Hey pizza makers-- (since this post has gone there)-- try this recipe: Simple 72 Hour Pizza Dough I make pizza a lot. I was always trying to tweak and improve the dough with different flour/water proportions or using different cooking temps, broiler, etc. The 72 hour pizza dough is amazing-- easy to stretch, great structure, great flavor.
Oh yeah, and I brew for the same reasons many of you do-- the venn diagram of beer, cooking and science… And it goes well with the pizza.
Thanks for posting the recipes guys!
For me,it is something I can plan, purchase, prepare for, process the wort, control the fermentation, package, condition, consume and share, enter in competitions, and get great satisfaction from.
Add to the above, I have made great friends, done cool things, become a BJCP judge, and waste time on forums. Beercations are also a part of the lifestyle. Heading to Germany again, because the wife and I can, and love it there.
OK, now, THAT’S an engineer! Except the spelling was all good. ;D
Because I can.
For once, the spelling was not crap.
I did forget the step about what to improve for the next batch.
Chicks dig it.
I brew for the same reasons I garden, cook, do my own woodworking, carpentry etc. I just like knowing how thing work and doing it myself, and you can make it just the way you like it, uh, huh (kc and the sunshine band)
I must be doing it wrong
You get me, Jim.
At this point I like the time away from the stress of my regular job and I produce something that is universally liked among my friends. They initially tolerated my Homebrew, but as I got better at it by brewing and reading more each year, now they prefer it and ask for certain specific beer styles that I have made. But because I choose what I make, I can expose them to new styles that they probably never would have tried otherwise. It’s the ultimate social hobby.
I enjoy the process, I find it interesting and I enjoy the outcome.
I have been brewing for 25 years for a couple of reasons, which have been touched upon:
1. Cost. An 11 oz. bottle of a Belgian tripel costs around $6-7 at my local shop. Like, WTF?
2. Freshness. Some European styles taste better fresh, like alt and bitter. And those are hard to find around here.
3. Tastes better. I think my IPAs taste better than about 90% of the IPAs I taste. Mostly, I can avoid hop varieties that I do not like.
I brew for obvious reasons:
I also brew for reasons that a bit more complex:
Brewing a batch has a defined start and end. I know when I’m done and that gives a sense of closure. My j-o-b in the IT department of a large bank doesn’t really offer anything in the way of feeling like you finished something. Most work we do either goes on forever with new releases and the HW/OS upgrade treadmill or the funding gets cut and everything just stops. Most projects end long before anyone really says they’re done, they just kind of fade into the back.
Along the same lines as #1. I get real feedback from people who use my product. They like it or they don’t. They don’t keep coming back just because I’m the only place that, kinda, gives them what they need.
It gives “quiet time” where I can focus on doing one thing and no one interrupts me, unless it is really urgent. Not business “urgent” like “I changed my requirements and never told you so you didn’t give me what I wanted, now fix it” urgent. Really urgent, like “Dad, the car’s on fire”, urgent. Just me, my radio and the brewing. All the minor stuff can wait.
I’m not really antisocial but I’m still trying. I can get there. 8^)
Paul
I homebrew for three reasons:
1. To brew to my taste.
To save money. My favorite is about $2.50/12 oz can, and I can make it for about $.90/ 12 ozs. for the ingredients and propane costs.
I’m a “praise wh—.” I love it when somebody at the local brew club samples my brew and passes it to his buddy and says,“try this, it’s good”.
After The End Of The World As We Know It we will have to rebuild technology from scratch, and homebrewing will be my contribution: Amazon.com
Homebrewing to save money on beer works out like buying a fishing boat to save money on fish.
…unless you’re me! But saving money (which I could claim) is not why I brew anyway. I suppose I could make it a goal, but I’ve thought about that in the past and figured, meh… that’s not why I brew.
I think we should re-start the argument about sunk costs, opportunity costs, and the intrinsic value of our time.
