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Author Topic: Brew Your Own place  (Read 5868 times)

Offline denny

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Re: Brew Your Own place
« Reply #30 on: April 16, 2011, 09:16:31 am »
I quess my beef with this stems from the quality aspect. I love the idea of promoting homebrewing but to sacrifice quality in an effort to sustain business goes against the very principles by which we stand for.

I think you're comparing apples and oranges, Ron.  AFAIAC, the BOP is a very different creature with a different reason for being than what we do.  The people who go there _aren't_ interested in homebrewing, they're interested in making beer with a slight hands on approach.  That may eventually lead them to discover what we all have, but I don't think it's right to think of a BOP in the same terms as what we do.  And again, my experience is that the people who run BOPs are interested in quality, but for a different reason than we are.  But their customers are only interested in quality up to a point and a smart businessperson give the customer what they want.
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Offline bluesman

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Re: Brew Your Own place
« Reply #31 on: April 16, 2011, 09:38:36 am »
I quess my beef with this stems from the quality aspect. I love the idea of promoting homebrewing but to sacrifice quality in an effort to sustain business goes against the very principles by which we stand for.

I think you're comparing apples and oranges, Ron.  AFAIAC, the BOP is a very different creature with a different reason for being than what we do.  The people who go there _aren't_ interested in homebrewing, they're interested in making beer with a slight hands on approach.  That may eventually lead them to discover what we all have, but I don't think it's right to think of a BOP in the same terms as what we do.  And again, my experience is that the people who run BOPs are interested in quality, but for a different reason than we are.  But their customers are only interested in quality up to a point and a smart businessperson give the customer what they want.

Perhaps you're right, in that if a business thrives on supplying a product that customers like...it's a win win situation for both parties. I certainly don't want to rain on anybody's parade. I think that it's just my perception (bordering beer snobbery) that there's a lack of quality that is inherent in the process that I'm hearing about. That said, I haven't used the BOP product so I'm taking second hand information and passing judgement which really isn't fair to the BOP's. I'm a big proponent of "don't knock it until you try it". I try to keep an open mind with any product or service that will support our hobby.

I think you may be right about the consumer's desires to have a "slight hands on approach" to homebrewing, this could lead them further, and I would only encourage folks to take this path if they want to get a feel for homebrewing as a hobby or craft. Now that you mention it, this can also be an educational experience for homebrewers.
Ron Price

Offline punatic

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Re: Brew Your Own place
« Reply #32 on: April 16, 2011, 12:02:04 pm »
I think many of us have done our own version of BOP.

More times than I can remember I've been asked, "Can I buy some of your beer?  I'm having a (party, wedding reception, fishing trip...) and would like to serve some."

My answer was always the same, "I cannot sell you my beer, but if you buy the ingredients, and help me brew it we can serve some great beer at your (party, wedding reception, fishing trip...)."  And more times than I can remember that's exactly what happened.

As it happens, I reconnected with a good friend promoting his rumcakes in Costco yesterday, "Hey Carl, I've got a big promotion coming up on your side of the island in May.  I want to serve some homemade beer.  Can you sell me some? ..."
There is only one success: to be able to spend your life in your own way.


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Offline wuertele

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Re: Brew Your Own place
« Reply #33 on: May 09, 2011, 03:13:01 pm »
I would never have got into brewing if it hadn't been for my local BoP.   I bought a BoP cupon for a friend, then he asked me to do it with him.  The BoP ("Berkeley Brewhaus") went out of business, which forced me to discover my local homebrew supply store, and since then I've gone all grain and taken the bjcp test.  I even have a website dedicated to brewing systems (http://brewbot.org/breweries).

If Berkeley Brewhaus hadn't gone under, I might never have had a strong enough excuse for SWMBO to let me spend money on this hobby like I have!
The All-grain Homebrewery System Registry:  http://brewbot.org/breweries