Is it ok to brew beer if I don't have a beard ??

This explains a lot! I haven't had a beard in years, and started brewing about a month ago. I haven't shaved in 3 weeks. Couldn't tell ya why I suddenly decided to stop shaving. Why grow a beard when it's 105 in the shade?? Because I'm a freakin home brewer!

I haven't been clean shaven since...2004 or 2005 I think (ever since I've been able to grow one)

I haven't shaved at all for at least 4 years now.
My beard has increased, and my brewing has improved

More beard = better beer!

Man, I hate my beard- it's patchy and disgusting. My face looks like the top of Jeremy Clarkson's head. On a diet and have promised myself that I'll get rid of the damn thing once I lose X number of pounds, but I'm concerned that my brewing will suffer. The moustache stays, though. What say you all?

focus on the art of brewing, cast out thoughts of grooming. grooming is the path to the dark side.

"There is no try, or try-not. There is only brew and brew-not.."
-Yoda

Add me to the beard brewer list

I don't know that I'd ever be able to grow a respectable beard, but I rarely shave nonetheless. I work in an office, so from time to time I have to at least trim the scruff...I mean, I wore a 3-piece suit to the interview, fresh with a $20 haircut and EVERYTHING! After 2-3 years of service I plan to fully let myself go.

I think people with large beards are just compensating for other deficiencies in their lives! Perhaps that's why they have more time to brew. ;-)

La Barbe-

A group of French feminists has found a new way to fight inequality - with sarcastic humour and fake beards. Only rarely is there a violent response...

The name comes from the group's pantomime style of protest. Its members infiltrate high-level, male-dominated meetings. In due course they get to their feet and silently don false beards before one of them reads out an ironic statement congratulating the men on their supremacy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18497881

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The french loooooooove a good protest

Apparently Rogue says a beard may be needed. They plan to brew a beer from yeast found their brewmaster's beard.

http://beerpulse.com/2012/06/rogue-ales-to-create-beer-using-yeast-from-brewmasters-beard-follicles/

edroberts said:

Apparently Rogue says a beard may be needed. They plan to brew a beer from yeast found their brewmaster's beard.

http://beerpulse.com/2012/06/rogue-ales-to-create-beer-using-yeast-from-brewmasters-beard-follicles/

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Yep, puked.

I recently got a second job that requires me to be clean shaven. My beers have since become less and less incredible. My theory is that I had one for so long that some of it is carrying over but I fear I am "running on fumes". Maybe I need to take a 3 week hiatus from working and over fill my pipeline....

this is the first I have heard of this.. but I have had a beard since before I started to brew. I have never got a stuck mash,infection or had a bad beer. so it must be true.

I tried to brew without a beard once. It was BAD. For the love of good beer grow a beard. Please. Dont make bad beer,Dont tempt the beer gods.

I think this should be a sticky under "General Techniques"

My first batch was 2 years ago, a simple Mr Beer kit, and I was beardless. It was less than stellar, but drinkable due to the goatee I was sporting. I used the birth of my daughter this year as an excuse to stop shaving. Thankfully the SWMBO was so exhausted that there were no voiced complaints. Three months later and I'm up to 60 gallons of brewed goodness. Do not underestimate the power of the beard.

the first time i hit the homebrew shop to buy all my initial supplies i told SWMBO: "based on what i've just witnessed, looks like i'm going to have to grow a beard". that almost put an end to my hobby before i had even started.

i do need to shave for work but i tend to shave as little as possible. by the time brew-day (aka saturday or sunday) rolls around i have a decent scruff going (work from home on fridays). i think it's been sufficient to fool the yeast into thinking i have a beard - or that i am on my way to growing one. while hard-working, yeast can be gullible at times.

If a job required me to shave, it had better pay over 100k per year!

My German's pretty rusty but flipping through my copy of the Reinheitsgebot just now, it looks like there's something about going gebearden un der brewday. Looks like the beard and brewing thing, it goes waaaaaay back.

Beards never live up to one's expectations

texasbrewer73 said:

i think this should be a sticky under "general techniques"

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+1,000,000

nightcelt said:

My German's pretty rusty but flipping through my copy of the Reinheitsgebot just now, it looks like there's something about going gebearden un der brewday. Looks like the beard and brewing thing, it goes waaaaaay back.

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Literally lol

only infected beer i had was when i shaved my beard. never an infected beer before or since

edroberts said:

Apparently Rogue says a beard may be needed. They plan to brew a beer from yeast found their brewmaster's beard.

http://beerpulse.com/2012/06/rogue-ales-to-create-beer-using-yeast-from-brewmasters-beard-follicles/

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As soon as I saw this thread I was going to post the same thing =P

Love thy beard!

http://youtu.be/pJb-wVSGa_0

Wifey doesn't like a beard. I shave when I start to see the signs that is bothering her, my amusement at that subsides and eventually it starts to itch. I brew good beer though. I think it's my sideburns, ear and nose hair that convince the yeast that I'm bearded.

generalzod4791 said:

Beards never live up to one's expectations

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Lol, like that movie with the kid from "Dazed and Confused" and Zoe Danschel, an otherwise "meh" kinda movie, but the Expectation/Reality shots were awesome.

