House Rules for Brewing

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
T

TangoHotel

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2012
Messages
1,159
Reaction score
74
Location
Colorado Springs
Just curious about others house rules during a brew day. Got some strange ritual or rule? Share it here!

My only rule is a borrowed one from Charlie Papazian: while brewing you "sample" the previous batch. It provides some inspiration for the current brew.

I also have to have music going in the background. Also for motivation.
 
grathan said:
#1 plan ahead
#2 Comfortable chair
#3 Clean as you go.
#4 Don't be afraid to try something new.
#5 multi-task- I hate this rule, but my free time is cruel joke.
Click to expand...

Clean as you go is a good one. I hate cleaning. At least if I do it while brewing maybe it won't sit for a week in a oxy soak...

Free time? What is that?
 
TangoHotel said:
Just curious about others house rules during a brew day. Got some strange ritual or rule? Share it here!

My only rule is a borrowed one from Charlie Papazian: while brewing you "sample" the previous batch. It provides some inspiration for the current brew.

I also have to have music going in the background. Also for motivation.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much it for me as well. My other preference is "dogs get out of the kitchen", but that never works out.
 
I electric brew in the garage. Neighbors come over as I brew. My rule is you can't get trashed. I have a single heavy power cord and of course hot liquids moving. It can get crowded and then dangerous, so no one gets trashed- no one gets sloppy. I'm very concerned about safety, and I'm quick to shut people down if I feel they could cause an accident.
 
Retrofit said:
I electric brew in the garage. Neighbors come over as I brew. My rule is you can't get trashed. I have a single heavy power cord and of course hot liquids moving. It can get crowded and then dangerous, so no one gets trashed- no one gets sloppy. I'm very concerned about safety, and I'm quick to shut people down if I feel they could cause an accident.
Click to expand...

I no longer allow more than three total in my space. Last Brew B Que was a distraction and there was too much drinking. I now separate my beer fest from my brew days. I love entertaining and sharing but brewing good beer means having your brew day in order.
 
1. Sample homebrew while brewing
2. Have everthing cleaned beforehand (makes brewing more relaxing)
3. No cats allowed in the kitchen
4. Guests welcome but they tend to distract me
 
  1. SWMBO needs to get out of the house. Love her dearly, but she needs to go away on brew day.
  2. Sanitize everything before starting, have sanitizer on hand at all times.
  3. Lay out all pre-measured boil additions with labels indicating time.
  4. Use timer with alarm during boil for additions.
  5. No more than 1 beer consumed before flameout.
  6. No more than 2 beers consumed before yeast pitch.
  7. Do one thing at a time whenever possible.
 
I brew in my garage and the only "rule" that I absolutely always follow is, the dog is not allowed outside once I open hops until after clean up. I love having him around when I brew and he can hang as long as hops aren't out. I would hate for something to happen to him because I got sloppy.

Beyond that ones I like to follow are:
1. Sample previous batches :mug:
2. Music
3. Clean as I go
4. RDWHAHB :rockin:
5. Others are more than welcome including SWMBO as long as they are not there to pester me or get drunk
 
HeavyKettleBrewing said:
I no longer allow more than three total in my space. Last Brew B Que was a distraction and there was too much drinking. I now separate my beer fest from my brew days. I love entertaining and sharing but brewing good beer means having your brew day in order.
Click to expand...

Good call. Brewing good beer requires a functional mind.
 
Yeah I think my only rule, which is pretty easy to follow, is keep it fun. I do stream Pandora stations while brewing, always.
 
During my first ever batch, my two dogs came in and decided to start running around in my small kitchen like nuts. So from then on out they are always allowed extra treats and to have some fun in the kitchen while I brew. Now since ive upgraded to keggles and burners the dogs are in the yard and i play fetch or whatever with them during the mashout/boil/etc.

Oh and having 1-2 homebrews.
 
I learned on Fat Tuesday once again,no drinking till yeast is pitched. That's my reward for a good brew day. And no serious distractions to take my mind off the mash & boil. And be ready to lend a hand when lifting & that sort of thing. I was better today with the power lift of the full bottling bucket though. Got 46 bottles of Maori IPA. Dang trub loss from super moss working a little too well plugged the spigot. 1st time for that!...:drunk:
 
Usually some green, some reggae or jazz, one beer during the mash, one during the boil, one during the cooling.. And maybe one after pitching. :)
 
Women must not wear tops while around the brewing as it will offend the beer gods and they will curse the batch. Blood relatives are excluded. I don't make the rules of the gods, I just live by them.
 
