Do you only drink what you brew??

Williams 728
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Bulls Beers

Bulls Beers

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I know it's hard for the newbies to answer this question, but do you only drink your own brew? Do you drink any commerical beers? I was at the liquor store today looking to buy a couple ( just a couple) imports and i felt alittle guity. I mean i have a bunch of beer going at different stages, but a few batches available to drink. I was looking to buy a few German beers that i really like.I like the beers that i have ready but....In all honesty. i have two batches that i've been drinking. one i like the other was a shot in the dark and it is just ok.

Am i being unfaithful or what?
 
Of course I do! I even drink BMC.

There are so many great styles and breweries out there I feel you'd be doing a disservice to yourself not to drink them. Just look at the thread about Sierra's Celebration Ale. It's a wonderful brew that every beer lover should pick up.
 
Oh, I think you'll find that most of us buy commercial. We appreciate fine beer and recognize that there are commercial brewers out there that make a fine product. I often will buy several different premium brands to enjoy or try for the first time. I think it's important to sample in order to broaden your horizons and come up with ideas for the next brew.
 
I buy the beer I could never drink 5 gallons of. And you have to buy the best commercial examples of your upcoming brews...it is research!
 
Yes, and even some lite. Nothing quite as gay as Mic Ultra ;) , but I do occasionally like a light beer.
 
rdwj said:
Yes, and even some lite. Nothing quite as gay as Mic Ultra ;) , but I do occasionally like a light beer.
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Chic ultra....:D

We work hard to make our great brews, i was wondering if anybody felt as i do...
I guess i'll keep drinking some others, while i enjoy my homebrew.

Cheers guys...
 
It's also nice to try a commercial example for styles you're not familiar with. You get an idea of how it's supposed to taste and lessens the chance of ending up with 5 gals of something you don't like.
 
I only brew what I drink, I guess. I mean, I only brew beers that I really enjoy now that I have established some standard beers that I can reproduce easily.
 
EdWort said:
I only brew what I drink, I guess. I mean, I only brew beers that I really enjoy now that I have established some standard beers that I can reproduce easily.
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That's nice..I hope I get to the point that can reproduce some of the german beers i drink. That would be great..
 
I would say I'm 50/50. I would agree 100% with the research comment. I have certain beer styles that I like and I drink as many commercial examples that I can find. I look up clone recipes on the web and use that as a starting point, then modify the balance of the ingredients and/or substitute some of my favorite ingredients if appropriate. Last, I would continue to make the beer several times and tweak ingredients and processes (like mash temps or hop schedules) until I get it where I like it.

It is a continous process. I may keep my recipe for a certain style unchanged for a few years, then I will try a beer I never had before and it has me back to the drawing board.
 
Every couple of months I hit the beer and liquor stores and pick up a big mix of anything new that looks interesting. I like to sample new stuff to see what I may want to incorporate into my brewing. I haven't purchased a whole case of any one thing since I started homebrewing. Usually if I come home with 12 cans or bottles it's 12 different beers.
 
rdwj said:
It's also nice to try a commercial example for styles you're not familiar with. You get an idea of how it's supposed to taste and lessens the chance of ending up with 5 gals of something you don't like.
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I bought a Scottish Ale before I'd brewed one and if there is a beer that I really strongly dislike, it was that Scottish Ale. Intellectually I know that I should buy another from a different brewery just to ensure that it's the style that I don't like, but when I've scraped enough pennies together to buy some fine brews I just can't bring myself to potentially waste three of four dollars on something that it's unlikely I'll enjoy when there are so many others on the shelf I KNOW I'd like.

Anyway, the point is that I really like English and Irish ales and brew them often but I'm sure glad I bought that Scottish. Until I resolve the source of that horrible flavour I'll keep my brew room Scottish ale free.
 
Yeah, I have way too much HB on hand now. Finally at that point, but I probably still drink just as much commercial just to try new stuff (to me) that's out there.
 
Hell no. =)

For one, I don't have the equipment and setup to do nifty things like authentic lambics and flanders sour beers.

Beyond that though, I've found I'm drinking more and more styles that I never would have touched before as potential brews I can make myself later. Research is fun! =)

-D
 
As a matter of fact SWMBO and I drink our own exclusively!Since last December we've kept the pipeline full and haven't bought beer.We brew 20 gals a month minimum(Apfelwein and hard lime too) and manage to drink most of it and thats very easy.A 4 tap keezer always full begs to be drained( 8 cornies in rotation ).A 6 pack a day minimum consumption.It's not that much money well spent to do it.In the process we've rediscovered our drunk at 50:D .
Cheers:mug:
 
I probably drink as much or more commercial beer as homebrew. I'm not saying 70 microbreweries within 50 miles had anything to do with my moving to Oregon ... because I'd be lying.
 
I drink my homebrew exclusively as long as I have some on hand. When it runs out, I'm off to the liquor store. I've almost always got some Sam Adams in the fridge, and Boulevard Brewery's Nutcracker Ale is in season now, so I'll be drinking that until they're not selling it anymore, (or I find a clone recipe.)
 
Fingers said:
I bought a Scottish Ale before I'd brewed one and if there is a beer that I really strongly dislike, it was that Scottish Ale. Intellectually I know that I should buy another from a different brewery just to ensure that it's the style that I don't like, but when I've scraped enough pennies together to buy some fine brews I just can't bring myself to potentially waste three of four dollars on something that it's unlikely I'll enjoy when there are so many others on the shelf I KNOW I'd like.

