i drink a lot of beer

[fluketamer]

i brew about every 4-5 weeks. (5-6 gallon batches) . in 2024 i made about 52 gallons of beer. save for about a total of 2 gallons that my friends have drunk, the rest is gone. it didn't disappear. clearly i drank the other 50 gallons. in only one year. before i brewed seriously i didnt keep track of (or realize) the amount of beer i was drinking. now that i almost never buy commercial beer its very easy (and scary) to see how much i drink now.

anyone else made more aware of there intake by there brew log?

 

[Snuffy]

aww man. you're gonna make me go look now, aren't ya? The problem will be compounded by the fact that I also had periodic beer sessions at pubs and did not just drink at home. And when I took beer for sharing with other guys, they shared theirs with me as well. And I buy stuff from time to time to augment the homebrew - cause I have so much of it, I get tired of it. I think this type of introspection may be counter-productive.

 

[Rish]

i brew about every 4-5 weeks. (5-6 gallon batches) . in 2024 i made about 52 gallons of beer. save for about a total of 2 gallons that my friends have drunk, the rest is gone. it didn't disappear. clearly i drank the other 50 gallons. in only one year. before i brewed seriously i didnt keep track of (or realize) the amount of beer i was drinking. now that i almost never buy commercial beer its very easy (and scary) to see how much i drink now.

anyone else made more aware of there intake by there brew log?

That's only about 18 oz per day if I did my math right. That doesn't sound too bad.

 

[mac_1103]

Yeah, it's not like you drank 50 gallons of whiskey in a year. That would probably be... not good.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Yeah, it's not like you drank 50 gallons of whiskey in a year. That would probably be... not good.

Don't be such a wimp.

 

[MaxStout]

That's very close to my yield for 2024. I brewed about 55 gallons from 11 batches (actual packaged volume, not "batch volume"). That works out to about 19.3 fl. oz per day on average, or 1 Imperial pint.

Of course, that doesn't include beers I've had at bars, restaurants and breweries. I also have wine, cocktails and a few fingers of whisk(e)y from time to time. OTOH, I have shared some of my HB and given some bottles away. In any case, I'm probably not at a "healthy" range of alcohol consumption. Or, based on the Surgeon General's criteria, NONE of us are in the healthy range.

 

[Agent]

I'll be honest in saying that for most folks brewing is like reloading - you don't spend less, you just do it more. Of course, there's usually the health consequences that quickly catch up, which may be why brewing is on the decline.

I say this as someone who is still fiscally focused, being not too many years removed from my broke college days.

Last year I made 200 gallons of beer and shared out about 20 gallons. I've also got some mead, wine, and spirits in various stages. Adding in the fact that I can't have alcohol 7 weeks a year, the daily numbers come out to... a bit higher than average.

Your goal should be to find what fits into your lifestyle and state of health.

 

[Snuffy]

That's only about 18 oz per day if I did my math right. That doesn't sound too bad.

Yeah. That's like 7 or 8 pints over each weekend - which sounds perfectly reasonable. 3 Friday. 3 Saturday. 1 or 2 on Sunday.

 

[GrogNerd]

Don't be such a wimp.

you don't stop if you're comatose

you don't stop til you're done!

 

[GrogNerd]

That's only about 18 oz per day if I did my math right. That doesn't sound too bad.

all I need is a pint a day, if we ever get out of here

 

[redrocker652002]

I tend to go thru a 5 gallon keg in roughly a month and a half to two months. With that said, I do buy commercial beer that I like to offset the times when one of mine just isn't what I am looking for. I think it is probably a good thing that my kegerator only holds one keg but with the Grainfather in my possession now, making beer might be easier. LOL.

 

[Snuffy]

I also just calculated that having two 10oz cups every morning means I drink 57 gallons of coffee per year.
I don't think I like this game.

 

[Snuffy]

all I need is a pint a day, if we ever get out of here

If we ever get out of beer...

