Are You A Homebrewer Or A Craftbrewer?

[chappo1970]

@Chappo - perhaps you should define what you think is a craftbrewer rather than use someone else's words to attack them.

Settle Pettle! WTF what attack and where? Bit early to be on the high horse isn't it?

I used the exact words that inspired me to ask the question of the forum. I offered my opinion, which under the current laws of the land I believe I can or is that only permissible by others such as yourself? I did not attack that person personally, I didn't name them or imply who that person is or direct anyone to the thread where is was originally posted. If others picked up where it came from I can't reasonably be held responsible for that, can I? Apparently I can? I used his/her or its views on a very topical matter close to my heart and opened up the debate as it was deemed off topic in the thread it was originally raised in. Is this not reasonable to do?

I don't beat around the bush if wanted to start a **** fight i would have named that person and quoted the thread outright or if the mood took me "Logan Bogan" style, out and out punched 'im the head. I DID NOT WANT THAT. So I suggest you pull your head in, not call out people for no other reason but stir (yes you got a bite from me Kudos to you) and lets just have a reasonable adult and spirited debate for once without the higher than god is mighty cr@p that seems to dominate this forum.

Peace and beers :icon_cheers:

Chappo

 

[bonj]

"I've always said, there's nothing an agnostic can't do, if he doesn't know whether he believes in anything or not" -Monty Python

 

[Murcluf]

Rather than fighting against it, I just registered the domain name "www.aussiecraftbrewer.com".

I can feel a tidal wave of change coming through the forum, and dammit, I wanna make some money off of it

Is that a Parallel Universe forum where a member named citiesville tries to flog small amounts of high quality Australian hops to the unsuspecting Chinese members...???

 

[Snow]

This is got to be biggest w@nk topic on this whole site.

@Chappo - perhaps you should define what you think is a craftbrewer rather than use someone else's words to attack them.

Ha ha ! :lol: Caught you wanking!

Mate settle down. Chappo is not attacking anyone, he is bringing up a logical debate that follows a pretty arrogant statement from the self-proclaimed "Craftbrewer" with a capital "C", no less.

Having said that, I think craftbrewer is a **** term, because we are all just brewers. The only differentiation really, should be whether we are professional or amateur. Someone making good, award winning beer with a Coopers tin and a handful of fresh hops in the secondary is still "crafting" a beer, and if they do a liquid yeast starter and use a temperature controller, and rack to secondary, and are fastidious about sanitation, then they may well be a "better" brewer than a so-called "craftbrewer" who just crushes some grain, soaks it in hot water, boils it and ferments it in the back shed with a packet of Safale. Once we start applying elitist terms to what we do, we're on a slippery slope......

Cheers - Snow.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

"I've always said, there's nothing an agnostic can't do, if he doesn't know whether he believes in anything or not" -Monty Python

My current motto is "Of course I don't know what I'm doing. Do you think I would be doing it if I did?"

I think of myself as someone who brews. It's a short walk from my home up the hill to my brewery and there is definitely an element of craft (and of art) to what I do. I don't do it professionally.

Home-based artisan craft brewer (abbreviated to '******').

Are the Kooinda guys home brewers? Or just one of them?

 

[chappo1970]

Having said that, I think craftbrewer is a **** term, because we are all just brewers. The only differentiation really, should be whether we are professional or amateur. Someone making good, award winning beer with a Coopers tin and a handful of fresh hops in the secondary is still "crafting" a beer, and if they do a liquid yeast starter and use a temperature controller, and rack to secondary, and are fastidious about sanitation, then they may well be a "better" brewer than a so-called "craftbrewer" who just crushes some grain, soaks it in hot water, boils it and ferments it in the back shed with a packet of Safale. Once we start applying elitist terms to what we do, we're on a slippery slope......

Cheers - Snow.

Exactly my sentiments Snow, i wish i could have said it that way myself. :icon_cheers: Instead of going on a rant.

Truth be told I don't mind the term "Amateur Brewer". It says it all with out the perceived "homebrew" stigma.

Chap Chap

 

[lonte]

My $0.02 is that I have found that most people's reaction to "home brew" (even from commercial craft brew drinkers) is that horrified look as they recall their uncle's paint-thinner batches of the 70's. I also find it too long winded to go the "... yes but not supermarket tins, I start with Barley ..." route but find that the term craftbrewer is meaningless to most people and they end up simplifying it to 'home brewer' anyway.

I have been extremely tempted of late to just introduce myself as a brewer and if they choose to conclude that is my profession rather than hobby, so be it.

