Decline in Hombrewing.

[Vallka]

Gen Z wouldn't know a good beer if it was poured on 'em. They're the ones still keeping Bud Light afloat.

You may have a point about the vaping thing. They all think it isn't going to hurt them and that they look cool blowing a huge cloud of vapor. What they don't know or read WILL hurt them. Apparently, the liquids with nicotine in them are a LOT more addictive than cigarettes ever were. If you ever read up on the tobacco industry in this country leading up to the massive class action suits, It's jaw dropping what they did to get folks addicted, and most of it was NOT nicotine, albeit, most of them used nicotine enhancers in their tobacco products. I smoked for 37 years, but between the additives for 'flavor' and the additives for fire safety, I got enough and quit cold turkey. The missus didn't even know I'd quit for nearly 3 months because I kept carrying my lighter and an open pack in my pocket to prove to myself I could quit. No gum, no patch, nothin'. Just quit. Did I ever mention that I can be on the stubborn side?

My silly 19 year old granddaughter decided to start vaping and had enough older acquaintances that would get them for her, whom fortunately (for them) she won't name. Vapes are regulated here just like tobacco and alcohol here, and kids are not supposed to be able to buy them until they're 21. Just like when we were kids, though, if the Gen Z kids wanna do something, they'll find a way.

I think homebrewing in Alabama is actually on the rise, because alcohol regulations were changed pretty drastically just before COVID hit. It was around before that, and there were even suppliers for brewing and distilling, but they had pretty strict restrictions on the quantities they could sell. Now, it's a lot easier to get supplies (not so much financially) and a LOT of micro breweries have popped up in the last few years that are exposing people more to craft beer and home brewing. And there is a much better selection of craft beers available in all the supermarkets and booze bizzes.

It's still a little bit less expensive to homebrew than to buy craft beer, but it does take a lot of work. If I was still working in my career, I probably couldn't keep up with it at all. I was subject to being on the road for months at a time, and was usually playing catchup every weekend I was home with the yard work, Honey-Do list, kids, and trying to give the missus a little attention, too.

Ha ha…..they don’t know good beer or good Music!!

 

[GFHomebrew]

Gen Z wouldn't know a good beer if it was poured on 'em. They're the ones still keeping Bud Light afloat.

You may have a point about the vaping thing. They all think it isn't going to hurt them and that they look cool blowing a huge cloud of vapor. What they don't know or read WILL hurt them. Apparently, the liquids with nicotine in them are a LOT more addictive than cigarettes ever were. If you ever read up on the tobacco industry in this country leading up to the massive class action suits, It's jaw dropping what they did to get folks addicted, and most of it was NOT nicotine, albeit, most of them used nicotine enhancers in their tobacco products. I smoked for 37 years, but between the additives for 'flavor' and the additives for fire safety, I got enough and quit cold turkey. The missus didn't even know I'd quit for nearly 3 months because I kept carrying my lighter and an open pack in my pocket to prove to myself I could quit. No gum, no patch, nothin'. Just quit. Did I ever mention that I can be on the stubborn side?

My silly 19 year old granddaughter decided to start vaping and had enough older acquaintances that would get them for her, whom fortunately (for them) she won't name. Vapes are regulated here just like tobacco and alcohol here, and kids are not supposed to be able to buy them until they're 21. Just like when we were kids, though, if the Gen Z kids wanna do something, they'll find a way.

I think homebrewing in Alabama is actually on the rise, because alcohol regulations were changed pretty drastically just before COVID hit. It was around before that, and there were even suppliers for brewing and distilling, but they had pretty strict restrictions on the quantities they could sell. Now, it's a lot easier to get supplies (not so much financially) and a LOT of micro breweries have popped up in the last few years that are exposing people more to craft beer and home brewing. And there is a much better selection of craft beers available in all the supermarkets and booze bizzes.

It's still a little bit less expensive to homebrew than to buy craft beer, but it does take a lot of work. If I was still working in my career, I probably couldn't keep up with it at all. I was subject to being on the road for months at a time, and was usually playing catchup every weekend I was home with the yard work, Honey-Do list, kids, and trying to give the missus a little attention, too.

Hey we can't Judge well I can't especially we all started out drinking light mass produced international Lager at some point some party right?