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Math can be annoying.

A girl from a cell carrier kept telling me some service only cost $20 per month. I said, "So $480." Twenty bucks per month for the length of the service. She had no idea what I was talking about.

She probably buys a new cell phone every year and has lots of subscriptions. These days, you may have to pay a subscription fee in order to get your car's windshield fluid to work.

I got tired of paying 30 cents for a Hefty bag that cost 2 cents to make, so I went online and found thin bags used by businesses. I bought 1500 for 10 cents each, and I bought 50 even thinner ones for the bottom of the bird cage. The expenses you pay often are what kill you. I told my wife she was spending four figures per year on mangoes.

I end up pouring out a fair amount of beer. I can't keep up with my output. That's okay. Still worth it to have 8 beers on tap.

 

[GrogNerd]

local restaurant uses the cheapest napkins made.

you have to use 10x as many per meal as you would using a napkin maybe costs double.

sAvInG mOnEy!

 

[MaxStout]

Walmart uses the thinnest bags possible. Every checkout clerk double-bags them, otherwise someone's groceries are going to punch through the bottom.
Toilets are low-flush and have been for decades, to "conserve water." Everybody knows you have to flush them twice.
I have a "low flow" shower head. It just means I have to spend more time in the shower.

/The laws of unintended consequences.
//This thread went way off the rails.
///Slashies come in threes. Woo hoo.

 

[AdjunctBrewer]

I end up pouring out a fair amount of beer. I can't keep up with my output. That's okay. Still worth it to have 8 beers on tap.

I always thought this was the norm...

 

[shoengine]

I definitely drink too much, and if I brew less I end up going out more. I left my homebrew club and am trying to change up the frequency of being and then not supplimenting that with retail beer...

 

[FloppyKnockers]

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

I brew 15 gallon batches once a month plus a little more here and there, I drink a lot, I share alot, I brew for a couple events annually as well which is included in my monthly brewdays. And still buy from the pros. This is why I went to 15 gallon batches, well that and it "saves money" right?

 

[mac_1103]

I don't brew to save money; I save my money so I can afford to brew.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Toilets are low-flush and have been for decades, to "conserve water." Everybody knows you have to flush them twice.
I have a "low flow" shower head. It just means I have to spend more time in the shower.

/The laws of unintended consequences.
//This thread went way off the rails.
///Slashies come in threes. Woo hoo.

This house came with three Briggs Vacuity toilets. They were made back in the infancy of water-waste hysteria. Very poor design. Can't be plunged without two people to make it work. Briggs abandoned the model, so when the gaskets on the tanks fail, there are no parts available.

I don't know what it cost in terms of money, manpower, and resources to install these awful toilets, but I have ripped two out and taken them to the landfill, where they will return to nature in about a billion years. Isn't repair more eco-friendly than replacement? Of course, Briggs doesn't actually care. They just wanted to look concerned for the gullible wives of homeowners who buy toilets. "Honey, don't you care about the planet's future?"

The other original cans were 5-gallon beauties. Still flushing like they were new.

I got Toto 1.6-gallon toilets, from Japan. Drake and Entrada. I love how they give toilets fancy names. YOU'RE NOT LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST UNLESS YOU'RE SITTING ON A MARAUDER!!

The Japanese really know their toilets. Even though these are low-flow, they are rated at a staggering 2.2 POUNDS of poo. Like they're expecting Oprah to sit on Michael Moore's lap after a grueling session at Golden Corral. I can flush practically anything. Plumbing flow restrictors I've yanked out. Those silly trigger locks that come with new guns. Margarine and soy products guests bring into my house because they forgot the rules. Anything.

Green isn't the problem. Green is great. Stupid green is the problem.

But decent people always do the courtesy flush, so they're still 3.2-gallon toilets.

