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cerna348's Entry to the Hall of Fame

cerna348

cerna348

Hall of Fame Entry​
What is your real name?
Jeremy Cassidy-Cernanec ​
What are your nicknames/aliases?
cerna348 ​
Where do you live?
Englewood, CO ​
What is your age (or) generation?
36 ​
What are you in the real world?
Father, Teacher, REI Salesman ​
What is your favorite shave setup?
(My only shave set up)
Gillette Super Speed (1952)
Ever Ready Vintage 200T brush with a Whippeddog Synthetic brush
Kiss My Face Cream
Thayer's Witch Hazel (non-alcohol)
Burt's Bees aftershave ​
What are your hobbies and favorite activities?
Biking, Running, Triathlons, Homebrewing Beer ​
What else should the members of B&B know about you?
I think Homebrewing is similar to DE shaving in philosophy. ​
 
alex2363

alex2363

cerna348 said:
Hall of Fame Entry​
What is your real name?
Jeremy Cassidy-Cernanec ​
What are your nicknames/aliases?
cerna348 ​
Where do you live?
Englewood, CO ​
What is your age (or) generation?
36 ​
What are you in the real world?
Father, Teacher, REI Salesman ​
What is your favorite shave setup?
(My only shave set up)
Gillette Super Speed (1952)
Ever Ready Vintage 200T brush with a Whippeddog Synthetic brush
Kiss My Face Cream
Thayer's Witch Hazel (non-alcohol)
Burt's Bees aftershave ​
What are your hobbies and favorite activities?
Biking, Running, Triathlons, Homebrewing Beer ​
What else should the members of B&B know about you?
I think Homebrewing is similar to DE shaving in philosophy. ​
Click to expand...

In which way?
 
cerna348

cerna348

Favorite Brewery: Avery or Odell's

How is Wetshaving like Homebrewing?

