Beer on the brain

Since I brewed my first batch on Saturday I can't stop: reading about home brew, checking the temp of my fermenter, looking at the airlock, thinking about bottling it, thinking about drinking it, thinking about what I did wrong and how I'll do my next batch differently.

Last night I poured a bottle of Paulaner Weissbier and found myself smelling the bottle and trying to scrape the yeast off the bottom to taste it! I've been drinking Paulaner for years and never even looked inside the bottle before. Am I going nuts?

Most likely you have been nuts all along. It's taken us to help you realize it.

RDWHAHB. You are with friends now, D.

What you have is not an illness. You just need to feed your desires with new brewing equipment, and brew a few more batches. Now what you are feeling is the fear of the unknown, and the excitement that come from it. Once you accept this fact, then you can finally face your fears and come to terms with the fact that you CAN brew it right, and everything will be ok.

For now, just embrace your fear and use it to fuel your anger towards those who relish BMC. Feed your anger and in turn your anger will feed you! Ok, maybe not feed you, but at least it will give you something good to drink in a few weeks.

Man, I know how you feel.

Day 6 and counting.

I remember doing my first batch. Man o' man was I not in my closet for hours on end smelling the airlock, watching the airlock, looking at the beer. I was forcing all of my friends to come and take a look at the beer. I was thinking about what equipment to buy and what batch to brew next. I was buying beer books and reading extensively articles, recipes, and anything beer related.

And ever since I began homebrewing I have noticed that when I purchase a beer, I try to decipher the hop profile, what malts were used, any spices. I also find myself purchasing 3 or 4 of the same style of beer and sampling them together to understand how complex the style can get.

It is great

I've been out of control since the New Year. I received a starter kit for Christmas from SWMBO consisting of 1 bucket fermenter (among other equipment) After my first brew, when I discovered that I made beer (which tasted and smelled like beer!) I really got the bug. So I brewed another. Then while that was in the bucket, I went out and bought a glass carboy and brewed again. After cycling through them for about a month and filling the kitchen with beer brewing paraphernalia (starter flask, bottling supplies) I bought an outdoor propane burner and two more carboys. Now I have four going all the time! I usually bottle on Friday night and then turn that fermenter around and brew the very next day. During the week, I study the calender to determine which beers I should brew next to have them ready to drink by a certain date. I am a fan of aging the beers to get them to their max potential and try to cycle in an extended aging beer every few brews.

I love bars....I don't know where they are anymore. I used to go out on Friday and Saturday nights but now I find myself brewing or bottling on those nights while enjoying some of my own homebrews. It feels like a million bucks to drink a beer that you made yourself. It feels even better when one of your buddies takes a pull and says "wow, this is pretty good....YOU made THIS?!?"

I do the same as beerjunky when I am in the beer distributor. And always try and buy bottles which I can reuse for my homebrew!

It is very great!

Welcome to the obsession that is brewing. I still remember my first brew and the hardest part was letting it condition for 2 weeks. Let me recommend keeping a bottle back for at least 2 months and try it again. I know I loved that one. Just remember, your friends don't always understand why you constantly think about beer. The one you just made and how to make it better next time. SWMBO thinks I'm crazy. She's right, but it's a good crazy. Welcome aboard and have fun.

All of these answers are just BS cover-ups to make you feel better. Face it, you are bonkers. Now, get out there and lick a window or something...

Homercidal said:

RDWHAHB. You are with friends now, D.

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That's the Problem, he is in the same boat as me. There is no Homebrew to Relax with. It's all in a damn bucket setting there tormenting us. Calling out in the middle of the night making us crazy.

I'm sticking mine in bottles tonight to see if that shuts them up, but I have a bad feeling I will hear them through the tightly capped bottles for several more weeks.

This guy's got beer on his brain too!

man dancing with beer on head on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

D, Felicidades on your first brew! :rockin:I'm only just formulating batch #4, but I can't stop thinking abour beer 24-7 either. when I get into something, I like to learn as much as I possibly can, so I've been buying all the big books-"Designing Great Beers", "Brewing Classic Styles", palmer's "How to Brew", miller's "homebrewing guide", mosher's "radical brewing", etc...also, the basicbrewing and brewingnetwork podcasts!
this site is also pure gold!!! and these kind folks have helped me through many newb problems. one piece of advice I can offer, newb 2 newb is-As soon as you get your beer in the bottles,get your next one in the fermentor asap! if you have friends to impress with your brew, it'll go crazy fast! and it sucks having to wait a whole 5-6 wks for the next one to be ready. my new motto is to brew within 48 hrs of bottling-I shall not have that problem again! salud dude!!