Am I a homebrewer? NO!

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I've always said it as a thing I do rather than as an identity - "I brew beer" rather than "I'm a homebrewer."
 
ntempleton said:
Cite? That's a very strong claim & one contrary to my experience.
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This is more of a common knowledge thing. If you are making the same IPA or RIS sure it will taste good but the same? Prob not and here is just a few reasons why!

Hops: Hop quality varies from farm to farm and year to year. The stuff in a homebrewers small oz-lbs bag can be a grade A to grade C hops and I am guessing you do not test each pack opened. Do you track the age of the hops and storage conditions to determine degradation? (Most homebrew hop packs lack the required info...) Do you purge the O2 out and reseal the hops you do not use or discard them?

Grains: Like hops they alter from farm to farm and year to year. Do you track the lot numbers and shake test your crush? Do you measure your mash temps down to .1F or closer? What about mash thickness?

Water: Do you start with DO or RI water and measure salts/acids accurately enough to determine the ppm to .1? What about ACCURATELY monitoring PH levels during mash, lauter, boil and fermentation to .1 or closer?

Yeast: Do you do a cell count on the yeast you are going to pitch and then afterwards to ensure the correct number is in the wort? What about testing/knowing the O2 levels in the wort previous to pitching? Yeast growth/activity is also influenced by moon phases.

If you answered No to the bulk of the above questions your beer does not taste the same. All of things can and will alter the flavor of the finished beer, your palate may not be able to detect it but other peoples can. At work we keep RIDICULOUS records, including weather conditions and tasting notes and we have issues with repeatability. Knowing this I can easily say that 99.9% of homebrewers, that have less equipment/less accurate equipment and keep less records can not do it.

Once again this is not saying homebrewers are getting close or making bad tasting beer but to claim to be on par with commercial breweries is flat out outlandish when talking about repeatability.

/end thread jack
 
With all due respect, I don't give a rats a$$ what the name is, but I have total respect for your opinion. I'm a brewer plain and simple. Being a whiskey aficionado, I rely prefer the term "small batch" brewer if I had to choose but that one is being used. As you, I'd place myself against ANY commercial beer as we know $$$$$ spent on advertising is what really kicks our ass. Brew on brothers and sisters, sticks and stones bladdy blah.....cheers!
 
P.S. personally the artisan and craft monikers are a bit snooty falooty for me..... but that's just me. I'm sticking with small batch brewer.
 
I've too never heard of home brewer used negatively. I'll tell everyone that I'm a home brewer and their reaction is wow that's cool and we move on.
 
I just had a discussion with a local beer buyer about the word "art" and brewing being used together as much as I've seen it lately. It's a little crazy, we know how to heat water to certain temperatures and follow a recipe. It's not art, it's a hobby. Don't get me wrong, I love doing it, but I'm no artisan.

Guys like Jean van Roy at Cantillon, Vinnie Cilurzo at Russian River, Ron Jeffries at Jolly Pumpkin, those guys are artisans.
 
I just looked at that thread a second ago - very cool! Thanks for sharing, I like the video :mug:
 
I went back & looked at it again. I've watched it several times since it was posted on Youtube. It def made me feel proud once again to be a home brewer. I got one more kit coming in to get the pipeline going again after finally getting financial fortunes to go my way. That video trult re-inspired me! Thanks for the inspiration once again! :mug: Had to do the cheers part with an SNPA,but it still counts!:tank:
 
I suppose if semantics matter one can always call themselves a "hobby brewer". I don't care, I mostly make cider anyway so I usually end up reminding my housemate that I'm not a brewer and don't have a brewery.
 
I haven't homebrewed in over a year now. But when I go to make a sandwich I may consider myself a sandwich artist?:D
 
Zamial said:
Once again this is not saying homebrewers are getting close or making bad tasting beer but to claim to be on par with commercial breweries is flat out outlandish when talking about repeatability.
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Agreed, *when talking about repeatability*.

However, I do believe that quality-wise and flavor-wise, the best homebrewers are absolutely on par with commercial brewers.

Just as a home baker can put out loaves of bread every bit as tasty as a commercial bakery although the loaves may not be quite as uniform, the same is true of home brewers vs commercial brewers.
 
I usually refer to the beer I brew as 'hand-made beer' rather than 'homebrew' if I'm talking with someone who is not a homebrewer, for similar reasons as the OP. I also like artisan brewing - that is exactly what we do. If I'm with other homebrewers though, we usually just refer to beer and brewing.
 
I definitely don't think I'm an artisan. Maybe someday. Right now I'm using other people's recipes, kits and ingredients I don't know enough about to instinctively make changes like I could with other "crafts" I have more experience with. Brewing, to me, is more a science at this point.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
milldoggy said:
I am not a homebrewer, I am a yeast rancher. It sucks that making beer is the best way to raise them.
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:off:
Well actually........ You could grow them aerobically with sugar concentrations below the Crabtree threshold... But then you don't get beer! :D
 
and that is all there is to it.

