Why Do You Brew?

[Mike Neilson]

I have been thinking this for a while, some people knit some people collect stamps and some of us watch birds.

But I brew!! Why do you Brew?

[James P]

[vdog]

Debunked? Do tell...

[Greig McGill]

Oh, it was a tongue in cheek reference to an old thread I'm too lazy to find. Basically, someone was knocking off the booze for weight reasons, and the consensus was "just exercise more". :) Beer by itself doesn't make you fat. More calories in than calories burned makes you fat.

[Mike Neilson]

Well Ive put on a handy 10kg winter warmer but I dont care I will just run!!

[Tony]

I love beer and I love brewing.

I get a really austere feeling, when I am brewing. That, despite the technology and ingredients improving over time. I am doing, fundamentally, what has been done for thousands of years. And I don't doubt they got just as much kick out of it as I do now.

I love the art of creating something, that I will (hopefully) enjoy. It's a bit like Apothecary.

[Dai]

Brewing is like magic. You take these four very basic ingredients and turn out pure liquid gold. What could be more satisfying.

[Subrew]

mmm good thread various reasons that come and go from Kit and Kilo to All Grain Days. So in no particular order and some do contradict each other :-)

1) Save Money (Kit and Kilo)
2) Put money in to local small business (All Grain)
3) Quasi-Environmentalism - Re-use bottles, not transporting gallons of mostly water through a supply chain. All gain is a problem hear as most grain is shipped from overseas. Use rain rain water, my own hoem grown hops.
4) Self Suffiency - at least I know I can always make my own beer (as long as I can get grain... I suppose I could grow and malt it if I really had to!)
5) Being creative.
6) Get the beer I want.
7) Use of Technical skills1... get to mess arround with all the elements when creating an all grain recipe.
8) Use of Technical skills2... get to make all these great gadgets for the brewery!
9) Not feeding a huge beer conglomerate? maybe, maybe not where does the grain and hops come from?

Cheers Alan

[Ralph]

I brew because I love beer and brewing is fun and interesting and engaging and gives me a bunch of beer to drink and I keep learning new stuff and am continually improving my brews. It does not take large amounts of money and yet if you are clever about it you can make fantastically wonderful beverages!

Can you tell I have had a couple already this evening??? Thought this thread was worth waking up tho!

[Ian]

Hey Greig, when I read your comment: and the consensus was "just exercise more". :), I distinctly remember Stu McKinley's comment, '...and eat less f****** pies!'

  But I had a go at brew in the bag back in 1969 (old fart 'ay?) and got a tad too much sugar in the bottles and blew heaps of them up and got beer on the ceiling. Then had a go at kits every decade or so with ho hum results. THEN got into full mash brewing and experimented with my own recipe until now I produce just the type of best bitter I had in mind when I started, and pretty consistently too. So that's why I brew, the joy of eventually getting it right and having some of my own ale on tap of an evening and knowing it is SO much better than the crap in a bottle that is Kiwi day to day beer. In short, it was unfinished business. By the way, I owe more than a little to this forum for good advice!

Cheers,

Ian

[Chris P]

I love reading through threads like this. I am really new at AG and although I have had limited success so far I love trying to make awesome beer while drinking awesome beer. Inspiring stuff and I feel like a scientist at times and what better end reult can you get then making beer?

I want to make something so awesome so consistantly one day that I end up being able to drink it on a tap somewhere. But until then from my fridge in the East of Hamilton is bloody well good enough for me =)

Other brewers on here inspire me no end to make new beers and it's great to try and use and swap ideas to make liquid gold

[Tilt]

Its great to get back to these comments and to see what drives other brewers. 

Reading through this lot its also cool to see how many people have gone on to ramp up their skills and production and be making good beer more accessible to a wider audience in NZ.

For me its been a 20 year on and off obsession - first kicked off to do something fun, interesting and tangible with mates and family with a drinkable (barely at times) end result.  I started brewing with mates for a lark, which quickly spilled over to similar time spent with uncles, my Dad and occasionally my sister.  Now my young kids show occasional passing interest so who knows if it ends up being a family tradition.  Maybe this was about spending time and at the same time doing something productive - my family's not one for sitting still and chewing the fat - there's usually some sort of project on the go, often involving tools, fire, a shed and making/building something ... or preferably all four at once.

On the personal satisfaction front - I enjoy experimentation, creating something from the raw ingredients with a final outcome in mind, building and tweaking the gear from bits and pieces along with the simultaneous simplicity and complexity of brewing - its only as complicated as you want to make it but there's plenty of room for endless improvement and learning from others. 

Lastly - with having stepped away from the front line in my job and being less involved with practical problem solving and the real time rewards of working directly with people using my skills there's the satisfaction I get from making something that other people seem to enjoy.

[Chad Keven]

What else could combine science, engineering, art, history, sensory perception, social interaction etc and be possible at home?