[Slowbrew]

A few reasons:

1.  Because I f*u*k*n* love the smell of mashing grains in the air and fresh hops right out of the Mylar. 

2.  It gives me an excuse to drink beer and do something seemingly productive at the same time.

3.  I enjoy making, creating, and innovating equipment used to make beer which provides an opportunity to  combine pure geek (engineering) with something quite cool (beer).

4.  My garage looks like it belongs to a mad scientist, filled with metal canisters, conical vessels, pots with gauges, beakers, flasks, stainless steel tables, etc.  It's fun to freak people out by showing them, especially if they have no idea how technical making beer can get.

5.  I always have something to say if asked "what's one interesting fact about yourself".

6.  Kumquat Kolsch?  Oyster Stout?  Imperial Indian Stout Ale?  Those cannot be readily bought at most bottle shops but you sure as hell can brew them yourself (and they are wayyyy more delicious than they sound.

7.  It sure as f**k beats stamp collecting.

8.  I really enjoy my periodic conversations with our local law enforcement when new neighbors move in.  It's always interesting to start a conversation with "why no, officer, who said I was making meth?"  or "I'm don't know why someone thinks I'm running a still.  That's an immersion chiller, I run cold water through it not steam."

 

[jzking]

A few reasons:

1.  Because I f*u*k*n* love the smell of mashing grains in the air and fresh hops right out of the Mylar. 

2.  It gives me an excuse to drink beer and do something seemingly productive at the same time.

3.  I enjoy making, creating, and innovating equipment used to make beer which provides an opportunity to  combine pure geek (engineering) with something quite cool (beer).

4.  My garage looks like it belongs to a mad scientist, filled with metal canisters, conical vessels, pots with gauges, beakers, flasks, stainless steel tables, etc.  It's fun to freak people out by showing them, especially if they have no idea how technical making beer can get.

5.  I always have something to say if asked "what's one interesting fact about yourself".

6.  Kumquat Kolsch?  Oyster Stout?  Imperial Indian Stout Ale?  Those cannot be readily bought at most bottle shops but you sure as hell can brew them yourself (and they are wayyyy more delicious than they sound.

7.  It sure as f**k beats stamp collecting.

8.  I really enjoy my periodic conversations with our local law enforcement when new neighbors move in.  It's always interesting to start a conversation with "why no, officer, who said I was making meth?"  or "I'm don't know why someone thinks I'm running a still.  That's an immersion chiller, I run cold water through it not steam."

 

Giving local law enforcement and nosy neighbors a 6 pack of home brew after they think I am running a meth lab makes me smile.

Jeez, everyone knows you should make meth in a RV, not your garage!

[weazletoe]

I clicked it and within 10 seconds my wife said "What, the hell?"

I just got the same thing. And I'm pretty sure it's not the uke.

[weazletoe]

it's a great escape from every day stress and life. I love building all my own equipment, be it a stir plate, carboy cleaner or now a full electric brewery. And there's no better feeling than pulling a pint for your friends and seeing the look of shock on their faces wen you tell them you made it. it something cool to geek out on.

[molokomalt]

My beer is the best beer I drink with a lesson in every glass. 

[HoosierBrew]

My beer is the best beer I drink with a lesson in every glass. 

This ^. I'm my own biggest critic, so as soon as I tap a keg I'm already coming up with ideas for the next time I brew it. Even the recipes I have dialed in get experimented with here and there.

[dilluh98]

This ^. I'm my own biggest critic, so as soon as I tap a keg I'm already coming up with ideas for the next time I brew it. Even the recipes I have dialed in get experimented with here and there.

I feel like my beer is getting better with practice but I'm also coming to the conclusion that bottle shop beer is often not worth what I pay for it (not trying to argue that homebrewing is saving me money - it's not). If it's coming from across the country and is not extremely unique, I'll typically pass. There's plenty of quality local stuff available in the common styles I drink a decent amount of and for a few bucks cheaper per six-pack than an out of region beer.

