41 replies to this topic

[Humperdink]

I'm going through a little lul/rut right now for the first time in five years. I live with my GF and 2 other roommates, one of whom helps brew, but all drink the beer. My buddy helped buy the grain which is nice, but its frustrating to watch a ten gallon batch be consumed super fast. My time is worth something and I'm the only one who buys propane, hops and yeast. Its getting kinda old and my motivation to keep others in beer is minimal right now. I've been trying to go fishing and golf a little more as my fun time. I know it's sacrilege since I was brewing every weekend, but now I have to brew ten gallons three times a month just to keep the taps full. No one else puts in the time and I'm a little resentful of the situation so I just brew when I feel like I want to do it for me, not to keep the house in beer, which is kinda crappy since I love having all my taps full. I do ahve to say though that it is really motivating me to go to 20 gallon batches...

[lowendfrequency]

I've gone through two ruts since I've started brewing. One was infection related, the other was a water/beer quality issue. For me, making good beer is my motivation. When I tap a batch of some seriously good beer, I feel like an accomplished brewer and I am motivated to repeat my success. At the same time, when I occasionally make a batch that isn't up to par for one reason or another it ends up sitting around tying up my taps and killing my taste for homebrew (and my confidence as well).I've got my issues sorted out though and am currently on a roll. I'm making some of my best beers to date and they are only going to get better. Brew on!

[3rd party JKor]

I'm going through a little lul/rut right now for the first time in five years. I live with my GF and 2 other roommates, one of whom helps brew, but all drink the beer. My buddy helped buy the grain which is nice, but its frustrating to watch a ten gallon batch be consumed super fast. My time is worth something and I'm the only one who buys propane, hops and yeast. Its getting kinda old and my motivation to keep others in beer is minimal right now. I've been trying to go fishing and golf a little more as my fun time. I know it's sacrilege since I was brewing every weekend, but now I have to brew ten gallons three times a month just to keep the taps full. No one else puts in the time and I'm a little resentful of the situation so I just brew when I feel like I want to do it for me, not to keep the house in beer, which is kinda crappy since I love having all my taps full. I do ahve to say though that it is really motivating me to go to 20 gallon batches...

You should ask them to contribute more money, the cost of grain is minimal compared to the overall cost of materials, energy and time for a batch. If you're going through 30 gallons a month, that would equate to something like $300/month in good commercial brew. You should be getting at least $100/month out of them. If they think that's too much, they can buy their own beer.

[gnef]

I definitely agree with the above. If they are willing to pitch in, that makes it great for you, because you get more experience and practice to perfect your brews. If they are unwilling to help, maybe it is time for some faucet locks, or disconnect your liquid lines, and put a lock on the fridge.

[Humperdink]

You should ask them to contribute more money, the cost of grain is minimal compared to the overall cost of materials, energy and time for a batch. If you're going through 30 gallons a month, that would equate to something like $300/month in good commercial brew. You should be getting at least $100/month out of them. If they think that's too much, they can buy their own beer.

I definitely agree with the above. If they are willing to pitch in, that makes it great for you, because you get more experience and practice to perfect your brews. If they are unwilling to help, maybe it is time for some faucet locks, or disconnect your liquid lines, and put a lock on the fridge.

Agreed on both points. I do look at it as somewhat of a good thing since I have brewed lord knows how many batches over the last five years, many being in the last two. I have my processes down and know my system like the back of my hand. Its more so that some weeks when I've been railroaded at work I don't want to do anything but veg out on the weekend. I'm not afforded that option when I have to brew to keep the place in beer. Others know how to brew (My GF makes a mean pale ale and my buddy can and has brewed some fine beer... before he moved in with me!) but now its kinda my "job" to do it for the house. I kinda resent that. Everyone should pitch in. For me its not as much the money as the expectation even after I've voiced my dislike for the situation. Though being on an even foot with the costs would make things better also.

[Stout_fan]

I definitely agree with the above. If they are willing to pitch in, that makes it great for you, because you get more experience and practice to perfect your brews. If they are unwilling to help, maybe it is time for some faucet locks, or disconnect your liquid lines, and put a lock on the fridge.

This is exactly what I was going to say.Perhaps if you got busy and "forgot" for a week or three.

[MyaCullen]

By now you guys probably know that I had about a 6 month period where I kept having infections. During that time I got out of the habit of brewing and having good beer around, but it happened kind of slowly so I didn't notice it much.Now that I've got the 4th beer in the fermentor post infections, I'm finding myself really jazzed about brewing again. I've done 3 of those batches within the last 10 days, and I'm seriously considering doing another one tomorrow night.In addition to the beer itself, I'm reminded that I really enjoy the process. I always said I brewed as a creative outlet because I don't get much of that in my job. Well, that disappeared and I didn't really notice its loss because it was gradual, but now that it's returned I can look back and see that I actually was missing it. I've been awfully stressed these last several months. I thought it was my job, and it probably was the stress causer, but I'd lost one of my big stress relievers and it shows now.Before "The Problem" I'd gotten into a rut where I only brewed a few simple beers over and over just to keep the taps flowing. I got sloppy with lots of the details, including the sanitation that bit me in the ass. Now that I've restarted, I feel like a new brewer again.What keeps you coming back to the brew kettle?

