Making the beer is the fun part. Packaging it to give away is the PITA. So, I have gone to asking donees to provide a soda bottle or container of their choosing to receive some homebrew. Interesting how many choose the 2 liter soda bottles or growlers...and some have recently asked how long a gallon might keep.
If you brew just for yourself to consume and to save money, you either have to drink an awful lot or make small batches. Either way, I don't find it to be a cost saving objective for me.
As to the thread topic, I enjoy the ability to brew spontaneously using dry yeast, as I don't track my kegs to know when an opening might come up in my brewing lineup. I used to be able to brew frequently and always had a few open slots to fill the empty kegs - not so much lately with COVID limiting the visitors. I have recently dumped perfectly good beer in order to free up a keg that had some beer with legs on it. Now that is passion for your hobby!
To follow up on that thought, I kegged 2 batches yesterday. A pretty fast and easy process compared to bottling, but as I was doing it I was thinking how boring it was and now much I'd rather be brewing. Spoiled, I guess.
Well, not all parts of the process are going to be fun. For instance, I dislike the chilling process, but I'm not going to a no-chill process. Kegging isn't that bad of a part for me anymore since I do a closed transfer. Before, I didn't care for it much, with the open keg expose (covered with foil) and using an autosiphon.
And to fredthecat's point, a lot of what I brew is stuff I can't find anymore ie black IPA, any good lager that isn't over hopped, anything that isn't hazy... ha, so like ANY style? No one makes a good schwarzbier, English porter, except for the classics, of course. But, domestically... Odell stopped making Cutthroat, Summit Great Northern Porter isn't in Iowa anymore... all these great beers we once had or were pushed out of the market because the haze craze, are all gone. Brew what you like, like what you brew. Making beer is one of the coolest hobbies in the world. The other reason I do it is because I love to share it. I give growlers away to friends all the time.
yup. i didnt feel the need to go ahead and explain my whole "why i brew" thoughts, but youve summarized it mostly.
1. its actually quite hard to get those "classic" styles like a really nailed down, well-crafted porter or stout or many other styles. its all just haze/"craft" lagers/session ipas etc.
-for the classic styles you can get the prices are insane now. i got a 500ml bottle of timothy taylor landlord the other day. $3.95. thats a lot of money for what would cost about 90 cents to a dollar to make.
2. i generally just make beer for personal consumption, but i do feel proud that i make my own stuff and people around here whove had it like it.
3. the process is okay, the formulation is fun. i have a KISS system though don't cut any corners except re: hot side oxidation and potential oxidation during transfer/bottling. as someone else said, if i could have some labourer do it as reliably as i do for 20 bucks per brew i would probably do that.
re: dry yeast. i had some issues come up this week and thanks to dry diamond lager yeast i can simply delay my intended brew for next weekend. i haven't used dry in a while, we'll see how it goes. the k-97 had a 5 inch krausen at its peak 2 days ago.
Topic: Let's Discuss Dry Yeast (Read 17607 times)
