Brew it or buy it?

Point by point

• Many homebrewers are technically minded people, and enjoy solving problems.
• If you don't factor in the cost of time and keep up with it long enough to pay off the investment in equipment, brew all-grain, buy grains and hops in bulk, and harvest yeast, savings are substantial. Even extract batches with hops bought by the ounce offer some savings over buying a similar beer by the six-pack.
• If you build proficiency with process and ingredients, you will gain the know-how to brew beers exactly to your liking.

So, all of the above, and also the satisfaction of making something with your own two hands. A lot of homebrewers also build their own equipment as well. I built my pre-chiller, immersion chiller, hop spider, and MLT. It's a pride that many people are missing out on nowadays.

 

For me initially, my brewing goal was to replicate SN Pale Ale. Why? To get my processes and sanitation down. I could certainly buy it cheaper at the corner store, but to me it was (is) the benchmark of the style. Creating the almost perfect clone allowed me to learn about all of the components which must come together for success.

Once that goal was achieved, I began writing my own recipes and branched out into brewing like a Belgian...stylistic guidelines went out the window and I began making beer with ingredients I wanted to taste.

But it all began with replicating one of my favorites...

 

I’m with you. I know me and I know my limits, and to be a good home brewer you need to be fastidious with attention to detail, every detail, you cant really miss on any one thing and have a satisfactory outcome. A little bit of science knowledge and an experienced teacher to help you start, and a teacher with experience in making really good beer. I know a guy who’s been home brewing for over 20 years and still brews undrinkable crappy beer imo. He’s experienced, but so what his beers terrible, but he’s probably used to it, so if he’s ok with it then I guess it’s ok.

 

My struggle is is finding something I feel is worth me driving to get it. Yes some local breweries make good stuff, but the few in the area tend to target the IPA and sour crowds and they change things enough to not have something I call good for long. Here in Maine, I would say $4 for a can of "standard strength" beer is average. Not to mention that places expect you to tip even if just getting cans, you know since they are open... Perhaps it is just what I like to drink, but I find it is less expensive for me, and yes I can make something I will like and not have too worry too much about buying something gross. It is also a good way to spend time at home and keeps me off of the computer when doing it.

 

Homebrewing interested me years before I actually started brewing. What finally tipped me over was getting sick of the hunt for whales. I had no issue coming up to speed making just about any beer commercially available with a few exceptions. Of course I've gotten better after years refining my craft. However, I feel I never went from bad to good, but rather good to better. Yes, I've made a few drain pours, by they are very few and far between.

With that say, what I don't brew is either BA beers or IPAs. The BAs are mostly better than I make and IPAs, I can make a good one, but there are SOoooooo many good examples it just isn't worth my time.

However, trust me, there are still many under represented styles that I can equal if not exceed professional examples. I will for example put my lagers against the very best. Notable my Helles, Pils (Czech or German) and Marzen / Fest.

So I guess to summarize, good commercial examples hasn't kept me from brewing, but yes it has changed what I brew.

 

I brew myself because I dream up beers that probably have never and may never be brewed anywhere. You mostly find the same styles in commercially brewed beers, and I want to push the envelope.

• I just brewed a French Saison with lemony flavored hops and grains of paradise, then let it marinate on lime/lemon zests for 6 days to get a Bitter-Lemon Saison.
  
• I've brewed a Nutella stout: a sweet stout with vanilla, hazelnuts and chocolate.
• Made a Lebkuchen brown ale, basically the spices for a German Lebkuchen (like gingerbread minus the ginger.)
• Experimenting with new and exotic hops such as those from Germany, South Africa, and the USA.
  
• Or... you improve on what's already out there: I feel I make a version of Westvleteren XII that's much better than the original.
  
• Mixing styles, such as using German or Belgian malts with American hops, or ...
• there's so much more.

Yeah, it seems like commercial craft brewers have done it all, but they're really only scratching the surface and could really do much more. That's why I home brew: to drink what I can't find in stores.

