Home Brewing V Craft Brewing

[esssee]

Hi all,

I'm newish to Home Brewing, but find that when I try to share my enthusiasm with people, and mention "Home Brewing", they immediately turn their nose up, and associate this with bad beer, or Moonshine.

I have found that if I call it "Craft Brewing", immediately I get a spark of interest without the preconceptions.

Having said that, is there, in the industry, a distinct difference between the two?

Interested in peoples opinions.

Steve.

 

[Nick JD]

I recently handed a mate a stubbie of my beer. He asked if it was homebrew and I said, no - it's beer.

 

[Guysmiley54]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I saw a funny T-Shirt that sums it up in a way:

"It's hand-made not home-made bitch!"

 

[bum]

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...hl=craftbrewing

 

[Cocko]

I use my hands.

At home.

And craft beer.

Hmm... who knows what I am drinking?

 

[Silo Ted]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbrewery#Craft_beer


Craft Beer is an American term also common in Canada and New Zealand to refer to beer brewed without adjuncts such as rice or corn, for distinction and flavor rather than mass appeal.[25]

Some define craft beer as beer made without rice or corn, but outside of North America and Asia, rice and corn are rarely used in the making of traditional beer. In Germany tradition (and for a long time, Bavarian law, saw the Reinheitsgebot of 1516) dictate that only barley-malt, hops, and water were used in the making of beer. A similar law, the Isle of Man's Pure Beer Act of 1874[26] is still in force and means that Manx brewers can use nothing more than water, malt, sugar and hops in their brews There are those, however, that disagree with the notion that any such rules be applied to all beer "styles" and maintain that so-called "craft" beer can indeed contain other grains or adjunct sugars (as some "craft" and specialty products indeed do). To this end, it should be noted that a good many traditional British beers (including "real ale") have, for more than a century, made use of these adjunct grains as well as kettle sugars of various types (molasses, treacle, and "brewers" sugar, sometimes called invert sugar) to enhance rather than lighten the flavor. Indeed, it can be argued that such additions can be an important and vital part of some traditional beers.

Craft beer refers to the products of brewpubs and smaller breweries, though some larger breweries, hoping to profit from the recent popularity of craft beer, believe that they should be able to market their all-malt beers as craft beers. Many craft beers are unfiltered, bottle conditioned or cask conditioned. They generally contain fewer adjuncts than mass-produced beers, with few exceptions.

 

[Brewman_]

Hi all,

I'm newish to Home Brewing, but find that when I try to share my enthusiasm with people, and mention "Home Brewing", they immediately turn their nose up, and associate this with bad beer, or Moonshine.

I have found that if I call it "Craft Brewing", immediately I get a spark of interest without the preconceptions.

Having said that, is there, in the industry, a distinct difference between the two?

Interested in peoples opinions.

Steve.

Hi Steve,
I think most people on this site have had that experience. I had a guy tell me how he lived in Europe for 5 years and loved a certain beer. So I made something along these lines for him, and gave him a try. The response I got was that is was no where near as good as Carlton Cold. Apparently that was the bench mark?

On the other hand I have people that love red wine taste some of my beer and completely convert them to beer other than what they would normally drink. Call that better beer?

Each to thier own dude, just love what you are doing, but don't just rely on your mates feedback.



My advice is to link up with some like minded brewers in your local area. There are clubs running out of Melbourne and these guys will definitely share your enthusiasm and also help you brew better beer.

Fear_n_loath

 

[Brad Churchill]

This thread reminds me of something that happened about 10 years ago.

A few of us went to a mates place for a few beers. I would normally take some homebrews with me but on this occassion I picked up some beer from the bottleshop.

I didn't drink it all that night and left one in my mates fridge.

Here's the funny thing. My mate thought it was my homebrew and I found out that he tried it about a week later turned his nose up at it and poured it down the sink.

What makes this even funnier is the fact that the beer was actually what he normally drinks!

This illustrates the power of preconception and also when it comes to homebrew some people are quite simply not willing to give it a try.

I have never told my mate his mistake. Perhaps one day I will.

Just three weeks ago I was at another mates place with my homebrew sharing it around and recieving some comments like 'that's beautiful' and 'ohh that's golden'.

