[dmtaylor]

WortH.O.G. has been a great contributor, he returned briefly but haven't seen him a lot.  Pretty certain Ken Lenard is Village Taphouse.  Still posts his gorgeous lagers regularly, usually four or so at a time!

Oh yeah!  He's still here!  Well that's great.

[ynotbrusum]

This is the only forum on which I participate.  I used to check out NB forum, but I haven't gone there in a few years.  I don't really get the time to post as much as previously, so I may be an example of a reduced participant. 

I listen to Denny and Drew's podcasts while brewing.  My brewing has definitely gone more "hobby" and less lifestyle, but I am brewing as much as ever - just doing what I want when I want, based on nothing in particular, while also maintaining some regular tap beers that my guests expect.

I am now a HERMS BIAB hybrid system user and adjust my water per Brunwater, take light German lagers through LODO methods, but don't stress it for my English or American ales.

I think we are witnessing the aging of the hobby - we need to be intentional about getting younger adults into the hobby and letting them provide a new enthusiasm to become contagious.

[denny]

Jim, your return has been a breath of fresh air. I hope things get turned around. I don’t post much but am constantly on.

Anyone know what ever happened to Ken (don’t know his last name)? Wish he would come back.

You two and Jon (Hoosier) were always the most helpful contributors to things that applied to me.

I agree, it's good to have Jim back.

You must be alluding to Ken Lenard.  I'm not sure where that dude went.

Cheers.

Ken has been posting over at the LOB forum.

He is also on brews-bros.com daily

[Phil_M]

I think we are witnessing the aging of the hobby - we need to be intentional about getting younger adults into the hobby and letting them provide a new enthusiasm to become contagious.

Perhaps not so much aging as maturing. When the hobby was new, folks had to focus more on just getting gear and brewing. Now with excellent equipment available from a variety of vendors, folks have more time to get into the science and engineering aspect of brewing.

The recent (needless) squabbles are very reminiscent of the new engineer trying to convince the old technicians why they need to care about X when they haven't had to before. All depends on what the goal is.

Now if craft beer would only mature...Sadly I grow more irritated with what's available every day. I need to get brewing again!

[jeffy]

I migrated over here from the homebrew digest and at first was pretty grumpy about it, but as I learned the names and the people I became very comfortable here.  I am not familiar with any other forums, beer or otherwise.
I miss Amanda, Tom Schmidlin, Carl (punatic), even though he needed to tell us about his perfect life in Hawaii, and that guy who taught us all about shaken not stirred starters.
I'm happy to have made some friends here in real life as well - Denny, Keith, Jeff R., Mike.  Nice people.
I am brewing less lately and not sharing as much with other non-brewing folks.  I say, let them make their own beer.
I am enjoying learning about the staling effects of oxidation lately.  I must admit that when I first became a judge in the mid 90's I knew German Lagers as stage B oxidized products and did not judge well the ones that were bright and hoppy.  It took a while to relearn that.
 

[denny]

I think we are witnessing the aging of the hobby - we need to be intentional about getting younger adults into the hobby and letting them provide a new enthusiasm to become contagious.

What we are witnessing, according to the studies I've seen, is that new brewers don't want a lifestyle or "religion" relating to homebrewing.  They want a fun, easy, quick activity that fits in with the rest of their lives.  Yes, numbers of new homebrewers are down a little, but we're also seeing that they think of homebrewing differently than people did 20 years ago.

[techbrau]

I think we are witnessing the aging of the hobby - we need to be intentional about getting younger adults into the hobby and letting them provide a new enthusiasm to become contagious.

What we are witnessing, according to the studies I've seen, is that new brewers don't want a lifestyle or "religion" relating to homebrewing.  They want a fun, easy, quick activity that fits in with the rest of their lives.  Yes, numbers of new homebrewers are down a little, but we're also seeing that they think of homebrewing differently than people did 20 years ago.

What fraction of those new, casual brewers are likely to purchase AHA memberships?

[hopfenundmalz]

I think we are witnessing the aging of the hobby - we need to be intentional about getting younger adults into the hobby and letting them provide a new enthusiasm to become contagious.

What we are witnessing, according to the studies I've seen, is that new brewers don't want a lifestyle or "religion" relating to homebrewing.  They want a fun, easy, quick activity that fits in with the rest of their lives.  Yes, numbers of new homebrewers are down a little, but we're also seeing that they think of homebrewing differently than people did 20 years ago.

What fraction of those new, casual brewers are likely to purchase AHA memberships?

The AHA has had a growth of new members in the Millennial generation. How many of those are casual brewers, I don’t know.

[Robert]

I think we are witnessing the aging of the hobby - we need to be intentional about getting younger adults into the hobby and letting them provide a new enthusiasm to become contagious.

What we are witnessing, according to the studies I've seen, is that new brewers don't want a lifestyle or "religion" relating to homebrewing.  They want a fun, easy, quick activity that fits in with the rest of their lives.  Yes, numbers of new homebrewers are down a little, but we're also seeing that they think of homebrewing differently than people did 20 years ago.

Is this something specific to homebrewing, or is there a similar generational decline in other "lifestyle" hobbies, e.g. hunting and fishing, cars, or anything that requires filling your garage with pricey shop equipment?

[Phil_M]

Ironically, my personal decline in homebrewing was a direct result of getting back into the car hobby. I fall into the millennial category.

I've tried hunting and fishing. The regulations and lack of public areas that allow either ruined those for me. I'll still try both from time to time, but neither will likely be a major hobby for me anytime soon.

[majorvices]

I will say that when talking ab out getting young people into the hobby, I do think they are out there but a lot of them are working for breweries now using their equipment. I have 6 young people most early to mid twenties, working for me now and many others that have come an gone. They do their "homebrewing" at the brewery using a lot of the breweries equipment (and my old homebrewing equipment).

[majorvices]

JNust dawned on my no one mentioned Triple Freak ....Bwhahahahaha! That guy!

[mainebrewer]

JNust dawned on my no one mentioned Triple Freak ....Bwhahahahaha! That guy!

Or USMCruz!

[majorvices]

LOL blasts from the past

[ethinson]

I think we are witnessing the aging of the hobby - we need to be intentional about getting younger adults into the hobby and letting them provide a new enthusiasm to become contagious.

What we are witnessing, according to the studies I've seen, is that new brewers don't want a lifestyle or "religion" relating to homebrewing.  They want a fun, easy, quick activity that fits in with the rest of their lives.  Yes, numbers of new homebrewers are down a little, but we're also seeing that they think of homebrewing differently than people did 20 years ago.

Is this something specific to homebrewing, or is there a similar generational decline in other "lifestyle" hobbies, e.g. hunting and fishing, cars, or anything that requires filling your garage with pricey shop equipment?

I feel like almost everything changes from when it's brand-new to after it's been around a while.  I've seen a huge drop off in amateur radio traffic, which of course is directly related to technology.  You used to need Ham band and shortwave to talk to someone in China.. now you boot up a computer or dial your cell phone.  When I joined my college club in 1998 there were hardly any young people at all in Ham, and now I bet there's none.

That's an extreme example, but I feel a lot of things follow the same curve.  Something is new and exciting and everyone jumps on, then time passes and people drop out and those left are the few that are super passionate about it.

I don't know how it links to generations or millennials, but here in Portland space is very limited and a lot of people live in tiny apartments.  Sometimes you have to make choices about what hobbies you can support.  You can have a bike or a kayak, but not both.  I don't have a garage so don't have either.  Portland though also has a strong craft beer scene and a really strong homebrew crowd, so it probably doesn't compare to other places.  But we do put an emphasis on new members and making them feel welcome.