House Rules for Brewing

Williams 728
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I might be weird just because I brew on the stovetop, but brew day is a day for peace and quiet and solitude for me. Literally nothing to do but watch a pot boil. I like to brew in the morning while I am having my coffee and am slowly easing into the day. It's peaceful, soothing, and constructive.

Now, batch tasting day is *completely* different...
 
Thunder_Chicken said:
I might be weird just because I brew on the stovetop, but brew day is a day for peace and quiet and solitude for me. Literally nothing to do but watch a pot boil. I like to brew in the morning while I am having my coffee and am slowly easing into the day. It's peaceful, soothing, and constructive.

Now, batch tasting day is *completely* different...
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Agreed. I'm a morning person too.
 
I like to get started brewing in the morning if I can.That means brewday is done earlier. I hate still being at it at 9pm. I got a late lunchtime start yesterday,but was done by 6pm. So that wasn't to bad. Pitched the WY3056 smackpack at 5:54pm yesterday,& @ 8:04pm,it pegged the airlock centerpiece against the cap. And it was a 1.050 wort too. saw first bubble @ 7:3X this morning @ 18C (64.4F). I guess these smackpacks are pretty good.
Not too many bubbles,since my Cooper's microbrew FV is some 27L with 19L batch in it.
 
Two rules:

1. Only brew when the two year old is out of the apartment
2. The S-airlock has to bubble from right to left
 
1. Bring out all my gear and have it ready to go the night before.
2. Try to get an early start on the day.
3. Tunes are absolutely necessary.
4. I'm not a morning beer person, so I'll wait until after the brew session to have one. But I WILL have one.
 
Same here,i need to be clear headed to get it right on brewday. but then again,that passout on Fat Tuesday did make a good beer...
 
I brew in my kitchen so these are my rules:

-kids (5yo and 6yo) have to be in bed before the boil begins. I'll do prep work and get the mash started shortly before bedtime. Get the youngsters into bed and get ready to carry on with the boil.
-wife has to be on night shift. I like to have the whole kitchen to myself, this is easier when there is no one else (kids are asleep) on the move in the house. Fortunately she works every second weekend.
-clean as I go and brew night isn't over until everything is cleaned and put away.
-not a hard and fast rule but the first beer usually doesn't get cracked until the wort is chilling. By that time it's starting to get late and I'm feeling a bit tired. Too much beer too early on would be a mistake.

My brew night might start as early as 6:30 or 7:00PM but it's usually around 1:00AM before I finish up and crawl into bed. That's if I'm doing a partial mash (still do an occassional Cooper's kit/DME/Dextrose batch). A 90 minute mash and a 60 minute boil account for 2 and a half hours right off the top. I use my electric stove so getting the water to mash and then boiling temperatures takes a while. I chill using an ice bath and I clean gear afterwards by doing long soaks.

I'm sure there's plenty of stuff I could do different to speed this up but it's really just a way to kill an evening.
 
MaxStout said:
Mmmmm...I likes me some Templeton rye. I'll even take a dram of Beam rye in a pinch. Love that spicy rye kick.
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I bought some Redemption Rye a while back. It was awesome. The bottle didn't last long. Now I'm working on a bottle of Breakout Premium Rye. It's not as good as the Redemption but still good. I do like Temptleton and Bullit too.
 
Ramitt said:
It is not bad, maybe a touch sweet for me, same with rum. i need to try some Rye next time, that might be tasty.
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I like where your head is at. Either way I'm excited to try this with my imperial Porter come brewday...
 
I generally have to brew by myself. I am a bit too much of a control freak to let others do things when I can do everything myself without it taking up any more time. Cleaning as you go is a must and brings my overall brew sessions closer to 4 hours depending on mash and boil times.

Oh and I always have a brew during mash, a brew during boil, and a brew during cooling, but I guess I can just keep it together better than others maybe? All my notes get written down and I never miss steps. A timer is a great tool to use...
 