I was actually thinking about this the other day when I was thinking about my shaving evolution. I guess I could be even more broad and say that I find a lot of similarities in the beer world as the shaving world. Unfortunately it might make less sense to those of you that live on the other side of the pond, since you really don’t have the over hyped, over marketed, bad beer products. What is the number 1 selling beer in the United States: Bud Light. I can't say that I have ever had a Bud Light. Bud Light has a ridiculous amount of marketing. Budweiser markets their beer as easy to drink beer and to drink it cold. Well cold means no flavor and easy to drink means it is like water. Anway… I never did the high school drinking thing. In fact I never really did the College drinking thing. My first beer was two weeks before my 21[SUP]st[/SUP] birthday in a beer garden in Germany. My 21[SUP]st[/SUP] Birthday I had a beer on St. James St. I never did the mass marketed beer thing at all.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate everything about the macro market beer industry, their have their place, I am just not in it. I have great respect for Coors and all they accomplish. I brew my own ales, but I do not have any desire to try and make a lager. I don’t find lagers very exciting or interesting. They are also harder to make (to some extent). If I am eating pizza I could drink a Mamma Lil Yella Pils and be happy, but it just isn’t my thing. I could buy the supplies for a lager, but Coors can make a lager so much easier and cheaper than I ever could come close.
On the other hand, there is defiantly a middle ground. For a while, my go to beer was Fat Tire brewed by New Belgium here in Colorado. It is a solid amber ale. It is 5.2% and very middle of the road and not very offensive in any manner. I also feel that Fat Tire was my gateway beer. It opened the door to me to the craft beer market. If I walk into a huge liquor store, I am extremely confident that I can walk out with a great beer in the 5-7% alc by vol range. There are ton of breweries making great beer.
Enter the world of the bigger beers. I typically gravitate toward bigger beers. I like bigger flavor, bigger abv, bigger feel. I prefer a double IPA over an IPA. I like big Belgian style beers, big stouts. I like big beers. If a brewery does something big and unique, usually they throw it in a bigger bottle and give it a bigger price tag. I will admit to spenging almost $20 on one beer. But TBH, I don’t think it is that bad. You can find some of the best beers in the world and not at outrageous price tags, but a wine enthusiast will never have enough money to purchase the best rated wines in the world.
I started homebrewing a number a years ago, it sounded intriguing. It sounded fun, and I could be creative. I feel like I am a decent homebrewer. I can make a good batch of amber ale for like $.80 a bottle. In addition to the cost savings in ingredients, I will often prefer my beer over a commercial one these days. My wife and I tried Fat Tire (our old go to beer) after almost a year of having homebrewed beer and we felt Fat Tire was no longer good. One can walk into a liquor store and purchase a decent 6 pack for $10, or order one beer for $2.50, or brew your own for $.80. As you might imagine, I have a really hard time ordering drinks when I am out. I would much rather wait and pick one from my shelf in the basement when I get home. Currently I have over 200 bottles of beer with an average abv of 9%.
However, I feel there is a definite demarcation at 7%. It is very easy to purchase decent beer at the liquor store under 7%, because not only are there a great many choices, but the cost savings is not that much when I brew it on my own. ON the other hand, I can make 5 gallons (about 48 beers) of an awesome Imperial Stout at 10% abv for about $60. Purchasing similar quality beer would run me over $160 at the liquor store.
Taste and cost are one thing, but homebrewing also opens up fantastic avenues for creativity. I have made meads, ciders, and beers with very uniquie profiles for themed parties and events. One of my friends tossed me a request and I made a 14% Scottish style ale with jalapeno which ended up being a big hit. Some people walk into the liquor store every week, purchase their suitcase of Bud Light and they are perfectly happy, and YMMV and good for them, but that is not the world for me.
Enter my analogy: Gillette has thrown all kinds of money into R&D, and mass marketing and gimmicks. It is very easy to follow the marketing and pick up a mass produced 5 blade cartridge system. It is very easy to pick up a Gillette Fusion Pro-glide. One does not have to think and decide. It is simple and idiot proof. I think this is more like the Bud Light of the beer world.
I was done with spending lots of money on cartridges. I ordered a Harry’s razor. In retrospect I am not sure Harry’s is spending much less on ads. I think Harry’s is advertising all over the internet. Just like Fat Tire was my gateway beer, Harry’s might have been my gateway razor. My Harry’s razor came and I had to use shaving cream again. I said something to a friend about Harry’s and he mentioned something about a safety razor in jest. Well he opened the door to the rabbit hole, and I have jumped in. The grocery store has Schick and Gillette lots of cartridges, but not a whole lot of creativity.
Once in the rabbit hole, once I have witnessed B&B, there is a whole new world of possibilities. West Coast shaving has like 114 safety razors listed on their website. All of the possibilies of razors with different blades, with different soaps, creams, brushes, and balms. It is very freeing to not be stuck at the mercy of just the cheap plastic futuristic Gillette overpriced overhyped idiot proof razors and cartridges. I felt the same way once I started homebrewing, I was now in the driver seat. When I brew, the sky is the limit. It is my skill and my creativity that defines the outcome. I feel like wet shaving is very similar. It is my skill and creativity that defines the outcome, not how overdesigned the razor is. I don’t care if the can turns blue or if the bottle has a design so the beer cam come out faster. I want the beer to bring enjoyment and make me satisfied. I want the same thing from my shaving experience now. I like that I feel classic and I am treating my self to something better than just a chore.
I am not sure if that makes sense, but that has been my experience of the journey.
 
cerna348

cerna348

Cinnamon and gravy, that is a wall of text. First off, I apologize for that. I assumed that the formatting would come in a bit better from MS word. Secondly, I think a simpler way to say it is that Home brewing is more of t a hobby than a chore, and wet shaving also turns a chore into a hobby.
 
alex2363

alex2363

cerna348 said:
Favorite Brewery: Avery or Odell's

How is Wetshaving like Homebrewing?

