we are all a bunch of nerds

not just beer nerds, but nerd nerds. GABF is our comic-con. we've actively looked for websites to find the like minded. here we are talking beer, brewing techniques, and what we're drinking. we could be doing this in a bar or a like minded friend's house, but we're doing it on the interwebs. we are nerds. and if you deny it, you're denying it on a home brewing website. stop before you start.

Guilty

Lol and true

I prefer the term geek.

Agreed

I don't know, I feel like the beer aspect makes my otherwise stereotypical nerdiness slightly more socially acceptable.

the_trout said:

I prefer the term geek.

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see?!? nerds always prefer different terminology! nerd, dork, geek... we are the same.:rockin:

Your point being...?

Call me what you want, i don't think i haven't heard it before.

I'm happy to be a beer nerd in training..

I wear many nerd hats, but this is rapidly becoming my favorite..

thatjonguy said:

Your point being...?

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nerd! but now, which nerd are we all? Wormser is the technical nerd. Poindexter is the general nerd. Booger & Lamar were self explanatory. Lewis is the nerd that wanted to be more. Gilbert embraces the nerdyness. Toshiro Takashi doesn't know what's going on, but the other nerds are his friend. I think I'm Gilbert, Booger, Toshiro, and a bit of Lewis.

Homebrewing might be the least geeky thing I do. It's what I do when I leave my nerdcave.

Someone mentioned that homebrewing is an "old man" hobby to me the other day. I would say that I disagree. Any thoughts? Should we have a poll?

thatjonguy said:

Someone mentioned that homebrewing is an "old man" hobby to me the other day. I would say that I disagree. Any thoughts? Should we have a poll?

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Nah. I know more people in their 20s and 30s that brew than "old guys". It could just be that's my age group and I'm around more people that age though. I've also tried my hardest to recruit friends to the hobby so I have more people to swap beer with.

Retired guys would certainly have more time to devote to it than I do.

drainbamage said:

Nah. I know more people in their 20s and 30s that brew than "old guys". It could just be that's my age group and I'm around more people that age though. I've also tried my hardest to recruit friends to the hobby so I have more people to swap beer with.

Retired guys would certainly have more time to devote to it than I do.

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Hobby when you are young becomes an obsession when you age in an attempt to hold to one's youth?

thatjonguy said:

Hobby when you are young becomes an obsession when you age in an attempt to hold to one's youth?

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yeah, hobby when I was 20. crazy obsession at 34.:rockin:

As to age: One of the two guys in my primary homebrew club that really give me a run for my money as best all-around non-professional brewer (knowledge/product/breadth) is in his late 20s, and I'm in my mid 30s. He doesn't have a beard, though. It's weird. I would say that at least half of those that I've met that homebrew are over 50, but I think that many of the truly great brewers are fairly young.

I am a nerd in everything else, so I guess that the shoe fits. It doesn't take a nerd to get into the hobby, but to get so far into it that you are playing around with different yeasts at different temps, or brewing salts, then it helps to be a nerd. Whether we think of it or not, brewing does actually take some biochemistry to get right. I always have said that working in a chemistry lab helped me with my cleaning/sanitizing regiment. To get into brewing, you need to be somehow curious or not satisfied with the beer that is available. The skill set of brewing and being nerdy has some overlap.

There's a better term, though. It's mostly used in England. We're not nerds, not geeks, but anoraks. We are intensely passionate and knowledgeable about a subject that the rest of society barely knows exists.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=anorak

Meh, oh well

Billy-Klubb said:

not just beer nerds, but nerd nerds. GABF is our comic-con. we've actively looked for websites to find the like minded. here we are talking beer, brewing techniques, and what we're drinking. we could be doing this in a bar or a like minded friend's house, but we're doing it on the interwebs. we are nerds. and if you deny it, you're denying it on a home brewing website. stop before you start.

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I know you're a real nerd because you related it to Comic-Con. You could have said the Superbowl, Burning Man, Mardi Gras, etc.

It's not the first time I've heard this. A dyslexic once told me that when I have a few beers and i become a beer knurd.

knurd <--- spell it backwards

"Well, uh, let's see, he was wearing a red argyle sweater, and tan trousers, and red shoes... Hmm? No, he's not retarded." - Grandpa Howard

Billy-Klubb said:

nerd! but now, which nerd are we all? Wormser is the technical nerd. Poindexter is the general nerd. Booger & Lamar were self explanatory. Lewis is the nerd that wanted to be more. Gilbert embraces the nerdyness. Toshiro Takashi doesn't know what's going on, but the other nerds are his friend. I think I'm Gilbert, Booger, Toshiro, and a bit of Lewis.

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I'd probably say Gilbert and Pointdexter cause I'm a pretty big science nerd too.

Nothing new here.

http://youtu.be/PB-wmOYelnM

seatbelt123 said:

It's not the first time I've heard this. A dyslexic once told me that when I have a few beers and i become a beer knurd.

knurd <--- spell it backwards

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Ah, accepting and proving the point ten fold. Well done, sir! Well done!

