Is your brew day like a work day?

I haven't been brewing long, just finishing my 8th extract brew. I have a partner that I started brewing with but also started brewing solo. When I brew I hit it balks out and can bottle a batch and do a new extract brew in >3 hrs. When I brew with my partner it takes twice as long because he never wants it to feel like work. When you brew do you take your time, or are you just trying to get it done?

I don't particularly rush myself, but I don't waste time and drag it out either... I just started all grain after 4 extract brews and it takes me 5-6 hours start to finish depending on how long I mash and how long I boil. Extract was half of that... Brewing has never felt like work to me. I enjoy it, but I don't want it to take forever either.

i treat it like work - in that i try to stay pretty drunk and usually spend a lot of time on the toilet.

spearko520 said:

i treat it like work - in that i try to stay pretty drunk and usually spend a lot of time on the toilet.

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Lol awesome. Mine used to feel like a work day and sometimes after I'd feel stressed like it was one. Then I used the BIAB and no chill techniques as documented in my ebook. Now I'm done in <3 hours and it's nice. I don't like to rush, I like to feel relaxed when I'm doing hobbies. Hobbies should be therapeutic

I am one of the many who do not like their job. I really like brewing so it is not like work. I do all grain so it takes a while. I don't really pay attention to how long it takes. I just enjoy the time.

My brew day has often taken a couple of weeks. I brew then clean most of the equipment. The next day I clean the rest. After a while I realize that it is brew day again and I have not put everything away yet. Oh well! Being single and no roommates does have advantages sometimes, I think or should everything have been put away?

I usually have a few beers while doing it, so not like work at all

But like others have said, don't drag it out, but don't rush. Have fun with it, usually takes me about 3 hours per batch.

Im usually super productive on my brew days. Brewing involves 15 minutes of activity followed by an hour of nothing, repeated a few times.

during the mash, boil, and chill phases, my house gets super clean, or I take the kids for a walk, or I slam some homebrew.

It's like walking this fine line between work and play... Except I'm drinking usually

My worst day brewing is better than my best day at work.

It depends. If I'm pressed for time, I get up early, multitask (milling while heating strike water, cleaning up and sanitizing while boiling/chilling etc) and do other stuff while I have down time, and get it done as quickly as I can. If I can dedicate a whole day, I either take my sweet time and relax, or I follow the above and pull a double header. That said, I'm another who doesn't like my job, and I love brew day, so even when I'm pressed for time it's not a work day.

I'm in the restaurant business, so it is basically cooking. But now that I moved to the garage, I enjoy it much better. I can drink at work so brewing is like work.

I've learned to not brew if it seems like it's going to feel like work. However, I have screwed up a few batches going in the opposite direction; having a few too many while brewing and losing track of mash time, boil time, and things, and ... oh crap, I haven't even cleaned the carboy!

I try never to brew on a day I'm pressed for time. Now that Baseball is back, Sundays during the game will be my brew time. (The wife's a huge baseball fan, so that helps) Sit on the porch, turn on the TV ,fire up the HLT and grill. Got my 3 Floyd's zombie dust clone ready for this Sundays session. Gona be a good day!

This is part of a post I made last week, but it gives you a good idea how my brew day goes.

"Since the burner worked out perfectly something else had to go wrong as always. Don't give your drunk buddy permission to brew his first batch alone. It seems that he lost the washer for my coleman mashtun. I had to spend 2 hours trying to make an IGloo cooler washer work and left my valve FUBAR. Apparently Coleman washers differ significantly from IGloo washers. Of course I have to order the entire drain assembly for $5 with $4 shipping, when I only need a 30 cent washer. Plus I need to spend another $6 for a new valve. On another note, I hate when people don't respect my direction when using my equipment. I kept telling my other friend not to leave the tun lid open without support for a long period of time. The screws are starting to strip out from the hinges. Guess what? I'm probably going to need bigger screws which have already been replaced once. Oh, and I have one more thing to vent about. I had the wort chiller ready to roll with 10 minutes left in the boil. My brew partner decided he needed to move everything around and close the garage door because it was slightly windy outside. That lead to him burning a hole right through the vinyl drain line of the wort chiller. The duct tap repair held up nicely, but it was still irritating. I guess if you want the brew day to go smooth you have to do everything yourself. I'm getting tired doing all the work, but I'm getting more tired of all my incompetent brew partners. It would would nice if they chipped in for the repairs which I always find myself pocketing alone."

only because brewing is my job and my hobby...

