BEER
This page is (mostly) in Black and White because it is simple. Just beer. No flair.
I do not make beer to make it cheaper than I can buy it.
I do not make beer because I know mine will be better than the next guys.
I do not make beer because I need a hobby.
OK, I do make beer for a little tiny bit of each of those three.
But I do like the variety and unpredictable flavors that arise from your own beer. Any of the big conglomerate multinational mega-swill factories produce a product that is not that flavorful and never varies. While those are nice if you just want a quick refreshment without risk, they are not a beer drinkers beer. Even "Craft Brews", like Sammy Adams, have only a handful of beers that are made each year. While the Micro- and Craft-Brewers have a pretty good product, it is still limited in variety. And when they do have a good variety, it is the same year after year, and you have to constantly seek new ones to maintain a good range of flavors. Cha. Ching. $$$.
Wine drinkers would not want wine that tastes the same every season! There are great flavors in many wines, and that makes wine good. There is nuance and subtlety inherent in the process, and that makes wine exciting. Similarly, Budweiser is the Riunite of beers. Riunite is shit, and wine culture realizes it. Even Riunite itself advertises to the low-brow crowd. Beer culture has lost its collective mind. Budweiser is shit and manages to be the most popular beer in the freakin' world, calling itself the "King of Beers!"
Even Guinness, the most holy of commercial brews, has no variety from one year to the next (except for new, gay packaging). Brewing your own is, on that level, more like producing wine than beer.
Besides, making my own is just cool.
MY BREWS:
RHODE ISLAND RIDGEBACK ALE (Scotch Ale)
SHAMMY ADAMS (Supposed to taste akin to Sammy Adams Boston Ale)
INDIAN PAIL AIL (I made it in a bucket, leave me alone!)
IF-ITS-NOT-SCOTTISH-ITS-CRAP! ALE (Scottish Ale)
PRUSSIAN SOLDIER (Barley Wine)
TOO THIN ALE (TOOTH & NAIL)(Light Beer Variant)
JORDAN SCOTTCH ALE (All data lost, but it was brewed in November 2005, bottled in December, and damned good!)
DYNASTY ALE (DIE NASTY ALE)(IPA)
(The name is still pending the results of the NFL 2006-2006 season.)