Anyone else have really thirsty friends?

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Cheektronic

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So I'm 26 and live with two roommates. We have friends over regularly and still consume quite a lot of beer. Since I started brewing again, it's started to hit my wallet. 10 gallons was done in about 2 weeks.

I'm glad to have a little help drinking some of the beer so I can continue to brew new beers and experiment, but not to a pace which makes it cost-prohibitive for me.

Surely this occurs with other people. How do you guys handle thirsty friends?
 
Cheektronic said:
So I'm 26 and live with two roommates. We have friends over regularly and still consume quite a lot of beer. Since I started brewing again, it's start to hit my wallet. 10 gallons was done in about 2 weeks.

I'm glad to have a little help drinking some of the beer so I can continue to brew new beers and experiment, but not to a pace which makes it cost-prohibitive for me.

Surely this occurs with other people. How do you guys handle thirsty friends?
Click to expand...

having them buy the ingredients
 
A donation box could be a good idea. One way to approach them about this idea is just let them know that the more they donate the more often there will be a steady supply of beer.

If they are really that thirsty then a few bucks here and there is a lot better than going through dry spells where they either have no beer or have to spend more money to get store bought beer.

Just make sure to use that money only for beer ingredients. It might also be good to see if you can get your friends involved in the brewing process, as they might be more likely to spend money if they know the process and are interested in brewing.
 
My old room mate and his girlfriend thought home brew was free brew. They were drinking my beer when I wasn't around and sharing it with their friends when they were over. Your room mate sounds a little more considerate than mine. Anyway he moved out and my gf moved in so problem solved. But now I always have friends/neighbors stopping through and having beer etc. So similar issue.

Im surprised your friends drink up all your beer and don't replace it with something, money or more beer. Seems kind of rude.

I approach it two ways, 1) If they are generous enough to ask what they can bring over, I tell them a good six pack. 2) If they don't offer anything, I am kind of blunt and say Hey, I have a keg of xyz beer you are welcome to it, just pick up a six pack so we can have some variety. If people try and freeload I make sure I give them crap about it.

I had a superbowl party and I just kegged up a porter. Half the porter is gone but I got a fridge full of random micro brews. Im fine with that.
 
I am a thirsty friend.

A friend of mine recently unleashed a batch of some fine ESB onto us for a board game night. We also brewed a zombie dust clone that night. I have his paypal info though so I will reimburse him for half the zombie dust and for the ESB batch that we decimated.
 
Don't be an enabler... put your foot down, man. If they don't realize that homebrew costs money, and a lot of time, just have them sit through an entire brew session. If they're even able to make it through the clean up, they might be worthy. It might sound harsh, but, so is a long brew day, with no help.

I'd also set some boundaries, and communicate exactly what you expect from them, which is not drinking all your beer, and not putting in any work. I told my good friends flat out, brewing is hard work, and its costly. They know not to expect a bunch of free booze. However, if they come over, and help brew though, they can expect to be rewarded.
 
While I can understand "thirsty" friends, there is no free lunch (or in this case, beer). Talk with the roommates, and make sure the guests know about the change in policy.

If you're making 10gal batches, I say put 5g in for you and 5g out for the masses. When their 5gal is done, they're done until the next brew day. If you decide you're done with your 5gal you can pass it out to the masses.

I'd put a tipbox out, and see where it goes. If it goes nowhere, I'd scale back as appropriate until the point was made.
 
Here is my solution. Worked great. Actually it was a great help. I love to brew but I can never crank through the beer as fast as I can brew it. So I had sustainable funding for ingredients and fresh beer on tap at all times. Win-win!

 
I do 5 gal batches, so we burned through 2 already.

One of my roommates always helps me on brew day, whether that be helping me do stuff that's easier with multiple sets of hands or just cleaning stuff. The other one works a lot so doesn't drink much as a result.

I think I'll try the donation box first. That way it'll be known that it does in fact cost money. I want to share with my friends, but not really be confrontational about it. I wanna brew it as bad as they wanna drink it.
 
I suggested $.50 per low grav/session and $1 per imperial. By the time I include chemicals, propane, hops etc my big beers would cost around $1/pint. I also found it worked great to have people bring food over for parties and I would supply beverages. But that doesn't work as well for roommates.
 
This is just the nerd in me thinking out loud... but it would be really cool to have a QR code with a link to donate, and somehow hack a digital photo frame or something to display one of those donation goal thermometers that would poll my paypal account for the balance.
 
I have no problem with my friends taking my beer, just gives me an excuse to brew more. The lout who downed half a bottle of my Lagavulin 16 on New Year's Eve on the other hand... well he should be happy that the ground was frozen.
 
