Decline in Hombrewing.

[Chuck Roast]

So you are into English Ale's?

Ugh...I gotta start proof reading a bit better...AND get a new contact prescription!!

 

[GFHomebrew]

I was doing the pomebrewing thing up until Katrina hit us in New Orleans in 2005...
I had graduated from extract to all grain...using a couple of full sized kegs we'd cut tops off with an angle grinder....and drilled and put spigot and I think it was called an EZ-Masher...little mesh filter over the outflow spigot.

I used a propane burner on my patio and I was turning out some decent beers, at least I and my friends liked it...brewing 10 gallon batches, kegging in corny kegs that friends donated (don't ask, don't tell...the source)....

Anyway, after Katrina...my stuff went into storage for a few years as I bounced around, and even when I settled down...I just get got around to it...

Well, a friend of mine I used to brew with...started doing little 1 gallon batches of mead...and I followed suit and went for that and ciders and remembered how fun this all was.

Then I discovered the BIAB electric systems. These days...well, I can afford more toys than I could back then, and I'm older and don't have the stamina for all day cooks like I did...so, this works for me. My friend got an anvil system, I got the Spike Solo system....and wow...I'm having fun again!!

For me...it's coming back to the hobby after a VERY long hiatus. I started with the Papazian book all those years ago...with put together stuff, doing it in the kitchen, etc.

In the New Orleans area....breweries and brewpubs are popping up all over...seems to be going strong down here. We have a decent brew shop. I guess he does enough business to stay in business.

From what I can tell, the Homebrew scene down here, at least...is alive and well. I'm wanting to get a few more brews under my belt...learn my system and techniques better, but I plan to look into finding and maybe joining the home brewers club(s) down here. I went to a tasting last year and there was a HUGE turn out...so, I'd say the hobby is healthy down here.

Then again..in NOLA...drinking is part of everyday life...so, stands to reason.

Anyway, I just found the forum and this site and tools....hello everyone!!

C

Welcome and thankyou for weighing in on this forum discussion sounds like you've been on a hombrewing journey as such even with a set back along the way you stuck true to the course

 

[Herm brews]

You're describing my set up
And I think @Herm brews 's is pretty much like that as well

My 5.5 gallon kettle is where I mash and boil, there are 2 fermenters with spigots, and all finished beer goes in bottles. As simple as it gets.
Here in Eugene, Oregon, I often smell brewing on the wind, meaning someone is brewing at home. There are several craft breweries in town too. I would say the hobby is alive and well here.

 

[Vallka]

Had I been reading this thread earlier I would have almost written this exact post! Declining beer sales, less DIY, everything costs more, etc. Especially the impression of the high "Entrance Fee" to homebrewing. Someone thinking about getting into home brewing now will find tons of information on shiny, flashy, easy-to-use and relatively expensive all-in-one systems. What has kind of disappeared is the simple, low-cost, one kettle, one bucket, one picnic cooler mash tun setup.

Yep my setup as well.
I think the younger gen just dose not have the patience for it.....yet.
I started brewing 6-7 yrs ago and I quickly went from brewing just to make cheap beer to obsessed hobby! My friends prefer my beer to commercial beer, so like someone said earlier, there is a litter ego in there but much more pride. You could compare it to cooking a good home made meal, I love to cook all kinds of food. But now people are having all the ingredient delivered and just toss it together....still cooking but not being a cook.

 

[Sandy Feet]

I know EXACTLY where you are, down the road from the big pineapple. I lived in Mooloolaba for 4 years, Brisbane for three. I had a house in Minyama on a canal. I got busted having a bit too much fun with a girl on the beach in front of the Mooloolaba surf club one night... I was lit and she had a dress on, told the copper I was just laying there.. It didn't work. This was 20 yeas ago... There was this Irish pub in a hotel/condo (can't remember which) on the Esp or just off it, that had the best Killkenny on tap. Those were good days. The stories I have... I still have personal affects on the bottom of a canal in Minyama from some mentally ill chick I dated that was pissed off I was having fun with mates down in Caloundra at a club and wouldn't come home when she demanded and she decided to toss everything of mine she could carry into the canal off the jetty in my back yard.... I lived in Paddington in Brisbane and watched them build the stadium. The Paddo Tavern was my hangout there.

Now I live in redneck country working on building a winery 20 miles east of Sarasota Florida.

I remember having too much fun on a somewhat unpopulated Florida beach many, many moons ago and seeing a tour bus pull up LOL. I was at least smart enough to cover up wirh a towel. 20 miles east of Sarasota isnt going to be redneck country for long. It is going to be insanely overbuilt like what is happening to us.

