I have just come across this......

[user 2037]

To me brewing is a hobby, I have friends that have hobbys like fishing, scuba diving etc. inwhich they spend money to take part so I have no problem spending money on my hobby. Plus I have an end result most hobbies don't.

I have no problem spending money on the hobby but I do have a problem of costing my time. If we are to bring the cost of our time in to the equation then a pint at the local depends on how long we have to wait to be served etc and this is clearly absurd. I have never bought into the "but how much is your time worth" argument. If you were not brewing, fishing or whatever you would not be earning money. Therefore it is free time or as we know it, spare time.

 

[Aleman]

I'm going to go back to my original point, which was simply that the reason equipment like that is available in the US is because there are more home brewers in the US that are prepared to spend more, to get better hardware.

Bigger Population = More Homebrewers
Tend to go overboard with gadgets = More gadgets
Don't tend to Bodge and make do and mend = Retailers willing to invest in stock as it will sell.

Homebrewers in the UK are their own worst enemies some times trying to do everything on the cheap

To which Jim replied

trying to do everything on the cheap

Thought that was the main objective of Home Brewing!

I don't think it is in anyway pompous to suggest that it is not the be all and end all for some home brewers to do things as cheaply as possible, although you might get that impression from a lot of brewers here and on JBK.

If all I wanted was cheap beer I can buy that in a supermarket (given the quantities I drink over a week) . . or even in a good quality pub.

I also think that a lot of retailers (perhaps driven by the wholesalers) quite extract the urine when it comes to selling stuff here in the UK. And again I have been in a retailers shop when they have taken 30 or 40 minutes to sell a piece of equipment to a punter that will do the job they want perfectly . . . only for another punter to chime in and say "You can bodge one of those much cheaper (not safer or easier!!) by doing . . . . ."

I'll say it again in no way trying to be pompous "Homebrewers in the UK are their own worst enemies some times trying to do everything on the cheap!"

 

[user 2037]

I for one do not dispute any of the above, what I had a problem with was the comment

The one big cost that a lot of people fail to take into consideration is Time if it takes say 12 Hours in total to make a batch of beer how much does that add per pint?

and my answer to that is nothing as I get nothing for my time when I'm not at work.