Beer Assignment help

[granada42]

Hello all

I'm currently working on an assignment titled 'Is it possible to brew commercial grade beer in the home?' for a course.

If any of you have time, I'd be grateful to hear your answers of the following questions.


For what reasons do you brew your own beer?

What do other people think of your own beer?

How long have you been doing it?

Is home brewing as a hobby becoming more or less popular in your opinion?

Many thanks in advance.

Ben

[J_P]

Hi Ben

I can write your assignment for you in one word - yes! Here are my answers

1) I brew my own beer because I enjoy both brewing and drinking. I find it immensely satisfying to turn out a beer that is pub grade and serve it to my friends for free. Plus it's cheaper than buying it and you know what went into it.

2) Friends and family love drinking the beer, free beer always tastes better!

3)I started all grain brewing in June 2007 and have not looked back.

4)Given the ever expanding number of forumees I'd say making your own beer is more popular than ever.

Incidentally which college do you attend? If I'd have known there were courses like that available I wouldn't have wasted four yeears of my life with biochemistry!

[brysie]

aaah school days........hi ben

i only brew kits and do so because i like beer and get a lot of satisfaction from producing my own. also theres the cost implications of shop bought.

my wifes impressed but shes a wine drinker, however my mates are well impressed with my efforts [too impressed actually. why, when they find out that your making good beer for 30 or 40 pence a pint, do they suddenly think its your obligation to get them all drunk for free for evermore? ]

ive only been brewing since christmas.

modern kits being so simple and reliable these days and everybody being skint will probably make more people look into home brewing so its probably going to get more popular.

good luck with your assignment.

[granada42]

Thanks for the help so far, keep em coming.

It's not a brewing course. I'm studying technical communication so my assignment is a report on a subject that i'm interested in.

Cheers

Ben

[cwrw gwent]

For what reasons do you brew your own beer?
a) it's economical - about 35p a pint
b) I enjoy the feeling of satisfaction when you crack open the first pint of a batch and you know it'll improve as it ages
c) it means I can go to parties, friends' houses, barbecues and festivals and not have to drink crap

What do other people think of your own beer?
a) a wide range of people are enthusiastic and keep coming back for more
b) I employ a work colleague for quality control - payment is two pints of ale. He will tell me if he is less than satisfied.
c) even a cynical friend remarked that my homebrew tasted like something you could buy in a pub. I take it he meant decent draught ale and not something like John Smiths Creamflow or Carling Black Label. I shall have to ask him to clarify this.

How long have you been doing it?
Since 1980 and I usually do about 20 five gallon kits a year

Is home brewing as a hobby becoming more or less popular in your opinion?
Can't really answer this one. There seem to be fewer outlets than twenty years ago but in the 80s/90s there were a lot of small scale outfits operating from market stalls selling a limited range. Boots used to sell a lot but their slice of the market seems to have been taken by Wilkinson. Also, a lot of business is done via the internet which wasn't even feasible ten years ago.

Good luck with your assignment!

[BarryNL]

For what reasons do you brew your own beer?

Exactly the same reason I like to cook - I like the creativity involved and that I can produce something exactly to my own tastes.

What do other people think of your own beer?

They like some and not others. Like appreciating good food, good beer requires an experienced palate - unfortunately, a lot of people think McDonalds and Heineken are as good as it gets.

How long have you been doing it?

Couple of years.

Is home brewing as a hobby becoming more or less popular in your opinion?

Definitely more popular.

[jonnyhop]

For what reasons do you brew your own beer?

It’s mostly for the enjoyment of doing it for me, but I also like the idea that each beer is better than the last. It is relaxing in a similar manner to cooking, something that I plan at my leisure, with the bonus of delivering beer.

What do other people think of your own beer?

Mixed depending on what they are used to - people who drink beer love it, people who drink fosters and the like find it too yeasty. Fools.

How long have you been doing it?

About a year

Is home brewing as a hobby becoming more or less popular in your opinion?

MLHBS feel that it is much more popular due to the crunch, but I personally don't know any other brewer.

[Benson_JV]

For what reasons do you brew your own beer?
I brew my own for a couple of reasons. It's cheaper than anything you can buy, i enjoy the thought of crafting a pint to my taste, and of course, it tastes a lot better than something you get down the local.

What do other people think of your own beer?
Most of my friends enjoy it, that being said, most of my friends would drink fermented goat p*ss (I see Carling have that corner of the market covered)

How long have you been doing it?
Since last September.

Is home brewing as a hobby becoming more or less popular in your opinion?
I feel these days it's becoming more popular, the kits are of a high standard and its so easy to produce cheap but nice beer.

[chopperswookie]

For what reasons do you brew your own beer? to see if i can produce something that is better than what you get in the pub and to become "beer sufficient" eg not having to buy beer from the off licence

What do other people think of your own beer? it has a lot more flavour that commercial beer and it tastes stronger

How long have you been doing it? two and a half years

Is home brewing as a hobby becoming more or less popular in your opinion? difficult to answer. if the activity on this forum is anything to go by then yes. when i joined in november 06 there was only about 250 members, see how many there are now. also judging by the stock levels in my local wilkos, there are definatley more people out they buying the basics

[granada42]

Many thanks for all the replies, it's all very informative.
Any other members care to join in?


Thanks again

Ben

[OldSpeckledBadger]

For what reasons do you brew your own beer?

Cost and the convenience of having beer on tap at home.

What do other people think of your own beer?

What? Share my beer?

How long have you been doing it?

I used to brew back in the late 60s and early 70s but have only just returned to it.

Is home brewing as a hobby becoming more or less popular in your opinion?

Pass.

[DSB]

For what reasons do you brew your own beer?

To keep cost down. I like 'real ales' - ale in a bottle tends to be too 'gassy'. Realistically, home brewed beer is the only 'real ale' you can have at home.

What do other people think of your own beer?

I'm a 'born again' brewer and haven't been doing it for long enough to to be brave enough to ask any one.

How long have you been doing it?

About 2 months, this time around

Is home brewing as a hobby becoming more or less popular in your opinion?

This is a loaded question. I guess that in the '70's they may have been more 'home-brewers'. The kits then were fairly aweful and knowledge about home brewing was more basic than it seems to be now. Many (including me) gave it up because of really poor results and confined the brewing equipment to the loft. Since then, kits have increased in quality and folk are generally more knowledgable. Many of those '70's home brewers are now coming up for retirement have more time on their hands and less money. This, together with the increased quality of kits and greater knowledge about home brewing means that the time would generally be right for an expansion of the home brewing market. But we have to couple this with the recession and with people's perception that homebrewing is inexpensive. Home brewing is probably be cheaper than buying a similar product in a bottle, but to set yourself up to brew beer requires an initial outlay. Like many other hobbies, one is always on the lookout for bigger and better equipment and ways of doing things. (I could give several examples of this from personal experience in the last couple of months). This last factor coupled with the the '70's memory of brewing could have an adverse effect on the take up of home brewing. Then there is the smoking factor. Now that smokers are no longer allowed to partake of their 'sport' in a 'pub', the smaller, purely 'drinkers pubs' seem to be fewer. For some people, if they can't drink and smoke on a pub, then they will drink and smoke at home. - enter the home brewer.

To briefly summarise. I think there were more home brewers thirty years ago, but that the time is now right for a rebirth of the art of home-brewing. I think we are seeing signs of this, but much will depend on what happens next. Muntons have a monopoly on two can kits - will the prices of them soar? Will the government want more of it's fair share of tax?