

The next couple weeks are about to become a celebration of homebrewing for me. On Thursday I'll be joining the Oregon Brew Crew along with Alan Taylor, Alex Ganum, and Bill Schneller as we discuss my new book and traditions and techniques used in the UK and Berlin. Next week I'm off to the annual AHA Convention in Minneapolis to do some book-hawking and signing. And on June 22, I'll be in Dallas, OR doing a talk and book signing at West Valley Taphouse. To kick off this homebrewanalia, I thought it would be good to reprise a post that originally appeared on All About Beer. Why all this fuss about a hobby that seems entirely redundant in a moment when we have some of the best beer the world has seen right at our fingertips?

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There are many different kinds of homebrewers. Some barely do more than dissolve extract syrup in water and pitch yeast, while others have miniature-scale professional breweries. Some homebrewers make hundreds of gallons of beer a year and enter competitions; others brew once or twice, making, say, their “famous pumpkin brew” for Thanksgiving. Some homebrewers harbor a secret wish to go pro, while others are so modest they don’t even reveal their hobby to friends. If you just look at the habits of homebrewers, it’s difficult to see any unifying theme.

There is one, but it’s not the one non-homebrewers usually imagine. You don’t become a homebrewer to make beer more cheaply. Once you start considering the expense of the equipment and your time, it becomes pretty clear that the economics of the thing are at best a wash. You don’t become a homebrewer because you can make better beer than the pros. While I’ve met many who think their beer is the best in the world, they’re grading on a curve. I’ve been homebrewing for over 20 years, and nothing I’ve made has ever been as good as the world classics. Make a credible tripel and it just seems as good as Westmalle’s.