Comments on: The Dark Side of Home Brewing

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:19:02 +0000

I Brew because I like to brew and I like to drink. All in modertion. Jesus turned the water into wine and I am not going to fault him for that.
Have a great day

By: helmingstay

helmingstay — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:54:44 +0000

Interesting perspective.
To me, the biggie is “Emotional changes”

1. Change when drinking: e.g. maintaining composure, as noted above. Similarly, drinking to “become a nice person” or “deal with life” is a warning sign and a “bad change”.

2. Change when not drinking:
I feel like I need at least a week per year of total and continuous abstinence. This changes what I do and where I go during that period, but I’m not miserable. It also makes beer taste really, really good later on

I think the point about the steady progression is a really good one. Thanks for bringing this up.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 01:22:32 +0000

Nah…

If I was an alkie, I wouldn’t be letting my beer age at anything like that. Brew, ferment and drink would be it. I have seen REAL alcoholics. They sure as hell don’t worry about IBUs, Style guidelines or any of that…

I do drink every day and get drunk most Fridays and Saturdays.

By: jim

jim — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:37:34 +0000

to me the dark side of home brewing is perfecting a Stout or Porter to your liken….

By: Stonie

Stonie — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 10:57:41 +0000

I found this artical on a google search for alcholism and homebrew. For generations my family has homebrewed and struggled with mantaining moderation in all our addictions. After reading this well presented artical and thinking about my family history, I’m going to continue homebrewing with an eye on lower ABV beverages. Thanks for the info.

By: Larry

Larry — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 06:14:04 +0000

It certainly can be cheaper. I find myself addicted to buying equipment for brewing and talking about brewing… this has shot my savings curve all to heck. If you keep it simple, yeah it can really pencil out.

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:33:06 +0000

Hi. My name is Bob, and I’m an alcoholic. That’s why I brew my own alcohol. It’s cheaper that way!

By: Mark E Pitt

Mark E Pitt — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 23:05:22 +0000

I was an avid ale drinker before but I found homebrew gave me a new respect for beer and made me slightly more moderate as I am far more fussy now.

My craft as I see it is for sharing, I have always bottled my brew so I can easily pass it on to friends and I enjoy the good feedback from a successful batch as much as the drinking of the product itself.

By: edge

edge — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 22:14:48 +0000

I appreciate the treatment this issue is getting. I had been wondering about it myself. I do have alcoholism in my family (according to another possibly biased family member), but I also firmly believe in personal responsibility in everything. It goes along the line of blaming your parents for the way you are, or putting on some big-boy britches and taking responsibility for what you do today.

For instance, when I drink, even in larger amounts/weights, I work to maintain my composure and not be loud, idiotic, or a “drunk”. This extends to my responsibility to the craft brewing community at large. I expect myself to represent the craft as an artist, not a junkie.

By: Larry

Larry — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 18:38:40 +0000

True, wine is a more elusive target, one that I have started experimenting with.

The greeks had this to say about Wine in 375 BC:

“Three bowls do I mix for the temperate: one to health, which they empty first, the second to love and pleasure, the third to sleep. When this bowl is drunk up, wise guests go home. The fourth bowl is ours no longer, but belongs to violence; the fifth to uproar, the sixth to drunken revel, the seventh to black eyes, the eight is the policeman’s, the ninth belong to biliousness, and the tenth to madness and hurling the furniture.”

Re Charlie Sheen, I’m sure the last thing he needs is more drugs in his system. Sounds like he’s way past his tenth ‘bowl of wine’. I doubt he has the patience required for home brewing. That said if he drank beer, it might be healthier for him than whatever hard liquor he probably drinks all day. I hope Mr. Sheen gets better. He’s a funny guy.