New Hobby
Indeed, I began a new hobby yesterday: brewing or, more specifically, beer making. That makes me the first known brewer in my mother's line of descent since one of my old grandfathers came down from Bethlehem, PA in the 1700's as the brewer and stiller for the Moravian town of Salem in the settlement of Wachovia.
Now, talk about a low tech hobby, this is it. The four (and only four) ingredients in beer are water, barley malt, hops and yeast. Mix them together in the absence of oxygen, wait ten days and you have beer.
Interestingly, the cost of production for most commercial beers is only about 2% of all costs. The remaining 98% is divided nearly equally between packaging, distribution and advertising, Accordingly, if a home brewer reuses bottles, a beer can be produced from really good ingredients for a fraction of the price of a Bud Light.
And, the next time you buy a cup of beer for $5 at the RBC Center, just remember that the cost of producing that cup of beer was far less than a dime!
Now, talk about a low tech hobby, this is it. The four (and only four) ingredients in beer are water, barley malt, hops and yeast. Mix them together in the absence of oxygen, wait ten days and you have beer.
Interestingly, the cost of production for most commercial beers is only about 2% of all costs. The remaining 98% is divided nearly equally between packaging, distribution and advertising, Accordingly, if a home brewer reuses bottles, a beer can be produced from really good ingredients for a fraction of the price of a Bud Light.
And, the next time you buy a cup of beer for $5 at the RBC Center, just remember that the cost of producing that cup of beer was far less than a dime!
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