I was actually thinking about this the other day when I was thinking about my shaving evolution. I guess I could be even more broad and say that I find a lot of similarities in the beer world as the shaving world. Unfortunately it might make less sense to those of you that live on the other side of the pond, since you really don’t have the over hyped, over marketed, bad beer products. What is the number 1 selling beer in the United States: Bud Light. I can't say that I have ever had a Bud Light. Bud Light has a ridiculous amount of marketing. Budweiser markets their beer as easy to drink beer and to drink it cold. Well cold means no flavor and easy to drink means it is like water. Anway… I never did the high school drinking thing. In fact I never really did the College drinking thing. My first beer was two weeks before my 21[SUP]st[/SUP] birthday in a beer garden in Germany. My 21[SUP]st[/SUP] Birthday I had a beer on St. James St. I never did the mass marketed beer thing at all.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate everything about the macro market beer industry, their have their place, I am just not in it. I have great respect for Coors and all they accomplish. I brew my own ales, but I do not have any desire to try and make a lager. I don’t find lagers very exciting or interesting. They are also harder to make (to some extent). If I am eating pizza I could drink a Mamma Lil Yella Pils and be happy, but it just isn’t my thing. I could buy the supplies for a lager, but Coors can make a lager so much easier and cheaper than I ever could come close.
On the other hand, there is defiantly a middle ground. For a while, my go to beer was Fat Tire brewed by New Belgium here in Colorado. It is a solid amber ale. It is 5.2% and very middle of the road and not very offensive in any manner. I also feel that Fat Tire was my gateway beer. It opened the door to me to the craft beer market. If I walk into a huge liquor store, I am extremely confident that I can walk out with a great beer in the 5-7% alc by vol range. There are ton of breweries making great beer.
Enter the world of the bigger beers. I typically gravitate toward bigger beers. I like bigger flavor, bigger abv, bigger feel. I prefer a double IPA over an IPA. I like big Belgian style beers, big stouts. I like big beers. If a brewery does something big and unique, usually they throw it in a bigger bottle and give it a bigger price tag. I will admit to spenging almost $20 on one beer. But TBH, I don’t think it is that bad. You can find some of the best beers in the world and not at outrageous price tags, but a wine enthusiast will never have enough money to purchase the best rated wines in the world.
I started homebrewing a number a years ago, it sounded intriguing. It sounded fun, and I could be creative. I feel like I am a decent homebrewer. I can make a good batch of amber ale for like $.80 a bottle. In addition to the cost savings in ingredients, I will often prefer my beer over a commercial one these days. My wife and I tried Fat Tire (our old go to beer) after almost a year of having homebrewed beer and we felt Fat Tire was no longer good. One can walk into a liquor store and purchase a decent 6 pack for $10, or order one beer for $2.50, or brew your own for $.80. As you might imagine, I have a really hard time ordering drinks when I am out. I would much rather wait and pick one from my shelf in the basement when I get home. Currently I have over 200 bottles of beer with an average abv of 9%.
However, I feel there is a definite demarcation at 7%. It is very easy to purchase decent beer at the liquor store under 7%, because not only are there a great many choices, but the cost savings is not that much when I brew it on my own. ON the other hand, I can make 5 gallons (about 48 beers) of an awesome Imperial Stout at 10% abv for about $60. Purchasing similar quality beer would run me over $160 at the liquor store.
Taste and cost are one thing, but homebrewing also opens up fantastic avenues for creativity. I have made meads, ciders, and beers with very uniquie profiles for themed parties and events. One of my friends tossed me a request and I made a 14% Scottish style ale with jalapeno which ended up being a big hit. Some people walk into the liquor store every week, purchase their suitcase of Bud Light and they are perfectly happy, and YMMV and good for them, but that is not the world for me.
Enter my analogy: Gillette has thrown all kinds of money into R&D, and mass marketing and gimmicks. It is very easy to follow the marketing and pick up a mass produced 5 blade cartridge system. It is very easy to pick up a Gillette Fusion Pro-glide. One does not have to think and decide. It is simple and idiot proof. I think this is more like the Bud Light of the beer world.
I was done with spending lots of money on cartridges. I ordered a Harry’s razor. In retrospect I am not sure Harry’s is spending much less on ads. I think Harry’s is advertising all over the internet. Just like Fat Tire was my gateway beer, Harry’s might have been my gateway razor. My Harry’s razor came and I had to use shaving cream again. I said something to a friend about Harry’s and he mentioned something about a safety razor in jest. Well he opened the door to the rabbit hole, and I have jumped in. The grocery store has Schick and Gillette lots of cartridges, but not a whole lot of creativity.
Once in the rabbit hole, once I have witnessed B&B, there is a whole new world of possibilities. West Coast shaving has like 114 safety razors listed on their website. All of the possibilies of razors with different blades, with different soaps, creams, brushes, and balms. It is very freeing to not be stuck at the mercy of just the cheap plastic futuristic Gillette overpriced overhyped idiot proof razors and cartridges. I felt the same way once I started homebrewing, I was now in the driver seat. When I brew, the sky is the limit. It is my skill and my creativity that defines the outcome. I feel like wet shaving is very similar. It is my skill and creativity that defines the outcome, not how overdesigned the razor is. I don’t care if the can turns blue or if the bottle has a design so the beer cam come out faster. I want the beer to bring enjoyment and make me satisfied. I want the same thing from my shaving experience now. I like that I feel classic and I am treating my self to something better than just a chore.
I am not sure if that makes sense, but that has been my experience of the journey.
Click to expand...
Are your brews high in calories. ..I think that the Bud lights are popular due to low calories.
 
