EMILY REID/Arizona Daily Wildcat Philosophy and political science senior Johnny Tellez demonstrates the process of brewing his own beer. Tellez is the president of a newly formed home brewers club dedicated to crafting the beverage.

Beer.

It isn't just for pounding, shotgunning and funneling anymore.

The new Homebrewers Club of UA may seem like it's a convenient way to get hammered, but, according to president Johnny Tellez, the club is about much more.

It's about wine and other things a person can brew, too.

"Making your own beer you have a greater appreciation for it," said Tellez, a political science and philosophy senior. "Instead of getting tanked on Keystone Light every night, you can drink high-quality beer."

In the middle of the dirt backyard, amid trashed cardboard boxes, dead cacti and a home gym, stood three steel pots, each big enough to hold a wheelbarrow-full of beer, some propane tanks and a garden hose stacked on two chairs.

To the untrained eye, it may look like junk. But in the vision of a homebrewer, it was a Tellez's shining display of $1,400-worth of the finest home-brewing equipment that money can buy.

The homebrewers club certainly isn't worried about the appearance of its equipment or brewing site. The new club just wants to make tons of beer and wine to the best of its members' ability.

The club, which has no dues, will meet every two weeks and members will be able to use Tellez's equipment to make about 50 gallons of beer or wine each during the year.

Although the beer is cheaper to make than it is to buy, it still can cost around $30 to make a five-gallon jug.

Brewing costs will be offset with fundraisers, including a beer and wine festival that Tellez hopes to hold on the UA campus.

"We want to have professional judges, faculty judges, staff and students. It would be funny to see what the faculty chooses as opposed to the students," Tellez said of the event, which will crown the best of the homebrewers.

Aspiring to be a place where members of the UA community can meet people who care about the same beer-related issues as they do, Tellez said the sociable atmosphere of the club could make it the perfect environment to form close-knit relationships.

"When you get a bunch of people in a club and start making beer, it's not going to be hard to make friends; at least friends for the night," he said.

The group will cover topics ranging from the status of beer in America to the Ancient Egyptians' use of wine, at meetings that will start in October.

"I think it's really going to be interesting," said sophomore club member Joey Padias, a media arts major. "People will learn a little more about the actual process and a lot of good and bad things about (beer and wine)."

One of the bad things about beer, Tellez explains, is that it is so often cheaply made by commercial manufactures that people don't know just how great it can taste. Tellez wants people to understand that there is more to beer than Budweiser and that better beer can be brewed at home.

Tellez said since "they're only worried about consistency," big manufacturers can't experiment with the infinite number of ingredients and variables. As the club motto states, the homebrewers worry about everything and will "passionately hand craft each brew and wine with excellence."

Although the club brewing is based around Tellez's equipment, members can learn about what they need to be a home brewer for the rest of their lives.

"You can take pretty much anything in your kitchen and make your own beer," Tellez said.

Since it is not illegal for those under 21 to make their own ales and stouts ÷ though it is illegal for them to consume the beverages ÷ the only requirement to join will be a desire to appreciate the rich and storied history of beer and wine, to mention all the grains, hops, water and yeast that go into them.

And to those who don't want to join the club and don't care about what they drink, so long as it gets them plastered, Tellez offers a piece of advice:

"Quit being a jackass and be a connoisseur."

The Homebrewers Club of UA will hold its first meeting in October. Those interested in joining the club can e-mail Tellez at: cokeboy5@yahoo.com.