I need to pull my head out of my (dark place) I haven't brewed since September and have barely drank any beer lately, I have been stuck in a non brewing funk, of which i can't quite figure out why.All I nned to do is get one really nice pale on tap and i'll be back, but I find i am sorely lacking in motivation as of late.

[DuncanDad]

I brew because I like the hobby and I like having my beer on tap.That, and I cheap as all get out.I buy about 400.00/year in brewing supplies. For that, I get about 120 gallons of beer. Any kind of beer I want to make and serve.That comes to about .30 a pint. Not bad.

[Spoon]

I brew becuae it think it awesome to make such good beer so easily. I do not make a bunch of off the wall stuff primarily APAs PA, IPA, APA, pretty most any english/American ale. I'm not a big lager drinker but I am thinking of a Pilzen type once I can get fermentation temps bhetter controlled.The only downside is the time. All day is a lot to shove aside for someone who is pretty much booked up all the time.

[Beejus McReejus]

I've also improved on commercial examples. My best one was the "Better than Young's Double Chocolate Stout." Everybody went nuts over that brew when I took it to the MD Guild party.It was like drinking a chocolate bar. You never noticed the 8% ABV.

Recipe?

[Breakpoint]

Every now and then, I go through the same funk everyone else is talking about. The brewing becomes a burden. The burden in my case is that I haven't developed my process completely and so I'm not necessarily as efficient as I should be. Part of this was because we had moved so many times and brewing had been put aside, but now I essentially have my own brewing space and I'm developing my own method. With this has come better beer, I've been drinking an Amber Ale that is spot on the color, hop presence, and an amazing clarity. This beer is one that makes me want to share it with everyone that I possibly can because it's actually better than most commercial ones we can get around here. The creativity in coming up with the recipes and the methodology and making beers like this amber ale makes keep me interested in this hobby.

[3rd party JKor]

I had stopped for several years, mostly because I had gotten used to brewing 10 gal outside while I was renting a house in school and when we moved to an apartment there wasn't room for my stuff. I didn't feel like building a new 5 gallon system for the apartment, so I just waited until we moved into our house. I've slowly been building things up since we moved in here three years ago. The brewing is going well now, but I still have a lot of work I want to do on the equipment side.

[SchwanzBrewer]

Another reason:I just kegged Denny's IPA yesterday. I had the pressure a little too high so I had to release some and reset the gauge. When I purged the keg I got a face full of hop blast. It was so beautiful smelling, it was glorious.Cheers,Rich

[macbrak]

I brew a lot for my supply and seem to go through bursts of activity. My drinking seems to ebb and flow as well these are related but not directly. I mostly brew because I like good beer but am a cheap bastage. I brew for experiment/art.I brew outside so I'm experiencing a drought due to it being to miserable to brew. Eventually supply will over come this.

[Stout_fan]

Recipe?

Well, I just tried the search option.....report:The search function is seriously fragged."chocolate" returns ZERO"stout" returns ZEROIt was one of the earlier entries.here

[Beejus McReejus]

It was one of the earlier entries.here

Thank you sir!

[Stout_fan]

At MD brewer's Guild picnic, all the guys liked it. The gals pretty much went ape over it.I still get requests to brew and bring it again.Ya velcome.

Edited by Stout_fan, 22 June 2010 - 04:24 AM.

[ScottS]

I make beer because I hate paying $1-1.50 per bottle for decent stuff from the store.I make mead because it's the best beverage on earth.

[Big Nake]

I would agree with everything here. It's hard to explain to some people why you make beer. They look at you like you're crazy or you don't know what you're talking about. Some people tell me that it's not legal. Whatever. But the creativity is one big thing. I really enjoy putting recipes together and then seeing if the resulting beer matches my expectations. As someone else mentioned, I really enjoy the feeling of making something so good with a relatively small amount of effort. The expense thing is very nice too. I calculated a batch of Blonde Ale coming in at $13.05 per 5 gallons which comes to 26¢ per 12 oz serving (similar to DuncanDad's figures) which is mind-boggling. I enjoy the process and the prep. I enjoy seeing people enjoying my beer. I enjoy people coming down to my basement bar area and seeing beer faucets coming out of the wall. Of course... I also just love beer. Cheers.

[Kremer]

I make beer because I can look at about any bottle in the store and say "I can make that, or something better than that"