My beard grows in like a greek god, but every freaking woman I know says I look better without it.

They won't even let me delude myself, they are vocal. "Oh......growing the beard again? You looked better without it"

So that's why I keep having issues with my beer. Not allowed to have more than a mustache at my job. Has anyone put "having a beard" under the best thing added to my brew day thread?

No, it is not recommended! A beard, I have found, helps out in all facets of life....

Mastering Science (and holding my nephew; I think it went ok. He may disagree)


Skim boarding in Maui (no, I don't know that lady or have more pictures of her)


Brat fry-ing


Wedding-it-up


Family portraits (where the wife and I were the only ones wearing white and denim like my sister requested)


Fishing and look-alike contests. Go Pack, Go!


Killing things in the Scatters....


....and getting the dog some blood-action.


beer fests (guess the two homebrewers)


and baby making....no beard in the picture, but it's up there glistening in the sunset. This was 6 weeks ago, and the last time I trimmed it up to 2". We will see how the 3 inch "baby" beard helps in delivering a baby in the next couple of days.




All of this could not have been possible without a beard....well, at least not as much fun. The last time I used a razor was June 22nd, 2007; on the wedding day, which kicked off the itchiest two weeks of my life until the beard grew back out. Never again!

thepartsmancometh said:

If a job required me to shave, it had better pay over 100k per year!

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Does this mean I get a free pass?

I've never brewed WITHOUT a beard! In fact, I grew the mustache almost 43 years ago. The LAST time I shaved my upper lip was on 9 August 1969! The full beard came about three years later. I was in grad school and just didn't feel like shaving. Ultimately, the full beard got reduced to a goatee. With the goatee and mustache, I don't have to shave over acne scars!

Several years ago, during some lovely weather, my wife and I were walking up to the Starbuck's we visit on Saturday mornings. A gentleman got up from one of the outdoor tables, walked right up to me, stuck out his hand and shook mine and asked me, "How do you get the color of the hair on your head to match the color of your goatee and mustache?" I thought for a moment and responded, "Experience!"

glenn514

cheezydemon3 said:

My beard grows in like a greek god, but every freaking woman I know says I look better without it.

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That sucks. My girlfriend probably would never have noticed me if I didn't have a beard.

It was really funny when I had to shave because several girls we knew and some of her coworkers would say things like "Oh, Megan (gf) must love that you finally shaved". I would just nod and smile because my girl HATES that I had to get rid of it.

I think this little ditty about "Beard Lust" fits in perfectly with this thread:

Wynne-R said:

Wow. If Yooper is doin’ the Groucho thing there might be something to it. If a fake moustache works as well as a beard that certainly opens things up.

More research is required.

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You realize that in all the movies, groucho's moustache was a peice of black electrical tape. Yes?

H-ost said:

I recently got a second job that requires me to be clean shaven. My beers have since become less and less incredible. My theory is that I had one for so long that some of it is carrying over but I fear I am "running on fumes". Maybe I need to take a 3 week hiatus from working and over fill my pipeline....

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I heard a story about a local bakery that moved to a new larger bake house. Same ingredients, same recipie, same equipment, same employees. Somehow the bread taste took a nosedive. They even went so far as to collect dust from the top of the rafters in the old bakehouse and spread it around the new building. They ended up abandoning the new bakehouse and returning to the old one. Go figure.

william_shakes_beer said:

I heard a story about a local bakery that moved to a new larger bake house. Same ingredients, same recipie, same equipment, same employees. Somehow the bread taste took a nosedive. They even went so far as to collect dust from the top of the rafters in the old bakehouse and spread it around the new building. They ended up abandoning the new bakehouse and returning to the old one. Go figure.

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Perhaps wild yeast in the air or something. Water? Interesting.

william_shakes_beer said:

I heard a story about a local bakery that moved to a new larger bake house. Same ingredients, same recipie, same equipment, same employees. Somehow the bread taste took a nosedive. They even went so far as to collect dust from the top of the rafters in the old bakehouse and spread it around the new building. They ended up abandoning the new bakehouse and returning to the old one. Go figure.

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When I started to read this story, I assumed it would end by revealing that the baker (who was also a homebrewer) had shaved right after the move...

HbgBill said:

I have a beard. Doesn't do much but cover my ugly face.. BUT, the mustache is great for filtering out possible floaties when drinking..

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So you are saying I just need to be ugly? I think I can do that.

We need to conduct a blind taste test to compare beers brewed by people with beards versus without. Sounds like the next Basic Brewing Radio and BYO collaborative experiment.

thepartsmancometh said:

If a job required me to shave, it had better pay over 100k per year!

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Ed Zachary. And I'm not taking out the earring either.