My brew day is generally relaxed and lasts 4-6 hours depending on how helpful my drunk neighbors and brewing partners are on that particular day. I usually sit in my chair...plug in the speakers/sub to my laptop...and brew away. Generally my brew day is coupled with generous to overly generous amounts of homebrew and commercial beer...err..."tasting", but have yet to actually make any mistakes as a result of such activities. In fact, I feel naked without a beer in my hand while brewing....call me crazy.

I was just having a similar discussion last night. We know a guy through our LHBS who brags about being able to get a batch done (start to clean up) in an hour and a half. But why?

I brew because it takes a big chunk of time. In this age of constant distractions, I love that I have a hobby that forces me to slow down and focus on one thing for four to six hours. I love that the hobby does not lend itself to multi-tasking. I love that a brew session doles out 45 minute stretches where you have to be present but not active. It forces me to slow down - and that's a gift in my book.

My brew day plan: pull out the equipment, put on some tunes, pour myself a pint and bask in the brewing!

BTW: I like brewing for the same reason I like smoking cigars. Once you light up, you are committed to the cigar the next hour or so. Very relaxing.

I brew for several different reasons and most of the time it is never the same. I love the process of taking a grain and in a short month turning it into beer. I love the cost savings over store bought beer. I love the fact that for several hours on brew day I know I can relax and jam with the music KNOWING I cannot leave.

Some days when things are not going well with the brew it teaches me humility. When I get to impatient and drink a green beer I am reminded that even something bad will get better with time.

But the number one reason I like to home brew is sharing the beer that I have made be it a good beer or a bad beer. Any beer had with friends is a good thing

My brew day is deffinately not like work. I treat it as my time to relax and have fun. I have multitasked on days but that was because its the only day I could make it work. But those days are far and few between.

My brew day, fire-up hlt and strike water, chill, start mash, chill with a homebrew, vorlouf and drain/sparge, bring wort to boil while cleaning and sanitizing everything, then during boil hang out and drink more homebrew. Once done brewing, put everything away and enjoy one more homebrew. Then, on some occasions, get bitched at for being too drunk for a family dinner!

BunzoBrew said:

Lol awesome. Mine used to feel like a work day and sometimes after I'd feel stressed like it was one. Then I used the BIAB and no chill techniques as documented in my ebook. Now I'm done in <3 hours and it's nice. I don't like to rush, I like to feel relaxed when I'm doing hobbies. Hobbies should be therapeutic

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I do BIAB and no chill also thanks to this forum. I like to keep things simple and enjoy my brew day. I've only done 15 gallons, but it's worked great so far.

OP I think different people naturally move at different paces. Yours is more brisk while your buddy's is more leisurely, and if you did other activities with him you might discover that's just his natural speed. I've always brewed alone because I have my rhythm down, and I think at this point having a partner to do it would only distract me.

I'm a morning person, so the only time I've ever felt like the process was not 100% fun was when I started a brew after work and ended up cleaning up at night. I don't do that anymore.

supermoth said:

OP I think different people naturally move at different paces. Yours is more brisk while your buddy's is more leisurely, and if you did other activities with him you might discover that's just his natural speed. I've always brewed alone because I have my rhythm down, and I think at this point having a partner to do it would only distract me.

I'm a morning person, so the only time I've ever felt like the process was not 100% fun was when I started a brew after work and ended up cleaning up at night. I don't do that anymore.

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I hate cleaning up right before bed time. I need time to unwind afterwards. I have worked on sanitizing/cleaning as much as possible the day before so I can relax on brew day. That really helps.

I take my time, do other things while mashing and watch a movie on the laptop while enjoying a brew or 2.

It doesn't really feel like work until I have to clean up

i usually end up having to brew at night, so my pace is a little fast (4 1/2 hours last brew, with bottling during the mash) so i can be in bed before 1 or 2 am. it doesn't feel like work, though. i get to hang out with my dad and drink a few beers while explaining the brewing process to him and getting him interested in more than just ipas

The day brewing feels like work to me is the day I turn in my mash paddle. I can see how brewing can be considered work but for some reason I'm drawn to hobbies that involve long processes such as cooking, bbqing and brewing.

