Most annoying response when you tell someone you're a homebrewer?

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TangoHotel said:
Neighbor: so you brew your own?
Me: yep
Neighbor: can you make shine?
Me: no that's illegal
Neighbor: yes but could you?
Me: you do know there is a county sheriff that lives directly across the street from us, right? And No. I don't have the equipment.

I think people watch too much moonshiners on tv.
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I have a Foxfire book that's about 35 years old that goes into extremely great detail how to build many different types of stills and make moonshine. I was always fascinated with this book when I was a teenager.

http://www.moonshineheritage.com/blog/the-foxfire-book-the-original-how-to-make-moonshine-guide/
 
bobeer said:
"I'll be your taste tester"
"can I buy your beer?"
"That's really cool!"

Usually they're all positive remarks or people trying to get free beer. I've even have people ask to come over during a brew day. Funny how everyone wants to stand around, drink your homebrew, and watch wort boil but no one wants to help you wash out the mash tun, or clean anything!
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Hahah. Cleaning sucks. Even I hate doing that. Reminds me, I have some stuff to go clean...
 
Yeah,me too. Got a bunch of bottles & a hydrometer & tube to clean. Just got done with a couple hours of file cleaning. Darn HB pics & videos sure take up a lot of space. Not to mention,all the camera upload files of same. Trying to save some memory space. Videos stackin up too. Darn kids took all my DVD-RW's...
 
TangoHotel said:
Hahah. Cleaning sucks. Even I hate doing that. Reminds me, I have some stuff to go clean...
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I spend at least as much time cleaning as I do brewing, so if it weren't for the cleaning, I could brew twice as much! It's like it never ends....
 
Then,of course,if you don't rotate your stock of bottles,you have to scrub the ones boxed up at the bottom of the stack once a year or so. Beats me how they get so dusty through those finger holes?...I need more money to brew,another four batches & I think I could fill'em all. Hmmm...there's a new Tankard song in there..."Fill'em All"!!
 
TangoHotel said:
It never ends
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The best short term cleaning thing I ever did was taking a shop vac to my mash tun. It was awesome until I realized that A) I didn't have a washable filter, B) the combo of wort and dust in the filter lead to growth of some very evil things (after washing it out), and C) I should have put a bag in there. A future purchase will be a shop fax dedicated to brewing, so I limit it to one type of funk only.
 
My old man had a good one a few years ago. Went something like this:

Buddy: This wine is awesome! I can't believe you made it! How much for a bottle?
Dad: I can't sell this stuff, it's illegal. I'll give it to you though, I've got plenty.
Buddy: Oh ok. Great, thanks. *whispers* so how much for it really?
Dad: You've got to be kidding me.
Buddy: I won't tell!
Dad: ...just take the damn bottle.
 
I don't like the compliment, you are a homebrewer? Can I try some? I give sample, and the response is yeah it's petty good for a homebrew but its no blue moon!
 
reinstone said:
I don't like the compliment, you are a homebrewer? Can I try some? I give sample, and the response is yeah it's petty good for a homebrew but its no blue moon!
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Pretty good for a homebrew? Wtf are they connoisseurs? They have an unlimited pipeline of homebrew from multiple sources from which to base a comparison? That's when you take their glass away without saying anything and hand it to someone who would appreciate it.

This annoyed me. I wish I would have thought of the response immediately.

"Can you make a true budweiser clone?" (pees in a cup, adds a stick of butter) yup!
 
reinstone said:
I don't like the compliment, you are a homebrewer? Can I try some? I give sample, and the response is yeah it's petty good for a homebrew but its no blue moon!
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I would reply that its because it's an IPA and has something called "flavor".
 
Got this one the other day from a person who has been booted out of the "Friend" circle.
"Man I piss better than this!" BMC drinker mind you.

Granted I'm only on my fourth actual brew but I have been told by more than two dozen strangers that my German wheat with three times the hops was better than the BMC they love, I think I am at least on the right track.
 
BreezyBrew said:
What a jackhole. I don't think I'd be giving any away to that person.
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Don't do that. Give him a taster then never give him any more again. Let him know what he is missing!
 
RuffRider said:
"In the driveway?!? You're not afraid of getting caught? You must have pretty cool neighbors."

"Wow! This is ACTUALLY pretty good!"

"How much to make some for my party and what can you make?"

"Thanks. It's decent but I prefer Old Milwaukee." (Actual word for word quote. I almost fell over.)