Billy-Klubb said:

nerd! but now, which nerd are we all? Wormser is the technical nerd. Poindexter is the general nerd. Booger & Lamar were self explanatory. Lewis is the nerd that wanted to be more. Gilbert embraces the nerdyness. Toshiro Takashi doesn't know what's going on, but the other nerds are his friend. I think I'm Gilbert, Booger, Toshiro, and a bit of Lewis.

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Poindexter is my surname and I'm definitely a science nerd.

Call me what you want:

Nerd = socially inept
Beer = social lubricant

Nerd + Beer = everybody wins!

Hell - making beer is better than long distance running (a non-nerd hobby) any day.

I'm guilty! Proud to be a NERD!!!!

thatjonguy said:

Someone mentioned that homebrewing is an "old man" hobby to me the other day. I would say that I disagree. Any thoughts? Should we have a poll?

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I know few people my age that brew, although there are some.

After going to National Homebrew Conferences since 2008, I"d say the vast majority of passionate homebrewers I've met are white guys, 28-35, with a background in engineering or IT, who are slightly overweight.

In fact, the joke at a beer festival I was at this weekend when I was helping to look for someone in answer to "What's he look like?" was "White guy, early 30s, slightly overweight, with a beard". That's right, it was a sea of guys with that description!

There are more women than ever, but still they are a minority. I know about two African Americans who brew.

I would say that all of the passionate brewers I know ARE geeky though. The non-geeks might try it and realize that it's not a way to make cheap beer, while geeks really get into it.

mysteryshrimp said:

There's a better term, though. It's mostly used in England. We're not nerds, not geeks, but anoraks. We are intensely passionate and knowledgeable about a subject that the rest of society barely knows exists.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=anorak

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At least I'm not a trainspotter - yet...

Billy-Klubb said:

nerd! but now, which nerd are we all? Wormser is the technical nerd. Poindexter is the general nerd. Booger & Lamar were self explanatory. Lewis is the nerd that wanted to be more. Gilbert embraces the nerdyness. Toshiro Takashi doesn't know what's going on, but the other nerds are his friend. I think I'm Gilbert, Booger, Toshiro, and a bit of Lewis.

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I'm a bit of them all... I celebrate being a beer nerd, my fascination with brewing science rewards me with amazing beer. Besides, the movie proves that Nerds do it better anyway.

.

jglazer said:

I personally don't consider myself a nerd for brewing beer. There are a lot of things that make me a hardcore nerd, but brewing is not one of them. Its a hobby just like when I work with wood or glass or paint or when I run or play an instrument...its about creating something.

I reference the internet just like I reference books and people, no difference in my mind. So how does brewing ,specifically, make me a nerd?

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man and/or lady, you missed the point. it's not the brewing that makes you a nerd. it's the getting on a social website with other like minds to go on about all the aspects & techniques of the hobby and making obscure references that only we the brewers understand.

and thanks for trying to be that guy and/or girl that has to jump in a thread and try to point out someone else's stupidity. way to go against the grain and prove my point of nerdyness. arguing/inciting argument on the internet= nerd.
now, like one of my favorite songs states, "If you have to ask, you'll never know."

I'm sitting next to the stack of comics I bought today and a Rubik's Cube, so I'm getting a kick out of this thread...

I consider myself more of a geek in general (and especiallyabout beer) and wear that badge with pride, but the terms are largely interchangeable. Beer is one of those rare things that can bring together chemistry, biology, engineering and art, all of which can really bring out the inner nerd on their own, but when combined are really something else. I think the fact that one can fully embrace their nerd-dom with it is part of what draws so many to brewing.

Billy-Klubb said:

man and/or lady, you missed the point. it's not the brewing that makes you a nerd. it's the getting on a social website with other like minds to go on about all the aspects & techniques of the hobby and making obscure references that only we the brewers understand.

and thanks for trying to be that guy and/or girl that has to jump in a thread and try to point out someone else's stupidity. way to go against the grain and prove my point of nerdyness. arguing/inciting argument on the internet= nerd.
now, like one of my favorite songs states, "If you have to ask, you'll never know."

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Haha I didn't realize there was a "point" but I am sorry to upset you so much. Normally I feel comfortable giving my opinion on something but I will take the post down being it seems to upset you so.

Thanks and cheers mate!

I basically agree with undeadpresident. It's nerding out on something that's a mix of artistry,chemistry,& some engineering in regard to recipe construction, brewing equipment & how we put it all together to make our beers. Also rather unique since it's perfectly acceptable to us to go ghetto on our eqipment set ups. Everything works if ya let it. So I guess it could more accurately be called imagineering,since that's about our only limit in this home brewing hobby.

unionrdr said:

I basically agree with undeadpresident. It's nerding out on something that's a mix of artistry,chemistry,& some engineering in regard to recipe construction, brewing equipment & how we put it all together to make our beers. Also rather unique since it's perfectly acceptable to us to go ghetto on our eqipment set ups.

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'Going Ghetto' is the best part. I think I get the most satisfaction out of building brewing equipment from old junk I. It's awesome.:rockin:

jglazer said:

Haha I didn't realize there was a "point" but I am sorry to upset you so much. Normally I feel comfortable giving my opinion on something but I will take the post down being it seems to upset you so.

Thanks and cheers mate!

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it didn't upset me. I'm just an ass.:rockin: