Read carefully. I said “monk-ISH”. OK, so maybe I would be like Lone Wolf McQuaid. Living a life in solitude, with nothing but my beer, and of course my wife.
Ohh. OK that makes more sense. I was worried about you brother. 
That life sounds pretty awesome. I kind of do that now, which tends to detract me from doing other things I probably should be doing. But I live in the city. Living somewhere peaceful and quiet sounds great. Having a companion would be preferable. Since I don’t have one right now, life gets a tad lonely at times.
But I would totally fail if I had to live off the land and hunt for all my food.
My “getting away from it all” spot in my back yard…
http://s794.photobucket.com/user/dennyconn/media/4046cdf5.jpg.html
Denny, I think there is an unwritten rule against rubbing it in. That looks fabulous. I want to live there.
That’s not rubbing it in…that’s inspiration for ya!
I started out brewing kitchen sink beers and trying to use brewing as a creative outlet. Which is should be. And is to me now. But I needed to learn to brew good beer (NOT ‘homebrew’) and how to design a recipe before I could utilize the creativity effectively.
So I spent about a year brewing straight out of Brewing Classic Styles, Julie and Julia-style, to pinpoint deficiencies in my process. The recipes (except arguablyhis weizenbock and steam beer) are all rock solid, so if something was ‘off’, I knew was my process, not the recipe. I brewed some styles I’m not huge on (80/-), and some I hadn’t had before (roggenbier). So that is one way to ‘focus’.
I have probably brewed my IPA 25 times (out of around 70 batches), and tweaked small things (water profile, ferment temp, pitch rate) quite a few times. So I guess if you have a recipe that is good that you can repeat, and most importantly, that you and others like to drink, it is worthy of brewing more than once and refining. (if brewing commercial beer, replace “you and others like to drink” from the previous sentence to “sells”).
You know P, I take issue with the way you used “home brew” in your statement above. Was it meant to be derogatory? I don’t understand.
I’ve been brewing for just over 2 years, have yet to repeat a style, let alone a recipe. There’s just too many things I want to try…
That being said, I now try to alternate between one “standard” brew and one experimental one. That way, if the latter fails, then I at least have something to drink in the meantime whilst making the next batch!
Cat, I don’t think Pietro meant it in a derogatory way towards homebrewers. I think it was meant to reflect the mindset of many folks who don’t brew, and think all homebrewed beer is inferior. I was there once, after I saw my uncle Jim’s homebrew and had a whiff(that’s as close as I got). So I grew up thinking that all “homebrew” was just a feeble attempt to to create something alcoholic and was not really meant to be good.
Anyways, that’s the way I took it. Hope I’m at least partly right. :?
:cheers:
Ron
I don’t enter competitions, nor to I worry about trying to perfect recipes. I just want it to taste good to me and anyone else that comes over to try what I’m making. That said, in the 18 months that I’ve been brewing, I’ve made close to 30 5G batches. Over that time, I’ve made the same thing just 3 times, and that was because I liked the first time that much that I wanted to make it again (basic APA, Pliny the Elder Clone and Blood Orange Hefeweizen).
Other than that, I do like to try different things, but I have not yet moved on to lagers, as I don’t have a way of controlling temps. Hopefully that will happen soon.
[quote=“Frenchie”]
Cat, I don’t think Pietro meant it in a derogatory way towards homebrewers. I think it was meant to reflect the mindset of many folks who don’t brew, and think all homebrewed beer is inferior. I was there once, after I saw my uncle Jim’s homebrew and had a whiff(that’s as close as I got). So I grew up thinking that all “homebrew” was just a feeble attempt to to create something alcoholic and was not really meant to be good.
Anyways, that’s the way I took it. Hope I’m at least partly right. :?
:cheers:
Ron[/quote]
Frenchie gets me.
Unfortunately, the term/brand ‘homebrew’ is tarnished. Like Worldcom.
Years of bad/stale kit ingredients and worse instructions led to millions of gallons of stuff worse than the commercial beer us beer nerds make fun of. The people that write the kit instructions should be sentenced to a life of drinking the rocket fuel they helped create.
Yes, I brew in my home. But I don’t make homebrew, I make beer.
