Earliest Time it is "Acceptable" to drink on brew day...

astropunk said:

I like to sip coffee from a mug in one hand, and sip a homebrew from a mug in my other!

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This!

Actually, I like to have one five minutes before my eyes are open.

1. Q: Should I have a beer?

A: Yes.



2. Q: I am concerned about drinking to early, is there a "right time"?

A: The right time to drink beer is whenever you want one and it will not interfere with your life. As for time and a specific one, if the sun is up it is daytime if it is not, it is nighttime, how this affects people's judgment on a good time to drink is beyond me. FYI I have been known to wake up and have a Founder's Breakfast Stout with my eggs and bacon for breakfast. It is called BREAKFAST Stout...



3. Q: What is the right beer for me?

A: The one that tastes the best to you. Beer Advocate and the beer snobs would have you believe if you are not drinking a Russian River, DFH, Sam Adams collaboration brew with the worlds oldest monastery, to make the craziest IIPA the world has ever seen with a theoretical 3000 IBUs, all made from endangered species, it is a horrible beer. I say, if you love you some MGD 64 and it makes you happy, then suck em down! The real equation to use is this: homebrew > anything bought.

:rockin:

4. Q: Should I drink on/during a brew day?

A: Yes, doubly so. It is very important to appease the brew gods or injury, mishaps and infections can occur. Even if you do not believe in the brew gods, is it worth the risk? The right time to crack open a homebrew on brew day is before the heating of anything. If you do not have a homebrew you will need to double your efforts and have 2 beers before heating anything. Your cup should never run dry during a brew day. I am not advocating you drink a full gallon before you start or by the time you are done, please be safe.



5. Q: If I drink too early I am done for, is there something I can do to help me with this?

A: Yes, food is a fantastic thing to have with beer. I find it very useful to have a sandwich made up in the fridge before I start my brew day and other quick ready to eat foods. You get extra credit if any of these foods is cooked in/with beer or is made from spent ingredients of a previous brew day. It can also be a good idea to have a brew assistant to cook while you brew, this is like cheating off the smartest kid in the class and getting away with it.

not a brewday, but nascar raceday for me :rockin:
headin for the keg

Since I typically start brewing after noon time, it's never been a concern to me... As long as you've had something to eat already, who cares? It IS afternoon someplace all the time, so it really comes down to a choice...

Most of the time, I reserve my drinking until after noon on weekends/brew days (or days I'm not going anywhere)... During the week (when working) I just wait until I get home. If I'm also brewing that night, well, then I could [still] be drinking rather late.

It seems far too few people are familiar with Hot Scotchies i.e. Brewer's Toddy.

A drink designed for brewer's that is prepared during the sparge.

Brooklyn-Brewtality said:

It seems far too few people are familiar with Hot Scotchies i.e. Brewer's Toddy.

A drink designed for brewer's that is prepared during the sparge.

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A little wort and some whiskey!

I've been known to have a nice oatmeal maple porter with pancakes and bacon... The local diner has also said that if I ever want to install a tap there they'd be happy to offer a Breakfast Porter or Stout. It's better than a Bloody Mary...

I say as long as it doesn't interfere with my brewing process and that I can get the beer in the fermentor without accidents, I crack a cold one whenever. I usually crack my first one around the mash time though. That's usually when I have my first long break in my brewing process so I have time to have a cold one. But my brewing routine is usually really frantic so I don't have time to drink more than 2 or 3 anyway so staying sober isn't a problem.

Contemplated the same thought this morning. I held off until 11:30a.

JJL said:

Contemplated the same thought this morning. I held off until 11:30a.

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Made it till 11:55a myself. Chillin' the Red I just brewed and watching the Tourney! Great day today is. Zona' is taking on Texas a little later - not holding my breath but who knows!

chaydaw said:

Was wondering this morning as I am waiting for my mash to finish up...It is 1030 AM, I am brewing and feel like having a homebrew. What is the earliest you guys will dirnk on a brew day?!

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as soon as i wake up brew day or no, no sense in waiting

I start drinking once I get all the heavy stuff moved into place and start boiling water. I really don't want to have a beer sitting there while I'm moving stuff around. I also learned that you should always check to make sure you have enough propane before drinking.

Teromous said:

I also learned that you should always check to make sure you have enough propane before drinking.

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LOL - words to live by!

Brooklyn-Brewtality said:

It seems far too few people are familiar with Hot Scotchies i.e. Brewer's Toddy.

A drink designed for brewer's that is prepared during the sparge.

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Oh man, I forgot about that. I saw it on a video once and wanted to try it.

EricT said:

Oh man, I forgot about that. I saw it on a video once and wanted to try it.

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When it is cold, they are Heavenly. Last brewery I worked at, we lost heat during the winter. Brewer's Toddies kept us warm that day.

