Home Brew
 

Is it really that much better than everything else? Is it worth the
trouble? Does it smell?

> wrote in message
> Is it really that much better than everything else?

No. Sex, for instance, or a really good pork chop, is definitely better than
homebrew. If you mean compared to commercial beer...homebrew that's better
than good commercial beer is, in my experience, fairly rare.

> Is it worth the trouble?

To drink a good beer, if you're living in a place where good commercial beer
is readily available? No, in my opinion. To learn about what beer is, to
have a pride of creation, to have a hobby that actually produces something
worthwhile. Depends on you.

>Does it smell?

Yes (leaving Joel's punctilious answer out), it does have an odor. Most of
us find it quite pleasing. Many others do not. Screw 'em.

--
Lew Bryson

"GOOD or SHITE?" -- Michael Jackson, "Thriller", 1982
www.lewbryson.com

> wrote in message
> Is it really that much better than everything else?

No. Sex, for instance, or a really good pork chop, is definitely better than
homebrew. If you mean compared to commercial beer...homebrew that's better
than good commercial beer is, in my experience, fairly rare.

> Is it worth the trouble?

To drink a good beer, if you're living in a place where good commercial beer
is readily available? No, in my opinion. To learn about what beer is, to
have a pride of creation, to have a hobby that actually produces something
worthwhile. Depends on you.

>Does it smell?

Yes (leaving Joel's punctilious answer out), it does have an odor. Most of
us find it quite pleasing. Many others do not. Screw 'em.

--
Lew Bryson

"GOOD or SHITE?" -- Michael Jackson, "Thriller", 1982
www.lewbryson.com

"Lew Bryson" > wrote in message
m...
>
> Yes (leaving Joel's punctilious answer out), it does have an odor. Most of
> us find it quite pleasing. Many others do not. Screw 'em.
>
My wife is one of "the others". Screwing her does not seem to change her
opinion on the matter. ;-)

Brian

wrote:
> Is it really that much better than everything else? Is it worth the
> trouble? Does it smell?
>

In order:
NO - providing you live where you have a selection of many microbrewed
bottled beers and a few on tap. These days that's a lot of places.

YES - both for the beer and for the things you learn while brewing. You
can control the process, so you can brew with malt, with grain, use ale
or beer yeast, control the fermentation temperature and taste the effect.

A LITTLE - but unless you have someone in your house who doesn't like
beer, and/or a VERY small studio apartment, there shouldn't be a
problem. Good beer doesn't reek, but it does give off light smells you
associate with beer. This assumes you keep things clean, stale beer
smells like stale beer, home brewed or not. And if you don't keep your
brewing equipment clean, you can get some baaad fermentation which emits
odd but not usually unpleasant odors.

Think of it as a self-financing hobby which becomes more and more
educational as you really get into it, and doesn't cost more if you get
advanced.

--
-bill davidsen )
"The secret to procrastination is to put things off until the
last possible moment - but no longer" -me
Beer blog: http://www.tmr.com/~davidsen/beer

"Bill Davidsen" > wrote in message
...
>
> A LITTLE - but unless you have someone in your house who doesn't like
> beer, and/or a VERY small studio apartment, there shouldn't be a problem.
> Good beer doesn't reek, but it does give off light smells you associate
> with beer. This assumes you keep things clean, stale beer smells like
> stale beer, home brewed or not. And if you don't keep your brewing
> equipment clean, you can get some baaad fermentation which emits odd but
> not usually unpleasant odors.
>
I'm gonna say it and **** off somebody but it's gotta be said...

It ain't brewing without boiling. Even if it's just a partial wort boil
using extract, you gotta boil and you gotta add your own hops, and that
REEKS (but in a pleasant way, of course). If you want to be a BREWER, not
just a (spit!) fermenter, you gotta be prepared to stink up the joint. Well,
that or move outside, where there's cold , wind, rain, snow, mosquitoes,
wasps,... ech! ;-)

Brian

Brian Lundeen wrote:
> "Bill Davidsen" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>A LITTLE - but unless you have someone in your house who doesn't like
>>beer, and/or a VERY small studio apartment, there shouldn't be a problem.
>>Good beer doesn't reek, but it does give off light smells you associate
>>with beer. This assumes you keep things clean, stale beer smells like
>>stale beer, home brewed or not. And if you don't keep your brewing
>>equipment clean, you can get some baaad fermentation which emits odd but
>>not usually unpleasant odors.
>>
>
> I'm gonna say it and **** off somebody but it's gotta be said...
>
> It ain't brewing without boiling. Even if it's just a partial wort boil
> using extract, you gotta boil and you gotta add your own hops, and that
> REEKS (but in a pleasant way, of course). If you want to be a BREWER, not
> just a (spit!) fermenter, you gotta be prepared to stink up the joint. Well,
> that or move outside, where there's cold , wind, rain, snow, mosquitoes,
> wasps,... ech! ;-)

What I said, light smells associated with beer. I run an exhaust fan to
get the moisture out, but not because of any strong odor. I usually use
a long full boil and quick chill.

--
-bill davidsen )
"The secret to procrastination is to put things off until the
last possible moment - but no longer" -me