The Rise and Fall of Homebrewing

[mick02]

We're all stuck inside thanks to COVID-19. One of the biggest homebrew shops in the country has suspended their orders due to the huge increase in demand and I'm seeing a small increase in activity on here.

It got me thinking about a conversation that I had with Dave Carpenter of the American Homebrew Association (AHA). After Brewcon a few years ago we ended up chatting about the decline in the homebrew scene in Ireland. I told him of the slow down in activity on the forum and the decrease in entries to the Nationals. I asked him if the AHA had seen a similar slow down.

In true American fashion, and due to the fact that they have the resources, they hired an economist to do some analysis on the demographic of homebrewers. It turns out that (during the halycon days of homebrewing in America at least) White unemployed males in their early to mid thirties made up the highest demographic of homebrewers in the USA.

Now, to try to put a point to this rant, since the COVID-19 shut down we are all essentially "unemployed" or to put that in other words, we have a lot more spare time on our hands and this has shown by how swamped the homebrew supply shops have been over the past week or so.

So I'm left wondering, is COVID-19 going to cause a rise in popularity of the homebrew scene or is this just a blip and we will go back to business as usual once the quarantine has been lifted?

[delzep]

Slow down on the forum and decline in entries to the nationals doesn't necessarily mean a decline in homebrewing in Ireland.

[itsclinto]

I think that spare time equals boredom which equates to taking up a hobby.  Alot would have put the hobby to one side considering the boom started to come back, which means money to buy drink rather than make it. I feel that it will get a few back into brewing (if they don't have family and life constraints)

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[mick02]

Slow down on the forum and decline in entries to the nationals doesn't necessarily mean a decline in homebrewing in Ireland.

Just using it as a yard stick. Unless you have some other way of measuring the popularity of homebrewing in Ireland I'll happily draw on that data to prove or disprove my point.

[mick02]

I think that spare time equals boredom which equates to taking up a hobby.  Alot would have put the hobby to one side considering the boom started to come back, which means money to buy drink rather than make it. I feel that it will get a few back into brewing (if they don't have family and life constraints)

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It's interesting that you make the correlation of Boom times equal to buying beer rather than making beer. Personally I find that when we are in the boom times that I am busier at work and as a result my time is more precious so I don't have the opportunity to make beer so instead I resort to buying it. Wondering if anyone else is in the same boat?

[molc]

Right now I have no time to brew as I'm busier than ever with WFH

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[Blueshed]

I'd say a good guide to the popularity of home Brewing in Ireland would be the books of the 3 homebrewing shops on the Island.

The What's app groups killed the Forum.

Entries into national competition would have many different reasons.

Alot of original competitors have turned pro, newer brewer's don't have the same interests in competition.

At the start of the competition it was quantity over quality, it's the opposite now imo.

Some clubs held mini comps during the year so took from the national competition.

Seems to be a lot brewer's who keg now, hard to get them to bottle.

[mr hoppy]

https://www.themadfermentationist.com/2019/01/is-american-homebrewing-dying.html

[mr hoppy]

Interesting topic. I remember my first homebrew batch following John Palmer's Cincinatti Pale recipe in 2009. I'd just spent 2 years in Canada, and wanted to drink the same hoppy beers I'd enjoyed there and in the US. I think this was a big draw for many back then, but I think mick is right in that the downturn was a huge boost to homebrewing. Having said that. I think Blueshed hits the nail on the head in their comments.

[Vermelho]

I think that spare time equals boredom which equates to taking up a hobby.  Alot would have put the hobby to one side considering the boom started to come back, which means money to buy drink rather than make it. I feel that it will get a few back into brewing (if they don't have family and life constraints)

Sent from my ONE E1003 using Tapatalk

It's interesting that you make the correlation of Boom times equal to buying beer rather than making beer. Personally I find that when we are in the boom times that I am busier at work and as a result my time is more precious so I don't have the opportunity to make beer so instead I resort to buying it. Wondering if anyone else is in the same boat?

I am 100% in this boat. I've finally been able to get back into it this week and plan to do two brews over the Easter weekend now. Finding the time to brew proved challenging as work and life got busier. I love brewing though and don't equate brewing with saving money, the opposite is true in fact!

[CH]

Home brewing for me is a hobby, family and work and friends comes first unfortunately.
Amazing brewing scene in Wicklow now with over 30 brewers and they'd all be on here if it wasn't for what's ap and local meets.
Forums can be not nice places sometimes and don't reflect the amazing individuals that I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with over the years.
You don't get any "shit" at local level or if you do it's normally resolved over a beer instead of a pisshead behind a keyboard.
I'm laughing now as having not brewed for 6 months trying to buy a bag of pale tonight is harder than trying to buy bread flour.
To me home brewing became popular because there was poor choice out there.
We all like the novelty of baking amazing bread but sometimes it's just easier to go to our local bakery for a handmade sourdough loaf and fortunately there's a lot more craft breweries about

[LordEoin]

People seem to want to look after themselves better these days. hangovers and beer bellies don't really fit into that too well. After covid there'll likely be more people brew/drinking less to look after their weight and blood pressure and get out of high risk groups.

[phildo79]

I have had a couple of mates asking me about how to get into homebrewing since the lockdown. Guys that have shown a vague interest in what I have brewed in the past but always said they could not be arsed doing it themselves. Is it due to boredom or the amount of money being spent on beer during the lockdown? I suspect it is a combination of the two.

[cochised]

Had not brewed since last summer due to new child, always intended to get back into it but have now ramped things up in last few weeks, even though I am still working a few days a week.
Did a Geterbrewed kit first, then BIAB pale from thehomebrew company.
10kg of pale malt and mixed specialty grains due to arrive tomorrow, new chiller and trying to sort my water profile etc, so definitely an upswing for me since lock down began

[Dr Brown Ale]

I always brewed with a group, and those people fell away one by one until it was just me and my brother, we live miles apart so opportunity is scant.

I also teach a class, so do extract brews with them twice a year, but it's not the same.

Since lockdown I've done one full brewday, bottled an experimental batch of aged brett beer that I'd been ignoring and used that Brett trub to collab with another brewer to try to rescue a brew of his that never carbed in bottles, again as an experiment.

I've also bought a 5 litre minikeg dispenser and I'm going to brew smaller batches in future for myself, which means more experimental brews (my next one planned is a Turkish Delight Stout)