It would be nice to find a term that differentiates what we do these days (be it kit, All grain or whatever) from the bath-tub/garbage bin shockers of old but I think that might be a generation or so away.

 

[HoppingMad]

I'm an agnostic.

If people want to call me one or the other so be it but labels don't concern me.

It's about the beer for me, not the job description. :chug:

Hopper.

 

[lonte]

I'm a garage brewer. :mellow: :wub:

I allow my wife to park her car in my brewery

 

[absinthe]

My $0.02 is that I have found that most people's reaction to "home brew" (even from commercial craft brew drinkers) is that horrified look as they recall their uncle's paint-thinner batches of the 70's. I also find it too long winded to go the "... yes but not supermarket tins, I start with Barley ..." route but find that the term craftbrewer is meaningless to most people and they end up simplifying it to 'home brewer' anyway.

I have been extremely tempted of late to just introduce myself as a brewer and if they choose to conclude that is my profession rather than hobby, so be it.

It would be nice to find a term that differentiates what we do these days (be it kit, All grain or whatever) from the bath-tub/garbage bin shockers of old but I think that might be a generation or so away.

+1


i don't use "home-brew" anymore because of the bad batches the majority have made/tried. people would turn up their noses when you say would you like to try my home-brew?

i say "do you want a beer?" and get much better responses. i then wait for them to try it before i tell em i brewed it

i chose craft-brewer but im just a brewer, i run a small brewery, i even have a small on site malting's. now when you say that you run a small brewery everyone want to try your beer cause it sounds like you do it for money

 

[jonocarroll]

Having said that, I think craftbrewer is a **** term, because we are all just brewers. The only differentiation really, should be whether we are professional or amateur. Someone making good, award winning beer with a Coopers tin and a handful of fresh hops in the secondary is still "crafting" a beer, and if they do a liquid yeast starter and use a temperature controller, and rack to secondary, and are fastidious about sanitation, then they may well be a "better" brewer than a so-called "craftbrewer" who just crushes some grain, soaks it in hot water, boils it and ferments it in the back shed with a packet of Safale.

I think this actually backs up the argument of 'craft brew' vs 'home brew' - the person adding the hops to the Coopers tin could have done so with a goal in mind of what they want to achieve, and thus they are crafting their result. Someone who blindly adds grain to water and ferments with no interest in the process would fall under my definition of 'home brewer' since they aren't crafting anything, they're following instructions (albeit slightly more complicated ones).

There was no mention anywhere in there of which result would taste better. That's got nothing to do with the definition. I don't find craft-brewer to be an elitist term at all, just a better description - one that describes the act of crafting a product rather than following the instructions.

 

[mckenry]

It says it all with out the perceived "homebrew" stigma.
Chap Chap

Yes, we brew at home. I dont take offence at being called a homebrewer, especially by a fellow brewer. There is however, from the general public a deep-seated prejudice about homebrew. This arose mostly from 'homebrewers' brewing rubbish and forcing it on mates, relatives, neighbours & colleagues.
The homebrew stigma is one reason I call myself a craftbrewer. The other is I never though of an alternative.
I am happy to go with other suggestions such as amateur brewer or hobby brewer, but I try not to use the term homebrewer to the uneducated purely because of said stigma.

Wine lover or wine connisseur? One says drinks too much, the other says understands wine, to me. Not being a wine drinker, thats my 'joe average preconceived idea' on wine. Anyone who tells me they're a wine connisseur does not make him/her a ******.

Same goes for homebrewer or craftbrewer.

 

[Lilo]

Don't giver a rats what I am called or thought of

Quite happy with "Crazy ******* who gets up before dawn to play with all sorts of dodgy sh*t in his shed to make Beer".

Craft/Hobby/Amateur/dopey/etc stuff em and what they think

If you have the need to be a suit wearing crafty pretentious bloke who needs much recognition and has many letters after your name... on ya, I'm not that clever.

I'm with the Chappo school of Torana drivin vegimite must be an inch thick on my toast thong wearing, forced to go to fancy restaraunt, have a 10 yr old suit in case I have to go to court school of thinking.


I'm a Crafty Amateur Homebrewing Ozzie and proud of it

Lilo

 

[JonnyAnchovy]

"Brewer" by itself avoids the boganoid, table sugar toting, 28 degree Celsius fermenting connotations of "homebrewer", and at the same time avoids the cringe I get at the undenyable wankyness of describing myself as "craftbrewer".

Brewer does me just fine.

 

[jonocarroll]

Don't giver a rats what I am called or thought of

Quite happy with "Crazy ******* who gets up before dawn to play with all sorts of dodgy sh*t in his shed to make Beer".

