I haven’t bought any beer in a couple weeks but have been working on a selection of what I have brewed up.
Aaah… Freedom from the $8.99 sixpack! How sweet it is… ;D
A great place to be is when you’d rather drink your own and not get bored.
I’m about to be back in my "sweet spot’ once I get my newest beers carbonated and on tap. I need variety and I’m down to 6 different beers on tap, but I’ve got a rye pale, porter and my 2 fruit brett beers about to go online so then I’ll be a happy man again.
+1
I did buy some SA Longshot a few days ago but other searching out something specific like that I haven’t had need for a trip to a local beer stores in years. I still manage to spend plenty at out-of-state stores when on trips though.
cheers–
–Michael
I hadn’t bought any beer in several months. Last month I bought a 6 of Sam Adams Red Ale, a 6 of Odell’s Red ale, and a 6 of Sam Adams Alpine Spring…the tab came to $28. I thought “geeze I could have had 50 beers for less than that”. I don’t think I will be buying beer other than my 2 pints when I go out anymore.
I buy beer more than I’d like. I usually have 2 beers on tap and they’re usually staggered because I don’t have space to carbonate a keg while those two are on. I’d like to only drink my beer, but it’s habit for me to buy a six pack of something when I’m not feeling what I have on tap. But I think I’m getting better.
Someday I’ll have the capacity for have 4 beers on tap, that would be the sweet spot for me I think. This is also why I brew 3 gallon batches, so I can have variety as I tend to get tired of a beer about halfway through a 5 gallon batch.
I still buy the occasional 6-pack if something catches my eye in the beer isle. But I have five on tap right now so I won’t be buying any for awhile.
I like to buy Pabst Blue Ribbon beer in 12 ounce cans. I figure that the factory can make it cheaper than any clone I could come up with.
I have some of that, really nice American lager.
Why can’t you charge a cornie at room temp and then put the gas back on the serving kegs? A few charges at 25-30psi over the course of 3 or 4 days and you’re most of the way there.
I still buy some beer just to try new things, but I find that it sits around quite awhile.
Not sure I could get myself to keep up with that. I don’t know…
I’m realizing that as long as I brew often enough to have 2 kegs on tap and one in a keg (uncarbonated) waiting to go on after a keg blows, I only have to wait a few days for the new one to carbonate. It’s a balance thing, sometimes I have to brew when I don’t feel up to it.
I buy beer because there is so much good stuff out there and appreciate what some of them do. That and my time is limited as are the amount of bottles I have on hand.
Haha another good thing is that my recycle bin is much much lighter when I’m not filling it up with commercial empties!
Not to bash commercial beer but I’m beginning to find it boring. PBR excepted of course!
Which reminds me: gotta brew two batches this weekend!
I still buy beer a lot. Although I don’t buy a lot of any one thing. There’s a barrel load of really great inspired brews out there, as well as a bunch of, meh. I like drinking my beer, other homebrewer’s beer, quality pro beer and exploring styles I’m not familiar with or have been averse to in the past. Stay thirsty my friends.
I buy a decent quantity of beer. Some of it is to replenish my bottle supply, but some of it is good inspiration for beers that I want to brew. I definitely don’t buy as much beer as I did before I started homebrewing, but I still buy 1-2 Bombers a week just to see what is out there that I haven’t had before. However, I may have to slow down on the amount of beer I buy, and focus on drinking the homebrew I have in the closet. I have almost 20 gallons of beer in my closet right now, and I am almost out of bottles.
I have found myself buying beer for research as I delve into producing better beer. I choose a style and then select a few different commercial beers to sample that characterize it…it’s the best homework I’ve ever had to do!
+1.
Although I’m still only a year into home brewing and just started kegging, I enjoy supporting the local breweries here along the front range of CO in the taproom and liquor store. Plus, summer and winter seasonals are just too good for me not to buy and enjoy.
It’s the fall seasonals for me. The other seasonal beers I can take or leave, but fall beers, there’s just too many I have to drink. What with all the harvest ales, ofests, and whatnot. Fall is a wonderful time of year for beer.
That was the reason I bought the six packs of red ale. Red Ale is my favorite style and I have been tweaking and perfecting mine since I started brewing. And I must say…I actually liked mine better than the Sam Adams or the Odell’s. I think I am “there” with that particular style.
Last summer my homebrew stock was up to 300+ bottles and I felt pretty comfortable. Now I’m down under 60 and am in a panic. I had to buy a couple cases of crappy beer just to take the tightness out of my chest!
At the moment, I’ve got almost 400 bottles full of homebrew so my chest is Ok. Got another 120 or so bottles worth in fermenters just waiting to be bottled.
So many commercial brewers are no longer constraining themselves to recognized styles. It’s fun to try their beers and see what the heck they’ve dreamed up. I think it’s wonderful when fellow club members who get an opportunity to travel, seek out the obscure regional brews and share them at club meetings. Also, when folks on the various forums or broadcasts wax poetically about their favorite’s, I’ve just got to try them and see how I think they measure up. I want to try every beer once…some…a lot more often.