 

[Ward Chillington]

Cool..giant pineapples..we got those sort of things in the states too.....this one here in PA just got on the list of historical record.

https://www.wgal.com/article/york-county-haines-shoe-house-gets-state-historical-marker/44592802

Ah yes, roadside America, the Shoe's an air BnB! Love this stuff...especially the stories behind them!

And welcome to the clubhouse @Chuck Roast ! I dig the homebrew for making homebrew! Nothing like using your resources, local sourced especially!

 

[SwampWater]

My brew schedule is the same. I don't brew IPA's that much as the amount of hops in each recipe is expensive here in Canada. I buy everything in bulk as shipping has gone through the roof. Store bought beer has also gone through the roof. I brew because I really enjoy doing it, and have been for over 40 years. Homebrew stores are starting to close shop here in Ontario also. I have read that has been going on in the US for a few years now. Luckily there are still a few good shops available in the Toronto area but I have to pay that high shipping cost. Oh well, gotta pay the man I guess. All in all, still love the hobby and don't plan on retiring from it any time soon.

 

[Limey]

I actually re-started home brewing AFTER Covid! I stopped in about 2010 because a local craft brewery would fill my Corny kegs for $40 - that was about the same price then as brewing my own (I was doing extract) and was better beer. Then in 2018 my wife took a job in the U.K. for 3 years so off we went. I am originally from England but came to the US about 45 years ago! We had been there a couple of months, were settled in to a small village with 3 pubs, and one night in our "local" were dicussing how much better beer was in the U.K. compared to most of the stuff in the US - neither of us are into hoppy IPAs or high ABV so British styles were to our liking! Anyhow - after this discussion, my wife turns to me and says "you are brewing again when we get back"! So upon return I purchased an Anvil Foundry and an Anvil Crucible and have not looked back. After 12 brews I am very happy with the result and by buying grain in bulk the cost averages out around $20 for 5 gallons - way cheaper than anything I can buy!

 

[GFHomebrew]

I actually re-started home brewing AFTER Covid! I stopped in about 2010 because a local craft brewery would fill my Corny kegs for $40 - that was about the same price then as brewing my own (I was doing extract) and was better beer. Then in 2018 my wife took a job in the U.K. for 3 years so off we went. I am originally from England but came to the US about 45 years ago! We had been there a couple of months, were settled in to a small village with 3 pubs, and one night in our "local" were dicussing how much better beer was in the U.K. compared to most of the stuff in the US - neither of us are into hoppy IPAs or high ABV so British styles were to our liking! Anyhow - after this discussion, my wife turns to me and says "you are brewing again when we get back"! So upon return I purchased an Anvil Foundry and an Anvil Crucible and have not looked back. After 12 brews I am very happy with the result and by buying grain in bulk the cost averages out around $20 for 5 gallons - way cheaper than anything I can buy!

Awesome stuff mate yeah you can make a quality product at the fraction of the commercial price !

Sounds like you've got a very supportive partner as well !

Sounds like a win win situation eh

 

[Donoroto]

I actually re-started home brewing AFTER Covid! I stopped in about 2010 because a local craft brewery would fill my Corny kegs for $40 - that was about the same price then as brewing my own (I was doing extract) and was better beer. Then in 2018 my wife took a job in the U.K. for 3 years so off we went. I am originally from England but came to the US about 45 years ago! We had been there a couple of months, were settled in to a small village with 3 pubs, and one night in our "local" were dicussing how much better beer was in the U.K. compared to most of the stuff in the US - neither of us are into hoppy IPAs or high ABV so British styles were to our liking! Anyhow - after this discussion, my wife turns to me and says "you are brewing again when we get back"! So upon return I purchased an Anvil Foundry and an Anvil Crucible and have not looked back. After 12 brews I am very happy with the result and by buying grain in bulk the cost averages out around $20 for 5 gallons - way cheaper than anything I can buy!

I love a happy ending <snif>

 

[GFHomebrew]

So @Steve SPF and @The Brew Mentor
I know you guys both have a commercial brewery and um sure your both in the hombrew supply business.

What's been your experience post covid in regards to both your hombrew retail and bar sales?

Have you noticed a drastic decline in profits and if so is it more the hombrew sales then beer over The bar or even less take away product since people arnt isolating anymore.

Just keen to get some imput from you guys and anyone with a vested financial interest in this .

