Do you make beer for you, or for others?

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Cromwell

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I made a sort-of Sapporo knock off, just with more flavor and body. I like it a lot and I'll drink it with most any asian food. I offered to give my son some (he's 22) and he said no thanks, he didn't like it that much.

I made a honey orange Kolsch, and I tried it last week. Don't really like it. A little too bitter for me, almost no orange taste, and too much body. He loved it. He says it's a little like a ShockTop only much better. So I gave him over half the batch.

Do you brew primarily for yourself, or for people who will drink your beer?
My kid's opinion matters to me.
 
I make it for me. I'm no sucker. I'd make it for others if they paid for the ingredients... Or if my significant other, who I loved, enjoyed good-tasting beer and wanted something unique from time to time. But I have no inclinations of ever cloning subpar swill like Bud Light or Shock Top.

If your friends and family come along someday and enjoy the beers you typically brew, then great. If not, and they continually whine about how they don't share your particular tastes, well then they should brew their own beer. I'm not partaking in this hobby so I can impress others; I'm doing it so I can drink exactly the type of quality and flavors that I enjoy.
 
I struggle with this one too. I mean, I pay for the ingredients. I should make what I want, right? I recently bottled at Magic Hat #9 clone because it's my ladyfriend's favorite beer. I also just recently discovered that I don't like Magic Hat #9. Womp womp.

I say brew for you, but share freely with those who are interested. I go to my friend's house every Thursday to watch Archer (since we don't have cable). I pay him with homebrew!
 
I brew for me..
I brew for my GF, she helps pay for the hobby and is supportive
I brew for people who come over, I want to be a hospitable host for craft and crap beer drinkers alike.

I wont make a light american lager, as they are easily and cheaply purchased, and frankly not easily made. I have apfelwein for non craft drinkers and am about to make some Skeeter Pee and see how a Kolsch goes over.
 
I have and will continue to brew entire batches for friends and family. One of my friends loves scotch ale (I do not like it) he asked for a batch and found an award winning recipe on line and together we tweeked it to fit my system. I kept 1 six pack and gave the entire batch to him. My brother has a standing order for a Black Lager that I make for him. I keep 12 he gets the rest. A police officer friend loves Pilsner and asked for a batch ... it is fermenting now... Pilsners are to sweet and light for my tastes so he will get all except for 6 or so.

Yes I brew for others and brew what they like. I love being able to give people my beer and then have them call me when they open the first one to say "Holy jumping Josephine that's good"
 
The thing is, I really like brewing. I don't do this just because I like beer. Actually I didn't like beer all that much when all I could get was light american pilsner. But now that I brew, I really like my own Maibocks, Dubbels, CAPs and hopburst IPA.

So I'm happy when my kids want some beer. I mean raising kids is partly about educating them, right? So if I can show them there's better stuff to be had (made) than what they can buy, I'm doing my job as a parent.

And I didn't mean to say I made an actual Sapporo clone. It's like Sapporo, like a Classic American Pilsner is like Bud Light.
 
I brew for myself. I have made beer for a friends bachelor party and aged a RIS for his wedding in wax topped bottles for the groomsmen, but that's about the extent of it. I will take there suggestions but if im not into it, it doesnt get made. My wife barely ask me to make her beer and when she does, its a hef or wit and I enjoy those.
 
I brew only for me. If someone else happens to like my beer, great. If not, that's fine to. More for me.

+1. This is how I feel. I have a friend or two that sample my beer and appreciate my brews. I don't give it out to too many people. More for me.
 
I brew a little for the wife and my father and friends. It helps to have some support on your side.

We both like wheats for sessioning. So I brewed up a wheat, went to keg it, and she wanted to add raspberry flavoring to it. I thought peach would go better. But heh, sure honey, why not. Only problem is the raspberry tastes like soap. The same raspberry flavoring taste I absolutely HATE in Lost Coasts' Raspberry Brown. She likes it, but I don't dare say it tastes like soap, because then she won't enjoy it as much and I'd be left with a full keg of stuff I don't want to drink. Next time, if she wants the raspberry flavoring, we'll batch prime, then put just enough in for however many she wants to bottle up, or switch brands of flavoring.

I do try to brew a variety to give away as gifts. We end up drinking the rest. It ensures a nice variety is kept on hand because I want to be able to give out samplers. Go figure.
 
I'm happy if someone enjoys my beer, and sometimes I brew specifically for people at work or friends, but I've found a few friends who have such deeply ingrained ideas of what constitutes a good beer that I could not possibly make a beer that they would like. They just couldn't believe that a person could make actual beer at home. Only a factory could produce a quality beer!

And everyone's tastes are different. Even among the craft beer fans there is a wide variety of different palates.
 
I brew at this point mainly for others. I myself enjoy making beer more then anything. Don't get me wrong, I love my beer and try to make things that myself and others will enjoy. I'm starting the process of opening up a nano so I give away a lot of my home brew. Get it out there and get people wanting more. :rockin: Kinda like a drug dealer, only no money exchanged. I always look for an excuse to brew, so if people want more beer, I'm happy to do it. I'm just fortunate I have a job that affords me the opportunity to buy ingredients any time I want and don't really have a brewing budget.
 
I brew for both.

I like making beers I enjoy, but at the same time creating something that someone else likes is just as fulfilling. Half of the fun in making beer is to show other people that you can make something they like.
 
Only problem is the raspberry tastes like soap. The same raspberry flavoring taste I absolutely HATE in Lost Coasts' Raspberry Brown. She likes it, but I don't dare say it tastes like soap, because then she won't enjoy it as much and I'd be left with a full keg of stuff I don't want to drink.

lol, I'm going to have to brew a beer similar to that soon here. My fancee had some the other night and thought it was amazing. "Cherry soda", she called it. She meant it as praise.

