From DIY to Store-Buy
Homebrewers are an inventive lot. Hours upon hours are spent maximizing space, re-brewing recipes, and investigating new ideas. We will spend copious amounts of time searching for items to repurpose instead of just buying the products already made for brewing. We’ve all seen it or done it. The entire community is full of “I use this instead of that,” “That is a lot cheaper than this,” “Don’t buy that, make this.”
Like many, what attracted me to homebrewing was the DIY nature. We build our own brew kettles, we learn about circuits for the sole purpose of building our own control panel, we use oxygenated laundry additive instead of buying sanitizers made for brewing to save a few bucks. For me, what really got me hooked on homebrewing started with the realization that I could build everything I needed to make good beer right at home.
When I realized I could make my own weldless ball valves, brew pots, and three-tier all grain system, I was all in. My head was spinning with ideas and options. The idea of making my own mash tun made me ecstatic. After all, it was me. I could do it better than what was already available. For the most part, I did.
Over the 20 years since I began homebrewing I have won contests, I won skeptical beer drinkers over with my homebrew, I helped countless homebrewers solve equipment problems and save tons of money in the process. At the request of others, I even wound up building kegerators on the side for extra money. I was brewing beers for neighborhood gatherings, first responder parties, weddings, and the local live music scene. My homemade brew system served me well.
Fast forward two decades, I now own a brewpub and provide my community with their local watering hole. I’m not so inventive (or motivated) these days. My time is spent looking at the books and running my business. I do all the brewing, all the repairs, and all the necessary evils that come with owning a business that makes beer and serves liquor. It doesn’t leave much time for being an inventor.
To be honest, I don’t really miss it. The inventing, that is. I do miss the creative aspect of homebrewing, but not the mental tug of war that comes with inventing, improving, and re-inventing. Nowadays, if I need a part or component, I just buy it. Yes, I’m getting older and I have a few more dollars, but that’s not the reason.
As a business, my brewing equipment can’t look like it was built in the garden shed next to a double wide. There are health codes, government departments with prying eyes, inspections, and public scrutiny. No one wants to pay for a beer made in a brewery that looks like a ten-year-old was learning how to weld and plumb. It has to look good. It has to be clean. It has to look . . . well, it has to look store-bought.
No one cared how my homebrewing rig looked. In fact, the more janky it looked the more impressed my fellow homebrewers were. Odd-shaped pots hooked up to homemade containers all hooked together by hardware store plumbing. It got the job done, when the job was just the hobby of brewing beer.
So, homebrewers — revel in the creativeness and drive that makes you a good brewer. Enjoy the process of making instead of buying. Succumb to the desire to create, because if you make the leap to a business, you may not get another chance.
