Buying Beer As A Homebrewer

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Plastic Brewkettle

Plastic Brewkettle

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2022
Messages
46
Reaction score
71
Location
Lomita
I've noticed on several threads people mentioning buying beer. This surprised me because one huge reason I got back into homebrewing was so that I would not ever have to buy beer again. Since I can make it cheaper and at least as good (and many times better) as store bought, I see no need to purchase beer. In fact, when people bring me 6 packs of this or that, I find myself annoyed that I have to drink a few inferior beers because it is against the law to throw drinkable beer away (as we all know).
 
I still buy beer because there are a lot of really good beers out there, I want to try them all! I buy some beers to fill holes in my inventory (I have a stout in the fermenter and one in the keg conditioning but none to drink right now.) so I popped down to the store to pick up a very good oatmeal stout from a excellent local craft brewery. I also buy beer for inspiration to brew myself. I have only recently started trying German beers and found I really enjoy them, I will be brewing a schwarzbier and a dunkel soon because I've bought several examples and really enjoyed them.

I understand you don't want to buy beer anymore, and that's great. Myself and many others enjoy buying beers and appreciating just how good many of the breweries in the world are at producing amazing and unique beers.
 
I buy types of beer that are difficult for me to re-create with homebrew, or special beers that I wouldn't want a whole batch of. If I visit a brewery that has good beer, I buy a couple crowlers to take with me and to support them a bit. But overall, my beer purchases are very infrequent.

I used to buy beer for the bottles, but with 12 cases of long neck bottles and counting, I don't need any more. Besides, more and more craft beers are being packaged in cans now.
 
Plastic Brewkettle said:
I've noticed on several threads people mentioning buying beer. This surprised me because one huge reason I got back into homebrewing was so that I would not ever have to buy beer again. Since I can make it cheaper and at least as good (and many times better) as store bought, I see no need to purchase beer. In fact, when people bring me 6 packs of this or that, I find myself annoyed that I have to drink a few inferior beers because it is against the law to throw drinkable beer away (as we all know).
Click to expand...
Truth^^^

Over Christmas break our daughter and son-in-law were visiting. SIL is a fairly sophisticated beer consumer. On a brief "resupply" mission he asked if there was anything we needed. I slipped him a 'Benjamin' and told him to get an assortment of beers, since we were rapidly depleting the contents of the kegs I had on hand.

He asked," What kinds?", and I said "Local, and a variety." Being from Florida, "local" had an entirely different meaning to him. But he did get a variety, most of it barely drinkable. Virtually all of it still taking up room in the beer fridge. I try to choke one down on occasion, but only if I have a proper 'palate cleanser' within arm's reach.
 
Plastic Brewkettle said:
I've noticed on several threads people mentioning buying beer. This surprised me because one huge reason I got back into homebrewing was so that I would not ever have to buy beer again. Since I can make it cheaper and at least as good (and many times better) as store bought, I see no need to purchase beer. In fact, when people bring me 6 packs of this or that, I find myself annoyed that I have to drink a few inferior beers because it is against the law to throw drinkable beer away (as we all know).
Click to expand...
I learned how to cook when I was young, in my 20's I took it to advanced levels, there is little i cannot prepare - I STILL like to go to a restaurant. It never once occurred to me that I would never have to eat out again!

Beer is much the same. I learned how to brew at a time when I had little access to variety, and wished to try a wide range of styles and flavors without going on a long road trip or a scavenger hunt to find something new. I like to think after 35 years i have become good at it. But it has not once occurred to me to give up buying beer! Beer is an endless evolution. There are new styles, changes, and adaptations. There are dozens of styles and flavors i have never experienced and without that experience I have no way to gauge my own efforts against the real thing. (If I had never tried various European lagers, I never would have known how varied they were from one another, and how different from them my own first attempts were from them!)

As for the idea that my beer is superior to everyone and anything I can buy . . . . I have a lot of thoughts on that! But I have been told to play nice in the sandbox so will save them for another day. I will just say I have had an awful lot of superior beers in my time and a whole lot of them were made by professional brewers and were purchased in stores
 
Same reasons as some of the above; pipeline low, want to try something new (that I might clone later), and need bottles for competitions. My husband is always looking for something new to try, and brings a few home every week; a couple of them have been cloned and are staples in my rotation. And some may scoff, but sometimes I just want something light and fizzy to pound a few while working in the garage or the yard.
 
Plastic Brewkettle said:
In fact, when people bring me 6 packs of this or that, I find myself annoyed that I have to drink a few inferior beers because it is against the law to throw drinkable beer away (as we all know).
Click to expand...


i usually keep those in the crisper drawers under my kegs, and save them to split back with the person that gave them to me...

and yeah pipeline dry, i'll grab a couple 30 packs of miller till i'm back on my feet...kinda like unbrewing insurance for brewing.... :mug:

i just had to buy a 15 pack of some InBev local beer....before that, 2 years ago i went through 3x30packs till i got a batch in the kegs...

remember Cider is a good quickie in case you realize you're low....when ever i get the sinking feeling, this is the last keg, and i'm not going to have time to brew, in goes the apple juice and yeast!
 
At this point in my brew exploration I am trying a lot of different styles. A big part of the fun for me is reading through recipes and ideas until something strikes me as the perfect next adventure. But at the same time, there are moments when I just want to drink something that I don't have on hand.

