Don't get me wrong, I love drinking beer. But I'm not anywhere close to a big drinker. Most nights I'll have one with dinner. Even on weekends rarely more than two a day. Unfortunately my body just can't handle it any more. But brewing - that's a completely different story. I think about it all the time. Piddle with my various ongoing recipes. Constantly reading and posting here on HBT. Drooling over fermentors and brew rigs and all the home brewery builds here on the site. I currently only have the capability of controlling temps on one brew at a time, so I don't even actually brew nearly as often as I'd like to. But I can't stop thinking about it, dreaming of my own future brewery build, trying to stop imagining having my own real brewery or brew pub someday.
I think the thing I love most is sharing my brews with others. I'm in an active brew club, so I certainly enjoy getting feedback from other knowledgeable home brewers and the occasional pro brewer. I also love when I share my beers with ordinary friends who may be hesitant to try a "home brewed" beer. Then they taste it. To watch the reaction when they realize that not only is it not going to kill them, but it's actually good. And if they're not normally craft beer drinkers, it might even be better than anything they had ever had!
I did a lot of brewing last fall as I had a big family Christmas gathering coming up and was going to see a lot of family that had never tasted my home brew. After my last batch had been bottled, I had over seven cases of bottled beer. Probably gave over 50% of that to family and friends. After tomorrow's Super Bowl party, I'll be down to less than two cases, so good thing there's a batch ready to bottle in a week, and the next recipe almost ready to go.
So I guess what I want to know is, who else brews mainly for the enjoyment of the hobby and to share beer with others more than for their own personal consumption?
I think the thing I love most is sharing my brews with others. I'm in an active brew club, so I certainly enjoy getting feedback from other knowledgeable home brewers and the occasional pro brewer. I also love when I share my beers with ordinary friends who may be hesitant to try a "home brewed" beer. Then they taste it. To watch the reaction when they realize that not only is it not going to kill them, but it's actually good. And if they're not normally craft beer drinkers, it might even be better than anything they had ever had!
I did a lot of brewing last fall as I had a big family Christmas gathering coming up and was going to see a lot of family that had never tasted my home brew. After my last batch had been bottled, I had over seven cases of bottled beer. Probably gave over 50% of that to family and friends. After tomorrow's Super Bowl party, I'll be down to less than two cases, so good thing there's a batch ready to bottle in a week, and the next recipe almost ready to go.
So I guess what I want to know is, who else brews mainly for the enjoyment of the hobby and to share beer with others more than for their own personal consumption?