Student interested in homebrewing

[Marcos]

Hello,

I am a grad student at UTD interested in researching and trying my hand the homebrewing. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask a few questions about your experiences with the craft.

What do you enjoy most about homebrewing?

How about much time/money do you spend monthly in the hobby?

What are the current limitations in your home brewing experience? How are you resolving them now?

Why do you think others are not home brewing? (What keeps people from not crafting their own brew?)

Could the homebrew experince be replicated in a daily or monthly group/class setting?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

[BigWally]

Marcos,

Welcome to the forum. I think you will find answers to your questions will be as varied as homebrewers themselves. My responses are below and I hope you get a few more folks to chime in as well. Additionally, you would be welcome to attend any of our club brewdays or meetings and get answers to your questions first-hand.

What do you enjoy most about homebrewing? I like the process of making the beer as well as sharing a well made homebrew with friends. Homebrewing is a lot like cooking. You can cook to provide yourself with sustenance, or you can cook a holiday meal that impresses your friends and family. I like to think I brew to the later, but sometimes end up with a dried out turkey.

How about much time/money do you spend monthly in the hobby? It really varies month to month. For me, summer months tend to be a quiet time in the home brewery mainly because of the heat (I brew in my garage). A typical batch of beer cost me $40-$60 in ingredients and 6-8 hours of brew time. There are a few additional hours involved in handling the beer during fermentation and packaging. Start up cost and new equipment add to the base cost.

What are the current limitations in your home brewing experience? How are you resolving them now? I don't feel there are any real limitations to homebrewing now. We are fortunate to have several excellent local homebrew supply stores. Ingredients, equipment and knowledge available to homebrewer now allows us to brew beer that is of commercial quality.

Why do you think others are not home brewing? (What keeps people from not crafting their own brew?) Time and effort. Brewing a batch of beer requires a time commitment in addition to the effort of formulating a recipe, preparing for the brew day and handling the beer after the brew day.

Could the homebrew experince be replicated in a daily or monthly group/class setting? Yes. It's done all the time. The length of the class would be your limiting factor. You'd have to break the brewing process up to match your class duration.

[Jimmy Orkin]

On the question:

Why do you think others are not home brewing? (What keeps people from not crafting their own brew?)

I think there are so many good craft breweries and beers available now, you do not have to homebrew to get many of the beer styles that were out of reach 3 years ago. I think meads and ciders are still hard to find commercially. Homebrewing is the only way to get many of the mead and cider styles today.

[Marcos]

Thanks for the replies and keep em coming! I noticed your calendar of events for this month. I'd like to join your club meeting briefly on Oct 14 if possible. I have tentative travel plans on the 11th and if those fall through I may be able to come to a brewday

Thanks again!
Marcos

[BigWally]

Thanks for the replies and keep em coming! I noticed your calendar of events for this month. I'd like to join your club meeting briefly on Oct 14 if possible. I have tentative travel plans on the 11th and if those fall through I may be able to come to a brewday

Thanks again!
Marcos

You are welcome to attend either event.