But mostly:
"That's freakin' cool!!!! What do you have? Can I try it?"
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It's always interesting the folks who DONT brew and are critical when they try your beer:

"this tastes thin"

Mostly supportive comments like "when can I try some"
"Did-ja bring any" at any event, including a funeral visitation I was at just last night.

I do frequently feel beer-nerdy as other have said, that and judgy of others who drink bad beer.

for the record, being from/living in the state that Milwaukee calls home, no one here considers Old Milwaukee to be "good" beer. but yes, there are people who like it, along with PBR, and Shlitz (the new, comeback recipe)
 
As for the people who want to stand around drinking your beer watching you brew without helping, I fix that real quick:

"Take this and this. Use one to clean the other. When you're done, you get more beer."
 
My favorite response was from my sister-in-law, who is an engineer and also an instructor to educate other engineers:

"What type of liquor do you add to it to make it alcoholic?"

My natural response was to be sarcastic and give her some ridiculous answer, but I could tell that she was honestly curious, as was her boyfriend, brother, and his girlfriend (all with bachelor or master level degrees). So I gathered them around and explained the fermentation process and fielded questions they had. My brother in law actually started being adventurous with craft beer after that, and they all like to try my new brews when available.

It just goes to show that sometimes it pays to be patient and explain it to people so they have a positive experience.
 
cluckk said:
As for the people who want to stand around drinking your beer watching you brew without helping, I fix that real quick:

"Take this and this. Use one to clean the other. When you're done, you get more beer."
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But how in the heck to you clean a sponge with a bucket?

:ban:
 
DGibb said:
My favorite response was from my sister-in-law, who is an engineer and also an instructor to educate other engineers:

"What type of liquor do you add to it to make it alcoholic?"

My natural response was to be sarcastic and give her some ridiculous answer, but I could tell that she was honestly curious, as was her boyfriend, brother, and his girlfriend (all with bachelor or master level degrees). So I gathered them around and explained the fermentation process and fielded questions they had. My brother in law actually started being adventurous with craft beer after that, and they all like to try my new brews when available.

It just goes to show that sometimes it pays to be patient and explain it to people so they have a positive experience.
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This is good stuff. I think a whole helluva lot of people out there think a brewer starts with a non-alcoholic beer (which one gets by boiling grains) and then adding a neutral spirit.
 
It's not that it's annoying but, 'that look', is usually what I get. Somewhere between 'inquisitive' and 'you do what?'.
 
This past Christmas my wife was telling my parents that I had been brewing beer for the past year. My mom came up to me and said, "you have a still in your basement or what?"...I was like did you see the General Lee in my driveway too? She told me, "you be careful who tell about your new hobby..." Thus the reason I've kept quiet the past year...:smack:
 
oc_brewing said:
This past Christmas my wife was telling my parents that I had been brewing beer for the past year. My mom came up to me and said, "you have a still in your basement or what?"...I was like did you see the General Lee in my driveway too? She told me, "you be careful who tell about your new hobby..." Thus the reason I've kept quiet the past year...:smack:
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That's pretty funny but she might have a point. I have cousins that are addicts. I don't even like them knowing where I live. I sure don't want them to know about my hobby.
 
I show people I know pictures of what I do and more times than not they reply "looks like your cooking something besides beer yuk yuk to much breaking bad huh? :/
 
"Why would you spend a day doing that when you could buy some in 10 minutes..." - Then two weeks later they're complimenting your beer...
 
"I want some."

It's not that bad, and I like sharing, but now everyone wants some. I feel like I need to put a label on my beer similar to the Cheezits one. "Get your own beer".
 
"Wait, you can do that?"

My response, in retrospect: "Yes, and you can also make your own spaghetti sauce if you want to. I make yoghurt, does that freak you out?"
 
My dad who doesn't drink beer tasted some of a nice cherry lambic I bought the other day then finally tasted one of mine today. Then asked why mine tasted nothing like "that good beer son".
 
A few years ago I told a neighbor I brew my own beer. He cringed and asked if I brewed it in my bathtub...I wanted to punch him in the throat. He is no longer my neighbor and was a ********* anyway.
 
people at work always tell me "figures... i mean, you make your own beer, you grow your own food, you build your own furniture. do you ever do anything fun?" it's always kinda funny to me because all those thing are exactly the things i think are fun. people make home brewing out to be a chore.
 

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