I keep working on my showers to increase the flow illegally. I would like to order shower handles from Europe, Egypt, Singapore, or Turkey, where you can still get a real shower. I was in complete awe of the showers in those places. I have never felt as clean here. Honestly, it's worth it to go to Turkey or Singapore just to take a bath. Go to the Carlton in Singapore and ask for a luxury room with the combination shower and bath that has its own door. You can lie in the tub in the dark while the shower hoses you with hot water for hours.

Here's something really funny. I had two Chinese front-load eco-washers in a row. Samsung and LG. I always smelled like mildew, because it's literally impossible to keep this type of machine from growing fungus. If you have a modern front-loader, you smell that way, too, so you know what I mean. I bought myself a beautiful Maytag commercial job that has like three settings and no computer.

I can't browse the web on it, and it doesn't record my data and report me to the EPA like a good modern washer should, but it gets stuff really clean in 27 minutes, and it will last 20 years. Zero fungus.

It has two basic settings: Normal and Deep Water. That's the funny part. On "Normal," it's good for about 10 pairs of socks. You never use "Normal" unless it's a tiny load. Deep Water is actually normal. It takes like 30 gallons. Wonderful. Maytag put the "Normal" setting on the machine to get under the radar. The engineers must have laughed like hell.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Da fuq?

 

[MaxStout]

This house came with three Briggs Vacuity toilets. They were made back in the infancy of water-waste hysteria. Very poor design. Can't be plunged without two people to make it work. Briggs abandoned the model, so when the gaskets on the tanks fail, there are no parts available.

I don't know what it cost in terms of money, manpower, and resources to install these awful toilets, but I have ripped two out and taken them to the landfill, where they will return to nature in about a billion years. Isn't repair more eco-friendly than replacement? Of course, Briggs doesn't actually care. They just wanted to look concerned for the gullible wives of homeowners who buy toilets. "Honey, don't you care about the planet's future?"

The other original cans were 5-gallon beauties. Still flushing like they were new.

I got Toto 1.6-gallon toilets, from Japan. Drake and Entrada. I love how they give toilets fancy names. YOU'RE NOT LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST UNLESS YOU'RE SITTING ON A MARAUDER!!

The Japanese really know their toilets. Even though these are low-flow, they are rated at a staggering 2.2 POUNDS of poo. Like they're expecting Oprah to sit on Michael Moore's lap after a grueling session at Golden Corral. I can flush practically anything. Plumbing flow restrictors I've yanked out. Those silly trigger locks that come with new guns. Margarine and soy products guests bring into my house because they forgot the rules. Anything.

Green isn't the problem. Green is great. Stupid green is the problem.

But decent people always do the courtesy flush, so they're still 3.2-gallon toilets.

I keep working on my showers to increase the flow illegally. I would like to order shower handles from Europe, Egypt, Singapore, or Turkey, where you can still get a real shower. I was in complete awe of the showers in those places. I have never felt as clean here. Honestly, it's worth it to go to Turkey or Singapore just to take a bath. Go to the Carlton in Singapore and ask for a luxury room with the combination shower and bath that has its own door. You can lie in the tub in the dark while the shower hoses you with hot water for hours.

Here's something really funny. I had two Chinese front-load eco-washers in a row. Samsung and LG. I always smelled like mildew, because it's literally impossible to keep this type of machine from growing fungus. If you have a modern front-loader, you smell that way, too, so you know what I mean. I bought myself a beautiful Maytag commercial job that has like three settings and no computer.

I can't browse the web on it, and it doesn't record my data and report me to the EPA like a good modern washer should, but it gets stuff really clean in 27 minutes, and it will last 20 years. Zero fungus.

It has two basic settings: Normal and Deep Water. That's the funny part. On "Normal," it's good for about 10 pairs of socks. You never use "Normal" unless it's a tiny load. Deep Water is actually normal. It takes like 30 gallons. Wonderful. Maytag put the "Normal" setting on the machine to get under the radar. The engineers must have laughed like hell.

 

[Snuffy]

If we ever get out of beer...

