No, not me.
We have a local homebrewer who only makes extract batches and brewed his 500th batch on February 28, 2012. Someone checked some old notes and found he discussed batch 295 back on October 14, 1998. So 205 batches in 13 years 4 months. Using rough math that comes out to 160 months or a batch every 3 weeks.
That’s impressive!
I am impressed. We brew twice a month or so in the cold months, then don’t brew so we can enjoy that beer in the warm months. Lookign forward to being out on the deck with a Helles or a Pilsner in hand (kept in the shade to avoid skunking)!
So I am saying we are slackers. Around batch 300+, not concerned with the count these days.
VERY IMPRESSIVE. I brew 5 gallons every other week, about 26 batches a year and I have been pretty consistent with that for 6 years. So, I estimate I have brewed approximately 150, not close to 500 though.
Assuming they were all 5 gal batches that’s 2,500 gallons of beer. Nice work! 
Very impressive, but all extract???
Isn’t there a point in your brewing career that you want to make that last big step?
Very cool. I was just starting to brew shortly before he did 295 and I’m at 416 as of last weekend.
If he’s happy doing what he’s doing, why should he change?
Yes that’s a good point, but there’s another way to look at it. I could have stopped at a high school education, but I went further. I could have continued making wood projects with a circular saw, but I went further and got a radial saw, planer, etc. In all cases, I bettered myself by taking that next step.
I’ve seen many times where people say they’re happy making beer with their unaltered tap water or fermenting at room temperature, yet many, yourself included, post back and tell them to make changes. How is my comment any different?
Well, for one thing, it’s a hobby, not prep for life like school. I get your second point, but because i’s a hobby it’s his decision how he wants to approach it. Sure, I might encourage him to give AG a try, but if he’s not interested that’s the end of the conversation.
And all I did was ask about “all grain” as possibly being a changing point in his brewing carrier. Sorry, but it seems we are on the same page.
Wow. I’ve been doing this for 5 years and don’t think there’s 100 under my belt. Despite the weight gain…
Denny you are one class act.
have you malted your own grain yet? what about growing it? there is no last big step. it just keeps going. up and I don’t know where it’s going to stop!!!
Be sure and congratulate the guy for us, that is quite an acheivement. Just being a brewer for 25+ years is something special.
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Maybe it’s more about how you asked.
FWIW, I’ve been brewing for around 20 years and do not brew all-grain.
For most of the time, I’ve not been particularly interested in taking “that last big step.”
I have my process down, I know my equipment and I’m making and enjoying great beer.
I have an old cooler I can convert, and have thought about it, but frankly making the change would require an effort and adjustment (change of process, dialing in efficiency, etc.) that I’m not willing to make right now.
I’ve got enough other things to do and I want my brew day to be as smooth and reliable as possible. Right now, I’d rather spend my free time building a smoker.
After 500 batches, I’m sure this guy knows what he’s doing and has it dialed in.
In this case, I think it’s more about who did the asking.
Bo, go back and take a look at your original comment. it was just a little confrontational perhaps.
It is possible that you did not intend it to be critical but it sort of came across that way. I often have to check myself when on the internet to make sure that what I am saying doesn’t read differently than it would sound.
The first thing I did was comment on how impressive it was. I just don’t see how me commenting on it being all extract and someone else trying to encourage them to go all grain is that much different. I’ll bet there are very few brewers that have that many batches under their belt and aren’t at the all grain level. It was a reasonable comment and it wasn’t said in a harsh manner, at least not as harsh as the resulting comment.
Congrats on the 500 mark. I’m done.
I have to do this too, speaking from personal experience of losing sight of that and saying things I wouldn’t say in person.
I think it’s cool that he’s stayed with extract all these years. He must get his extract fresh and have the process down to a ‘T’ to brew great beer. No doubt that after that many years of brewing his beer is very good.