food chain

yeah i just got into the brewing hobby... via mr. beer.

but for some reason i don't feel like a "true brew" er. i mean, i open up pre-measured containers one by one, mix everything in and bam... i have beer.

that makes me feel that a "real" brewer makes all of the ingredients from scratch and does not open up pre-measured envelopes for everything.

maybe im wrong.

whats your take on this?

what is a "true brewer" in your opinion?

I'm going to go all crappy-contemporary on you and say that you're truly a brewer when you feel enough of your effort/skill/time/creativity/whatever is invested in your beer that it's actually your creation. So for some people, opening up premeasured Mr. Beer ingredients might be enough, and then there's the crazy m*f*er toasting malt in his damn stove or building a brew sculpture from scrap iron he found under his porch.

So to answer your question, you gonna have to get all hell of introspective. Alcohol helps?

mr beer is like a taco bell kit in the store. yeah you can make a taco bell taco but it's still only a taco. now if you want to learn how to cook from scratch yo want to go to all/full grain (AG) which is kinda like what a gourmet cook does in the kitchen :rockin:


anyway welcome to the obsession

nothing wrong with extract...although i would suggest getting some better equipment and experimenting with steeping and partial mashes. also read www.howtobrew.com

as for what a "real brewer" is...that's up to you. i don't think i'll ever be totally content...i just keep progressing, getting better at designing recipes, getting better equipment...but am i real brewer?? well, i can make some damn fine beer. that's what's important. much more so than status

The first time I flew a cessna around the airport pattern without my instructor he told me, "Some will tell you that you're only a real pilot when you get your private license, but that's not true. As of today, YOU are a pilot." At the time I thought that was a cool thing for him to say to me.... But to be honest, I didn't feel like a REAL pilot until I took a trip to Northern Ohio on my own after I got my license. It was new airspace, a new airport, the weather was only so-so and caused me to have to amend my plan, etc. So whether or not you're a "true brew"er is dependent on how YOU feel about it, not anyone else.

eriktlupus said:

mr beer is like a taco bell kit in the store. yeah you can make a taco bell taco but it's still only a taco. now if you want to learn how to cook from scratch yo want to go to all/full grain (AG) which is kinda like what a gourmet cook does in the kitchen :rockin:


anyway welcome to the obsession

Click to expand...

mmm... taco bell.

did you see the superbowl taco bell commercial where they are trying to sell the plates... trying to compete with the mom n' pop stores...

looks damn good.

You made beer. You brewed. You are a brewer.

That said, I think you will find it personally rewarding to continue the natural progression beyond Mr. Beer to five gallon extract batches, and then on to all-grain batches, if that is what interests you. You certainly don't have to do that, but I think you will enjoy the process more.

Ask the general public, and you arent a "real pilot" until you are an airline captain. When I was an FO, they always asked me if I was the pilot, or the co-pilot... yeah, kiss me a$$, I am flying you to Orlando dodging storms for half the pay as the captain, thanks! I am proud to say that I am a "real pilot" now, only took me five years in the eyes of society!

Moral of the story, you are a brewer when you take the first step... some people are "great cooks" just because no one knows that they are using Betty Crocker! You are working at it, you are a brewer, a novice maybe, but stay here long and you will be a pro, growing your own barley and malting it yourself in no time! Heh, maybe not that extreme... but welcome to the obsession!

I always felt really accomplished every time I took brewing to the next level. It doesn't have to be a huge progression, just something. After doing a few extract brews I felt like it was like making instant iced tea. Drinkable, but not great. Full boils with better, fresher ingredients was like making "gourmet" instant iced tea. When I went all grain, it felt great but I was using other people's recipes and precrushed grain. I think the best analogy there is like making your own spaghetti sauce with canned tomato goods instead of fresh tomatoes and fresh herbs(not that there's anything wrong there). The last major upgrade for me was buying everything in bulk, crushing my own malt, and making the recipes myself. It's more complicated than ever and some of the beers don't turn out all that great, but I feel like I'm involved more than ever.

I did a Mr. Beer batch and felt like a brewer. I soon graduated and upgraded to AG within my 3rd batch though because there wasn't enough of a challenge for me. I don't think there is going to be a set conception or definition of the term; only how you feel it should be interpreted.

Brew how you feel comfortable and how you get the most enjoyment out of it. That's all that matters.