 

I discussed this topic in the ongoing AMA thread with Jamil Zainasheff:

Jamil, I am responding to you here but my motivation is more so for Craig. I homebrew a lot (15+ batches a year) and there can indeed be some financial reasons to do so. For example, many Belgian style beers can be very, very expensive and instead of paying 100+ dollars per case (24 bottles) for these sorts of beer I homebrew my own. And for my palate these beers are even better than what these Belgian breweries (including Trappist breweries) produce. Beers such as Dubbels, Tripels, Quads, Saisons, Belgian Pale Ales (some with Brett), etc.

Also, as a homebrew I can make beers that are not readily available for purchase. Beers like Classic American Pilsner, an 1896 Michelob, Sticke Altbier, and so on.

And even though there are lots of hoppy beers available commercially I choose to brew IPAs that are not readily available for sale to me. Some examples: Sabro IPA, Ekuanot IPA, etc.

There are indeed plenty of differing commercially produced beers but there are plenty of other beers not readily available or even when available too expensive (well too expensive for me) to buy.

Cheers!

 

Tony, I just got done ordering on-line ingredients for my re-start of homebrewing for the fall season. One of the batches I will be brewing is what I brand as Smokey & Spicy Brown Ale. Part of the grain bill will be Weyermann Rauch Malt and Rye Malt. This beer is of my own invention and not commercially available.

You are correct that we homebrewers can 'do our own thing' and make whatever we choose to brew.

Cheers!

 

Yep, I tend to use probably 90% British malts in my brewing, even though I tend to make more American or Belgian ales than British.

 

I never use American malts because I live in Germany. Besides, Maris Otter Pale malt or Golden Promise Pale malt are much more flavorful, bready, toasty than 2-row, which I find kinda boring. I also make hop forward beers with Floor-malted Bohemian Pilsner malt or Extra Pale Pilsner malt.

 

Tony, I have yet to brew with Weyermann Extra Pale Pilsner Malt. I annually purchase a bag (55 lbs.) of the 'regular' Weyermann Pilsner Malt to brew my beers that feature Pilsner Malt. Other than the color/kilning of the malt are their distinguishing flavor differences between the Extra Pale and 'regular' Pilsner Malt? Do you have a preference for the Extra Pale and why?

Cheers!

 

Extra Pale Pilsner malt tastes like regular Pils but extremely light in color. I really didn't notice any differences in it concerning flavor, but I love how bright yellow it is when it clears up. I often substitute Pils malts for pale ale malts when making IPAs, giving it IMO a more balanced malt/hop flavoring.

 

FWIW when I brew hoppy beers (e.g., American style IPAs) I will frequently use Pilsner Malt vs. Pale Ale Malt. But I should caveat that I use a lot of potent American aroma hops when brewing these sorts of beers so the malt aspect is very, very much a secondary effect. So, since I more often have Pilsner Malt on hand I used what I got.

Another 'benefit' of homebrewing? Just use what you have 'in the kitchen cupboard' and inventively brew?

Cheers!

 

Thank you for that input. I am happy with the color I get using the 'regular' Weyeremann (and other German Malting Companies) Pilsner Malt so I will just stick to that.

Cheers!

 

Another reason to homebrew: you understand how hard or easy it is to make the beers you like.

• Case in point - how hard. Brewing a Pilsner is very hard and I sucked at it the one time I tried. It helped me appreciate how much effort and attention to detail it takes to make such a delicately flavored beer well. So... I buy those beers and drink them with a huge sense of respect.
  
• Or how hard it is to make a NEIPA like the Vermont fellas.

• Case in point - how easy. I once visited Cantillon and Mort Subite in Brussels, having heard how great the beers were. Well, when I got there and tasted their beers, I was really disappointed, for they tasted almost exactly like all the beers I had brewed and went sour due to a wild yeast infection causing them to go sour. All I have to do is fuck up everything hygienically and presto, I've got a Cantillon, Lambic or Cuvée from any Belgian sour. But, mine are cheaper and I can play with the flavors that go into it. [I recently made a Hazelnut Porter that went sour by a divine mistake or two, so I added wood chips to each bottle, and now 10 months later it's shaping up to be a helluva delicious sour porter with all kinds interesting flavors that are changing by the month. Probably in 3 years it will be even better.]

