Why Do You Brew The Things That You Brew?

[bum]

I can only take the words you chose to present at face value. The word you deemed as most appropriate was "cheapskatiness".

I am sorry for not assuming that by cheapskatiness you actually meant phillanthropy. My bad. Now shut up, dickhead.

 

[tricache]

A major thing I have learnt is that even a cheap homebrew can sometimes be better than expensive commercial beer

 

[fullbottle]

Refusing to let go of money is just as materialistic as spending money on the flashest stuff for no other reason than it is flash.

I don't think I agree Bum, it depends on how you define materialism. Most of the people (and literature) I have come accross see highly materialistic people as those people who believe that material goods are the primary indicator (or recipe) for a successful, happy and fulfilling life. Each to their own, but I think where people have mentioned that they get a lot of pleasure out of making their own brewing equipment, or even using purchased equipment to produce something that they believe is more valuable, they are experiencing a type of pleasure that you can't really call materialism. Even though they are investing value in an object, that value isn't seen as defining their self worth (although, I see what you are getting at).

Perhaps if someone thought that owning shinier equipment would make them a happier person than some other person with daggy equipment (regardless of brewing ability) we could start talking materialism.

Again, Thanks everyone for a lot of good points to think about. The enthusiasm has been a real surprise. I wasn't expecting such helpful replies, or for people to get this involved.

 

[bum]

Most of the people (and literature) I have come accross see highly materialistic people as those people who believe that material goods are the primary indicator (or recipe) for a successful, happy and fulfilling life.

Most of the material I've come across tends to draw a parallel between money and objects bought with money - in that a collection of money, in and of itself, is the 'material' that brings happiness. We're completely ignoring other motivators such as security here, naturally.

You raise a valid point with the making of things and their perceived value but that is not relevant to the context of someone saying they did it because they're miserly.

I hope the responses to this thread start to head down a more specific road like the one hinted at in the title (although I accept the full post, and thus your intentions, is much more broad). I'd be very interested to see how people articulate such decisions.

Good luck with it. I hope you'll let us know when you're done and published.

 

[drew9242]

I got into brewing about 3 years ago because i like to try new hobbies. And this one had the rewards of beer. Now all my hobbies i have undertaken have lasted a max of 1 year. I get bored and the thrill that was first there no longer exists.

However with beer brewing it was all different. Here is why i think i still am at it.

- End product is beer!
- Not just any beer. There is such a huge diverese range of beers you can make. I have still not tried each style.
- The process of beer making is so easy yet you can never stop learning new things.
- I have my shed where i can hang out and relax doing brewing related stuff.
- I can do it while looking after the kids.
- Meeting great minded people in the same hobby is good too.

Just some reasons while I'm still doing it. Great hobby and you should try it one day.

 

[fullbottle]

Thanks to everyone that helped out with the thesis. I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out, so I treated myself with an upgrade to BIAB

The thesis went so well that I am thinking of publishing two papers out of it. Does anybody have any problems with this and would like any of the data they provided excluded from the papers? Obviously everything will remain completely anonymous etc.

Thanks again