Poll: Do you think everybody could brew their own beer?

NOTE: Poll was closed over the summer. Feel free to leave a comment though :-) We're still alive. here at Beer Bits 2. Poll update

I would really like to hear what you have to say. Take the poll at the top of the page and then tell me what you think here in a comment.


Zachary said...

I think brewing is a lot like cooking. Some people just don't like working in kitchens. I heard someone say "If you like washing dishes, you'll love brewing beer"

So true.

Adam said...

Heheh...I hear ya. What would it take then? I guess a change in attitude toward food. You know more cook your own and less eating out. More slow food and less fast food?

Zachary, do you like to cook? I do, but, my wife does most of it due to our work schedules.

Andy said...

Anyone can brew, but can they sanitize?

Adam said...

:-) True. How the heck did they make beer back in the middle ages and in prohibition? Perhaps it didn't taste as good?

And what about this theory? Where two archeologists think that people were brewing in troughs in the ground.

Makes you think doesn't it?

The Dude said...

I actually voted no. Zachary (1st comment) makes a good point. In addition to his point I'd have to be honest and say that I've met a few people that surprise me to think they haven't been weeded out of the gene pool as of yet. Fortunately, I think most people are not like that. So... I guess my complete answer is that I think most people could brew their own beer if they wanted to.

Adam said...

The Dude,

Ok, so not everybody would do it. I don't think everybody even brushes their teeth the same way.

Maybe we need to visualize the kind of people who would brew their own beer.

Would it be all the people who have baked their own bread or made their own pizza?

The Dude said...

I could see that. The do-it-yourselfers of the world would generally be the type, but I wouldn't just limit it to cooks.

Techies seem to comprise a large portion of homebrewers, even if they aren't the do-it-yourself at home types. I.T. people, engineers, etc. are often intrigued by it. This is where I would fall in myself. IIRC, Charlie Papazian was a nuclear engineering major at one point.

Adam said...


DIYers, Techies...ok. I think we tend to see the techie brewers here in the blogosphere due to the intersecting skill sets. {nods}

So these are the self starter, process and detail oriented people. Are there any that learned it in a more narrow way. You know it was passed down to them or they just know how to make one kind of homebrew?

Another question. Is there more than one kinda homebrewer? Here are some categories;

brewing to save money
brews a few kinds
handed down from elders
got Mr. Beer as a gift
brewed once and quit

Chipper Dave said...

While it's possible for everyone to brew their own, not everyone would enjoy doing that. Like my mom used to say "if you can read you can cook" and homebrewing is much the same as cooking. While everyone has the possibility to brew, not everyone will make good beer.

Adam said...

Chipper Dave,

Yeah. I hear ya. My Mom used to cook. I'm not saying it was bad, but, it wasn't until I moved away that I realized I really liked steak ;-) So I guess I'm saying that good beer is relative.

What are the chances that somebody would make something better than a macro light beer? Not sure I know the answer to that one. Another good question I think.