. Its very relaxing.

 

Sanitize sanitize sanitize.... then sanitize some more. I have yet to have a bad batch. i cannot see myself not brewing. I brew every other weekend with 2 of my friends. And I love every aspect of it! So much easier and fun when you have others that are as passionate as you are with good beer. Started to develop my own recipes also. We'll see how good I am in 2 weeks after I bottle my first 2 of MY beers. The pride factor of saying MY beer is ridiculous too!

 

not sure if I have the time or space to make my own, my father already makes home made wine, so there probably won't be room for a bunch of home made beer and alongside home made tomato sauce in the cold cellar.

 

Frankensteining this old thread by make a clamorous appeal to all BAs who shy away from homebrewing: JUST DO IT!

Seriously: it's the most rewarding hobby in the world.
Complex? No more so than baking a cake initially.
Time-consuming? Most of the brew day is spent waiting, and what better excuse do you need to sit down with a mate and couple of beers than "oh man, this mash takes forEVER"?
Intimidating? If your goal is to brew the redefinition of all beers from day one, then maybe. And even so.

Just friggin' do it already.