I was just interested in the different motivations people had for cloning commercial beers. As home brewers we can be as creative as we want, so why mimic something that already exists?
In the past I've cloned b/c I thought I could make cheaper than buying it at the store. This was certainly the case if you just account for ingredients, but if you factor in the cost of equipment I think the break even point for me was around 50-60 gallons, and even then the savings were slight. Ultimately, I used those savings to justify more equipment, so I may have never actually broke even.
Currently, If I do a clone it's to get my bearings before crafting my own recipe. I make the clone b/c I know it will get me close to where I want to be and in brewing it I learn where I can make tweaks and improvements to make it my own.
In the past I've cloned b/c I thought I could make cheaper than buying it at the store. This was certainly the case if you just account for ingredients, but if you factor in the cost of equipment I think the break even point for me was around 50-60 gallons, and even then the savings were slight. Ultimately, I used those savings to justify more equipment, so I may have never actually broke even.
Currently, If I do a clone it's to get my bearings before crafting my own recipe. I make the clone b/c I know it will get me close to where I want to be and in brewing it I learn where I can make tweaks and improvements to make it my own.