My mate who thought he had tipped my beer down the sink 10 odd years ago was there but I didn't offer him any. Perhaps if he asks to try some in the near future I will say 'You're not going to tip it down the sink are you.' and then reveal his mistake of years past.... perhaps do it in a room full of people.... hmmm now there's a thought

 

[Brad Churchill]

I think it is labelled 'homebrew' unless you go commercial at which stage it becomes 'craft beer.'

It is a name that has come out of the US. Before it was called craft beer it was called boutique beer.
Perhaps in a few more years it will be labelled 'Artisans Beer' to keep it fashionable.

There is definately a lot of preconseptions attached to homebrew still.

I have found its best to only talk about your homebrew with those of your friends who appreciate different beers and are more open minded. These days this seems to include more and more of my friends as their taste buds become educated as to what a good ale should taste like.

Cheers

Brad

Hi all,

I'm newish to Home Brewing, but find that when I try to share my enthusiasm with people, and mention "Home Brewing", they immediately turn their nose up, and associate this with bad beer, or Moonshine.

I have found that if I call it "Craft Brewing", immediately I get a spark of interest without the preconceptions.

Having said that, is there, in the industry, a distinct difference between the two?

Interested in peoples opinions.

Steve.

 

[Maxt]

If you use a tin of goo and the yeast under the lid, and ferment in your shed, it's homebrew.

If you mash, manage yeast and control ferment, it's craftbrew.

 

[stux]

"All-grain brewer" seems to work well

 

[michael_aussie]

As I said in the previous thread, IMO, people (ie amateur brewers) who find the need to call themselves "craftbrewers", are just homebrewers with an inferiority complex.

Cheers - Snow.

+1

I had a mate at school who was didn't eat "corned beef" only ate "silverside".
The rest agreed he was a wanker.

 

[manticle]

Doesn't matter what I call it - if it's good, it's good, if it's shit it's shit.

Usually I just say I brew my own beer and describe the process if warranted. Some people are interested, some people couldn't care, some people think VB is the holy grail.

Nice dismissal of kit brewers there Max T. Is there any level in between kit yeast/shed fermentation and AG brewers?

 

[brocky_555]

If you use a tin of goo and the yeast under the lid, and ferment in your shed, it's homebrew.

If you mash, manage yeast and control ferment, it's craftbrew.

I agree

I think that is where most people get thier misconceptions. I have a few mates that have tried to brew and it was in the summer months and followed the cna instructions and wondered why their beer turned out like it did. Have had some of those mates try the beers I make and they ask why didn't my beers turn out like that. I'm not saying that you cant make reasonable beers from kits. I still make the odd beer from a can but the difference is you have to take some care with it add some hops and spec grains and look after the yeast even though it may only be the can yeast it is still yeast and has to be cared for. There will always be a place for kit brewers they just have to be better educated. I learn most of my stuff from books, online resources and use this forum as a staarting point to find out more for yourself.

But I wouldn't call myself a craft brewer I will leave that for the pro's I prefer amateur brewer

 

[bum]

It's pretty funny how many homebrewe...erm...people who make beer at home seem to have the exact same prejudices against homebrew that they lament in the broader community.

There's always going to be home-made beers of differing quality - there's no reason at all they can't all exist under the same banner.

 

[gregs]

I think mixing up a can of goo with sugar ect could be associated more with fermenting than actually brewing.

No prejudice though, each to their own.

 

[Bada Bing Brewery]

Difference between a cook and a chef possibly?? I'm a cook therefore caned baked beans for me. My son is a chef - he'll get his beans and make them from scratch.
No fart icon - disappointing....

 

[manticle]

I think mixing up a can of goo with sugar ect could be associated more with fermenting than actually brewing.

No prejudice though, each to their own.

Home fermenter?

 

[Kranky]

I tell people I'm either an all-grain brewer or homebrewer. I think once people realise that you make beer at home they just think it's homebrew regardless. Their expectations will remain the same - that you make nasty alcoholic piss (Ironically, last christmas I gave an uncle who does K&K a pint of Pliny the Elder clone. He didn't look to happy about trying someone else's homebrew, to say the least. Once he tried he loved it).

To me a craft brewer is someone who runs their own brewery and doesn't make megaswill. In my opinion in a perfect world megaswill shouldn't be allowed to be called "beer," so "craft" wouldn't be need to be used.

 

[tavas]

I tell people I make my own beer, from all natural products. It gives that "organic and wholesome" edge to it. It's still homebrew, but they don't see it like that.