Last week, we discussed the possible financial benefits of homebrewing. After last night's Extreme Beer Homebrew Challenge at Jose Pistolas for Philly Beer Week, I was reminded of one of the other major advantages of homebrewing: The ability to experiment.

The event brought out some of Beer Week's finest: Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head was anointed the "Uber Joe Pro" and happily dropped by to help serve up his Palo Santo Marron and Red & White. Though not offering up brews of their own, Lost Abbey's Tomme Arthur and Avery Brewing's Adam Avery were also a few of the notable names who showed their support.

But clearly, the night belonged to the dozen plus homebrewers who proved that though they might not be "rock stars of craft brewing" like their previously mentioned contemporaries, they are certainly on the frontlines when it comes to making small batch experimental brews that only a homebrewer would have the balls to try. And though these guys might be lawyers and IT professionals during the day, many of them have superhero-like secret identities as certified beer judges and casual creative consultants to their big-name counterparts.

Seriously, where else can you get something like Dave Houseman's Asian Ale brewed with real ginger, tasting like a perfect accompaniment for sushi or other fish dishes? Or Chris Vachon and Matt Appio's Grapefruit Pale Ale that enhanced the natural pale ale hop flavors of grapefruit and citrus with actual grapefruit essence?

Kyle Kernozek and Michele Dickey's Finnish Sahti, a traditional beer style from Finland brewed with juniper berries, was a unique and delicious taste of things to come: Though the Sahti is rare here in America (this homebrew is the first I had ever heard and tasted of it), Kyle said the style might pop up commercially in the States later this year. And those three aforementioned brews are just scratching the surface of the amazing ideas on display here. (My apologies to all the other homebrewers -- George Hummel, Jim Keveaney, Tom Bera, Chris Coval, Steve Welsh and Andrew Rutherford, Bruce Fabijonas, Chris Clair, Mark Kenesky and Andrew Starsiuk, who's excellent extreme experiments I don't have time to go into detail about here, and to Wardell Massey, who's Cuvee De Wormwood a.k.a. Philly Faro, brewed with wormwood, definitely seemed to be the most divisive selection of the bunch.)

But so is the beauty of the youthful craft beer industry: No matter how many amazing brews you try, there's always someone out their pushing new boundaries, breaking new ground in an established (or even forgotten) style or helping create a style all their own. Events such as the Extreme Beer Homebrew Challenge are a great reminder that unique beers are always being brewed on the fringe of what is already somewhat of a fringe industry, but even more amazingly, it reminds us that with the passions of craft brewing, the line between professional and enthusiast is thinner than we might think.

So do homebrewers do it better? Well, one of the secrets of the craft beer industry is that most brewmasters started out as homebrewers themselves, just like any of us have the opportunity to try. And trust me, the reason they "went pro" is because they definitely believed they had a better brew to offer.