greedy with you beer?

[OHIOSTEVE]

Is it just me or is it irritating when people just expect you to give them your beer? I was asked for some beer by a friend a while back. This beer was for someone else as a birthday gift. NO PROBLEM, NOW this same friend informs me she needs some wine for another friend of hers! I had a buddy come up the other night and rather than ask, he says ' YOU'RE GONNA SEND SOME OF THAT BEER HOME WITH ME" ( he went home empty handed).. Am I the only one who gets a little stingy with their beer? As I posted elsewhere my major fun with the hobby is sharing beer with people and seeing them enjoy it, but for some reason it eats me when people just expect it.

 

[Vekta]

What gets me is when I'm woken up at the crack of dawn because someone can't wait to get into the beer cooler.

*willpower!* <------

 

[Maddux91]

I basically charge people the cost of the materials, this keeps them honest, and stops them from being too greedy. Stops me from feeling that I am just giving out **** for free!

 

[giligson]

Just ask yourself: "what would be the equivalent if this were a baked good or a special food?"
Should your friend be insisting that you make them your special apple pie so that they can give it to someone for their birthday?

 

[wyzazz]

I don't mind giving some out to those that enjoy it, or bringing it to family parties for others to enjoy, but it does get kind of old when everyone "expects" to leave your house with a sixer.

I've started kegging all but the highest gravity brews & wines that I make now & I've got a small freezer in the garage just waiting on me to put a collar on it. I'll be kegging almost everything from now on & bringing stuff bottled from the tap only on special occasions. This way I can tell everyone that I just keg all my stuff, little do they know that I can fill a bottle/growler from the tap with the BMBF!!!

 

[sprocketmaker]

Their the ones being greedy.... I shared some beer with a friend who came over last Saturday to hang out and play guitar, then surprised him with a six pack out at the car when he was leaving, he thanked me all weekend. So it comes down to who your friends are and how much they appreciate the care and time you've put into making this beer. Remind them (if you must) that nobody gives away goods or services all the time, however on those occassions that you do, you'd hope it would be truly appreciated.

 

[likwidbliss]

I made some great wine this past year and my sister-in-law said she promised some of her friends wine for Christmas 2009, so she comes asking for 15 bottles, not to be out done she wanted another 12 for church gift baskets. That is 27 bottles! Her and her husband have no children a 4 apartment house and a house on a beautiful inland lake. With this kind of poverty I am expected to forfeit 5 gallons of free wine? I told her I only had a dozen left, a white lie. I am willing to share a bottle or two with family. Next year they are going to pay me for supplies, juice, bottle, chemicals, etc... to make them some wine. I don't have this problem with beer yet.

 

[motobrewer]

yeah, ever since i started homebrewing my friends think it's their personal brewpub. once, two of my friends were about to leave on a road trip to visit another friend in Michigan. I got a txt:

"hey, can we swing by and fill up a few growlers before we go to MI?"

a "few growlers"?!? are you insane?

they see the fact that ingredients are cheap and figure it's not an issue, but they fail to see how much work i had to do to get it done.

 

[Tinga]

its pretty much this way with anything hand made with cheap materials. people don't see your time and effort as worth much. so next time someone asks you for something tell them that after a couple hours of yard work they can take what they want. it's only fair.

 

[david_42]

Time for some new friends.

 

[marubozo]

If you made ****ty beer they wouldn't be asking for any. It's your fault for making good beer.

 

[brandona33]

When I started brewing I got hooked and made 4 batches in a 10 day span, when they were ready my friends were coming over to taste some...Long story short that supply, which should have lasted much longer, didnt make it a week. Thats when I started making Hard Cider...as strong as I could...to weed out the friends after a quick buzz from the friends that wanted to sample a good beer. A couple of EdWorts recipe Apfelweins in 22 oz bottles will slow their consumption!

 

[motobrewer]

what i don't like is my buddies keep asking me to brew for them; they buy ingredients, I brew, they take (most) of the beer....

not that I have a fundamental problem with the premise, but it still takes me ~6 hours on brew day, not to mention upkeep. if i'm gonna burn a saturday, i want 5 gallons in my keezer. i can't seem to brew as often as I'd like as it is.

 

[FromZwolle]

i'm with the op. it really irks me when someone expects something from me without asking. if you take two seconds to ask me for a six pack to take home, i'm happy to oblige, but when you just expect to get a case of beer that i spend the time and money on, i get annoyed. i also have no problem just shutting people down.
"so i'm takin this box with me, right?"
"nope, you get a shiny fistful of nuthin! enjoy"

 

[iron_city_ap]

Most of my friends are MBC people. Those who have tried it, either live hundreds of miles away, or tried one of my first batches. So now, for the most part, THEIR ALL MINE !!!!! (insert evil laugh)

 

[Justibone]

Me and a hunter trade, venison sausage for homebrew. Someone who bakes, or fixes computers, or whatever they do that's of value (even yardwork) is an excellent trade for my barley-cooking.

