Homebrewing....What's in a name?

[Phunhog]

In the latest issue of Zymurgy Charlie Papazian made mention of the early days of "homebrewing" and apparently there was some debate on whether to continue to call it "homebrewing" vs. just brewing. It got me thinking why do we need to continue to differentiate "homebrewing" vs "brewing"? For a lot of beer drinkers out there (craft and macro) I think they still think of "homebrewing" as bathtub gin, cidery tastes, and exploding bottles. Now obviously that is NOT the case...lets face it some of the best beers in the world are made by "homebrewers".....as well as some of the worst I wonder if we are selling ourselves short by continuing to call ourselves "homebrewers" vs. just brewers. If you always call yourself an "amateur brewer" do others( including yourself) really expect much? After all you are "just a homebrewer". Anyways I know there is no right or wrong answer just curious how others feel. Cheers!!

 

[Euphist]

Part of it may depend on where you live. Around here (WV) things that are homemade are highly regarded.

 

[adamelb]

Charlie went on to talk about how perception has changed and I would have to agree. I began homebrewing last year after almost 3 years of craft beer obsession. I frequently met people at breweries and craftier bars that homebrewed and they would egg me on to try brewing myself. I got to taste some peoples homebrew and fell in love with the creativity and care that went into those batches. I think a lot of beer drinkers are now "in the know" when it comes to the quality of homebrew. Especially with craft drinkers love of all things micro and nano. Now a days lots more beer drinkers have tried beers from small, sometimes tiny breweries and start to correlate the possibilities that exist for brewing on a small scale.

The guys I work with that I've told about my brewing usually want to try some. Most of them aren't craft beer drinkers and are pretty sure they will hate it but they just wanna try a home made beer. So at least in my experiences I'd agree with Charlie that nowadays you can be proud to call yourself a homebrewer. It's a great hobby worth calling by name and worth sharing the joys of with other beer enthusiasts whenever possible.