Regardless of my poor choice of intro, this has still turned out to be a good discussion.
I had an oatmeal stout that probably (even according to the brewer) had too much oats. I returned him a porter that had no adjuncts, and I preferred it and so did he.
I used (because the Mrs got it on special) some really cheap brown rice. Made a fantastic beer, but took way too long to gelatinise. Cut costs, but really didn't meet the mandate, so it was shown the scrap heap.
Brewing is about problem solving without dropping quality, and cost becomes part of that (but not the only part). Throughout all my 'cheapo' threads, I've always put it as a problem solving exercise, not a 'I only want to make cheap beer' thread.
Heck, the fact that it's been often quoted that home brewing is "an expensive way to make cheap beer" - because once we all get brewing, we spend lots of money on non-ingredient based things.
Anyone who says that they either didn't start brewing as a cost-cutting exercise or continue it, in part, because it is will be very much in the minority. Even MHB made mention of a Belgian beer bought is $x/L more than what he makes. We all brew, in part, because it's cheaper than buying. The fact that it fills a creative need, need for stainless, hobby need or that we can make better than commercial quality beer is important, but I would hazard a guess that if it were more expensive than buying, then many of us would have either never attempted it, or wouldn't persist with it.
If I have a very small shed, and SWMBO is saying "no more sacks of grain", then my problem is, if I need a pilsner based (or partially based) beer, how do I engineer a result that's similar? I think I found one.
Same thing goes - do I want to buy a stout tap (this is pre-Interap Stout Taps), when I make maybe one stout a year at absolute most? Or will a $1 syringe, which gets used for other purposes, brewing or otherwise, do the trick.
A bit like my cheap build thread with the 2 pots on the stovetop and a bucket in bucket lauter. I moved states twice in 2 years, and was thinking I may again. Why shell out for stuff I have to get rid of, when I can repurpose.
Does the fact that I now own an urn and am doing classic textbook BIAB mean that I'm invalidated as a brewer, or as a backyard cost-cutting engineer? Or both? Does it make my thread invalid? My answer is - the number of brewers that have said that it helped them get a feel for AG before they shelled out for more expensive equipment is fairly decent evidence that there is a niche for 'cheap', without it being a 'cheap booze' issue.
AHB has always been a home of pushing the limits, ingenuity and experimentation. The day that is frowned on by the majority (and not the minority), is the day I leave.
Anywho, I didn't start this thread as a treatise on why cheap brewing is not a sign of poor quality or why one should have to defend their systems and procedures, if they stack up in light of evidence. But simply to say 'what adjuncts work for you and how much do you pay'.
< Admin. the session able smiley's drink is too dark.