It's a sorta progression of beer choice.
You know the older you get the wiser you get well hopefully .
Same with beer the older you get the wiser your choices are in regards to indulgence with liquor.
The finer stuff in life is worth sipping on not Chugging.

You can use that quote

 

[GFHomebrew]

That sucks! Government robbery

Now you see my motivation to brew my own.

 

[The Brew Mentor]

Hey we can't Judge well I can't especially we all started out drinking light mass produced international Lager at some point some party right?


It's a sorta progression of beer choice.
You know the older you get the wiser you get well hopefully .
Same with beer the older you get the wiser your choices are in regards to indulgence with liquor.
The finer stuff in life is worth sipping on not Chugging.

You can use that quote

Now you see my motivation to brew my own.

At that rate, I'd forget what store bought tasted like

 

[RoadRoach]

At that rate, I'd forget what store bought tasted like

I nearly have anyway, at least the watered down commercial stuff. Sometimes I think they make a concentrated‘syrup’ and then add water and ethanol to get the precise ABV with just enough flavor to call it beer. Rarely, if my pipeline runs dry, I’ll have a few Miller High Life to remind me why I started brewing, and goad myself to make a batch.

 

[Herm brews]

I just brewed my 9th batch of the year, and I joined a local brewers society (their words) that has active participation (30 or more in attendance at the few meetings I’ve attended). The LHBS (Home Fermenter) does well enough that they recently moved into a bigger location. As common as the smell of brewing is on the wind around here, it seems the hobby is alive and well. And that is with a boatload of craft beer options available all around.

 

[Ward Chillington]

Great first post @Teddy C. ! Welcome to the clubhouse! Whatcha got in the fermenter?

 

[Brewer #400075]

I wouldn't put much stock in that result. I'm subscribed to their site and I didn't know the survey existed until they reported on it. (I don't visit it regularly on my own) I'd suspect it was an outreach problem more than a testament to the level of interest in the hobby.

To be sure, economic pressures are at play. I'd bet if the data was there, we'd see this happen any time the economy isn't purring along.

Our own club has seen consistent level of activity. The faces change, but the numbers don't.

I agree that the advancement of electric all-in-one systems being at the forefront have perhaps scared some folks off from the entry-level, not realizing, those systems are *not* the ground floor. But even that ground floor, stove top extract, is crazy expensive compared to just 5 years ago. Most ingredient kits go for $50+. That's nuts. Yeah, it is a little cheaper than Craft, but not by much. Plus you need at least some equipment. You have to take the risk you make a bad batch. You have to wait 4-6 weeks for it. Or you can buy 4–5 craft 6 packs of different styles for the same price and drink them right away.

I'll admit, the only reason I brew beer is because I'm a grape grower and wine maker. My beer fermenter is my white wine fermenter. My chiller is for chilling and cold crashing white wine, my mash kettle is a red wine fermenter I use for small batch field blends.

So really, I didn't have to buy any special equipment to make beer other than some of those carbonating corny keg lids and a crown capper, I just reconfigure what I have when I want to make beer. Those 3 kettle electric brew packages are SUCH a ripoff. I can put together a basic 1/2 bbl system that includes EVERYTHING for about $1000 that isn't a hodge podge of garbage. I laugh when I see the for sale ads on the HBT forum for 10-15 gallon 3 kettle systems for $5,000... then discounted to $4,500, then to $4,000 then to $3,500, then down to make "me an offer" and the only offer is for the $1,200 control panel.

And no, I do not use Star San or Saniclean. I sanitize with Potassium Metabisulfite and citric acid. That's how you can tell a wine maker from a beer maker.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies are owned by the same company, both are closing their retail locations. At one time Northern Brewer was the largest homebrew retailer in the US, things are changing very fast in the home brew world.

 

[Josh Hughes]

I wish I had a local.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies are owned by the same company, both are closing their retail locations. At one time Northern Brewer was the largest homebrew retailer in the US, things are changing very fast in the home brew world.

I so very much hoped this was an unfounded rumor! But of course bad news rarely is. https://www.startribune.com/norther...-sales-minnesota-st-paul-milwaukee/600294362/

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I wish I had a local.

In one month....me too!

 

[GFHomebrew]

I so very much hoped this was an unfounded rumor! But of course bad news rarely is. https://www.startribune.com/norther...-sales-minnesota-st-paul-milwaukee/600294362/

Ah so their not closing completely just the store front retail side so going just online.