 

[IrregularPulse]

what i don't like is my buddies keep asking me to brew for them; they buy ingredients, I brew, they take (most) of the beer....

not that I have a fundamental problem with the premise, but it still takes me ~6 hours on brew day, not to mention upkeep. if i'm gonna burn a saturday, i want 5 gallons in my keezer. i can't seem to brew as often as I'd like as it is.

I would love this scenario, but would modifiy it a bit. They would buy ingredients for a 10G batch, then in 1.5-2 months would get 2 cases of bottles. I would have a keg. Win Win for everyone.

 

[shecky]

I'm overly generous with my beer and I'm fine with that. Hell, it's better than my friends running away from it. Instead, they run to it. That's flattering as hell. I'll bring some to gatherings or my friends may stop by for a pint or two while our kids run around. No biggie.

We all help each other with getting kids where they need to be, house projects, etc. The least I can do is share some beer with them.

However, if I were in a different financial situation and unable or unwilling to part with much because of cost, that might be a different story.

 

[motobrewer]

I would love this scenario, but would modifiy it a bit. They would buy ingredients for a 10G batch, then in 1.5-2 months would get 2 cases of bottles. I would have a keg. Win Win for everyone.

yeah, if i was setup to do 10g, i would definitely do this. but i'm not

 

[homebeerbrewer]

... if you take two seconds to ask me for a six pack to take home, i'm happy to oblige,...

Ok, here's my two seconds: Can you send me a six pack?

My wife likes to give out my beer for me. She gives to her boss, a couple of her co-workers, and the guy who does all the printing work for her company. She started by asking me for a few bottles to give to those few people, but now she's asking for six packs.

I really don't mind giving out a few beers to those who ask.

 

[KFH]

I haven't run into this issue yet, but I plan on asking for a couple bucks in donations for future beers. Right now I see my beer as a way to becoming the popular guy in an apartment complex filled with single college girls.

 

[Justibone]

I haven't run into this issue yet, but I plan on asking for a couple bucks in donations for future beers. Right now I see my beer as a way to becoming the popular guy in an apartment complex filled with single college girls.

College women will prefer quantity to quality, I'll bet you. Brew up some wine or apfelwein, IMO.

If you do want to be the "Beer Daddy", though, maybe brew some of these. It'll still be good and it won't be such a waste.

Now you have my unsolicited opinion! Doesn't that feel better?

LOL! :fro:

 

[tvtoms]

I dont have any friends. I win! :rockin:

 

[cfonnes]

I just bottled my first batch last night. I sat there looking at the two cases thinking, wow that was a lot of work for 48 bottles.

While I am always free with my resources when it comes to friends, I am not so generous when it comes to acquaintances. Friends are few and far between.

 

[NoNothing]

When I was in college I had all my beer in a kegerator in my room (no place elsewhere). But it turns out that was a pro choice. I had a roommate who...enjoyed drinking, a lot, so I could keep him away from my beer.

Maybe its the pack of friends you roll with, Ive never had anyone ask for bottles of my beer, they enjoy it when they're over and if I send them home with some good for them. They all love my beer, so I dont think its that its not good they dont ask, they just dont 'expect' to get beer for free.

 

[TheMan]

The only people that really "expect" beer from me is my parents. I went to visit them one time, my dad was mowing the lawn, after finishing he came inside and went straight for the fridge and said, "Where's the beer?". I thought it was funny and my parents have done tons for me in my lifetime so the least I do is bring them a 12 pack whenever I visit, which is once a month maybe. They don't buy beer at all, just drink mine and my brothers.

As for acquaintances, if they bring the empty bottle back I will give them more. If not, I don't give more. It's the least they can do for a free beer(s).

I have found that giving it away helps clear inventory. I don't drink it quick enough. I used to be very stingy with it but my beer stockpiled and I had no more room lol. Now I'm more free.

I do understand your issue though.

 

[duffman2]

I've only brewed one full year this month. And so far, it's all fair game. If my peeps love it they can have "some" of it.

By this time next year I'll be asking for vehicle titles, home mortgages, the first born child..........you know how it goes, nothing stays cheap forever

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Please don't get me wrong guys. My biggest kick with this hobby is sharing. I am talking about being taken advantage of and people expecting you to just hand it over.

