Brewing with newborns

TheDom said:

Having a kid really helped my case for switching to kegging.
SWMBO: "No more F^&%*$@ beer bottles all over the house? Sold!"
Me: "Giggity!"

My wife and I have a give and take arrangement, where I'll get to brew, then I'll take our boy 15 month old for a while and let her do her own thing. The first few weeks after the birth though, brewing should probably be off the table. Even if she says it is ok, it'll probably stop being ok 17 years later or something.

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LMFAO! :cross: I'll let you know if that works for me. My wife is due in mid-August

I know it may not go over too well on this forum, but if your worried about your pipeline there are no-boil extract kits that can be done pretty quickly.

tradgunkie said:

Make sure you take care of the mom. A happy mother = happy spouse = happy marriage = time for you to brew.

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This. You want time to brew? Clean the house, mow the lawn, make mom's life easier, and you shall be rewarded.

Good read. I've got my first due in September, so I'm trying to work in a lot during the summer. I brewed a bunch of high alcohol brews in the winter to get me through the next winter, so now I'm focusing on drinkable beers for the rest of summer and fall.

my son is 5 months and ive brewed 6 times since he was born,its not that hard to find time but you do have to FIND the time, its there.

Well, I haven't brewed beer with her (our newborn! five weeks old today) yet but I bottled a batch when she was about a week old and last week I started some Apfelwein.

Can't wait to get the next batch of beer going. We're just about out of the last

My son was born on 6/22. I've brewed 3 batches since he was born. We've had family staying with us since he was born, so it's been a little easier to find time. We'll see how things go when everyone leaves. I had taken 8 months off from brewing when my daughter was born and I didn't want to repeat that.

I'll be happy with once a month for the first year.

JKoravos said:

My son was born on 6/22. I've brewed 3 batches since he was born. We've had family staying with us since he was born, so it's been a little easier to find time. We'll see how things go when everyone leaves. I had taken 8 months off from brewing when my daughter was born and I didn't want to repeat that.

I'll be happy with once a month for the first year.

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Congrats! My son was born on 7/3 and I brewed my first batch on 7/23. Planning on brewing two more batches to be served at his namegiving ceremony in early October.

I just brewed my fourth batch since my daughter was born last October. My custom car, and brewing hobbies really took a hit at first. To make things more difficult, I've been totally renovating the exterior of my house. Like someone else said, the time is there, you just gotta make use of it. I've learned to be very good with my free time.

JetSmooth said:

I brewed one of my fist AG batched when my son was about six months, I think. Wait until family comes over or momma takes the kid on a day trip somewhere.


Now that the Turtle is a year and a half, I brew when she can take him elsewhere. Or I open the sliding door but leave the screen closed. Too hazardous for him running around.

Here's the Assistant Brewer in training.

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what's the bucket doing on the egg???

whalenutz said:

ps one more word of advice have if planing on having more, do it as soon as possible it sounds hard but the thought of afterwards not having to go through the diaper thing again is amazing!!!!.

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I hate diapers

Our daughter is now 8 weeks and I have brewed twice since then. I plan on brewing again this weekend. The first two to three weeks were pretty much just "eat and sleep when we can", but now we have a more regular schedule. There is really only a few minutes per hour I consider critical - and if the baby is with me at those times, I ask my wife to watch her.

IMO new dads should be focusing on mom and the new life they have to care for. Hobbies need to fall by the wayside. This hobby is an especially obsessive one for most of us, but when things are really put into perspective, making a novel beverage doesn't compare to caring for your new child. Our second will be here in December and I'm getting my brews in now while I can, because I know what's ahead for me: little sleep and lots of responsibilities for others.

Have you tried steeping the newborn?

you will find time. and once they get older they make wonderful helpers. thats my 2.5 yr old helper in my avatar