View attachment 866312

I never noticed before that actors James Coburn and Christopher Lee are in this picture.

 

[GrogNerd]

Walmart uses the thinnest bags possible.

our county charges 5¢ a bag.

double-bagging not an option.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I bought 600 plastic straws, so now I don't worry about driving through reality-challenged jurisdictions.

 

[mac_1103]

Waxed paper straws have worked just fine since 1888.

 

[Lampy]

Looping back onto the main topic: I found that I probably consumed about 40gal (320 pints) of beer/cider/mead/hooch this past year. That is roughly the same as 2023. Because I usually give up alcohol for Advent and Lent this comes out to just north of a pint per day (~1.05). However, I don't drink everyday so that is concentrated into mostly weekends and holidays, during which time I typically goes for 2-3 pints per day (more rarely 1 or 4 pints).

 

[whoaru99]

FWIW, whilst the numbers vary some depending where you look, per Wiki, highest per capita consumption is Czech Republic at 128L (roughly 34gal). USA is a little more than 1/2 that at 73L (about 19gal).

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Waxed paper straws have worked just fine since 1888.

They get soggy and collapse. Have you not noticed? Wait...you WERE born before 2000, right? If not, never mind.

 

[mac_1103]

They get soggy and collapse.

No, they work just fine. Unless you expect them to last thru a 64 oz super big gulp or something.

And yes, I was born before 2000. But after 1888. Not sure what that has to do with anything.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

No, they get soggy and fall apart. I remember them. Drink fast, or the straw collapses.

And sea creatures don't eat American straws or bags. We use landfills.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

The biggest problem with paper straws as I see it is that they will never achieve the prestigious designation of 'silly'.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

 

[hilljack13]

I contemplated creating this same type of thread. Around Sept/Oct I started to wonder how much I beer I was drinking. Only because I started kegging and at 5 gal each I knew I had gone through a few. As a rough estimate, including all the kegs and commercial I could remember I was right at 60 gal in 2024. I was a bit shocked and am going to have to try and cut it back a bit. I have put on ~30lbs in past two years, where the drinking has picked up and the workouts have slowed way down.

 

[shoengine]

I contemplated creating this same type of thread. Around Sept/Oct I started to wonder how much I beer I was drinking. Only because I started kegging and at 5 gal each I knew I had gone through a few. As a rough estimate, including all the kegs and commercial I could remember I was right at 60 gal in 2024. I was a bit shocked and am going to have to try and cut it back a bit. I have put on ~30lbs in past two years, where the drinking has picked up and the workouts have slowed way down.

At 6'1" I'm supposed to be around 190... currently at 231!

 

[hilljack13]

At 6'1" I'm supposed to be around 190... currently at 231!

Well, at 5'8" I was 150 out of high school and my first enlistment....now busting ~205ish.

 

[Snuffy]

Used to be, I could shake off the holiday pudge by the end of January. Nowadays the Christmas ale, pecan pie and eggnog tend to hang on until spring. Luv handles are much harder to eliminate once they've wrapped around and joined in the middle.

 

[Dland]

Here's something really funny. I had two Chinese front-load eco-washers in a row. Samsung and LG. I always smelled like mildew, because it's literally impossible to keep this type of machine from growing fungus.

I've got a front end washer, not Chinese though. You are right about the mildew problem, but there is a simple fix; Put some PBW though it every now & then, works well on dishwashers too when they get funky.

Anyway, on back topic, I typicaly brew 20+ 10 gallon batches a year, and seldom dump any of it, but seldom drink anything else but my homebrew, I share some of it with friends and family, but not a huge percentage.

However, homebrewing did not highten my awareness of overconsumtion, since I pereviously had a standing delivery order for two cases of high end (& high test) beer which arrived from the local liquer store each Thrusday. Contrary to the reports of many, I'm actually saving money (if you don't count my time) with homebrewing, and drinking better beer, if I do say so myself.