 

[brrman]

I like to share with those that I know appreciate it. Hell I'll give half a batch away to someone who really shows thanks and does not take it for granted.

My wife and I have had a woman and her husband (friends of my wife) over to our house before and they drink like fish. Never a thank you or anything for consuming a sh1tload of beer off my taps. This happened twice.

Then one day the woman says to my wife (at work): "When are we coming over for free beer again?"

FREE BEER? WTF? After hearing that I laid down the law and declared that my beer will no longer be available to this couple ever. We haven't had them over since.

 

[haplo]

...my parents have done tons for me in my lifetime so the least I do is bring them a 12 pack whenever I visit, which is once a month maybe.

+1


I don't know anybody that expects to get beer. But that would certainly rub me the wrong way if they called it free or asked for 27 bottles of wine to give away themselves.

 

[likwidbliss]

Can I come over for free beer?

 

[permo]

Friends, family or anybody that comes over has a "free pass" to all the bottles or taps the want....seems I have more visitors now then before I brewed?!?

What I couldn't handle is when my brother in law started taking 6-12 bottles of my beer at a time to give to his coworkers, that I didn't even know....not cool and I had to squash that little party. Too bad, after they sampled my beer they offered to pay me $15 a twelve pack for it......I declined.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I haven't run into that problem with anybody I know, although I'm sure the day will come.

If anybody wanted some quantity of beer out of me, I'd tell them to bring me empty bottles and enough cash to cover the ingredients, and I will happily provide them their beer in 3-5 weeks.

 

[likwidbliss]

College women will prefer quantity to quality, I'll bet you....

We are talking about beer? right?

 

[Mikethepoolguy]

Well, you cant sell them beer, thats illegal. But it isnt illegal for you to accept gifts in return. Gifts of hops, empty kegs, and HBS giftcards are nice. Throw the hints out there. If they dont respond, cut them off.

 

[billc68]

My brother so far is the only one that has asked. I told him I didn't have enough of the one he liked, which is true.

Luckily for me, I have a cousin who loves the brews that I don't care for. I now am more careful in my choices and techniques (especially temperature control) so I am fully expecting people to start asking for brew.

 

[Clayton]

Yeah I love giving my beer to people; I have a large brew shop and a little bar with a 3, 1/2 barrel kegerator. my wife&#8217;s girl friends come over allot and love my beer, they will each have 4 or 5 sometimes more , but that all ways bring food or leave some money on my desk and shower me with complements, so it&#8217;s fun for me. but on the flip side I have some friends (30s and live with mom types) that will come over and clean me out, last weekend the two in question came over to fish at the lake and hang out, they offered me some money for the beer, to witch I declined because it was only going to be a few bucks and they don&#8217;t even have cars. on tap I had 3 corneys a cream ale , a nut brown , and a IIPA, the first two where nearly full and the iipa was totally full just taped it when they got there , it was a force carbed so I did not hook up the gas at tapping. We had a good time drunk fished BSed, but I crashed early around 12:00. the next day they tell me oh uh you are out of CO2 last night, to witch I reply oh well that happens, later that day I go out to the brew shed and those F-ers drank all the cream ale all the Nut brown, and sucked on the iipa until the presser in the keg would not give them any more beer. Between the two of them they drank over 8 gallons of beer! I mean wtf I am glad I did not have more kegs tapped.

I love it when I catch a buzz on my own beer, I have been brewing for 10+ years and it still catches me off guard and surprises me. I am sitting there drinking my beer and it ocurres to me that I am drunk, and it&#8217;s like wow its good, I made it and it get you drunk too!
And I love it when other people are drunk because of my brew, its fun to watch people enjoying the toyels of my labor.
but come one there are limits and etiquette
those boys are just f-ing gluttons and it really pissed me off.

 

[JNye]

tell them they need to help on brew day. always nice to have a hand and some company., plus they'll see how much effort actually went into the beer.

+1 to returning bottles too. if they don't return them the togo party is over.

 

[superjunior]

I've been making homemade dried Italian sausage for years, and lately homebrew. My wife has been in the habit of offering her freinds and co-workers my homemade goodies. "oh, so and so loves your beer and sausage, so I gave them a case". I put an end to that nonsense with a fresh new lock on my basement door. As far as MY freinds go, they all make their own too

 

[Trouble_Brewing]

Most of my friends are not heavy drinkers. I recently turned a couple of friends onto craft beer (they are major wine drinkers), and when they learned that I had started to brew they got pretty excited about it. They wanted to come over and watch/help brew. The next thing I knew they bought me 2 cases of new empty bottles, a bunch of used brew equipment they found at a garage sale, and even built me an immersion chiller!

Those are the kind of friends you keep!