Moral dilemma--is it worth it?

Alright, now, no one get mad--I love brewing and I definitely never want to stop. That's not the problem. My issue is that in September I'll be moving to the UK for at least a year to get my Masters and hopefully my doctorate. I'll be in Sheffield for at least that first year, which is in a weird way, a problem. It's supposed to be such a great city for beer, money will be tight, and the way I see it, I'll only be there a year...do you guys think it'll be worth it to buy some new carboys? I won't be able to take any of my stuff from New York, obviously. My concern is that with so much great beer around and with so little extra money, I'll get out of brewing. So should I just buy a really basic setup, just to keep my hand in? Or just roll with the great commercial beer and see what happens? Either way, I'll be counting on you guys to keep me motivated.

Check with Orfy. Beer is a bit pricey over there, 3 to 4 quid for a pint in a lot of pubs.

The Orfster should be able to point you in the right direction.

Personally, I'd save my money during the week and enjoy myself on weekends. Buying in the store for home consumption is cheaper.

Have fun!

EdWort said:

Check with Orfy. Beer is a bit pricey over there, 3 to 4 quid for a pint in a lot of pubs.

The Orfster should be able to point you in the right direction.

Personally, I'd save my money during the week and enjoy myself on weekends. Buying in the store for home consumption is cheaper.

Have fun!

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Actually, this is why I'm so excited. I just read that over in Sheffield, they get mad if it's 2 pound a pint. I know that when I was living in Oxford in 2005, the more expensive cask ales were up to 3ish, but my favorite (Hook Norton Best Bitter) was only two pound a pint. That's cheaper than most draft beers around in New York, even with the exchange!

But anyway, yeah...if Orfy or any of our resident Britishers could weigh in, let me know what they think about homebrew gear prices, I'd appreciate it.

find a homebrewers club while you are over there

go to a meeting

explain the situation

you probably could get a loaner or two for the year

and a bunch of good drinking buddies and english techniques

definitely find a club there

I don't see why you couldn't homebrew in the UK, it might take a bit of getting used to using plastic buckets as fermentors and plastic boilers with immersion heaters etc but you will still be able to knock out some cracking beers, oh and you should have access to a cheap plentiful supply of MO (best malt IMO).
Hope you enjoy your stay in sheffield and good luck with the studies

Update--I found a LHBS in Sheffield with really cheap buckets. Now, if the Sheffield Uni Homebrewing Society does exist, as the Real Ale Society people have told me it does, then I think I'm in business.

Or do some small scale brewing. 1 gallon batches, and get experimental. much cheaper, less space to store equipment and aging bottles.

most recent BYO magazine had an article on small scale brewing to save money on ingredients that were pricey, or for experimental recipes.

they make a smaller auto-siphon now too apparently.

malkore said:

Or do some small scale brewing. 1 gallon batches, and get experimental. much cheaper, less space to store equipment and aging bottles.

most recent BYO magazine had an article on small scale brewing to save money on ingredients that were pricey, or for experimental recipes.

they make a smaller auto-siphon now too apparently.

Click to expand...

Actually, that's a great idea--I was just reading that BYO article and thinking what a great idea that is.