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Author Topic: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am  (Read 3576 times)

Offline homebrewdad7

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On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« on: February 02, 2017, 10:09:54 am »
I recently had my fifth anniversary as a homebrewer, and have mused a little of late as to what sort of brewer I am.  I wrote a full post on this, but the long and short of it is that brewing is my "art". 

Not that I think that I'm some sort of artistic genius - I'm the guy painting in his backyard on the weekend because he likes to, not necessarily because he's any good at it.   But I really enjoy the creative outlet that brewing gives me - as much as, if not more than, the beer that it yields. 

Why do you brew?

Offline Philbrew

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2017, 10:26:43 am »
Yes, it's all about having a creative outlet.  For me, it's not just about creating recipes and playing with ingredients, though that is part of the fun.  I also enjoy creating a brewing system that works efficiently for me.  That may include inventing new tools and processes that may be new to home brewing.
Many of us would be on a strict liquid diet if it weren't for pretzels.

Offline homebrewdad7

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2017, 10:28:49 am »
I can see that. 

Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #3 on: February 02, 2017, 10:30:55 am »
I enjoy the beer I brew and I enjoy sharing it.
It's all in the reflexes. - Jack Burton

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #4 on: February 02, 2017, 12:34:37 pm »
At first I enjoyed the prepper self sustainable aspect. Then I enjoyed the learning and improving part. Lately I've just been enjoying the mental escape part of it. I'm in low stress mode lately

Offline deadpoetic0077

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2017, 12:42:36 pm »
I like the challenge it presents. Theres so many aspects to focus on to really hone it in and make great beer. And I love great beer, so I love the challenge too!

 I agree its like art. Delicious art. Satisfies my creative side and I love sharing what I make.

Offline pete b

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #6 on: February 02, 2017, 12:55:47 pm »
Brewing has a spiritual aspect to me. Not in a woo-woo one with the universe kind of way but more in a concrete connection to my human ancestors. Brewing, cultivating food, and cooking go hand and hand with the advent and development of civilization. I don't see brewing as a distinct activity but as one in the same with gardening, bee keeping, cooking, animal husbandry etc. Its how I connect to nature, the seasons, and myself. I make lagers when my root cellar gets cold enough, farmhouse ales when the house gets warm enough and most mead gets made in the fall when honey and fruit get harvested. Its a way to stay in tune with the old ways and the seasons in a time when chicken wings and breasts are sold separately in the supermarket.
Don't let the bastards cheer you up.

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #7 on: February 02, 2017, 01:04:08 pm »
1/  I love the challenge. A lot of steps that have to go well to make a really good beer.

2/  I love having friends and family over to share it.

3/  With all the mediocre beer out there, it's cool to know you're making something better than many.

4/  It's my sanctuary from the weekly grind. My 'me time'.
Jon H.

Offline homebrewdad7

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #8 on: February 02, 2017, 01:13:56 pm »
All great replies.  I'm enjoying reading them!

Offline chinaski

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #9 on: February 02, 2017, 02:01:37 pm »
I've found that it is a relaxing mental escape.  But also my interest in brewing and beer has been a gateway to learn about so many other related topics (history and chemistry for example) that I never enjoyed before.  I was one of the unfortunate ones who had teachers growing up that made little to no effort to relate their subjects to their students' interests.  Thank you brewing for making me a smarter & more well-rounded (in more ways than one) person!

Offline deadpoetic0077

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #10 on: February 02, 2017, 02:06:34 pm »
I've found that it is a relaxing mental escape.  But also my interest in brewing and beer has been a gateway to learn about so many other related topics (history and chemistry for example) that I never enjoyed before.  I was one of the unfortunate ones who had teachers growing up that made little to no effort to relate their subjects to their students' interests.  Thank you brewing for making me a smarter & more well-rounded (in more ways than one) person!

I agree with the gateway thing too... History and chemistry are completely uninteresting to me until beer is involved... well some history is alright... but moreso if beer is the topic :P

Offline Phil_M

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #11 on: February 02, 2017, 03:46:22 pm »
I'm a technician/engineering student. I have an innate desire to understand how things work both from the technician standpoint (eh, I boiled off .004 gravity points more than I wanted, it'll still be beer.) and from more of an engineering stadpoint. (Low Oxygen brewing has finally put my conscience at ease, I no longer have to ignore Fix and Bamforth.) So that's why I'm so driven to brew the best beer possible, but I don't sweat the little stuff.


Why brewing beer though? I see that as an offshoot from my cooking. I love to cook, and cooking for friends is even better. I like to share the enjoyment of life, company, food and drink with others. Why not have a drink that I brewed myself? Besides, what I brew is better than what I can buy. The best compliment a brewer can get is that someone who's into food/beer rates their beer higher than other worthy competitors.
Corn is a fine adjunct in beer.

And don't buy stale beer.

Offline dmtaylor

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #12 on: February 02, 2017, 03:50:52 pm »
I brew for the love of science, math, and cooking.......... but the best beers I have made were the ones that were artistically inspired.... you know, the ones where you imagine what a beer tastes like, with total disregard for style, and then it actually turns out like you imagined it..... those are my favorities.  The ones where I follow a formula or adjust someone else's recipe, those tend to not be quite as awesome.

So for me, it's the whole package that keeps me going.  Science, math, and art.... The whole package.
Dave

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Offline pkrone

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #13 on: February 02, 2017, 03:59:20 pm »
I've been brewing for 20 years.   I've had several hobbies, but it's the one that's withstood the test of time.   I like beer and I like science, so I guess that's the two biggest reasons I'm still excited about brewing.   I've hit the doldrums now and then in the past 20 years, but then something new to try or a new experience piques my interest and gets the flame burning again.   For example,   last year it was an epic family trip to Bavaria followed by an interest in LoDO techniques.  Cheers!
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Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: On brewing and art, or what sort of brewer I am
« Reply #14 on: February 02, 2017, 04:04:35 pm »
1/  I love the challenge. A lot of steps that have to go well to make a really good beer.

2/  I love having friends and family over to share it.

3/  With all the mediocre beer out there, it's cool to know you're making something better than many.

4/  It's my sanctuary from the weekly grind. My 'me time'.



After reading Dave and Phil's posts,  I forgot a couple big reasons I brew:


5/  I work as a medical imaging technologist (CT/Xray), so I love the extra outlet to use math and science - but for freaking beer!  Never stops being cool.

6/  At the same time, I see it as an extension of my cooking. I'm a pretty damn good cook and bbq guy. It's pretty rewarding to have people over when I've cooked (or smoked) the meal and brewed the beer. I'm lucky to have a pretty decent palate, and I think it translates to both.
 
Jon H.