[69franx]

A wood worker asked me why I spent time and money on Homebrewing. I laughed and laughed, and said you can go out and buy furniture. This guy does make some very nice pieces of furniture and cabinets. He has spent multiples of what I have spent on my whole brewing system on one piece of equipment.

   Oh man! I could buy a complete, new, turnkey 3 barrel brewhouse with 3 or 4 fermenters for less than it would take to replace all my non-beer making tools. And that's not bragging, it's just the way it is if you're into tools, and it is the result of an entire life busting my butt looking for deals on stuff I need and want. Most of the other guys I know who are tool junkies have shops that make mine look Neolithic by comparison.
    I guess that may be why I always am perplexed by the folks on this forum who fret excessively about spending a few bucks on equipment upgrades. I suspect that may be the lingering effect of the hyper frugality of Dave Line, Mr. Papazian and the other folks who did so much to bring this activity out of the shadows. I've never had a fat checkbook, but I learned the hard way, a very long time ago that cheap tools are no bargain.

I could have mentioned my friend who is a serious bike rider, and has multiple high dollar road and mountain bikes, so he can select the right one for the course. His "tools" are expensive too.

Seems to be true for most hobbies I have partaken in. You can compete in archery with $50 of equipment, but you're not likely to succeed as well as they big boys with $1-$2K in components. Skiing the same: you can get down any hill will a couple boards, or even just one if you roll that way, but having specialized equipment for the given terrain can make a world of difference. For just having fun, I think its best to stay on the low end. Recently, I thought it would be really neat to get into hand tool woodworking. Once I did some research and saw how much each of the 50 or more tools would run me, that idea went the way of the dodo

[el_capitan]

I wonder if the guy cooks?  After all, you can go to a restaurant and get whatever you want to eat.

I'm in this camp.  I enjoy crafting my own stuff - making my own meals, growing herbs and vegetables, making my own beer, etc.  I don't necessarily do it because its cheaper or better, I simply enjoy the process.  There's some reward in that itself - homemade/homegrown.

Exactly.  I've never seen my wife as mad as the time a family member criticized us for trying to grow as much of our own food as possible.  He said, "Not only is it impossible to grow enough food to feed your family all year, think about what you would be giving up by spending your time doing that?  I can go to the co-op and buy any variety of tomato I want, and I don't have to grow them." 

We feel that there is tremendous value in doing things, rather than just getting things.  The process enhances the product in such a way that the time spent is its own reward, because you're doing meaningful work that validates your own life.  I'm all for creative pursuits - making quilts is a huge time investment, but you're creating things that otherwise would not exist.  Our beers are the same way - each one is unique and fleeting, creative products of our careful attention and personal investment.   

[klickitat jim]

Bottom line, DIY anything makes you have a greater knowledge of that thing, and usually a greater respect for those pros who are doing it right. As evidenced by this article

[HoosierBrew]

Bottom line, DIY anything makes you have a greater knowledge of that thing, and usually a greater respect for those pros who are doing it right. 

 No doubt about it. And also gives you something to shoot for!

[Visor]

   Maybe we can chalk it up to the author being fashionably obtuse. Or perhaps expressing a viewpoint which is the ultimate realization of the disposable consumer society, which I guess is the same thing, or at least a very similar thing.
   I think the author of this piece probably is just cynically harvesting income by playing to the shallow, vapid masses. At least further evidence to the contrary, I'll give him credit for as much.
   Nothing is to be gained by trying to explain why some people enjoy, or are driven to try a wide variety of pursuits, or God forbid, be self sufficient, to the intended audience of this piece, because as they say, "you can't fix stupid", or "I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you".

[Wheat_Brewer]

https://munchies.vice.com/en/articles/why-you-shouldnt-bother-brewing-your-own-beer

Please....

I wonder what provoked this random rant...There wasn't any introduction suggesting some catalyst or recent experience, just a rather vague opinion article from "some old guy" about how he wants to buy beer...my response is simply OK go for it. As for me I'll continue my hobby happily regardless of this opinion.