cerna348

cerna348

You are correct that Bud Light has less calories. So, yeah sure that is a motivation.
12 oz of Bud Light has 123 Calories at 4.1% abv http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/bud-light/474/
12 oz of Yeti has 285 Calories at 9.5% abv http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/great-divide-yeti-imperial-stout/25082/

It will take approximately 2.3 Bud Lights to give you the same alcohol content as the Yeti. Those 2.31707 beers will be about 285 calories. So yes, there is less calories in the Bud Light, but exactly the same calories per alcohol. I would rather drink one Yeti than 2.3 Bud Lights. I would rather drink one Yeti than one Bud Light. I would rather purchase one Yeti for $6 than a 12 pack of Bud Light for $6.

If you throw a Bud Light platinum in the mix, it will complicate matters, but if a person is trying to get the best buzz per calories, drink vodka instead. In fact I have a dry mead that is tasty, but it will knock your socks off. It is probably over 11% but has less calories than that Bud Light.

I feel it is more of a "refreshing" thing, but I could be wrong. I think people find Bud Light more refreshing, and they like how cold it is, the fact that they can drink 8 and not feel full, or even drunk, and it is a way to finish off their day. That is cool, I respect that. It is not for me. It is my theory but I could be wrong. When I drink I want to enjoy it. I my mouth to feel full of flavor. I would rather enjoy the beer than enjoy the buzz. I would rather enjoy the beer than have it be refreshing. I am typically not a utilitarian drinker, but drinking to savor the flavor. I would rather have one good steak than 10 McDonald's hamburgers.

I feel like that is exactly the point I was trying to make. It is perfectly fine to use the cartridge system, get a smooth shave, quick and dirty and be done with it, but i am enjoying the wetshave process and culture at the moment. On the beach with the temp reading at 102, a think an ice cold Bud Light will always have its place, but I prefer a beer with more flavor and complexity. Stuck in a wierd place with no time or shaving cream, a cartirdge razor will still work for me, but I am liking the complexity and elegance of the wetshave. That is all I am saying.

Cheers to you if you like Bud Light, I mean no offense. We all have our thing. I drive a boring car, and you revel in your nice automobile that is a pleasure to drive. I know people who wouldn't be caught dead driving a normal car, because of the joy they get from riding in something smooth and comfortable. YMMV
 
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