Am I the only person who brews a low test beer every few months and only drinks them on brew days? On brew days, which are always my days off from the mind numbing drudgery of network design/security/implementation, I usually wake up with something like a breakfast stout. Something in the low 4s.

Breakfast Stout = breakfast... in my mind, anyway.

But as someone said, make sure you've got enough propane before you get lit to the point where driving is a health/ticket hazard.

+2... If you have someone there and they think it's too early... perhaps they should help someone else.

But as someone said, make sure you've got enough propane before you get lit to the point where driving is a health/ticket hazard.

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This almost happened to me today. Had a few blondes (easy, low ABV) then realized my tank was feeling very light. Thankfully I made it through the boil.

Probably not the place to ask but how do I quote PARTIALLY from someone else's post while still tagging their name. I obviously did not do it correctly in my last post.

chaydaw said:

how do I quote PARTIALLY from someone else's post while still tagging their name. I obviously did not do it correctly in my last post.

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i think you just don't erase there name after the first quote=

lets see if it worked when i hit submit.

at the beginging it says

rycov said:

just don't erase anything before that ] and i think your good

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rycov said:

i think you just don't erase there name after the first quote=

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ahhh like this?

thanks!

I brew alone, and a tube is never cracked until the wort is in the fermenter and everything's cleaned up and put away. As far as I'm concerned, it's a safety issue.

pavs said:

Remember, it's 5 o'clock somewhere!

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LOL.. was doing some plumbing work at a buddy's house yesterday and it was a lil after 9am.. he said we havent drank together in a long time and its 5pm some where so he opened 2. I still had a lrge full cup of DUNKIN

Brooklyn-Brewtality said:

If you're brewing, you should be drinking!

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350_Malibu said:

While brewing I always crack a brew. I don't care what time it is, and the wife knows it...

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agreed...if you're brewing you should be drinking a brew.
although i will say, i brewed yesterday morning (started about 9:00-9:30), and yesterday's brewing session didN'T include drinking a brew (for the first time since i don't know when for me).

I too, wait until the boil. Then it's open season. Too easy to mess up the hop additions, etc. after you've had a few. All of my brewing mistakes have been when I had some brew before the boil... just speaking from experience!

Safety issue? that sounds like a drinking problem.

Brooklyn-Brewtality said:

If you're brewing, you should be drinking!

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Yesssss! When you start heating strike water, thats what I would say!

I drink all throughout brewday. Just stay this side of ****ty until you're done. :cross:

You should start drinking at midnight, which is technically the night before. It is important to get a good night's rest before brewing and I find that having a homebrew helps.

I've started brewing as early as 630 am. I've been half lit as early as mash out. You do the math.

More than once I've been drinking a bit earlier than 8. As long as you don't need to go anywhere and don't make a habit of it - drink as soon as you want to. Think the time stops the fishermen from drinking their piss water at the buttcrack of dawn?

Saturday morning my brother in law and I brewed a batch... We each had 3 pints before noon!

My mother once told me, that if you drink before noon, you are an alcoholic. I do not know what her basis for this was, but after she said that, I opened a beer up at 11:55 AM one day in front of her. She was not amused.

My rule's always been as long as it's after 8AM you're good. Exceptions are easy to make though. For instance, if you're hungover then a homebrew can be considered necessary for medicinal purposes. Or, if you're just getting off of work for similar reasons. Also, this rule does not apply to stouts or porters; there's coffee there, if anything there should be a time at night when these cease being drank, not a time where they become acceptable in the morning. Other possible exceptions include but are not limited to holidays, birthdays, sporting events, and the wanting of a beer before 8AM.

I only use glass carboys so I hold off drinking until the boil on brew days. Other then that I work 3rd shift so I will have one or two brews before 7 AM. There is nothing wrong with have a beer after work

Now I feel bad. I just realized that for the first time ever, I actually didn't have a beer when brewing yesterday. I'll have to make up for it next time.

I no longer drink while brewing. Still tweaking my system, so I want to remember to write down everything as it happens. I forget easily enough without a beer. That said, I see no reason to wait 'till noon or after for a beer if you want one. Kyle

kgfitz said:

I only use glass carboys so I hold off drinking until the boil on brew days. Other then that I work 3rd shift so I will have one or two brews before 7 AM. There is nothing wrong with have a beer after work

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Is there a better reason to switch to better bottles?

Too early is before the alarm goes off on a brew day. After it's good.

B

I see nothing wrong with have 1...or 5. When I run my smoker, its not uncommon for me to run it for 24 hrs to get the meat nice and tender (little overkill but always worth it) I am usually drinking a beer through the night. On one occasion I was check the temp of the smoker around 7 am drinking a beer and my neighbor came out to get the paper and gave them the strangest look. I just raised my bottle and gave a smile.