I started brewing about 21 years ago and during the first 10 years it felt like work so I basically stopped for about 8 years ago. Now that I'm back, I've improved my process so it doesn't take so long, is more efficient and no longer feels like work.

Used to be very relaxed... Now I have a 2 year old and a pregnant wife, so I'm lucky if I get to brew at all. And, when I do, it's a race to the finish. Oh well, should get more relaxed as the kiddos get older.

I'm so invested in this hobby now that I can really justify stopping...

I was thinking about this the other day. It feels a lot like work towards the end of the brew to me. The day after brewing I can't wait to brew again.

My brew day definitely does not feel like work. The only part of the process that even comes close is the cleanup. I also don't rush my brew day but I don't take my sweet old time either.

Cheers,
Brandon

Brew time is definately more relaxing than work. I usually bottle the batch from the fermenter then start brewing the next and keep cleaning during the down time. Have found brew day to be a good bbq day as well since I have blocked out the time to be home.

Nah, once I got a system down, it's more like a set of mundane tasks spaced far apart. I've started doing Insanity during my mash, actually.

Depends. If I'm on the three tier in the garage, and its zero out it feels worse than work. My job is very inflexible pertaining to hours and days off. So I brew when I have the day off. Sometimes that can suck. I lost brew buddies when I moved too, so its a solo gig now too. For these reasons and others, I quit for a couple of years and just this winter got back into it. The three tier still hasn't seen action yet and I dont know if it will. 5 gallon BIAB inside feels much more relaxed and enjoyable, with a brew in hand and tv on, than in a cold garage with windchills, dressed like I'm going ice fishing, and too cold to have a brew.

It all depends for me, if I have some guys over and we are brewing, drinking, and tossing bags in the back yard, its definitely not like work. If I'm brewing a double brew day (two 6 gallons, a 12 and 6, or my next brew day, two 12's) then its on like donkey kong and its nothing but work and focus to get everything done in the most efficient and timely manner without errors.

mjdonnelly68 said:

BTW: I like brewing for the same reason I like smoking cigars. Once you light up, you are committed to the cigar the next hour or so. Very relaxing.

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Well said...

all great replies! I havent had much chance to check in on the forum since I posted this on Friday. I guess I was just really kind of frustrated with my buddy when I had posted this. When we brew at his house its just extremely disorganized and I still end up doing most of the "work" but dont get to improve the setup because its not my place. I think im going to keep brewing a few batches a month on my own and just brew some longer finish beers at his place to cut back on the frustration and hopefully not strain the friendship too much.
I do appreciate slowing down and really enjoying the process, but I work >50 hrs a week, have a 10 month old daughter, and have a constantly evolving honey-do list... So unfortunately brew day is more of a means to the end most times and I just need to get it done to keep the beer flowing

I'm still an extract brewer and it's super relaxing. I was a nervous wreck the first time. Im a minister and I love my job. Sometimes brewing is like work because the cool part about my job is that building relationship is part of my job. Some pretty good relationship get built on brew day or while enjoying the brew.

I have the process worked out to my satisfaction, but it's never possible to put a realistic time on it from start to finish, given the way I brew. I have the preheat water in my mash tun between 0530 and 0600, but then I go into town, and don't start mashing until about 0800.....since I'm generally done by noon, even with a 90 min. boil and cleanup, I suppose it's more realistic to say about 4 hours. And, no, it's not work. I'm retired; I don't do that.

Retirement: "Best job I've ever had."

I feel that when i rush it and go as quickly as possible it is more exhausting and thus felt like "hard work"...when i take my time and let things go their course I feel less exhausted and happier while brewing, not to mention the time difference is only about an hour

I don't rush it, but I definitely don't make it longer than it needs to be. If brewing felt like a job I wouldn't do it, too much stress lol

I work as quickly and efficiently as I can. My purpose in brewing isn't to escape or sink time into a hobby, but to try new things, improve my knowledge and techniques and become a better brewer. If I can efficiently complete a brew in 3.5 vs 4.5 hours I'll jump at it because there are other things I enjoy doing, too. I don't drink while brewing. I don't feel as competent BUI. The cleaning up is the only part that feels like work.