• I've lagered some of those above-mentioned soured mistakes for years and some are so delicious. I have one that was meant to be a Sweet Irish Stout that went horribly sour due to a wild yeast infection in 2012 and for me undrinkable, and today...OMG... it's like a slightly soured brandy/port wine, a slap-yo-mama mix of orgasmic flavors. Where the hell can I buy that?

And finally, learning to brew ain't that difficult. You read up, get someone to show you, and the initial investment isn't that much if you go simple, then like any hobby, if you like it, you slowly invest more money to do it the way you want to. If you don't know anyone personally to show you, any homebrew supply store will gladly find a way to help you. Brewing basically is a pretty simple process that can made incredibly complex if you want to, but it's the same as the question of why you would make your own pizza from scratch, making your own dough, sauce etc. when you can buy a $10 pizza down the street, isn't it?

 

Imo it’s a challenge for those brave enough to take it on. I can get pizzas that are just ok for $6, or I can buy a brick oven masterpiece for $20 plus. I’ve had some home brews, but imo Jacks are really top notch, they just are, the few I’ve had were truly terrific. But I’ve been poisoned too, hideous beers that would melt the drain. You have to have the right mental makeup to do this right, add trial and error, and an educated palate good enough to know what needs to be tweaked. If it’s off and you know that, and if you don’t know where it needs a change it’s a miss. You need a very good palate imo to be a good brewer.

 

All good points above. I started homebrewing 33 years ago as a perennially broke ski bum, so definitely to save money there. After a year or so I was making good beer and enjoying the process. Nowadays I brew for all the reasons cited above. For example:

Made 10 gallons of a very close-to-original Orval clone for a total cost of about 45 bucks. Orval costs $5 for an 11oz bottle in the grocery store here. Did involve a fair amount of labor though.

Made a hibiscus saison with brett (actually the Orval brett ) that won its class in 2 local competitions. Try buying one of those.

I enjoy the challenge of trying to clone a beer, and I get requests for weddings and such. I have really nailed a couple of these, particularly a requested Old Thumper clone for a wedding and a Bud clone for our club American lager challenge.

Obviously I like brewing for competitions, but haven't really had the time the last 3-4 years. Hope to make some time after the COVID apocalypse is over.

I mostly brew things that are expensive or unavailable to me. Belgian styles in particular.

Having said that, sometimes it's better to just buy some beer. I can make very good IPA's but am the only hophead in the household, with no close neighbors, so it is usually a (failed) challenge to consume hoppy beers before they go stale. If I want IPA I'll probably buy it, unless brewing for a party or competition. I can make good American lagers, but considering the time and ingredients it makes more sense to buy a 12 pack of PBR (especially if you do the American style cereal mash with your adjuncts!).

So the answer to the OP's question is both!

 

I have encountered some nasty stuff judging at competitions. What I felt like writing for a couple (but of course had to be polite on the scoresheet):

"It's like the bacteria have little jackhammers and they're drilling into my tongue".

"If you ever brew again I will hunt you down and kill you".

"The steward got sick from the smell when we dumped our glasses".

Yes, I tasted them all but sometimes it was just a drop on the tongue. Thankfully these atrocities are now much, much rarer than 10 or 12 years ago.

 

If you nailed a clone of Bud then you are indeed da man! I have never brewed a contemporary AAL (I do brew a CAP annually) and I really wonder how close I could get to a commercial product like Bud.

As I made mention above I too brew a fair number of Belgian beers (four batches last year) and you do indeed save money here. Also, while Belgian Ales (Trappist style, Saison, etc.) do hold up well (i.e., commercial products that are non-fresh are still tasty) I much prefer to drink my fresh homebrewed versions. For example, while my Dubbels are still tasty at 6+ months of age I much prefer them with just a few months of age.

I am in an opposite position in that my wife is a HUGE hophead. My batches of IPAs go oh so quickly which is sorta a good thing since IPAs are best consumed very fresh.

Cheers!