I haven’t bought any in quite some time. Sometimes people will bring something over for me to try. If they like it and more importantly if I like it, I try and brew something similar.
I buy an embarrassing amount of commercial. I don’t brew terribly often, and I couldn’t get a good enough variety to match my whims… if I decide, because the weather is just so, that I really should have a nut brown, I probably don’t have one ready. I’m also not set up so well for some styles. And I like the craft community.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, being a homebrewer does make me a better commercial beer drinker. I can analyze a commercial beer so much more than I ever could before. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a Minnesota IPA and been able to say “Ooh, too much crystal in that- and not enough late hops.” Before, I’d just say “Not good.”
Edited to add: if I could nail a Summit Saga clone, Booze Mart (my local bottle shop) would probably be pretty sad.
I’ll keep PBR on hand as a simple beer to drink on a hot day. Heading to town today. Plan to pick up some Oktoberfest from a few different craft breweries.
My parents have a lake house that we spend a good amount of time at during the summer and I’m too lazy to lug a keg of homebrew all the way there so I have bought a few different cases of commercial to have on hand there because a lake trip pretty much requires beer. 
I have only bought one case of commercial beer for my house this year (couldn’t pass up on Great Lakes Christmas for $24 on sale). I do look for new unique beers at my local bottle shops and get mix sixes and an occasional 4 or 6 pack of ones I really enjoy or can’t just get singles of. Our local grocery store has a pub license (stupid PA liquor laws) so they have a nice variety so I often grab something there as my “grocery delivery charge” when sent to the store. 
If I find something I really like, I try to clone it, I very rarely buy full cases for home anymore.
Rad
Me at work drink a few polar beers. Used to be brewed in venazuela . But now in florida. Not the world best beer. But taste beter than bud heineken and amstel beer. At home only my own brewed beer. My brew partner. And parttime. Instructor at my work. We planning to bring a keg to work so my staff can drink for free. Next plan make a portabale beer tap
Look into jockey boxes for portability. There are a few on sale right now but they are easy enough to make. I made mine for prob $75 tops.
I am like @uberculture, I still buy plenty of commercial beer. I do admit that it comes in groves, and depends on how often I’m away from home vs. if I’m staying home (will only drink mine). The ONLY prob with HomeBrew is the ability to transport it (I keg). I also travel a lot on weekends which complicates matters.
The only time I drink commercial beer is at beer fests where I can drink for the cost of a few hours volunteering.
When I buy commercial, it’s typically a lager since I don’t have the equipment to properly make one. I like most all styles, so I enjoy trying new offerings when I come across them. Still haven’t found an Oktoberfest I like yet, so I’m thinking I just don’t like them. Went to Aldi the other day and bought a couple of sixers. One was a german pils (Wernesgruner) and I swear I don’t think I could tell the difference in it and Pilsner Urquell in a blind test and it was $6.99, not bad. Also had a belgian lager in a green bottle, so I knew it’d be skunked. Tasted just like a corona. Haha. Just kinda fun to test the waters, but when I’ve got 20 gallons of my brew on hand, hard to justify buying a lot of commercial.
Picked up Goose Island Oktoberfest this afternoon. This was the first Oktoberfest I had ever tasted. Will be interesting to find out what I think of the taste now. An Oktoberfest six pack from Capital Brewery also.
I keg my beer but I still bottle off the keg so I have plenty to bring up my camp or to the job for after work.
Taking a tangent on this, I’m a champion of the novice homebrewer. When I started, it was really intimidating being part of a forum full of people talking about how all their homebrew was better than commercial. I just looked at one of my early posts on this forum, and boy was I combative and upset over the topic of starters. I just want to say that home brewing is a wide open hobby, and everyone is welcome. If you want to replace 95% of commercial, that’s awesome. If you make a few 1 gallon batch experiments a year, hell yeah. If you just did your first extract batch in a 90 degree closet with six month old yeast, good on you. This hobby is about learning, and about unpretentious beer drinking. All are welcome.
It’s funny, I made a reference a bit ago to the “Breiss=grainy” thread, and decided to look that thread up. It is really telling that what sticks out as a touchy thread with inflamed opinions was actually pretty tame by Internet standards. Beer people, even at their worst, are the best people. Thank you to all brewers, for being a supportive community, and for making space for everyone.
3 Likes
I still buy a good amount of commercial beer, mostly sours or stuff I don’t want 10 gals of. I’ll buy beers that I here are really good or beers with hops I have never used to see how I like them. I love going to breweries also.
I appear to be in the minority. As soon as I was making good home brew I stopped buying commercial almost completely. I’ll get a beer if I’m out for dinner, but that’s about it. A big contributor to this is the Mrs. Spending money and time making beer is one thing, but then also spending money on commercial… not a good combo, lol.
In my original post I said I hadn’t bought any in some time, I did mean as in bottles to bring home. I do buy in pubs and breweries occasionally.
Actually, I find myself buying MORE commercial beer than I did before I started brewing. I have a few favorites that I like to keep on hand (mostly Sam Adams and Longtrail), but both my local supermarket and the local packie have ‘create your own 6-pack’ deals. I find that I’m buying a lot of different beers to sample and see if I want to try and replicate.
Prior to embarking on this brewing obsession almost 5 years ago, I was mostly a red wine drinker, with an occasional beer.
Did drink coastal evacuation yesterday. Friend did bring it from capemay nice hoppy beer. Sort of taste like a deathringer. A nice beer. It was to drink
Im 86.2% of the way to trying 1000 different beers…so yes i still buy alot of commercial beers…usually singles.
Even though I brew 20+ gallon batches and I have 21 kegs and two kegerators, I still find myself buying Sanke kegs of special beers (currently Kuhnhenn’s DRIPA) as well as a few special sixers here and there. I also buy cases of once a year brews for vertical tastings in my Bierkeller. (Bell’s Expedition Stout, Third Coast Old Ale, etc)
I seldom buy more than the odd 6 pack for comparison and to try something new. Of course I order beers in restaurants and I like to visit local brew pubs when traveling.
1 Like
I try plenty of commercial I just don’t buy it. People are always bringing me offerings in exchange for a growler fill. I try to keep up with what’s the popular beer of the season. This year it seemed to be the citrus infused IPA at least in CO,so I brewed one. I get a lot of free beer.