Cheers

 

[GFHomebrew]

My brew schedule is the same. I don't brew IPA's that much as the amount of hops in each recipe is expensive here in Canada. I buy everything in bulk as shipping has gone through the roof. Store bought beer has also gone through the roof. I brew because I really enjoy doing it, and have been for over 40 years. Homebrew stores are starting to close shop here in Ontario also. I have read that has been going on in the US for a few years now. Luckily there are still a few good shops available in the Toronto area but I have to pay that high shipping cost. Oh well, gotta pay the man I guess. All in all, still love the hobby and don't plan on retiring from it any time soon.

Wow 40 years in homebrewing!
You would seen alot of change and improvements in equipment and supplies.

Your beer prices reflect what's happening here in Aus gotta sell a kidney to spend an afternoon at the pub!

Government tax the absolute crap outta anything fun.

 

[Steve SPF]

My homebrew supplies side has fallen off a cliff, my take on that is people have abandoned brewing and gone back to work. I will probably close the webshop in the coming weeks.

Bar rentals are good, it's been a decent year for festivals and events so far and there's a bit to come yet. As a side business, that's been excellent.

The beer market is interesting. I'm not brewing at the moment but the interest in local and craft beers is really strong. My beer bar is going ok. The cask beer market is strong and somewhat price sensitive, cask beer has a bit of an image problem here in that people expect it to be relatively cheap. Craft keg people just don't seem to care, if the beer is good then price is less of a factor.

My function site has been a lesson. It was decimated through covid but bounced back really well. I think the lesson is that we have learned to socialise a little differently. People seem to enjoy socialising in their own groups and that can be in function spaces or at home in their own spaces.

I'm reasonably well plugged in to the on trade sector here, I do a lot of stocktaking and a little bit of training, and have been surprised at just how resillient it is. I was expecting last winter to be carnage and it wasn't, now with the cost pressures coming off - particularly utilities - and the retail price increases settled in and not getting the push back many of us were expecting it looks like far more pubs are in better shape than we were thinking.

The volume beer market is still shrinking and the big brewers are still pulling their shitty little tricks like reducing ABV and wheeling out snake oil salesmen to justify it. Fortunately for us now craft beer is in excellent shape and we aren't forced to put up with their watered down crap.

Big lessons here have been that enough people will pay for quality, but plenty of people will still drink Fosters and Carlsberg even when they strip 10% out of the ABV and put the price up by 20%. I'm staggered by how little people either understand or care about what companies do to the products they consume.

Should caveat all this by saying that I'm no expert, this is just what I see. I've been in the industry one way or the other for 40 years and sometimes it seems like the more I see the less I understand.

 

[GFHomebrew]

My homebrew supplies side has fallen off a cliff, my take on that is people have abandoned brewing and gone back to work. I will probably close the webshop in the coming weeks.

Bar rentals are good, it's been a decent year for festivals and events so far and there's a bit to come yet. As a side business, that's been excellent.

The beer market is interesting. I'm not brewing at the moment but the interest in local and craft beers is really strong. My beer bar is going ok. The cask beer market is strong and somewhat price sensitive, cask beer has a bit of an image problem here in that people expect it to be relatively cheap. Craft keg people just don't seem to care, if the beer is good then price is less of a factor.

My function site has been a lesson. It was decimated through covid but bounced back really well. I think the lesson is that we have learned to socialise a little differently. People seem to enjoy socialising in their own groups and that can be in function spaces or at home in their own spaces.

I'm reasonably well plugged in to the on trade sector here, I do a lot of stocktaking and a little bit of training, and have been surprised at just how resillient it is. I was expecting last winter to be carnage and it wasn't, now with the cost pressures coming off - particularly utilities - and the retail price increases settled in and not getting the push back many of us were expecting it looks like far more pubs are in better shape than we were thinking.

The volume beer market is still shrinking and the big brewers are still pulling their shitty little tricks like reducing ABV and wheeling out snake oil salesmen to justify it. Fortunately for us now craft beer is in excellent shape and we aren't forced to put up with their watered down crap.

Big lessons here have been that enough people will pay for quality, but plenty of people will still drink Fosters and Carlsberg even when they strip 10% out of the ABV and put the price up by 20%. I'm staggered by how little people either understand or care about what companies do to the products they consume.

Should caveat all this by saying that I'm no expert, this is just what I see. I've been in the industry one way or the other for 40 years and sometimes it seems like the more I see the less I understand.

