[beersk]

Plus, summer and winter seasonals are just too good for me not to buy and enjoy.

It's the fall seasonals for me.  The other seasonal beers I can take or leave, but fall beers, there's just too many I have to drink.  What with all the harvest ales, ofests, and whatnot.  Fall is a wonderful time of year for beer.

[gymrat]

I have found myself buying beer for research as I delve into producing better beer. I choose a style and then select a few different commercial beers to sample that characterize it.........it's the best homework I've ever had to do!

That was the reason I bought the six packs of red ale. Red Ale is my favorite style and I have been tweaking and perfecting mine since I started brewing. And I must say...I actually liked mine better than the Sam Adams or the Odell's. I think I am "there" with that particular style.

[bigchicken]

Last summer my homebrew stock was up to 300+ bottles and I felt pretty comfortable. Now I'm down under 60 and am in a panic. I had to buy a couple cases of crappy beer just to take the tightness out of my chest!

[Hokerer]

Last summer my homebrew stock was up to 300+ bottles and I felt pretty comfortable. Now I'm down under 60 and am in a panic. I had to buy a couple cases of crappy beer just to take the tightness out of my chest!

At the moment, I've got almost 400 bottles full of homebrew so my chest is Ok.  Got another 120 or so bottles worth in fermenters just waiting to be bottled.

[Alewyfe]

So many commercial brewers are no longer constraining themselves to recognized styles. It's fun to try their beers and see what the heck they've dreamed up. I think it's wonderful when fellow club members who get an opportunity to travel, seek out the obscure regional brews and share them at club meetings. Also, when folks on the various forums or broadcasts wax poetically about their favorite's, I've just got to try them and see how I think they measure up.  I want to try every beer once.....some...a lot more often.

[gymrat]

Someone has a wife that home brews? I guess dreams do come true.

[punatic]

Much of my beverage efforts are not restricted to topics covered by this forum.  Commercial beers often fill in the blanks, beer-wise for me.  I still brew, but not nearly enough to cover the beer demand in my sphere of influence.  Last Friday I picked up the last two cases of Ruthless Rye and the first two cases of Bigfoot my local beer store had on hand.

What I really want to know is how do I get my hands on some of that bourbon barrel Bigfoot?

The bourbon barrel Anniversary Beer was amazing.  I bought every bottle that I could get my hands on here.

[ccfoo242]

Other than the stuff I've brewed in the last month (bottled my 3rd batch in 4 weeks last night) I'm now trying to buy only local beer. Intuition Ale Works just started selling their stuff in cans. I don't like their IPA but their pale ale and kolsch are awesome...

But it's been nice to not have to go buy any, just pop downstairs and bring up a six-pack...

[jmcamerlengo]

I have found myself buying beer for research as I delve into producing better beer. I choose a style and then select a few different commercial beers to sample that characterize it.........it's the best homework I've ever had to do!

+1

When I first started brewing I'd buy ALOT of beer to study up on the styles.

Now, I tend to buy only the brews Im trying to specifically recreate, or if Im trying to do a certain style and Im wanting to shift my recipe or come up with a new one, Ill buy a couple great of examples of that style as Im recipe writing(i.e. Im doing a Golden strong ale and picked up a Duvel and Delerium Tremens).

Ill also pick up the occasional beer that catches my eye that I may not have tried before. Can't learn if you're not seeing what other great beer is out there!

[thetooth]

I have found myself buying beer for research as I delve into producing better beer. I choose a style and then select a few different commercial beers to sample that characterize it.........it's the best homework I've ever had to do!

+1

When I first started brewing I'd buy ALOT of beer to study up on the styles.

Now, I tend to buy only the brews Im trying to specifically recreate, or if Im trying to do a certain style and Im wanting to shift my recipe or come up with a new one, Ill buy a couple great of examples of that style as Im recipe writing(i.e. Im doing a Golden strong ale and picked up a Duvel and Delerium Tremens).

Ill also pick up the occasional beer that catches my eye that I may not have tried before. Can't learn if you're not seeing what other great beer is out there!

This is exactly what I do.  I pretty much only buy to calibrate my palate or if I see something new and interesting.

[morticaixavier]

Someone has a wife that home brews? I guess dreams do come true.

pretty sure there are several folks on this forum who ARE wives that homebrew. remember, until relatively recently in history women did the brewing. Us guys just drank the stuff.

[gymrat]

It is interesting how times have changed.

[nateo]

It is interesting how times have changed.

When my wife and I were still dating we brewed extract batches together. Then I got into all grain, and pH adjustment and water chemistry, and she lost interest. She'll still help out if I need it, but it's more technical than she really wants to get.