homebrewandbeer.com

Hopefully some of them will flog off their Coopers PET bottles cheap. I could do with a few more.

I agree with Lethal. I enjoy the brewing process just for itself as a hobby. The cheap beer got me started, but the process kept me going.

Cheers,
Greg

I absolutely agree- I sure don't brew to save money, but that is the reason many NEW brewers start. I enjoy making the beer more than drinking it sometimes! The beer at the end is not an unwelcome side-effect though!

Pale-Ale, using that reasoning then watching the telly costs $30 an hour.

Nick,

People drink their home brew instead of commercially bought beer, so when people look at how cost-effective home brew is as compared to commercial beer, the time factor needs to be taken into account.

My point is you have to love the process to get the most out of it - if you're just after cheap beer you'd be better off buying a 30 cube of West End Draught!

I was thinking the same as Pale ale. If you work the time into it it is not a cheap hobby.
But I've yet to find a cheap hobby.
Most new brewers do it because they think it is cheap and give it up because it is time consuming.

Tipsy wrote:I was thinking the same as Pale ale. If you work the time into it it is not a cheap hobby.
But I've yet to find a cheap hobby.
Most new brewers do it because they think it is cheap and give it up because it is time consuming.

I reckon most give it up cause the first brew you make tastes like shit! Thank goodness for the internet cause i would have lost interest.

OK then Pale, so you need to expense the half hour trip to the bottle shop to buy your west end, so your carton costs $50 now not $35. My missus picks up my homebrew stuff with the groceries so no extra trip.

How does your theory apply to preparing your own meals, cleaning your own house, mowing the lawn etc?

Nick,

Correct, travel time and petrol/vehicle wear and tear should be factored in to the equation.

In my case, I am in walking distance of a liquor store and the nearest decent home brew store is 30 minutes away. I can't get all the ingredients at a supermarket or department store. Furthermore my liquor store is also my supermarket as is the case with most Woolworths/Safeway stores these days, so in most cases (but not all) I would think ones liquor store is closer to ones home brew store.

To answer your question about prrparing ones own meals etc, it is just as relevant to all of tasks you listed as it is based on the economic principle that quite simply time is money.

Preparing my own meals is often more expensive than eating out, let alone the extra time involved. But I get the satisfaction from making something, that I can sit down and say "I made this". Same with the home brew. It's not always cheaper once you add everything up, so you have to enjoy the process, which is every bit as important as the final product IMO.

Cripes! I'm going to have to hire a uni student to watch those DVDs I got for Xmas ... just can't justify the expense of watching them myself!

And to think that this post started off as a friendly greeting to new brewers.

Chris wrote:And to think that this post started off as a friendly greeting to new brewers.

Yeah good on ya Chris, starting up a controversial post

Hi guy's, new brewer who recently found the site which has the best homebrew forum ive seen!
Ive done 5 brews so far, each were just standard fool proof methods with no extra's added. Lookin forward to learning alot and having some good discusions.
Cheers Jarryd

Good on ya mate and welcome, stick with the guys on here and you will brew some almighty beers, i know my beers have improved out of sight since i joined here and i thought they were pretty bloody good to begin with....



Home brewers are taking over the world

Yeah, you think your first brew is good, and then it just keeps getting better, the more you brew.

Chris wrote:Yeah, you think your first brew is good, and then it just keeps getting better, the more you brew.

My advice is to make notes as you go!

Like my food recipes Im always tweeking my h/b recipes as well..

NickMoore wrote:Pale-Ale, using that reasoning then watching the telly costs $30 an hour.

and dont forget how expensive sleep is.

Yep, sleeping is very expensive, I've personally cut down to 4 hours a night to fit more brewing in.

And drinking the HB. That's as important as brewing. Otherwise you run out of bottles.

Pale_Ale wrote:...you have to enjoy the process, which is every bit as important as the final product IMO

Couldn't agree more on that one, brother. I took up home brewing again in November 2006, after an 11-year layoff. Have built up a fairly substantial amount of crates already (24, with 17 full at the moment - aiming for 30) and am looking forward to gaining some good tips on the website.

At the moment, I am drinking a Belgian Ale (Brewcraft) which is quite sensational. 6 and a half weeks in the bottle. A bit too nice actually, as I only have about 3 bottles left now!!

I see quite a few of the chaps on this site are Aussies. Being beer lovers, no doubt you fellas also love your cricket (as I do). Looking forward to a repeat of the 2001-02 VB Series results (from an NZ point of view) in the coming month or so....