Authors: Marshall Schott & Andrew Bromley
Back in May, we announced our 2020 General Homebrewer Survey and asked homebrewers to take a few minutes to answer questions covering not only their brewing behavior and opinions, but certain demographics. In total, 2,769 people completed the survey, the results of which are presented below.
A quick note on our intent in collecting this data. In the 6 weeks the survey was open, a few people commented that there’s no good reason we’d be interested in such information and hence we were obviously selling it. To whom? I can’t say. But I’ve been around the internet long enough to understand this type of cynicism, and in all honesty, I can sort of see how someone of a more paranoid bent might view it that way. Truth is, even if I were open to selling this data (I’m not), I wouldn’t know how, and it’s not like it’d be worth it for whoever paid me for it anyway… because we give it away for free.
Our actual goal is to provide a regular snapshot of what the modern homebrewer looks like, in part, because it’s interesting, but it can also be used to inform certain decisions made by clubs, organizations, shops, etc. Thankfully, nobody is being forced to take it, so we’re all good.
Huge thanks to Andrew Bromley for putting this data together, there was a lot to sift through he made it easily digestible. And cheers to the folks to took the time to complete this survey, it’s much appreciated!
If you have any thoughts about these survey results or suggestions for future surveys, please do not hesitate to share them in the comments section below!
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31 thoughts on “2020 General Homebrewer Survey Results”
I’m sorry did I miss something? Where are the results?
An infogram is embedded in the article. Working great on my end.
Well the “beer consumption” results make me feel like an alcoholic
It’s okay, we accept you.
Must be a browser compatibility issue, I can’t see anything either.
Apparently, if you’re running certain privacy plugins, Infogram charts are blocked.
How do you guys make so much money and can I please have some?
Favourite insight: number of kids. All categories remain identical from 2019 to 2020, except “no kids” went down by 1 per cent while “one child” went up by 1 per cent. Congratulations, who ever you may be. Here’s hoping next year’s survey show’s a similar smooth progression from 1 to 2 children.
It’s interesting to see the big jump in All-in-one electric systems. No doubt affordable products like the Foundry played a big role in that.
$100K salary isn’t what it used to be, especially in high cost-of-living regions. I’d be interested to see a higher tier selection added.
It’s not just about money. Back in the day (1980’s), propane was the only choice.for home brewers. I brewed in the Central Valley heat and freezing cold for 16 years and 3 years ago decided to go electric. I now brew year round regardless the weather which has only recently become an option. As a Grainfather owner/user, the grand I spent was much less than I spent on my custom built propane rig. I think it’s a viable and economical solution for many, especially those who’s weather isn’t always cooperating.
This is always fun. I think it’s pretty cool that the results seem to be quite consistent between years. I think that kind of speaks for the quality of the data.
Missing is the “religious perspective” for previous years. I’d be interested in that. Skeptics FTW, though!
I didn’t know there was a survey! How can I get a reminder about the 2021 survey?
You can follow the website (enter email in field in the right sidebar) and/or follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/brulosophy), we announce the survey release every year.
Approach to Brewing – Initial: what year was that? Just curious.
Always love seeing the results of this survey. And as a proud member of the 1% of pacific island homebrewers, I can easily see how you’re selling my facial hair data to big evil macro brew companies. You can’t fool me.
The income disparity is unreal
I guess kids/teens just aren’t getting into homebrewing these days — the charts don’t lie. It’s a shame, we’re going to lose a whole generation of homebrewers 😉
I was actually surprised at how consistent the percentages were for $40k-60k, $60k-80k, $80k-100k. I would imagine that if the > $100k bracket was not just one giant bin, the percentages would roughly correlate with the population percentages in those income brackets. I see this a sign that income is not a barrier to brewing.
Yes. The additional income breakdown would be interesting. Hopefully it will be added to the 2021 survey.
And I think you can still make your first 5 gallon batch for under $100 if you try. Still cheaper than all but the most macro of beers. So there isn’t really a cost barrier to the hobby. Like just about any other hobby, you can spend as much as you want to get into it and stay in it.
$100 still is a pretty big cost barrier for many (esp. if you are trying to pay rent, keep your family fed, etc.)…And just as critical, I argue that the *perceived* cost barrier is a factor, too. I was initially pretty turned off by all-grain brewing when I would go on the forums and see a massive all-steel custom setup with full electronic controllers and 15 burners (and the first time I did a “ride-along” with an all-grain brewer, that was their kind of setup)….it took awhile before I realized that BIAB and batch sparging were a thing, which immediately brought the perceived cost down by orders of magnitude!
It would be cool to see some stats on the homebrewing community. I.E. Member of a club, enter competitions, attend events and that sort of thing.
I’m curious as to why so many electric brewers still brew outside? Is that by choice or lack of an appropriate indoor space?
For me, it’s my preferred space. I brew in the garage, so sort of inside but outside.
I mash in the garage and wheel my machine out the door for the boil to prevent condensation.
How about how many brewers smoke meat (AKA BBQ) also?
First of All great work! The following is not a general critique, just a critique of a single question.
The question adressing how many batches you brew a month has gaps between the intervals. I am brewing 1-2 batches a month, and cannot corectly select between the first two answers. The intervals should “connect” as for example: 0-1 / 1-3 / 3-5 etc.
If you wou would be Even more precise you could use math notation to show if the integers are included or excluded from the interval. However this might confuse more People than it informs.
Best regards
Thank you very much friends, I have been participating in this survey for several years. Only one thing worries me. I’m from Russia. Where is my vote counted? Europe or Asia / Middle East
Well this was fun. We need to get the diversity going a bit more though.
Very disappointed in our failure as homebrewers to uphold the long bearded stereotype at only 10%. 😂
So largely dominatd by middle class white heterosexual males brewing IPA. I wonder if this is in regards to just those who access this resource, or of the community as a whole. Would be good if homebrewing could become more widespread in other sectors of society.
And this is why one should never fill out any sort of “surveys” that ask these questions.
White males, brewing the ipa! The gall!
Interesting study indeed! Cheers to you all from Portugal…