Anyway, the point is that I really like English and Irish ales and brew them often but I'm sure glad I bought that Scottish. Until I resolve the source of that horrible flavour I'll keep my brew room Scottish ale free.
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That is exactly how I feel about Biere de Mars. I know that it is supposed to be some fantastic award winning beer, but I DETEST that stuff. I had a dozen people in my home last New Years day, and we all sampled it, and none of us liked it, and this is most definitely NOT the BMC crowd.
 
I drink Miller High Life, Coors Light, Miller Lite, Bud Select, Busch, Busch Light, pretty much anything in a can.

Why?

Because I have 4 or 5 poker buddies that help themselves to my fridge when they're over, whether I have 2 cases or 2 cans to last me to my next pay day, they drink everything I have.

Therefore, by keeping crappy swill on hand, I don't have to give away all of my home brew.

Plus, if I'm just gonna get f****ed up, I don't wanna waste good beer. I won't remember drinking it anyways.

That being said, of all the above varieties, Miller High Life is my regular stand-by. The others are only when they're on sale.
 
I like some commercial brews, and sampling stuff I can't make, I have tried Pete's wicked, and like Sam Adams, recently tried Pilsner-Urquell (sp?) and SWMBO keeps a couple of Newcastle Browns and recently Blue Moon Belgian Wheat. And I like to keep some Guinness around in cool weather.
Norm
Oh, and I always keep some Pabst Blue ribbon, or something similar, had one last night.
 
Onescalerguy said:
As a matter of fact SWMBO and I drink our own exclusively!Since last December we've kept the pipeline full and haven't bought beer.We brew 20 gals a month minimum(Apfelwein and hard lime too) and manage to drink most of it and thats very easy.A 4 tap keezer always full begs to be drained( 8 cornies in rotation ).A 6 pack a day minimum consumption.It's not that much money well spent to do it.In the process we've rediscovered our drunk at 50:D .
Cheers:mug:
Click to expand...

I'd bet the selection of high-end beers in Craig, AK is a bit limited anyway:mug:
 
To me, the thought of ONLY drinking my own would be like ONLY eating my own cooking. I am a really good cook, but I still love to go out to dinner. Sometimes you want to let someone else do the work, and other times you want to try something that you just don't have experience making yet.
 
I buy a fair amount of commercial beer. I've been buying less and less since I started brewing, and now I typically look for beer I've never tried before (in the name of research, of course). It's becoming increasingly hard to find a beer I've never had, though.
 
Onescalerguy said:
(Apfelwein and hard lime too)
Click to expand...

Wait a minute... are you talking fermented lime-aid???
NOW why didn't I think of that. YUM.
Got a recipe you feel like sharing?

I just sampled my first hard cider yesterday as I was putting it into the keg, and again this morning, now that it is cold and mildly carbonated. I used a combination of commercial apple juice and pasturized fresh pressed cider. The cider was a nice mix of apples with a good tartness to them, kind of like the juice from a granny smith. I threw in a little vanilla and some allspice, along with a whole lot of brown sugar. It kind of reminds me of taking a good baked apple and turning into a nice cold refreshing drink... that will knock you on your a$$.:drunk:
 
:mug: I try to do quite a bit of R & D. I don't brew anything out of the the normal stouts, pales or hefe's mostly because I have not found anything I like better. I figure when I retire I might try to bcome alcoholically independant, but I do like to go to happy hour to be social.:mug:
 
Seeing as I work in a brewery and bring home alot of free beer as well as homebrew, I mostly drink what I brew.

:cross:


However, tonight due to timing and not paying attention, I've run dry on kegs, so I'm drinking Full Moon. It's not bad, I must say!

:drunk:
 
With a closet full of beer, 2 cornies, 4 secondaries and a primary going we decided we need to stop buying beer until we drink this stuff.
 
You almost have to when you eat out. Nearly every restaurant I go to save for one frowns on bringing in your own beer. And the one that doesn't mind me bringing in beer is a Mexican eatery that I rarely have anything appropriate for anyway.
 
I have just taken a vow to only drink my own. At this stage I have a ton of my own to choose from and quite frankly, I drink too much!
I figure that I will drink less if I only drink home brew.
Fortunately I am good at different styles. I have great imperial stouts and great IPA's, I have a lager fermenting as well as a cheap session beer and a light bodied APA. Home brew is healthier to drink, especially if you ingest the yeast and drink dark beer.
 
I'll only buy a mixer-sixer from my local liquor store to sample different beers.

If I like it...I'll clone it and brew more.

You haven't seen me carrying a 12-pack of commercial beer in a very, very long time.

Just passed the 350 gallon marker this year and have 7 different styles on tap. Ain't no way I'm shelling out clams for someone else's beer. :D
 
Hard lime recipe:10 cans frozen concentrate lemon and/or lime(no sorbate!)
1.5#corn sugar
2# Light DME
Montrachet dry yeast.
Mix it all up real well and let ferment for 1 month(65-70 degrees)
After a month we hit it with sorbate(to stop ferment)and sweeten with another can of concentrate.Keg it,force carb it and wait 2 more weeks.Voila...drink up!
Cheers
:mug:
 

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