Mine are typically as follows:

1) Multitask where possible (I usually do an all-grain double header once a month, and try to keep to ~10 hours instead of 12 hours)
2) A beer during mash. A beer during boil. A beer during chill. No more until after fermenter is sealed up, or mistakes start getting made and/or notes don't get taken. And I either end up with bad beer or beer I can't reproduce. Brewing with others on their gear is a different story though.
3) This is a recent one for me, but I've started making a Hot Scotchy with every batch (mash runnings plus one of the Scotches I have around, usually one I don't mind parting with)
4) If SWMBO's home, try to keep her happy since I've effectively locked myself in the house for a day and completely revoked her kitchen access. If she's not home, reggae and rocksteady blaring.
 
newbies13 said:
Women must not wear tops while around the brewing as it will offend the beer gods and they will curse the batch. Blood relatives are excluded. I don't make the rules of the gods, I just live by them.
Click to expand...

You brew alone don't you? LOL jkjkjk!:D


When I was brewing at the house I had a strict rule of no dogs in the brewery at all, ever.
Brewing game plan was done night before.
No running or horseplay at all! Kids were welcome if they could hang tuff without messing around till flame out then EVERYONE leaves the brewery except the brewers.
Inspirational beer is a MUST! But only 1 till yeast is swimming in wort.
No politics in the brewery! The beer gods dont like it!
Smile and laugh, its fun stuff!

Cheers
Jay
 
25518 said:
Peace is my rule. No loud. I deal with loud, slammong, banging, yelling all week. Peace, is my first rule. Second rule, calm.
Click to expand...
Peace and quiet with some mellow background jazz or blues. Everything all planned and laid out, tanks full and everything checked off the checklist before I even start. Then the day progresses smoothly with no hassles or crisis management situations and in about three hours I got a batch in the ferm chamber takin the place of the fermenter I filled 3 or so weeks ago. I try to brew every third week so that my pipe line stays relatively full with a good variety of different opportunities in flavor and style. I used to do three week brews and keep a keg of Hefe on tap, but after a while you need a change. So now I keep a lawn mower brew in the kegerator and bottle the third week batched with a different color or mark on the cap to indicate what it is supposed to be. Over time I have managed to accumulate 24 or more different flavors to choose from at any given time. Plus as some of the brews age they improve and mellow and that is always a welcome taste treat. Hope this helps.

Wheelchair Bob
 
Usually I'm drinking coffee or water while brewing... though it's also usually in the early a.m. - really, I don't like more than a session beer while I'm brewing - the beer comes out better.

It's a pretty informal, never before written down (or spoken) list in my house:
  • A chair is often available and almost never used.
  • Prep work is required the day before.
  • the clock, themometer, and hydrometer are prime and never ignored or forgotten
  • Clean while you go is a must. Upcoming equipment gets priority for cleaning / sanitization (transfer tubing, autosiphon, etc).
  • Pen & paper w/ brew sheets is required (even with BeerSmith mobile and similar tools.... important information gets lost otherwise)
  • Orange cones are set out... kids & dogs cannot go inside the perimeter (unless supervised while helping out)
  • Filled carboys get moved with tools, not hands (brewhauler)
  • The brew day starts when the fire goes on and ends when the equipment is clean & yeast is pitched. Interruptions are OK only outside those 4-5 hours.

Though rules are meant to be broken...
 
Years ago I started talking to the yeast as they wake up. I use liquid yeast. Now I am getting my 4 yr old to talk to them. We say things like, 'wake up guys, we are going to make you very happy' and before pitching, 'have fun in there'. Silly things like that. Wife came in and apparently never saw this before and asked who we were talking to. The 4 year old says 'The yeast of course ,they are living, right!?'. She walks away mumbling and shaking her head...
 
I'm definitely in the camp of prepare most of the stuff (especially measuring out water) the night before, and all the equipment is out ready to go first thing in the morning (I've pretty much become a dawn brewer, usually mashed in by 7 am...)

I'm drinking coffee most of the early brewing process, but I'm definitely liking the hot scotchie concept!
 
I really only have a couple "rules", per say... Clean thoroughly and enjoy your prior efforts with 1-2 homebrews!

Gonna start getting more anal about the process as I get to my AG phase. More detail oriented is good but requires more discipline which means less homebrew. :(
 

Similar threads

J
Non-alcoholic homebrew - buzzed feeling?
Replies
7
Views
566
mashdar
mashdar
FreddyBrewger
For Sale Lots of Corny Kegs (5 gal, ball lock) for Sale (Baltimore, MD)
Replies
15
Views
1K
IslandLizard
IslandLizard
P
Back To Basics
2
Replies
51
Views
3K
glick
glick
Luxy
Beer enhancer required if brewing purely from DME?
Replies
37
Views
2K
Rish
R
T
Fellowship of the Drink XXX: Pour one for our friends
5 6 7
Replies
260
Views
9K
Nagorg
Nagorg
CornyKegs 300

Latest posts

Back
Top