Ah man that sux to hear on the HB store front Steve.
Sounds like it's a reflection across the board I see kegland are even sending me "specials" emails...
Yeah old mate 4 priests seems to be pushing alot of cask beers out of his little 200lt brewery in middlewitch (not sure on that spelling) it seems cask ale is pretty strong!

Yeah I watched real ale craft beers rant about Heineken watering down their export to the UK.

Well sounds like the brew shed is going Strong.

Stick in there man just gotta ride out this wash from covid and hopefully things will get back on track in a year or two...?

 

[Minbari]

My 5.5 gallon kettle is where I mash and boil, there are 2 fermenters with spigots, and all finished beer goes in bottles. As simple as it gets.
Here in Eugene, Oregon, I often smell brewing on the wind, meaning someone is brewing at home. There are several craft breweries in town too. I would say the hobby is alive and well here.

Same here, so many craft breweries I can't even try them all, lol

 

[Daniel Parshley]

[QUOTE="Steve SPF, post: ... Craft keg people just don't seem to care, if the beer is good then price is less of a factor. ... Big lessons here have been that enough people will pay for quality, but plenty of people will still drink Fosters and Carlsberg even when they strip 10% out of the ABV and put the price up by 20%.

Where are you? I'm guessing Aussie, Aussie, Aussie (Hoy, hoy, hoy). Around here in the States, seeking out good micro breweries seems to be on the rise. The old ones have been called to task and know they need to up their game in both beer and food. Generally, if the beer is good the food is too.

 

[Steve SPF]

[QUOTE="Steve SPF, post: ... Craft keg people just don't seem to care, if the beer is good then price is less of a factor. ... Big lessons here have been that enough people will pay for quality, but plenty of people will still drink Fosters and Carlsberg even when they strip 10% out of the ABV and put the price up by 20%.

Where are you? I'm guessing Aussie, Aussie, Aussie (Hoy, hoy, hoy). Around here in the States, seeking out good micro breweries seems to be on the rise. The old ones have been called to task and know they need to up their game in both beer and food. Generally, if the beer is good the food is too.

North West England, not Australia.

 

[The Brew Mentor]

So @Steve SPF and @The Brew Mentor
I know you guys both have a commercial brewery and um sure your both in the hombrew supply business.

What's been your experience post covid in regards to both your hombrew retail and bar sales?

Have you noticed a drastic decline in profits and if so is it more the hombrew sales then beer over The bar or even less take away product since people arnt isolating anymore.

Just keen to get some imput from you guys and anyone with a vested financial interest in this .

Cheers

The supply side took a solid hit during the pandemic.
The customers that we lost during this, for the most part haven't returned.
Some set the hobby aside, but I believe most have just learned a different way to shop and are willing to pay for the convenience of doorstep delivery.
The brewery which opened towards the end of the pandemic has been slowly growing as people resume more normal activities.
As a business owner, you have to continually evaluate and redirect to what the consumer wants.
That being said, the retail has gotten more condensed and the square footage is getting changed into private gathering space.
We get more and more requests for this and hopefully this will eventually offset retail sales.
We still have a full line of brewing and winemaking supplies, but time will tell what happens with that.
Brian

 

[GFHomebrew]

The supply side took a solid hit during the pandemic.
The customers that we lost during this, for the most part haven't returned.
Some set the hobby aside, but I believe most have just learned a different way to shop and are willing to pay for the convenience of doorstep delivery.
The brewery which opened towards the end of the pandemic has been slowly growing as people resume more normal activities.
As a business owner, you have to continually evaluate and redirect to what the consumer wants.
That being said, the retail has gotten more condensed and the square footage is getting changed into private gathering space.
We get more and more requests for this and hopefully this will eventually offset retail sales.
We still have a full line of brewing and winemaking supplies, but time will tell what happens with that.
Brian

Thanks for your reply I didn't see this!

I'm glad the Hombrewing supply side is still happening.

We're creatures of comfort us humans maybe sometimes to our own demise.
It's nice getting HB supplies and such shipped to our door but what happens when we forget something important like yeast or hops and have to duck off to the local HB store only to find through lack of sales it's closed down.

Well now that's a few days wait or next weekend the brew days gonna be put off!

Cheers.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Couldn't find the "you know you did it wrong thread"...

Thought this picture my sum up why there could be a decline in hombrewing due to poor um due diligence.
Not doing your homework...
Was working at this house and saw this

I didn't get to chat to them and not sure I would really pushed to hard to get better fermentation control you know if you like your beer brewed like that than who am I to argue right?