[brewthru]

Please, no more articles by David Schmidt. Why? IMO, these articles are sorely lacking of homebrewing or brewing in general. Are they rambling articles simply with brief mentions of brewing so as to qualify for the magazine? Reminds me of any online forum where someone write off topic, but, in passing mentions the subject, just to claim “I’m on topic”.

Enough.

Both "My Grandfather's Crock" and "Brewing in the Aloha Spirit" were not worthy of being published in Zymurgy.

[mabrungard]

You made me go get my copy of Zymurgy and review it.  While I agree that the article may be a bit off-topic with respect to brewing, but its articles like this that expand minds and perspectives and get creative people to come up with new and interesting things. 

Who knows, maybe there is an aspect of the Kava subject or ethos that might inspire someone.  At a minimum, it brought a new subject to readers.   

[dmtaylor]

I found his article about Kava in the July/August issue quite interesting.  I never really knew what kava was before this article.  Not beer, but still a similar scene and camaraderie. 

[Megary]

So I guess the question is this:

Should Zymurgy focus solely on homebrewing beer, or homebrewing in general?

I say they should take whatever path generates the most interest, though I find it interesting that most advertisements are beer-centric.  (Obviously some products can apply to all types of brewing, not just beer).

And it's up to the reader to decide if they are getting enough out of the magazine to help justify a membership.  Yes, there are other benefits to a membership, I know.

[denny]

So I guess the question is this:

Should Zymurgy focus solely on homebrewing beer, or homebrewing in general?

I say they should take whatever path generates the most interest, though I find it interesting that most advertisements are beer-centric.  (Obviously some products can apply to all types of brewing, not just beer).

And it's up to the reader to decide if they are getting enough out of the magazine to help justify a membership.  Yes, there are other benefits to a membership, I know.

This so a question that's been raised for 25 years every time Zymurgy publishes an article on something other than beer. The consensus is that most people don't mine the divergence and many actually appreciate it.

[Megary]

So I guess the question is this:

Should Zymurgy focus solely on homebrewing beer, or homebrewing in general?

I say they should take whatever path generates the most interest, though I find it interesting that most advertisements are beer-centric.  (Obviously some products can apply to all types of brewing, not just beer).

And it's up to the reader to decide if they are getting enough out of the magazine to help justify a membership.  Yes, there are other benefits to a membership, I know.

This so a question that's been raised for 25 years every time Zymurgy publishes an article on something other than beer. The consensus is that most people don't mine the divergence and many actually appreciate it.

I've seen the topic brought up before, for sure.  However, I have never seen a poll taken on what the members would prefer.  That would be interesting.

For the record, I enjoy Zymurgy.

[Drewch]

For the record --- in case any of Zymurgy's editors read this --- I like the "stretch" articles. 

Obviously, some editorial discretion is required.  There are a lot of adjacent fields that seem to be of overlapping interest to homebrewers --- culinary arts, history, horticulture, &c. --- but an article on, say, automotive maintenance or offensive strategy in football might be over-stretching it.

It would be interesting to see some polling data on what other hobbies homebrewers have.