Right now I just finished carbonating an oatmeal stout, have a Dubbel finishing up in the fermentation tank and a well hopped amber on deck to brew. But driving home the other day I had to have an IPA, so I grabbed a 6 of FW's Union Jack and got happy. I brew because its fun, and because I love beer. But drinking beer that others have made fills the same needs... it's fun and I love beer.
 
I only buy beer on holidays when I am away from home because I have a problem carrying the necessary quantities of home-brewed beer. Other times I can sometimes buy some interesting new beer to try and compare with the ones I brew myself. Under normal circumstances, I see no reason why I should do that.
 
For years I only drank what I brewed but after several moves and not brewing I had to buy beer. Now that I’m getting back to brewing my goal is to get back to just drinking what I brew but until I have a solid pipeline I’m going to have to buy, not as much now.
 
I'm often disappointed by commercial brews, but some are terrific, though costly compared to homebrew.

With recent malt price jumps the difference has shrunk. But the price of interesting commercial beer also keeps rising. Dang.

Almost all my inspiration as a brewer has come from beers I bought. Conversely (sort of), the high cost of the beers I enjoyed inspired me to learn to brew back in 1981 when I had essentially no disposable income.

Brew on! 🍺
 
Sadly my pipeline runs dry far too often and for too long...

I also have a great beer store here that offers a great selection of singles that let's me sample any style that I may have a desire for at that moment. Helps me to avoid brewing any kind of style that that "sounded cool" and getting stuck with 5 gal of something I don't have any interest in drinking (I am talking to you pumpkin ales!).
 
Never buy beer again? What a sad thought. If I had to drink only what I brewed, I'd be very bored. I don't buy nearly as much, so yes some savings, but equipment and supply costs being what they are, most of us spend hundreds more than any lifetime beer savings. But I buy to try new styles and to support local breweries
 
I have 9 taps of homebrew ready at all times, but I like an occasional stout or porter that I don`t want to tie up a tap with 5 gallons of, so I may buy a couple when I`m thirsty for those types. Other than that, I almost never buy beer except Oktoberfest which I keep in my shop refrigerator. I NEVER bottle my homebrew, so an occasional commercial beer while I`m working in the shop is good.
 
I never by large amounts of a single beer, but I'm always curious to discover new beers. And if your homebrew really is so much superior to each and every commercially available beer, well, it's time you open a brewery and share your divine nectar with the world. ;)
 
I buy beer once in a blue moon (but not Blue Moon, that stuff is rank). It's not out of principle, pride or stubbornness. It's just that I can't stand the pain of shelling out what the local liquor store wants for a 4 pack of Belgian.

But when I travel, and walk into a store with hard to find (in my area) offerings, I might just declare vacation rules and load up the trunk. YOLO indeed.
 
I've not bought beer, for drinking at home, since I started brewing in 2010. I really don't miss the commercial beers out there. IF I'm out someplace and I want a beer, I typically pick a Guinness. Last time I tried something else (from a brew pub) it was a disappointment. I don't drink enough to have supply chain issues. Plus, I keg a smaller portion of the batches than I put into cans. With people coming over to get the portion canned, I run out of that first.

With having read how some breweries will filter out the yeast they use to ferment a batch/recipe, and then introduce a different strain to bottle condition/carbonate, I don't see the point in getting beers to get the yeast you think you will. Never mind how I can easily get the yeast I want for my recipes.
 
I still buy beers. Well first I buy lagers because even though I’ve been brewing for 25 years this year my ability to brew lagers is still very limited at best. Due to equipment constraints. And while others may believe they can brew beers that are superior to commercial breweries - I do not. Especially when it comes to talking about anything German.

Second we have several great area breweries here in PA. And at least one great local brewpub whose owners are our neighbors.

Like others have said, I sometimes want the bottles. That hasn’t always worked out. You have to watch out for twist offs and there are some bottles like Founders uses that even though they are not twist offs they don’t cap right with a homebrew capper due to the way the top of the bottle is made. Not enough lip to get enough pressure with the capper.

I’m on my 10th 3 gallon batch since the start of the year and I’ve probably bought at least that much also. I usually buy by the 6 pack because I lke variety. I buy the occasional 12 pack of something I really like.
 
Golddiggie said:
I don't see the point in getting beers to get the yeast you think you will. Never mind how I can easily get the yeast I want for my recipes.
Click to expand...
Breweries often bottle with a different yeast from the one the beer was fermented with. So this is true - often times people culturing yeast from a bottle are not getting the yeast they think they are getting. There are some threads and info out there on some of this.
 
65B4AEDE-6F26-4ED0-8C33-0C90A3D8BF2B.jpeg
 

Similar threads

J
Non-alcoholic homebrew - buzzed feeling?
Replies
7
Views
599
mashdar
mashdar
N
Underrated Beer List
Replies
28
Views
903
mashdar
mashdar
bwible
Does Homebrew Hit You Harder Than Commercial Beer?
2
Replies
60
Views
3K
bracconiere
bracconiere
Clint Yeastwood
Flavorful Beer for Women?
Replies
39
Views
2K
PashMaddle
PashMaddle
Clint Yeastwood
Can you Make a Really Good Lager with Corn?
Replies
15
Views
1K
DuncB
D
Williams Brewing 300

Latest posts

Back
Top