So back to this “monk-ish” brewing compound… I’m in. Now, when we are in the “silent” area, are we still allowed to have quiet convesations with our yeast? I mean, sometimes I am more interested in what they are up to, than anyone at here at work…
Looks like we already have out location, and water source, in Denny’s back yard.
The similarities among we brewers are amazing. I used to do a little of everything brew-wise way back when. Now I focus on helles, pre-pro, pils, and some lighter Belgians. I always like a dry stout on tap over the winter.
Here’s a shot of my view for enjoying the fruits of my labor (fun). Denny’s spot looks pretty awesome too.
[quote=“Steeler D”]So back to this “monk-ish” brewing compound… I’m in. Now, when we are in the “silent” area, are we still allowed to have quiet convesations with our yeast? I mean, sometimes I am more interested in what they are up to, than anyone at here at work…
Looks like we already have out location, and water source, in Denny’s back yard.[/quote]
There need be no conversation with your yeast. It is expected that if you are part of the commune that you will have reached the point whereby you are one with your yeast and that spoken communication with it is no loner necessary.
Well, I guess cooking your own food at home can be viewed the same way. Do you call yourself a home cooker? I don’t, I just cook my own food, I don’t call it “home cooking my own food”. So, I see his angle. The goal is to brew good beer, not brew good “homebrew”. One can cook better food than they get in restaurants, same as with beer.
But, I still don’t see why you “took issue” with this? What’s it to you?
I’ve brewed 720 batches and keep 6 beers on tap at all times. I have about 8-12 favorites that I rotate through, call them house favorites. Then I try and do a couple new big anniversary brews once per year which are usually new. This is a great hobby, very rewarding.
Well, I guess cooking your own food at home can be viewed the same way. Do you call yourself a home cooker? I don’t, I just cook my own food, I don’t call it “home cooking my own food”. So, I see his angle. The goal is to brew good beer, not brew good “homebrew”. One can cook better food than they get in restaurants, same as with beer.
But, I still don’t see why you “took issue” with this? What’s it to you?[/quote]
I guess I’m old fashioned, I like home cooked meals and resteraunts that serve home style food. I also like home grown 
and homemade wine.
[quote=“Pietro”][quote=“Frenchie”]
Cat, I don’t think Pietro meant it in a derogatory way towards homebrewers. I think it was meant to reflect the mindset of many folks who don’t brew, and think all homebrewed beer is inferior. I was there once, after I saw my uncle Jim’s homebrew and had a whiff(that’s as close as I got). So I grew up thinking that all “homebrew” was just a feeble attempt to to create something alcoholic and was not really meant to be good.
Anyways, that’s the way I took it. Hope I’m at least partly right. :?
:cheers:
Ron[/quote]
Frenchie gets me.
Unfortunately, the term/brand ‘homebrew’ is tarnished. Like Worldcom.
Years of bad/stale kit ingredients and worse instructions led to millions of gallons of stuff worse than the commercial beer us beer nerds make fun of. The people that write the kit instructions should be sentenced to a life of drinking the rocket fuel they helped create.
Yes, I brew in my home. But I don’t make homebrew, I make beer.[/quote]
I’m personally trying to give home brew a good name. :cheers:
[quote=“Pietro”]
…Yes, I brew in my home. But I don’t make homebrew, I make beer.[/quote]
Amen to that. I always take that a step further by saying I make real craft beer (as opposed to some of the stuff on the store shelves that claims to be “craft” and more and more these days is anything but).
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
Good homebrew is the craftiest “craft” beer there is.
[quote=“The Professor”][quote=“Pietro”]
…Yes, I brew in my home. But I don’t make homebrew, I make beer.[/quote]
Amen to that. I always take that a step further by saying I make real craft beer (as opposed to some of the stuff on the store shelves that claims to be “craft” and more and more these days is anything but).
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
Good homebrew is the craftiest “craft” beer there is.[/quote]
Good point. I think either way you look at it, getting offended at making a statement against calling it “homebrew” is silly and frivolous.
On a side note, Prof, have you tried Sierra Nevada’s Hop Hunter yet? It’s brewed with distilled hop oil which reminded me of Ballantine IPA. It’s a tasty beer.