What I tend to brew is stuff that isn't done at all or done particularly well locally. Oddly enough, it's hard to find good american brown ale locally (thanks for Noti Brown, Denny!), as well as all British styles (or hell, most lower gravity ale). So I brew quite a bit of British stuff. I also find the quality of local saison to be poor for what I pay so I brew a lot of saison.

I've also completely stopped buying highly hop forward styles in bottle. I don't drink many of them (my wife does) so when the urge strikes, we go out to one of many breweries or places with a lot of local stuff on tap.

Again, no argument about saving money by homebrewing but rather, brewing the stuff you like that you don't feel is easy to get access to.

[HoosierBrew]

This ^. I'm my own biggest critic, so as soon as I tap a keg I'm already coming up with ideas for the next time I brew it. Even the recipes I have dialed in get experimented with here and there.

I feel like my beer is getting better with practice but I'm also coming to the conclusion that bottle shop beer is often not worth what I pay for it (not trying to argue that homebrewing is saving me money - it's not). If it's coming from across the country and is not extremely unique, I'll typically pass. There's plenty of quality local stuff available in the common styles I drink a decent amount of and for a few bucks cheaper per six-pack than an out of region beer.

What I tend to brew is stuff that isn't done at all or done particularly well locally. Oddly enough, it's hard to find good american brown ale locally (thanks for Noti Brown, Denny!), as well as all British styles (or hell, most lower gravity ale). So I brew quite a bit of British stuff. I also find the quality of local saison to be poor for what I pay so I brew a lot of saison.

I've also completely stopped buying highly hop forward styles in bottle. I don't drink many of them (my wife does) so when the urge strikes, we go out to one of many breweries or places with a lot of local stuff on tap.

Again, no argument about saving money by homebrewing but rather, brewing the stuff you like that you don't feel is easy to get access to.

I agree with all of this, too. There's a lot of mediocre (at best) beer out there now.

[jeffy]

And there's no better feeling than pulling a pint for your friends and seeing the look of shock on their faces wen you tell them you made it.

This reminded me of the time they would go to your place when you were not there to see their faces and pulled growlers to go.  Not quite the same, eh?  You'll have to train new friends there in Ohio.

[Hooper]

I just poured a Saison 2 days in the keg at 30 PSI...Mash hop with Chinook (angels share) and finished with Chinook and Mt Hood...T-58...

[weazletoe]

And there's no better feeling than pulling a pint for your friends and seeing the look of shock on their faces wen you tell them you made it.

This reminded me of the time they would go to your place when you were not there to see their faces and pulled growlers to go.  Not quite the same, eh?  You'll have to train new friends there in Ohio.

I had completely forgotten about that! Not the same here in Ohio. People don't pull crap like that. Must be a western thing.

[theoman]

The fact that it's a hobby helps to offset the costs of equipment while the reward of the hobby is high quality beer for less.

^^Well, said, this. And the instances of paying too much money for mediocre beer are becoming too frequent. I brew what I like and I like what I brew.

[Phil_M]

In addition to the feeling I stated earlier, I've recently noticed another bonus to home brewing.

It's a damn cheap hobby compared to auto racing.

Recently re-entered the latter world after a six year hiatus. Has really made me appreciate that brew gear is cheap. (relative to car parts and safety equipment...)

[blair.streit]

In addition to the feeling I stated earlier, I've recently noticed another bonus to home brewing.

It's a damn cheap hobby compared to auto racing.

Recently re-entered the latter world after a six year hiatus. Has really made me appreciate that brew gear is cheap. (relative to car parts and safety equipment...)

Wow. That's an angle I hadn't considered. Next time my wife complains about my home brew expenses I'll say "it's a hell of a lot cheaper than training thoroughbred horses." I'm sure that will work

[Phil_M]

My wife is into horses, though she hasn't ridden in years...tell you what though they're on an entirely different plane of expense compared to anything else I've encountered.