Smithwicks ad & Homebrew - "Homebrewers, we salute you"

[irish_goat]

How much is in the club bank account? 

Funds are tight. We could maybe spring for a Blair Witch Project style ad filmed in Dempsey's backyard though. 

-Sent from NHC Clubhouse in Barbados-

[armedcor]

Cooling in rivers and boiling over open fires even tongue in cheek it perpetuates an image the general public have about us

If they wanted to salute us what about all the positives like club meets competitions brotherhood etc.....ho hum

I'd love to do a video reply with accountants in suits in the brewhouse, greasy sales guys doing dodgy deals with publicans and beer coming through manky lines. "For the love of it"

Just saw a photo in homebrew Ireland fb group of a lad chilling his cube full wort in a river. I don't really see a problem with the ad. It's all a bit tongue in cheek and a bit of fun.

I think we all take ourselves a bit too seriously as homebrewers sometimes. Myself included.

[Pheeel]

All I took away from the ad is that even with all those hokey setups and issues the homebrewed beer would still taste better than Smithwicks

[Qs]

This caught me by surprise on TV the other day. Don't think it paints us in a bad light really, not exactly that bud ad calling craft drinkers beer sniffing twats is it? Still wont be drinking Smithwicks though 

And if anyone had a good idea for a video I could get my brother to shoot it, he does commercial videos for businesses, etc He'd probably do it for a few beers and a bit of craic for us.

[johnrm]

I caught out on the box last night.
I think it's alright and can relate to all the snips. Close to reality apart from the tag line.

[leahyed]

Just saw the ad on TV3. To a neutral observer I think it paints these "Homebrew Nerds" as a right shower of "eejits" wasting their time (and money!) trying to make beer. Just out of curiousity, does anybody know if any of the "actors" are members of the NHC or actually homebrewwers?

[armedcor]

I really don't see where people are seeing such negative views on this. The whole tag line states if someone likes the pint it's all worth it.

Sure it highlights some problems Brewers can come across which might make us look silly.  Yet we're all here trying to help lads out when they can't stop leaks in their new systems etc.

[Will_D]

I would suggest a sensible/constructive letter to Smithwicks from El Presidente commenting on the overall quality of the add and suggesting a follow up:

Improved homebrewing techniques (No cockups), New shinny equipment available to us,  Wide range of Styles are now being HomeBrewed so that is why SmitWix are expanding their range.

Finally a plug for the NHC.ie would be appreciated.

However, Given the Guinness new products coming out of the "Brewers Project Incentive/Directive" we should approach the Guinness arm of the Gate to take thi sto the next step

[cruiscinlan]

Don't think it paints us in a bad light really, not exactly that bud ad calling craft drinkers beer sniffing twats is it? Still wont be drinking Smithwicks though 

And if anyone had a good idea for a video I could get my brother to shoot it, he does commercial videos for businesses, etc He'd probably do it for a few beers and a bit of craic for us.

I'd tend to agree Qs.

As for Will_D's point, what about asking to have a link to the forum through these campaigns?

[Drum]

As a homebrewer I can relate to a lot of the stuff in the ad, leaking hoses, jackets around fermenters or just scrambling to find a solution to an unexpected probem on the fly. We've all made silly mistakes and tried weird and varied methods along the way while we learned.
And as homebrewers we can appreciate that process and the satisfaction of getting it right and producing a beautiful pint of beer at the end.

On the other hand. To the average consumer who knows little or nothing about brewing, I think this ad suggests that the homebrewers are crackpots who try to emulate the ''professionals'' at smithwicks. And a lot of those average consumers would tend to associate craft beer with homebrewers or at least as not run by an established brewer who has been doing it for 100 years. I say it's a deliberate attempt to subconsciously suggest that home/small/craft brewers are just chancers who dont really know what they're doing and might poison you.......   

I'm keeping my tin foil hat on for this one.

[johnrm]

How much for an NHC ad?
Have we got one?
Even to have one online.

[BigDanny84]

I think Drum has hit the nail on the head there.

[Acott]

I'm sure we've all experienced the same scenario...the one where you tell someone you home brew and they automatically think it's made in a bath tub and is guaranteed to "blow the head off ye".

In my opinion, I think the term home brew will always have that connotation, that you're just a mad lad in a shed with no clue what he's doing and making 80% proof hooch.

But if you phrase it different and tell someone you make craft beer it's another conversation, they talk about a beer they've recently tried a new brewery they've heard of etc.

In my opinion the advert plays on the assumption of what a home brewer is, rather than what a modern home brewer has actually become. Not once did it show someone measuring mash PH, carbon filtering their water, temperature controlling fermentation, growing and cultivating their own hops. These are the things that make a Craft Brewer, and differentiate us from the stereotypical assumptions of a home brewer!

Craft
noun
An activity involving skill in making things by hand.
"the craft of brewing"

[Bubbles]

It is a little bit patronising. I wonder have the "morketing" people latched onto some piece of consumer research that the wider public equate "craft brew" with "home brew"? Are the images of the bumbling home brewer meant to imply that this is how commercial craft beer is made..?

[irish_goat]

I think Smithwick's intention is not to equate us as bumbling amateurs but more, to align themselves with small, craft production and try to distance themselves from big, industrial brewers. Hence why the ad has their brewers pulling samples from small Open Gate fermenters rather than the 1000HL fermenters they have at St.James Gate.

I'd be interested to hear what non-homebrewers make of the ad but I'd imagine most of them won't really think much of it either way.

I like the idea of our own ad though. We have BrewCon footage and could get some footage from a competition and maybe put something together from that.