Brew Therapy - Should I start brewing?

I would like this to become a regular post.  As many of you know, I am a therapist as my day job, and often my night job too.  Well, officially I won't be a "therapist" until May, when I graduate with my masters in professional counseling; I've been a counselor for the last 10 years.  I thought that it would be fun to have a regular post where I answer brewing questions, much like I answer life questions throughout my day job.  This week's question:

"Rob, should I start home brewing?"

The realty is that no one has ever asked me this, though I have recommended to a couple of friends that they start home brewing.  If you are asking yourself if you should start, here are the questions I believe you should ask yourself.  Do you like amazingly delicious beer?  This is clearly the first question, because if you do not like good beer, than no, you should not brew it.

Do you have some expendable income?  A basic home brew kit can run from $80 through $200.  Then each recipe will run between $25 and $40.  Telling ourselves that we are actually saving money by brewing our own beer is just a convenient way for us to forget equipment costs.  I never expect to save enough money by brewing cheaper great beer than is available commercially to cover the costs of all of the equipment that I have bought.  So, there is significant investment involved; I'd estimate that I have spent around $400 in equipment over the last 3 years (don't tell my wife).

Some basic questions.  Can you make Kraft Mac and Cheese?  Than you can make home brewed beer with an extract recipe.  The only other thing that remains is some patience.  It takes 2 to 4 weeks for a brew to finish fermenting and then another 2 weeks for the beer to carbonate in the bottle.  After that you will have some of the best beer you've ever tried.

The true challenge of home brewing, as was pointed out by friend and fellow brewer (Richard), is sanitation. So, I ask you, do you have the attention to detail and the patience to thoroughly clean and sanitize all of your equipment every time you brew or bottle / keg your beer?  This can sometimes take just as much time as the brewing itself and when bottling, it is the longest part of the process.

If you can do these thing than yes, you should brew.  Only your own creativity and willingness to learn new techniques will limit you.

Do you have questions you would like to talk about in future sessions?  Leave a comment and I will do my best to cover them in the weeks to come.