How much of the beer you drink is homebrew?
100% - 2%
90% - 18%
80% - 15%
70% - 14%
60% - 8%
50% - 14%
40% - 6%
30% - 7%
20% - 4%
10% - 5%
0% - 0%
(600 Votes)
The majority of those who voted drink mostly homebrew (at an average of 60.75%). I'll add myself to that group as well (maybe 70%?), especially now that I own a kegerator and put more of a focus on brewing session beers. When I buy bottles to drink at home it tends to be special releases or strong beers I want to age. The craft beer industry (including the beer stores that specialize in it) has reached the point where there are so many bottles available that it is hard for me to trust the freshness of any beer that isn't date labeled (or recently released). With homebrew I know when it was brewed, and that it has been stored correctly.
One of the reasons I still buy as much beer as I do is the gap between when I get an idea of what I want to brew and when said beer is ready to drink. While the beer is fermenting I'll often pickup a six-pack of something similar to tide me over. I wish homebrewing was more like cooking and when you were done brewing at the end of the day the beer would be ready to drink.
It's not just my homebrew I enjoy, I also like drinking my friends beers. It is enlightening to sample a beer and then be able to talk to the person who made it. So often when I drink a great commercial beer it is hard to find much information about the ingredients/techniques that went into brewing it (although it is great to see breweries like Deschutes posting recipe info for homebrewers). Thank you to all of the people who have shared their beers and knowledge with me over the last few years (either through the mail or in person).
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4 comments:
I agree with much of what you are saying. Out of my closer friends who brew, I brew by far the most and am the only one with a kegging system. I do something similar to you and brew my hoppy, best-enjoyed-fresh beers for the keg while letting my other (sour, stronger) beers bottle condition.
Its really nice to be able to pour friends fresh beer and enjoy it with them. I love tasting homebrew more than anything because every beer will be unique.
I also agree with you about buying most craft beer in bottles at stores, it is hit or miss and with alot of 6-packs being around $12 these days I try and be careful as I would enjoy it just as much to drink a pint of homebrew. I try and get more friends into brewing all the time and it is always alot of fun to help them out and, of course, taste their beer.
While it's nice what Deschutes gives you, they don't actually spell out any amounts or times. They leave it up to you to figure it out.
I have the same problem with figuring out a good clone for Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout. Their website tells all of the included grains and hops. However, they don't give enough info for me to feel confident in getting this taken care of with a homebrew.
It's nice when a brewery actually gives out their real recipe.
However, you can call or email Stone and they'll give you full recipes for every beer they have (including mash temps etc). The only beer they won't give you info about is Arrogant Bastard.
Commercial beer I buys falls into two categories - special occasion beers like sours or limited releases and session beers. The latter I almost always try to buy from a local brewery, you know, support the local economy and all that...
I agree with what you've said. I was not really a beer drinker (or a beer enjoyer for that matter) until my husband got me into home brewing. Since I don't know all that much about styles besides what I read, I think it's important for me to go out and taste something that intrigues me before I commit to it. It's expensive to buy craft beer, but since it's research and since I would rather have water or soda than Bud or Miller, yuck, it works for me. I love sharing my concoctions with friends and family and educating them on homebrew. One exception is when my sister in law told me that my Lavender Lemon Honey Wheat tasted "like Amstel Light." Yeah...she doesn't get any more homebrew.
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