I’m lucky to live in craft beer heaven. My medium sized town has about 20 breweries and a host of tap rooms. Throw in the neighboring towns and the brewery count skyrockets. With so much flavorful, interesting beer on tap, is it worth investing the time and money into homebrewing?
If you’re already a brewer, you do have the incentive of sunk costs: since you’ve already got all the gear, you might as well use it. But even for newbies, there are several good reasons to pick up the hobby.
Economics
Starting up and running a brewery costs a lot of money. That translates into rising prices at the package store. Is craft beer worth it? Of course, it is. Homebrewing has also gotten more expensive as the quality and demand for ingredients has grown, but it’s still cheaper to brew your own. Even if you spend $50 in ingredients, it’s less than the $8-12 per 6-pack you’d pay for commercial beer.