I Tried DIY Brewing. My Wallet Paid.

I thought calibrating a hydrometer would save me money on homebrewing. The instructions looked simple: use the same water, match the temperature, spin out the bubbles. I followed every step, obsessing over decimals—1.003, 1.051, subtract, add. But my cheap hydrometer never read 1.000, no matter what I did. I spent hours chasing numbers, convinced I could outsmart the process. I bought special water, a new test jar, even a thermometer—$47 gone, just to get the 'right' reading. In the end, my beer tasted off. I realized I’d spent more trying to save than if I’d just bought a decent hydrometer. All that stress, all those calculations, and I still got it wrong. DIY isn’t always cheaper. Sometimes it just costs you in different ways. #DIYDisaster #HomeBudgetFail #BrokeButCreative #Home