zoomers are so far removed from that, they literally do not have any traditional food based on their ancestors unless they are very recent immigrants. without hyperbole, its all just a mix of shawarma/tacos/pizza/hamburgers+fries/genericised asian food etc and almost all franchise-chains.
If true, this nearly makes me want to cry.
That post had so many broad generalizations about groups of people that I cannot agree with it. I think food offerings have much more to do with price points to be profitable than peoples’ tastes.
I feel the same way, the best I can say is “I enjoy drinking my beer more than most of the beers that are available at the local grocery stores,” but there’s no pFriem, Live Oak, or Goldfinger lager beer on the shelves here in Alabama. I brew lager to fill that gap, and hope it has some of the qualities of my favorite commercial beers, but I would never expect to beat the best pros at their own game.
I homebrew for several reasons like many others that take up the hobby.
For one, I enjoy the joining of the objective and subjective qualities of brewing. The combining of art and science and how they produce something so unique and layered.
Secondly, I really do enjoy the process of brewing. Hell, it even took me as far as doing it professionally on a large scale. But those days are behind me, at least for now. Brewing at home allows me to quiet my mind a bit and allow for some bandwidth to focus on something that is all my own. Recipe development, acquiring materials and ingredients, calculations and execution are all part of the process and it speaks to my soul. It sounds a bit sentimental but it’s hard not to be in writing this as I rock my infant son to sleep.
I don’t brew as often as I used to or want to but the lightning bolt of creativity is still alive and well and I hope to crank out another artistic science experiment soon. There are other reasons I haven’t explained as to why I homebrew. I simply explained a few that stood out the most to me. Happy brewing everyone!
Why do I homebrew? Here are a few reasons:
It’s what I refer to as “the quietude of puttering”
I agree with most of what others have listed, not so much better than commercial but I can have a selection which I like, when I want, with as much as I want. Cheaper, likely not, as the more you save the more you make, and drink lol! The analytical aspect is intriguing as what did I change, how did it change the outcome, and did I like it…can I repeat it.
Curious where you heard about Goldfinger. They make very good lagers! Grateful they are brewed so close to where I live
Really enjoying reading these responses.
Thank you everyone for posting and I hope folks continue to post
I am in the Bay Area right now and had the opportunity to drink two cask beers from Freewheel Brewing Co. They were nicely done (ordinary bitter and a stout). The ordinary was 3.5% and the stout I believe was just over 5%. That said home brewing allows me to have these types of beers any time I want and tweaked to my personal taste. I also had a nice pale ale,1500 from Drakes served on draft. Served a bit cold so I had to let it warm up some to get the flavors to stand out more.
I think I heard about them when the head brewer did an interview on the Craft Beer&Brewing podcast. I’m originally from and still have family in the Chicago area, so I picked up some Goldfinger at the local Binny’s and was very impressed. Hopefully on a future trip up north I will stop by the brewery.
It’s really simple: I can brew the beer I want, how I want, when I want.
I admit to being a bit of a traditionalist, and I find it harder and harder to find great examples of classic beer styles on the shelves. If I want a porter, or an English IPA, or a clear-and-assertively bitter APA, I pretty much have to make it myself – either they’re not on my store shelves, or they’re not very good.
I don’t have to brew anything I don’t care for, just because other people like it (looking at you, hazies and pastries and milkshake abominations), nor do I have to follow any trends, fads, or gimmicks.
I can be creative when I want to be, or traditional when I want to be. (I fall much more in the latter camp.) I don’t have to brew to a schedule, I don’t have to worry about sales, or jockeying for shelf / tap space in the retail market.
I am PROUD to be a homebrewer. Damn proud. I adore this hobby, and the people in it.
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Side note: I have zero interest in going pro, now or ever. And I honestly can’t stand how much has been targeted to going pro at Homebrew Con in the past.
It’s HOMEBREW Con, not HOW-TO-GO-PRO Con.