Craft/Hobby/Amateur/dopey/etc stuff em and what they think

If you have the need to be a suit wearing crafty pretentious bloke who needs much recognition and has many letters after your name... on ya, I'm not that clever.

I'm with the Chappo school of Torana drivin vegimite must be an inch thick on my toast thong wearing, forced to go to fancy restaraunt, have a 10 yr old suit in case I have to go to court school of thinking.


I'm a Crafty Amateur Homebrewing Ozzie and proud of it

Lilo

This sorta screams anti-intellectualism to me. Or perhaps some insecurity for one's manliness. I see no reason why someone can't take pride in how they make their beer (and the genuine interest in making it better) while munching on inch-thick vegemite toast in their thongs.

... unless of course you're implying that you just make it to get pissed and don't care what it tastes like. Does being an over-the-top ocker bloke prevent anyone from thinking about whether they would prefer saaz or POR in their beer? If such a decision isn't manly enough for you to tell your mates about, then perhaps you had better not consider how wanky this hobby can be :blink:

Maybe you can protect your manly ways and still be a 'wanky craft brewer'...

'Oi, Bazza! Chuck us that late hop addition and a whirlfloc, ya dumb feck. I'm aerating me starter'

 

[Polar Beer]

I love calling myself a home brewer, handing people a very well cared for glass of AG, knocking thier socks off and boring them for hours on how I acheived it.
I'll proudly and loudly declare I'm a HB to anyone who will listen. Everytime I do this I dispel the myths and horror stories of the truly horrible HB we've all seen. Im constantly encouraging other people to pick up the hobby at kit stage and do it right (rule 1. ignore the kit instructions). Each time it gets us all one step closer to shrugging off the bad reputaion the HB tag has.

Don't be a poser. It is what it is. Live with it. B)

FWIW, In my mind Craft Brewers are pro's eg: Micros or guys who sell their beer or are good enough to win a comp that gets them on tap somewhere. (please don't confuse with mega brewery owned boutique beer brands). In short, if I can't buy it over the bar/bottle O - you aint a craftbrewer.

 

[Hutch]

I love calling myself a home brewer, handing people a very well cared for glass of AG, knocking thier socks off and boring them for hours on how I acheived it.
I'll proudly and loudly declare I'm a HB to anyone who will listen. Everytime I do this I dispel the myths and horror stories of the truly horrible HB we've all seen. Im constantly encouraging other people to pick up the hobby at kit stage and do it right (rule 1. ignore the kit instructions). Each time it gets us all one step closer to shrugging off the bad reputaion the HB tag has.

Don't be a poser. It is what it is. Live with it. B)

FWIW, In my mind Craft Brewers are pro's eg: Micros or guys who sell their beer or are good enough to win a comp that gets them on tap somewhere. (please don't confuse with mega brewery owned boutique beer brands). In short, if I can't buy it over the bar/bottle O - you aint a craftbrewer.

Couldn't have said it better PB.
For better or worse, we all have to live with the stigma of what "homebrewing" used to be, and the negative connotations people associate with the name.
It is up to us to re-educate people with where the hobby has moved to, with the majority of us producing beers far better than most commercial stuff.

I'm not against anyone calling themselves a "Craftbrewer" if that rocks their boat, but IMO, as long as we're making beer at home, and not at a micro/megabrewery, we ARE "Homebrewers" - Live with it, and re-edumacate the masses.

 

[MarkBastard]

IMO if you brew beer at home you're a home brewer. If you brew beer commercially on a small hand crafted scale you're a craft brewer. If you are a home brewer but think you're a craft brewer, you're really a ******.

 

[bonj]

IMO if you brew beer at home you're a home brewer. If you brew beer commercially on a small hand crafted scale you're a craft brewer. If you are a home brewer but think you're a craft brewer, you're really a ******.

I disagree. If you hand craft your beer, on whatever scale, you are a craft brewer. If you do it at home, you are also a home brewer. To me, craft brewing has connotations of care.. that you care for what you're doing and you put that care into crafting your beer. It also has connotations of quality. Home brewing to me, means however you choose to brew, you do it at home... that's all.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

No takers on the Kooinda question, I see...

What about the guys who help out at 3Ravens for nothing more than the romance of it and a free beer occasionally?

What about the AHB member (I apologise for forgetting your nick) who has brewed their beer on/in a commercial brewery as part of a prize? Not at home, not professionally, so neither fish nor fowl?

Perhaps you are what you think you are? (I still think I'm a ******.)