<b>soundmotor</b>, I'm down by DC, but I am sure I could put you in touch with people who will help you to learn how to brew your own. On the whole, you can make better beer for less than you can buy it, and you don't have to worry about buying blue (or red) or whether or not the company is a shithead to it's employees or bent on stifiling competition. Also, I notice in your profile that you are interested in metalworking. You could almost certainly trade on that skill to get vast quantities of free materials from brewers check out this brewing unit...
<img src="http://www.morebeer.com/product_images/1/1875.jpg">
Think you could knock something like that together? Morebeer is asking $2K for it. Granted that half that is the pots, and half the rest in materials, it's still 14 or 15 batches brewed free (if someone pays you off dollar for dollar in materials).