Home Brew vs Commercial

[Cloud Surfer]

I've enjoyed a couple of bottles of my first AG beer now. It's a Russian River Pliny The Elder IIPA clone. The second bottle I drank along with another IIPA I like and that's the BentSpoke Sprocket. It occurred to me the big advantage home brewers have over the commercial guys.

Firstly, we don't have to satisfy the tastes of a large percentage of the population. We can brew beer that is prefect for just one person.

Secondly, and probably more importantly, we don't have to be as constrained by ingredients and costs. The commercial guys being profit orientated have to keep their eye on costs so they can stay in the business. I don't think I've ever made a beer or bought an ingredient based on cost.

I read a lot of comparisons between extract and all grain brewing, and mostly everyone has always been very encouraging of extract brewing. But in the space of one all grain brew, I reckon there's a world of difference between the two. My IIPA is a bigger, more complex and better beer to my tastes than the BentSpoke. There's absolutely no way in the world I could have made that beer with extract, and I'm pretty sure BentSpoke can't make that beer either if they want to stay in business. So it's only taken me one all grain brew but I reckon already we are sitting in the sweet spot of beer making.

 

[BrewLizard]

Couldn't agree more. Also making beers for 75c each that would cost $10-18 per can/bottle from any of the smaller craft beer mobs is amazing.

 

[Coalminer]

Well don't tell too many
If it becomes too popular someone will think up a new tax for it to compensate the mega breweries

 

[Hangover68]

Well don't tell too may
If it becomes too popular someone will think up a new tax for it to compensate the mega breweries

Not an issue with our generally lazy , throw away society.

I do consider costs when i'm brewing, its one of the 3 main reasons i got into brewing.

 

[Cloud Surfer]

Not an issue with our generally lazy , throw away society.

I do consider costs when i'm brewing, its one of the 3 main reasons i got into brewing.

I think of all the beer I could have bought with the thousands of dollars I’ve spent on gear. But I never got into brewing with any idea that it would save me money. My favourite beers come out of Belgium, and the main reason I decided to start brewing was to see if I could emulate some of those beers.

 

[MHB]

Personal opinion here -
Making Belgian beers is easy - managing the yeast is a nightmare!
Mark

 

[duncbrewer]

Justifying and defending the corner of the fridge that is the yeast bank to the wife is another yeast problem!!

 

[BrewsByBenno]

I just started this year and most of my motivation is to save money. Spending $22 or more on a 4 pack became far too normalised for me.

 

[Cloud Surfer]

I just started this year and most of my motivation is to save money. Spending $22 or more on a 4 pack became far too normalised for me.

I guess now that I’m set up, and all I have to spend going forward is on ingredients, it does become a cost saving venture. I’m doing a Barley Wine this week and for $80 of ingredients I’ll eventually end up with 25 big bottles of 13% or 14% beer. I was bringing a nice Barley Wine out of London and to end up with the same amount of that beer is almost $1200.

 

[BrewsByBenno]

When's the last time the alcohol excise went down too? Savings can only increase over time yeah?

 

[MHB]

Price has never been a consideration. Value is a different matter!
If you let price alone determine what you brew you end up with a Homebrand kit and a kg or two of white sugar. Sure it will get you pissed cheap, but there is a technical term for a person for whom that is the main aim.
Personally, its make the best beer I can, don’t care what you compare it to it will be way cheaper than an equivalent commercial beer. If you know how to brew it should be as good or better. I also enjoy brewing, home brewing is probably the only self funding hobby I can think of.
Owning a Home Brew Shop for lots of years I did learn to truly hate the congenitally tight, it can be like a disease that fucks with the way you think.
Mark

 

[yankinoz]

Owning a Home Brew Shop for lots of years I did learn to truly hate the congenitally tight, it can be like a disease that fucks with the way you think.
Mark
[/QUOTE]

Was this one of them? "Please help me, sir. I'm saving up for a Braumeister."

 

[chrisfromperth]

I do like saving money but it's not my motivation. I like having kegs of pretty good beer on tap and I like the satisfaction of the planning and making. I've only brewed all grain the past 15 years, mostly because I enjoy the process and I know it's as fresh as you can get.
I still buy commercial beer, but mostly the styles I don't brew or find a bit challenging (my Kolsch never tastes right. Berliner Weisse ... let the Germans make it.) I also buy the occasional new fashionable beer to see if I like it before it goes on my to-brew list.

 

[MHB]

Moderated into insensibility.

Mark

 

[Luxo_Aussie]

Price has never been a consideration. Value is a different matter!
If you let price alone determine what you brew you end up with a Homebrand kit and a kg or two of white sugar. Sure it will get you pissed cheap, but there is a technical term for a person for whom that is the main aim.
Personally, its make the best beer I can, don’t care what you compare it to it will be way cheaper than an equivalent commercial beer. If you know how to brew it should be as good or better. I also enjoy brewing, home brewing is probably the only self funding hobby I can think of.
Owning a Home Brew Shop for lots of years I did learn to truly hate the congenitally tight, it can be like a disease that fucks with the way you think.
Mark

Funnily enough, brewing isn't overly popular in a this part of Europe (Germany/Lux) since you can get reasonable quality beer for ~15-20 AUD / slab. All those congenitally tight people can't be bothered with the hassle meaning the brewing community is generally enthusiasts rather than tightarses.
Fair to say that expensive commercial beer has driven popularity of home brewing in Australia?

 

[BrewLizard]

That, and unfortunately, drinking culture. Quantity of piss over quality. Otherwise kit and kilo wouldn't exist.

 

[djebel]

Plus it was really hard to get your hands on certain types of beer. Been getting easier, but it's still a lot of effort for some beers. Or flat out impossible.

 

[chrisfromperth]

That, and unfortunately, drinking culture. Quantity of piss over quality. Otherwise kit and kilo wouldn't exist.

I know people who will buy slabs of whatever crap is cheapest and drink that. But they're happy to get stuck into quality (whether brewed or bought by me) when the opportunity arises.

 

[Klosey]

Price has never been a consideration. Value is a different matter!
If you let price alone determine what you brew you end up with a Homebrand kit and a kg or two of white sugar. Sure it will get you pissed cheap, but there is a technical term for a person for whom that is the main aim.
Personally, its make the best beer I can, don’t care what you compare it to it will be way cheaper than an equivalent commercial beer. If you know how to brew it should be as good or better. I also enjoy brewing, home brewing is probably the only self funding hobby I can think of.
Owning a Home Brew Shop for lots of years I did learn to truly hate the congenitally tight, it can be like a disease that fucks with the way you think.
Mark

Half the fun with this great hobby is finding a brew you like and having your mates over and saying “That’s a beauty” I try to explain to my mates half the fun is putting it all together! Sure the final taste is paramount but the cost of brewing is not a huge concern for me. Whatever I brew is way cheaper than the commercial equivalent anyway and certainly way more fun