"Artisan" just means "traditional". Traditionally, we have been called "homebrewers".

uh...this could be a never-ending cycle....

-gnarlyhopper
 
If I referred to myself as an "artisan" brewer, the average person who knows me well would look at me as if to say, "You've got to be kidding!" But when I say I "homebrew", they actually say, "Cool! I can't wait to taste it!" To me "homebrew" connotes making the beer at home, under my own roof, with my own hands, for my own taste, with my own space, my own money, my own time, for myself, my friends and family, for consumption on the premises (at home, or very nearby), and for no reason other than pure enjoyment. "Artisan" to me connotes going to someplace unknown outside the home to sample something "crafty", made by someone else, maybe an artist or artisan, who could care less who I am, except that they want to fulfill some ethereal personal destiny available only through profiting via my interest in their product.
 
I to find it rather irritating when some says something along the lines of "what's wrong with you? Did you drink to much homebrew?" When they say homebrew they use it in a derogatory manner. To me it's all about the tone it is said in and the context that it has been put into. I usually refer to myself as a craft brewer not homebrewer. It sounds more fancier that way. ;p


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AWNbrewer said:
I to find it rather irritating when some says something along the lines of "what's wrong with you? Did you drink to much homebrew?" When they say homebrew they use it in a derogatory manner. To me it's all about the tone it is said in and the context that it has been put into. I usually refer to myself as a craft brewer not homebrewer. It sounds more fancier that way. ;p


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
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[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w72-IsHVoIY[/ame]
 
jekeane said:
now methcooker thats derogatory!
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"Artisan Recreational Pharmacist" :tank:

My latest DIPA is pretty darn good, worthy of being artisan. The Blue Moon clone I just kegged is fairly pedestrian though, definitely a homebrew. :drunk:
 
AWNbrewer said:
I to find it rather irritating when some says something along the lines of "what's wrong with you? Did you drink to much homebrew?" When they say homebrew they use it in a derogatory manner. To me it's all about the tone it is said in and the context that it has been put into. I usually refer to myself as a craft brewer not homebrewer. It sounds more fancier that way. ;p


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Click to expand...

Wort envy
 
Pete_WNY said:
If I referred to myself as an "artisan" brewer, the average person who knows me well would look at me as if to say, "You've got to be kidding!" But when I say I "homebrew", they actually say, "Cool! I can't wait to taste it!" To me "homebrew" connotes making the beer at home, under my own roof, with my own hands, for my own taste, with my own space, my own money, my own time, for myself, my friends and family, for consumption on the premises (at home, or very nearby), and for no reason other than pure enjoyment. "Artisan" to me connotes going to someplace unknown outside the home to sample something "crafty", made by someone else, maybe an artist or artisan, who could care less who I am, except that they want to fulfill some ethereal personal destiny available only through profiting via my interest in their product.
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Sam I M#&^*¤ F/^¤■=$ AM!
 
Look folks it's like this.... Let 'em talk..... but remember this, it's no more offensive that the surgeon in the bagel shop listening to you yell your friend how much you know about the shoulder surgery you just had.
 
I am jealous about one thing though...."home distillers" get to have a much cooler moniker....
 
Hi, my name is David. I'm a Home Brewer.




PS. Your welcome to vent your rant. However, don't expect much support on this idea! :rockin:
 
CA_Mouse said:
I don't call myself a homebrewer. Since I have a degree in Culinary Arts, I call myself a Brewer or a Craft Beer Brewer, since I hand craft each beer that I make. But I don't think that homebrewer has any bad connotation associated with it. Although the Buffalo Wild Wings commercial a few years ago didn't help.
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Meh, you're a home brewer.

After skimming through some of the posts in this thread, people are taking these terms way too seriously.
 
I brew at home, therefore I am a Homebrewer, and quite proud of it.
I've never encountered any negativity whatsoever since I started, and I am not shy about sharing what I do. Everyone from individuals to bar tenders to commercial brewery owners that I've engaged in conversations about homebrewing have been nothing short of supportive and positive.
Then again, Cincinnati is proud of its brewing heritage, so I would imagine if there were the occasional negative person, they would be strapped to a barrel and rolled down Mt. Adams hill to end up in the river. :D
IMHO, I find the desire to 'upgrade' our moniker due to someone else's supposed negative belief and their lack of obtaining credible information to be able to converse intelligently to be A: untrue to oneself at its base and B: beyond pretentious.
 
strambo said:
"Artisan Recreational Pharmacist" :tank:

My latest DIPA is pretty darn good, worthy of being artisan. The Blue Moon clone I just kegged is fairly pedestrian though, definitely a homebrew. :drunk:
Click to expand...

I think your comment "definitely a homebrew" is what we are talking about. Why is there a difference between a "homebrew" vs. any other craft beer? IMO there shouldn't be.
 

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