Diary of a Mad Brewer

[au1991rx]

Setting: Christmas party.. 25 newbies (and their spouses) .. They all know my new hobby but .. can it really taste good??
Natural Progression: 1) This is pretty good. Lotsa flavor.
2) How did he make this?? This is good beer.
3) I could do this, I wonder if my wife would care?
4) This is good beer. Screw the wife.
5) Call me tomorrow.
Anybody else every experience this???

 

[Torchiest]

Not exactly. So far I've mainly been getting guys that used to brew into it again. There are at least three guys that have the fever again thanks to my passion for brewing.

 

[gavinski]

Friends and relatives starting to show some interest! It would be good if I had a collegue or two but hell it tastes good and its hell cheap!

 

[RichBrewer]

Over the years I've gotten 2 guys to try home brewing. One of them seems to like it and has brewed again but the other one made some pretty crappy beer and stopped after 1 batch. I've gotten some other folks interested but we will see.

 

[david_42]

Just about everyone I socialize with is either a homebrewer or ONLY drinks wine because beer is for ... winos.

Introduced one guy to it, but he sold his local business & I don't see him any more.

 

[rdwj]

I've got a handful of people that are interested, but none that have actually invested any time or money into brewing

 

[dcbrewmeister]

Lotsa interest, yup, lotsa - You brew (meaning me) and I'll watch and drink the beer you have already made. Or the other is true - brew one batch and realize it's a lot of work and never do it again deciding buying it is easier.

Sadly, I live on property with a friend of mine of 15+ years. One of his friends is a lush I've banned him - 50 foot minimum. Hell he drinks 3 beers to my 1.

This topic (close) is one of my pet-peaves about this hobby - every person I know and people I meet have an interest in it - until they find out how much effort goes into making a good brew - then all they want to do is drink it. I have one person who as long as I give some advanced warning (I'll be brewing Sunday and it being Wednesday) he'll show up and help.

 

[teu1003]

I took a keg of beer that won an award in a competition to a holiday party attended by 140 people. after 4 hours, about 3 pints were gone ... i sadly took my keg home and my neighbor (who loves homebrew) and i pretty much wrecked the keg in the following week. it is fine beer.

the average guy (or girl) doesnt enjoy homebrew ... bmc have no worries. i enjoy the commeraderie of the people i meet with once a month at my brew club ... we swap beer and stories.

there is a general disdain among homebrewers for bmc and the people who drink it but lets face it, they know how to appeal to a mass audience. next time you go to your local beer store, count the cases of coors lite on the floor ... then count the BOTTLES of, say, troegs hopback amber, an extraordinary beer.

I LOVE brewing beer and drinking the results, but it IS discouraging that the ONLY people I really share it with are other home brewers and the occasional acquaintance or relative who get temporatily infected with my enthusiasm and shares a pint or two.

i have children of drinking age and they wont touch it. my daughter's bf tasted my beer once and remarked "tastes like ass" ...

naturally, i put THAT comment in the same hopper with his opinions on the music or movies he likes ... you have to consider the source.

my son in law (a bmc drinker) chose a wine cooler when his only other alternative was my beer.

In the 2 years i have been brewing beer, i have yet to have a single person get beyond a feigned and polite fascination with the process.

 

[brewman !]

This post strikes a cord with me.

Homemade beer has a bad rap. So people are dis interested before they even know about you brewing it. Actually, its probably worse than that... they probably don't want to taste your beer and if it tastes different from the regular Coors/Miller/Bud that they drink then it must be wrong.

My wife's brother in law's father makes his own beer. From cheap kits. Without boiling. And judging from the state of their house, sanitation is a foreign concept.

I can take a sip without wincing. And believe me, I've tried.

And why read a book about something that you can learn from old wives' tales ? After all they've been brewing beer since before we can remember. Do you think they boiled it back then ? And why buy fancy ingredients or go all grain when you can buy the $10 kit at the supermarket ?

And then I find people to pretty apathetic about things in general. People are well contented to sit around, eat, drive their vehicles, play video games, shop and complain.

Put together some stuff to brew beer ? Read ? Learn ? Wash things ? Bottle ? Man, that sounds like work ! You must really love beer ! And then they wonder why they are bored with their lives !

I don't have any friends that brew. But I have several that sure like my brews. As does my wife, who, incidentally, is happy to see me start brewing again. Something about a brown ale I used to make and then there was that wheat beer... and she isn't even really much of a beer drinker ! I take that as a compliment.

I think I've got a few friends that are going to brew with me. What that means is on brew day they will show up and do some cleaning and watching in exchange for $20 and a carboy full of wort.

You get out of life what you put into it. I have a couple hobbies. Brewing is my only "housebound" hobby. I'm happy to have it truthfully. I've met a couple good guys doing it. I learned a few things. I takes up as much of my idle time as I want it to. It gives me a lot of pride. Other than the building part, its a complete change from what I usually do. It gives my mind a rest. There is something soothing about tending a kettle and the aroma of hops and boiling wort. Heck, I don't even mind bottling sometimes !