If I had my way there would be NO going-pro track at all. I’m there to celebrate being a homebrewer, to learn how to continually improve my homebrew, to socialize with other homebrewers, and – most importantly – to relax, not worry, and have many homebrews!
See y’all in Asheville! Look for me, I’ll be the guy drinking a beer. 
I brew because the ritual of brewing is relaxing to me. From deciding what to brew, through the process of writing the recipe (after 30 years, I only occasionally refer to other recipes), to actual brew day when I enjoy the aromas filling my house, I am relaxed by it all. It is always fun to share my brews with others, to get their feedback (mostly compliments, some critique by my fellow judges which is always welcome).
hear hear! I’m with you.
Cheers to that!!!
I think this may be the reason for homebrew decline. It’s just too easy to go to the grocery store, bottle shop, or brew pub to get great examples of most styles. The convenience of trading cash for beer is instant gratification vs waiting 1+ months on average from brewday to drinking.
I’ll probably get run out of town for this and if so, it’s been a pleasure.
What I took from Denny’s comment is the opposite message one of the leading homebrewers around should be sending. Someone considering joining this hobby would look at that and say, “Well, if a guy who has a brewing podcast, has brewed hundreds and hundreds of batches and has a yeast named after him says it’s just so easy to find beer as good or better” then they might think twice about diving in.
I KNOW that wasn’t Denny’s point, but that’s because I’ve been around awhile. Denny is just saying that his area is a sunfish hole for craft beer, not that home brewing isn’t worth while..but that point can get missed.
I think there are a lot of reasons why homebrewing is declining, and one of them is that it has a bit of a geriatric problem. Seriously, how many people on this board haven’t watched MASH?? And maybe that problem self perpetuates within the hobby as so much of the trendy AIO’s today are only affordable to those with free cash.
The fact that beer itself is trending downward doesn’t help either. But that will circle back.
I believe homebrewing will come around again. The AHA just needs to tell everyone how much fun the hobby really is, how relaxing it is (or should be). It’s a message that seems missing to me. Look above to see all the reasons people brew and how often something like “enjoying the process” comes up. Making beer is very cool, sure. But the step-by-steps of the hobby itself is the selling point. In my opinion, anyway.
My hypothesis is the plethora of “craft beers” whether excellent, good or average put homebrewing in a tailspin
Unfortunately COVID did us no favor when I would have thought the opposite. I believe the “Mr Beer” type kits turned off a lot of people to the hobby coupled with closures of LHBS due to large online retailers
If it were the late 80s or early 90s things would have been different. It seems that Mr Beer/canned kits got many of us interested based on reading various posts here and the micro beer industry was vastly different back then
A colleague of mine who is much younger than I tried to brew a porter using one of the all-in-one Mr Beer type machines during Covid She really likes a locally brewed peanut butter porter in her area. Of course it turned out like crap and she swore off homebrewing. Now would she have continued brewing if she did all grain with all the required equipment or using the all in one systems. Most likely not. But it is not that she gave up, but she told me and who knows how many others that homebrewing isn’t worth it and from her perspective she is correct based on her experience.
Her beer was nowhere near the peanut butter porter she loved
35+years ago I had a similar experience with a 180 degree outcome. I made a can based extract stout (I did steep some roasted barley crushed with rolling pin into the water prior to adding the extract) brewed bottled and enjoyed.
I thought it was great because at that time the only stout was Guinness extra stout in bottles and this was not as sour and more roasty (imagine why). If I had the options I see in my local beer store I am not sure of the outcome. I probably I would have continued for a little bit as I could make beer for less than $5 a case and as a college student that was a big incentive. Would I have moved on to all grain? Not sure…..
I can only speak to my own reason for homebrewing….because I love the brewing part. It’s like doing magic.
What that is meant to say is “I brew for the brewing, not the beer”.
That’s one reason I brew smaller batches: it allows me to brew more styles, more often.