MrEcted1 said:
Okay, the guy in question (his name is Nick) actually works with me. I brought up a couple of the points that you guys brought up. I told him "Well, since you don't grow your own hops, grains...etc then that means you're not a real homebrewer either" and he replied with something along the lines of the following (keep in mind that I definitely don't follow these beliefs)
"Sure I don't grow my own hops, but someone competing in a chile cookoff doesn't grow their own tomatoes, onions, garlic...etc. But you can't take a can of staggs, add a few spices and call it your own. The guy who wins the competition knows how to create chili from scratch"
So I guess he's trying to imply that extract brewers just take a few ingredients and the premade extact and make a brew, while the AG brewer takes control of the whole process. That's coming from him. I'm trying to get him to setup an account on this website so he can debate this himself...
I told him that just because we don't mash the grains ourselves doesn't mean that we don't have good control over the beer. This guy is just too proud of himself. I respect any brewer, AG, extract, Mr Beer, it doesn't matter... if you brew your own beer then more power to ya!
Like talking to a wall, isn't it? Using extract is not even in the same ballpark as adding spices to canned chili. Okay, maybe, just maybe, I can see a valid comparison between "adding a few spices to canned chili" and those prehopped, no-boil, just-add-warm-water kits. Maybe. But good god, man, using extract in your brew is akin to, say, using canned tomatoes in chili. I'm a freakin MASTER chili chef, and I still use canned tomatoes sometimes.
The bottom line is, this "friend" of yours wants to draw a big fat distinction between two methods of making beer, when in fact, the distinction is pretty small. Brewing methods vary in degrees, and there's no real
fundamental distinction between the two, just a variation in degrees.
Furthermore, he keeps trying to justify his irrational elitism by making connections back to cooking, as if that is some universal touchstone of defining your dedication to your craft. Quite simply, the
fundamental distinction that this guy craves just isn't there. He can draw connections to chili cookoffs or whatever other hobby he wants, but, to me, it seems like all he's doing is trying to bolster his ego by portraying
his method as somehow universally superior. I kinda feel sorry for the guy...especially now that I've learned that his beers aren't very good.