Drink HomeBrew Only...

[NickTheGreat]

At home, I drink homebrew 85% of the time. Sometimes I need inspiration, and sometimes I feel like an IPA and I don't have an IPA.

 

[NTXBrauer]

With the harvest season here and all the seasonal craft brews hitting the shelf, I can agree it would be difficult to pass on trying something new.

 

[unionrdr]

Yea,verilly. Not to mention,brewing some fall colored goodness as well...

 

[cuda6pak]

I have the opposite problem. I tend to buy MORE beer now that I brew than what I did before.

 

[butterpants]

I don't buy session beers anymore, make plenty of um.... but I definitely buy more craft beer now than before I started homebrewing.

Not sure I'll ever be able to exactly recreate the brews I truly love so after trying, I buy.

 

[two_hearted]

75/25 homebrew/craft brew

I love to try new things and I don't have the patience to brew certain styles (sours).

 

[Clonefan94]

I mostly drink my homebrew. Kind of tough to put a % on it for me though, but I'd say it's probably around 90% of the time I'm drinking homebrew. I have been, for the most part, saving my commercial drinking for going out to dinner or with friends to a bar. Since the football season started though, I will admit I've purchased some Miller Lite to have on hand. I love watching college football and drinking beer with friends. So, to keep from getting wasted and drinking 2000 calories, I split up the drinking and put some miller lites in there.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

The whole reason I got into HB was to cut back on beer costs. While I have grown to enjoy the hobby itself in addition to the beer, it would still seem kinda pointless if I was brewing and still regularly buying commercial.

I understand this rationale... For as much as we joke that "it's cheaper to brew your own" is just a lie to justify this hobby to SWMBO, it actually is cheaper as long as you don't go off the deep end equipment-wise.

For me, though, I got into the hobby because I want to craft my own amazing-tasting beer, and the money savings [or not] are just gravy. Brewing does happen to be a great way to bring down overall beer costs so I don't feel bad about buying some stupid-priced bottles like the Evil Twin Femme Fatale Brett IPA that I drank yesterday

 

[NickTheGreat]

I mostly drink my homebrew. Kind of tough to put a % on it for me though, but I'd say it's probably around 90% of the time I'm drinking homebrew. I have been, for the most part, saving my commercial drinking for going out to dinner or with friends to a bar. Since the football season started though, I will admit I've purchased some Miller Lite to have on hand. I love watching college football and drinking beer with friends. So, to keep from getting wasted and drinking 2000 calories, I split up the drinking and put some miller lites in there.

I can smoke a helluva brisket but I still keep hotdogs in the fridge. Same thing

 

[DrunkleJon]

Sorry, can't help myself

They’ve done studies, you know. 60 percent of the time, we HBTers drink homebrew every time.

 

[Grossy]

I drink exclusively my homebrew at home. I find it to be personal failure if my pipeline runs dry.

As for craft beer, that's what I sample when I am out at bars.

 

[GrogNerd]

let's ask one of my brew club buddies.

looks like homebrew on the bottom-right

 

[NTXBrauer]

That my friend is a nicely stocked beer fridge...quite the selection.

 

[plumber_bob]

My pipeline is far from full enough for me to drink only homebrew.
I'm working on that tho.

I'm also working on some types of good light beers that I can drink and still maintain myself.

I'd love to be able to brew 45 gallon batches of light, then I'd only buy reference beers.

pb

 

[m3n00b]

I have a huge pipeline going. We could live off homebrew for 6 months if we needed to.

 

[chawagi]

I understand this rationale... For as much as we joke that "it's cheaper to brew your own" is just a lie to justify this hobby to SWMBO, it actually is cheaper as long as you don't go off the deep end equipment-wise.
For me, though, I got into the hobby because I want to craft my own amazing-tasting beer, and the money savings [or not] are just gravy. Brewing does happen to be a great way to bring down overall beer costs so I don't feel bad about buying some stupid-priced bottles like the Evil Twin Femme Fatale Brett IPA that I drank yesterday

This is where I caught a break. Most of my equipment was hand-me-down from other local HB'ers, or things people were throwing away that could be converted to brew -gear. What I couldn't beg, borrow, or steal, I could make at work. I think my total equipment investment is still well under $150. Biggest one time investment so far has been the burner and pot which was only $60.

With yeast washing & harvesting, Malta-Goya starters, propane filling instead of exchange, and local grain & hop purchases, I'm well under $.50 a bottle on average.

In essence, I'm not really saving money on beer, I'm just drinking premium quality beers at swill prices.

 

[Orthobrewsky]

Gotta keep the tastebuds calibrated.

That's right; all instruments can drift over time.

I drink homebrew almost all the time, but I do like to buy some special brews, especially when I go to the big city or out of state. There is certainly many times more expense per beer, but I justify it as "research."

 

[Schemy]

I drink homebrew probably 80% of the time. I only drink craft when researching a style or out a craft beer bars/breweries. I now have capacity for 9 taps, so I'm rarely hurting for homebrew.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Malta-Goya starters

This is a thing? And if it is, is it cheaper than DME + water?

Edit: Well, I will be fermented hot and full of Diacetyl. People do make starters with Malta Goya. I still stand by my question of if it is more cost effective than a dme or lme starter.

 

[13ONK]

With all the money I've spent on my homebrew recently, SWMBO won't let me buy much commercial beer. I still do enjoy a good craft brew every now and then but for the most part it's all homebrew. I just need to thicken my pipeline so I don't run dry between batches.

 

[chawagi]

This is a thing? And if it is, is it cheaper than DME + water?

Malta Goya is basically unfermented & carbonated LME. A six pack of 7oz bottles at Walmart is about $3. I use about 1-2 bottles per starter depending on the OG I'm shooting for, so max $1.20 per starter. I don't know how that compares to DME, but I personally would have to also add an additional $7-$10 for shipping if I used DME rather than make the 2 mile trip to WM or just add it to the grocery list when I see I'm getting low.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Learn something new every day. Thanks.

 

[chawagi]

Learn something new every day. Thanks.

Right on, Man.

 

[Schemy]

I drink homebrew probably 80% of the time. I only drink craft when researching a style or out a craft beer bars/breweries. I now have capacity for 9 taps, so I'm rarely hurting for homebrew.

 

[Malty_Dog]

I probably drink homebrew 60-70% of the time. Good news is I really like most of my brews and wouldn't mind at all if that number was closer to 90+%. Pipeline's getting reloaded pretty soon :rockin:

 

[mattd2]

With yeast washing & harvesting, Malta-Goya starters, propane filling instead of exchange, and local grain & hop purchases, I'm well under $.50 a bottle on average.
In essence, I'm not really saving money on beer, I'm just drinking premium quality beers at swill prices.

That's the problem when people try and justify homebrew as being cheaper the store bought swill... they need to move to a place like NZ where macro swill is still $1.5+ / 330ml due to the alcohol tax , it costs me (with most of the cost saving methods you mention) about $0.40 per 330ml so at a dozen a week thats just under $700 per year I can spend on gear