These are the sign of the time we live man.

Honestly I'm no different most of my Homebrewing purchases are from online.

I use my local to buy the odd hops yeast cleaning stuff on the occasion I need to brew but don't wanna order online and wait.

If I think of Aus biggest Online HB store Kegland they operate 1 store front I'm aware of in Victoria the rest is online.

 

[Josh Hughes]

I can get hop oddly easy at a liquor store close to a mall we frequent. The rest of their ingredients are for extract brewers, vine makers or the odd kit. They do have a few packaged specialty grains though.

 

[Brewer #400075]

Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies are owned by the same company, both are closing their retail locations. At one time Northern Brewer was the largest homebrew retailer in the US, things are changing very fast in the home brew world.

That explains their ridiculous hike in prices. I thought their website took on the Northern Brewer look. Too bad, I bought a lot from them in the past. Norther Brewer sack malt prices are just stupid insane with shipping. They recently had a 20% "sitewide" sale but once you look at their exclusions, 90% of what anyone would want a discount on is in the exclusion list. At least the 12% sitewide sale MoreBeer had let you use it on grain so I got about 30 assorted 5 pounders of the specialty grains.

MoreBeer gets all my grain and yeast business now unless they don't have what I want. YVH gets my hop orders, MoreBeer can't seem to get their act together publishing the right AA value of their hops, tired of getting bunk hops with AA values way below what they list as AA% minimums. I've complained but nothing gets done, it isn't rocket science to publish the lot numbers and AA values but they can't seem to deploy something so basic.Another thing about MoreBeer, if I buy 11, 5 pound bags with their free shipping, it's cheaper than if I buy a 55 pound sack and pay the shipping charge. You'd think they would get tired of bagging that stuff and selling it for less than a full sack price. I love it, don't have to worry about bugs getting into my partial sacks or going bad from the humidity.

I've seen other sites I visited occasionally using MoreBeer's website just re-branded, seems like there is a lot of consolidation going on. Just wait, they will gobble up all the small guys, jack their prices at some point, and then new companies will spring up and kill them with good pricing. Wash, rinse, and repeat.

Even Amazon is starting to stock and ship 50lb sacks of grain, Listing states "sold and shipped by Amazon" I see Briess standard brewers malt and Plisen shipped to your door for $62 ish a sack. Not as cheap as locally sourced (if you can find it) but a hellava lot cheaper than the $100 a sack MoreBeer wants shipped to your door. Amazon has to lose money on me, I'm rural and Amazon doesn't deliver to my door so I never pay for Prime, they have to ship it with UPS. BSG should list their 10lb bags on Amazon.. Not sure what sizes Country Malt Group sells but Paying a $100 for a sack of US produced base malt mail order is just idiotic.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Yesterday I stopped buy a grain mill (I'll need one now) and grain for my next couple brews and sacks of base grain. I could only get a sack of Pale Ale because the sacks of Maris Otter (my other base grain) were already gone. In talking to the store manager (great guy!) I learned that last week's shipment from the warehouse was literally the last one. This adds insult to injury for those of us impacted by the store's closing. But what I really don't understand is they would be making money with all the sales of grain from brewers, like me, stocking up on grain before the end. I understand if they don't send more equipment as that is discounted 20%. But, grain isn't a discounted item so this would be money in the bank for NB.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

just an fyi, if you buy multiple bags of 10 pounds, more beer will ship it for free vs one 50

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

just an fyi, if you buy multiple bags of 10 pounds, more beer will ship it for free vs one 50

Thanks Ozark! I hope they don't close that loophole before I need it.

 

[RoadRoach]

Thanks Ozark! I hope they don't close that loophole before I need it.

Is the total price for 5X 10 lb bags as good as the price for one 50 pound bag?

 

[Zefram]

Is the total price for 5X 10 lb bags as good as the price for one 50 pound bag?

The example I saw was $49 for a domestic 50-lb sack of 2-row plus $31 for shipping. Five 10-lb bags with free shipping was $77... so you save about $3. When I looked at a 55-lb sack of Maris Otter, it was about $22 cheaper to go with the sack versus five 10-lb and one 5-lb bags. In short, I guess it depends.

If you know the fine folks at your local brewpub, they may let you add a sack or two on their next order and just have it delivered on their next shipment.