Now I just need to figure out a recipe that makes it taste good for her, and that I can also enjoy.
 
I brew because I have several friends who brew. We try to coordinate what we are brewing so we can each sample the other's beers. It's a neat arrangement as it forces all of us to make good beer for the others.
I have an IPA that is in the bottle now that should be good for a swap meet at the end of the month.
 
I brew for anyone that wants to come to my house and drink it. So far i only brew what my wife or myself enjoy. I'm pretty new to brewing and dont bottle so the kegerator in the garage is the only option . I have a regular group of friends that frequent my garage more often now...
 
Me. And Bob. He actually has a lot of input into what I brew, because he has a great palate and will make great suggestions (like, "This beer is great, but I think it would be even better with a nutty hint" or "I think this beer would be even better with a faint earthy note behind the citrus") and then I'll tweak it for next time.

We share our beer with whomever stops over and wants some, but it's always just for us unless I'm brewing for an occasion for someone (rare).
 
I pretty much only brew for myself, but I make more than I can drink. With that said I share with anyone who is interested.

I have brewed one batch for someone else. He's a BMC drinking client of mine who just can't believe homemade beer can be any good, so I brewed BM's Cream of Three Crops for him. I Haven't given it to him yet, as it's still carbing up. I'm only giving him half of the batch, though. I'm looking forward to seeing what he thinks...
 
When deciding what I'm going to brew, I do what I want. Well, I occasionally take a request from the wife.


With each new batch, I usually bottle 10-15 bomber bottles to give away. Partly because I like giving my beer away and partly because I get sick of 5 gallons of the same beer. And then around the holidays ill brew a batch and give all of it away.
 
I brew what I like and am pleasantly surprised by the friends/family that enjoy it as well. I have a friend that makes wine and one that makes salsa. We all keep the other hooked up. They can certainly make requests when they are providing my household with consumables. It is great to enjoy my own beer, but the sharing gives me outside opinions. You just have to accept the constructive criticism once in a great while.
 
60% is for me. 25% is for the wife. The other 15% is for my wife's family reunion each year. I don't do requests from friends unless they are willing to come brew it with me.
 
Me for the larger part,but my inlaws drink it when it's not too hoppy(not very often!) and I enjoy giving a bottle or two to friends and the people who bring back ingredients for me from the world.
 
I brew mostly for others... just don't drink that much. But I do enjoy a well made beer... My wife is the big beer drinker, and she normally has 1 maybe 2 beers on Fri. Sat. and Sun. My friends though can drink with the best of them. After 6 hours of ranch work today my buddy drained 5 bottles while I nursed 1... Always enjoyed cooking and brewing beer is an extension of that. Making beer better than the best craft beers is rewarding in itself. The making for others is the thing....
 
I brew because it is my passion. Sharing my brew and hearing
People's thoughts on it is my favorite aspect. Also, the gf loves it.
 
I love the brewing process, and I like drinking the beer I brew. I also like being generous and passing out my beers to my family and friends. There really isn't a beer that I wouldn't drink, so I try and brew a batch that my family/friends like even if it isn't one I'd normally drink. Example, my father-in-law is a BMC drinker and doesn't like anything "dark" (I.e. with flavor), so im going to brew a cream ale at some point so he can enjoy my homebrew. I'll give him a few 6 packs and share them with him when I'm at his house visiting. If I only brewed for myself, I'd probably only brew IPA's because I'm a creature of habit.
 
One of the coolest things about homebrewing is showing people that there are options. Homebrew can be pretty easy - got all the pots, a food-grade bucket or carboy, and a little guidance, you're good.

Homebrew can seem like a miracle to folks used to buying Bud-in-a-can. Real honest-to-the-guy-upstairs beer is such an old technology - 3000+ years. Just reminding people that it is something that they can do in their own homes without too much effort is a wonderful thing.

Homebrewing - Keeping people plugged into the fact that there was life and happiness before the electrical outlet.
 
I brew mainly for me, though dad drinks his fair share. Will be brewing for an event for the first time this spring. Planning to keep it simple.
 
I brew things that I think I would like. I haven't yet brewed a style I don't like (for example a Rauchbier). However, I do enjoy sharing my creations with others.

I think more than drinking the beer, I like designing the recipe and seeing how it turns out. I also really like the process and work involved on brew day.
 
I brew the styles my wife and I like but also share with close friends. One friend has given me $$ for ingrediens so he gets a few extra bottles on all the batches.
I also exchange with another fellow brewer and we critique each others beer.
 
There are several reasons I brew for not just myself, but others as well. Right now one of the biggest reasons I share my homebrew and will make a custom batch or two for others is to spread the word of the beer lords and all that is holy in brewing. Now, I don't get all Jehovah's witness about it and go door to door asking people if they've found religion in homebrew. Yet. Actually, the assbackwards state of mine is pushing to pass a law to finally legalize homebrewing. The more homebrewers there are, and the more that know about the wonderful products of homebrewing there are, the more likely we will get support and push the legislative body to passing the law. I also brew for friends because I just like knowing that I can make something they really dig. My Irish Red is a staple and I'm pretty sure if I didn't have that available a few times a year, I would probably get lynched. More often that not though, I brew for myself mainly because I really like experimenting. Example: "I wonder what this normal APA recipe would be like if I did a cereal and decoc mash. Sure they're both pointless efforts for the style. But add some flaked corn and/or rolled oats, some foreign (to you) hops, and take your time with the decoc and you're making a completely new beer. Some of the experiments have turned out fantastic, some not so much. But you'll never know until you try. Not to mention it's fun to get a little experience doing something completely out of your normal process.
 
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