Don't ***** foot around it - tell them to pony up some dough.


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Like the old sayin goes: ass, gas, or grass, no one rides for free.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
If someone wants to have a beer, I really don't mind. But if someone wants to come drink my beer, it's $5. Everyone knows it, and I made it apparent without being an ass about it.

No one drinks my beer when im not there. My roommate gets the green light, as he brews with me and typically puts a beer on tap every once in awhile.

We also throw parties, where the keezer is filled with lighter (read: cheaper) beers and things like alpfwein. Its $5 for the night and I at least break even on ingredient costs.
 
Good topic. I just started brewing myself and am waiting for a couple beers to condition.

The reason I got interested was when I was at my last job, a coworker did weekly brews. He would invite folks over for dinner and have $5 donations for food and a $1 for 12 ounce and $2 for 22 ounce bottles. This was known before coming over and those who showed up had to be OK with it.

He would break even to continue the brews for several months. I am thinking about starting the same thing here at my house and new job.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
I agree with the donation cup. Hopefully your friends are cool and that works out. Most people don't realize that even though they are only having a couple of beers, when a bunch of people do that, it can really add up.
 
What is your State law on selling homebrew, or being compensated, or by some other device, the State may have in statutes?
 
+1 for the "Sustainable Beer Fund" but you've got to be vocal about it. Tell them straight up beer doesn't grow on trees, but also tell them how much it costs you to brew. Tell them once the cup fills up to $30 or whatever then you can brew again. That's assuming your kegging. Now if your bottling 10 gallons that's a whole 'nother story. I would demand some help at that point.
 
Just my wife and 2 kids. Every now and then we have some friends over for dinner. I enjoy letting visitors drink my beer. I also know they are not going to take advantage. I don't have "college friends" anymore. I'll fill some bottles for a few folks at work here and there.

So I drink most of my beer. It's a tough job but someone has to do it.
 
Ask them to chip in for the ingredients, then help on brew day.

If they just want to drain your beer supply but don't want to help with the cost and labor, they are not friends, they are moochers. A hasp and padlock on the beer fridge will fix that.
 
RmikeVT said:
My old room mate and his girlfriend thought home brew was free brew. They were drinking my beer when I wasn't around and sharing it with their friends when they were over. Your room mate sounds a little more considerate than mine. Anyway he moved out and my gf moved in so problem solved. But now I always have friends/neighbors stopping through and having beer etc. So similar issue.

Im surprised your friends drink up all your beer and don't replace it with something, money or more beer. Seems kind of rude.

I approach it two ways, 1) If they are generous enough to ask what they can bring over, I tell them a good six pack. 2) If they don't offer anything, I am kind of blunt and say Hey, I have a keg of xyz beer you are welcome to it, just pick up a six pack so we can have some variety. If people try and freeload I make sure I give them crap about it.

I had a superbowl party and I just kegged up a porter. Half the porter is gone but I got a fridge full of random micro brews. Im fine with that.
Click to expand...

Exactly... I have friends who drink my beer. The deal is, they buy me a six'er of a craft brew, or a really nice import. It's a good trade I think.

Fresh beer is always better, but I do like to try something different from time to time. I never would have tried Arrogant Bastard otherwise.

I absolutely prefer my beer, but I do like to try a good craft beer from time to time. The trade is a great way to get the best of both worlds.
 
Years ago I had a small apartment where people would come to drink beer and play nickel ante poker. I had a small sign on the fridge that said “beer fund” and an arrow pointing up. People would toss a few dollars on top of the fridge and scoop up change.

It didn’t pay for all the beer, but it paid for most of it.

To the OP, I would suggest putting a collection pot near the fridge and use a magnetic opener that goes next to the sign. Leave enough money in there that people can make change.

Given the chance, most people will do the right thing. Make it easy for them.
 
My friends know proper etiquette......i freely give away beer....and they reciprocate the favor at some point with what they have.
 
So, this has come up many times before and I see my responses have changed over time. I think I have walked the fence and offer this.......

Most of my friends are cool as can be and are typically the ones who bring fruit for wine, donate sugar, trade, work, or straight out order a kit to brew. I have lately been less inclined to share what I make, not selfish at this point, it's just that I make what I like and other folks might not have the same taste. My wine is usually an absolute hit and is accepted almost everywhere I go, so I understand people slamming glass after glass something that took years to produce.

For your "thirsty" friends, I will admit (as I have done in "younger" posts) I have developed some games I like to play. It depends on the who exactly is bugging me and how bad but I've become pretty prankster on this.

There's the dreaded newbie Bottle Bomb, mark a bottle, over prime with sugar, crack a few with the cool folks, and......... pfeiiiszzzzewzzzz.... damn sorry man that one was a soaker, I'm not totally getting the hang of bottling. Here here's a PBR, sorry man.

The Off Batch- made a mistake? didn't come out right and you thought of dumping it. Hell no, bottle that bad boy, a little dot on the corner of the label. Crack a couple of your choice brews and just straight down em like a champ and say "damn that was good, right?". They'll look at you like you're nuts and probablly never ask again.

But for the most part I really only share with like minded folks. Seems like you are on the high road though and some of the other posts would be better to adhere to. I just love f in with people and it gives me great joy to see the expressions on their faces, uuggkk this stuff will make you go blind, you are the worst brewer in the world, damn man read a book about brewing, just priceless.

Cheers! Keep on brewing.
 
I think I'll end up doing a simple donation jar first... that will help.



Expanding on my idea earlier, I had an idea that might be a little more fun. Develop an app that will run on a tablet next to my taps, and have it display a fundraiser thermometer with $30 being the goal.

When they hit the "Donate" button, they're asked how much (as little as $1), and get to vote for the next beer brewed. There will be some choices I put out there and they can add one. Your vote will be weighted by how much you donate (i.e. if you donate $15, your vote counts as 50%)

It then takes you to the PayPal Here app, where you slide your card (I'll get a card reader) and make your donation. To ensure it won't just be filling my pockets, I'll only use my paypal debit card to make purchases.

Simple, right?
 
I do like the idea of the Donation application. As a software developer building interops for small stuff like that is fun for me. I would say, if you're going to do that though, Pay then vote. Not the other way around.

Also, you hadn't mentioned previously, but just did in your latest post that you have taps. I know they are a little more blunt, but tap locks for when you aren't around might be an option. At least then you won't be losing your brew when you aren't at home.
 
The beer fund is a good idea, as is having them buy the ingredients. You might be able to get them interested in brewing with you if you approach it the right way. If you can turn them into brew helpers that is always nice. To me it's more fun to brew with friends than by yourself.
 
I like the "buy ingredients/kits" idea. That may be a good thing. They'll see just how much it costs to brew 5 gallons of beer. Invite them to observe/keep you company on brew day so they can see how much time it takes to brew 5 gallons. Just make sure they stick around for the clean up.

I really do enjoy sharing my beer. I wouldn't be able to drink all that I brew... and I wouldn't be able to brew as often as I want without sharing beer. It's a double edged sword I suppose.

Most people are reasonable though. And guys are easy to get a point across to. Just tell them to pony up. Tell them that you don't mind them drinking all that they want, but they're going to have to make up for what they're drinking. Donations, ingredients, kits, or a six pack from time to time. Or... just punch them in the jaw every time they pour a glass of beer. Eventually they'll catch on.

I've actually only had 1 person that I needed to talk to. He understood immediately, and I started getting some really good beer from him. Didn't yell, just explained to him that it costs to brew and it takes time to brew a good beer. Message received. He still drinks my beer... and plenty of it. But I get to drink some really good craft beer that I didn't have to buy. I figure he's spending more per beer than I am, so I'm actually making out.
 
I go with the beer donation/tip jar. I also have a quarter slot machine "for entertainment purposes only" near my bar.
 
Roomates, make em take a trip with you to the HBS and pick up ingredients. Have them fill your CO2 tank for you. Let them see that there is cost included with brewing. Have them help you brew. Tell them straight out that you are happy that they enjoy your beer, but that like food and commercial beer, you are not going to supply them.

If they do not respect the fact that they are drinking your beer, cut off the free beer train. Put a lock on your kegerator door, and shutoff valves on your beer lines. Respect the beer or you get none. It is kinda a d*ck move, but some people aare not respectful and will not learn any other way.
 
I brought a 24 over to the Super Bowl party and told all guests to have their fill. Considering what was already available before my arrival I still left with half of it. I did get a meal and evening of finger food out of the deal, I'm happy with the result.

At the forge (metal working shop) on weekends it's not uncommon for a couple people to bring in beer to share. So far it seems as though nobody has gotten a bad rap as always being "that guy." I am certain that bringing in my own hard work will be more than sufficient to keep all parties happy. Like beer timeshare.

For my place I haven't had a chance to bring many guests. My main couple friends and I have been on a beer exchange for the longest time, I just help myself to his fridge when I'm over there and he does the same here. As far as they go it will be same old routine. For all others I'll likely set out an ingredient jar. Hoping for the same luck with that as other folks here. I really see it being unlikely that somebody thinks homebrew=free.
 

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