Cool thread.

I too prefer to brew in the morning. My rules -

A) I always have mash tun ready, strike water measured, grains milled by the night before. Then I use a timer to heat water so that I can wake up and mash in while the coffee (also a must) is brewing - usually by 8am or so.

B) Also, like many others have stated, I always have tunes. Whatever I'm listening to the time. It's usually pretty mellow and quiet (SWMBO is often still sleeping), but not always. This past Sunday's session started with The Black Crowes 'Until the Freeze'. Nice recording.

C) Clean as I go. Cleaning sucks and I'd rather just have a kettle and a few other odds and ends to clean once wort is in the fermenter.

D) Give myself more than enough time. If I mash in at 8am, I don't plan on being anywhere before 4pm. It doesn't take me that long to brew a batch (usually 5.5 - 6hrs), but brew day is supposed to be relaxing - I don't want to feel rushed.

General guideline that is often followed (but not always) -
Don't pour a beer until the boil is going good and steady. It's harder to mess up too bad (but certainly not impossible) if I wait until later in the game to start gettin' proper.

I usually brew alone but enjoy it when SWMBO hangs out (usually she'll make a tasty breakfast while I'm going about the brew - score). Hoping to have a buddy join me for a brew day some time soon - although I don't think I'd want more than one other person hanging out during a brew. Too much potential for drunken mayhem. Mostly I just like to have a mellow but focused morning making some beer. Whoa, long post.
 
TangoHotel said:
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?
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I love clean as you go. This is really the only "ritual" I have besides drinking a homebrew. I have so many different places that stuff gets stashed, it's nice to have it all ready to be tucked away when thebrew day is over.

I wish I could implement a rule of "Don't bother me the last 15 minutes of the boil" but it always seems that's the time my neighbors drop by to see what I'm brewing and start asking me questions. That's right when I start prepping all my cooling gear, and dropping the last hop additions, so conversation isn't my strong point then.
 
I wish I could implement a rule of "Don't bother me the last 15 minutes of the boil" but it always seems that's the time my neighbors drop by to see what I'm brewing and start asking me questions.
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Oh man. Seriously. I can set my watch to it. The 10 minute mark is when my son, without fail, will either A) freak out and throw a tantrum or B) come looking for me to play. Every single time.
 
My personal rules. Does not apply to anyone else.


1. Prepare all equipment before brew day or don't brew (less stress and makes brewing fun for me)

2. Sample previous batches of brew only when in cool down stage.

3. Next day : Talk about the brew day with coworkers till they ignore me.
 
1. Always "sample' a previous batch to christen the current one! :mug:
2. Setup the night before (drag out pots, measure and crush grains, measure water and plop in Campden tablet, etc)
3. Start early (~8 AM) to finish before 1-2 PM.
4. Clean up as you go!
5. Don't start "sampling" until it's safe (boil started).
 
I have a page that I created to record all aspect of brewing such as volumes, temperatures, gravities, pH and such. As long as I follow this and fill it out I will have all the info I need to look back at the full process for mistakes or to make any calibrations needed.

If I filling this paper out and follow normal brewing practices Im good.
 
TangoHotel said:
Good God man, what time do you start? 3 am?
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I hit the switch to start heating water at 4am. By 8am I've pitched yeast and beginning the cleanup (unless I am doing a double batch).

I brew outdoors under a covered patio. I turn on Turner Classic Movies and catch two oldies during my brew session. It's a very relaxing morning, and typically runs like clockwork.
 
passedpawn said:
I hit the switch to start heating water at 4am. By 8am I've pitched yeast and beginning the cleanup (unless I am doing a double batch).

I brew outdoors under a covered patio. I turn on Turner Classic Movies and catch two oldies during my brew session. It's a very relaxing morning, and typically runs like clockwork.
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^^ This sounds glorious. Nice work man.
 
I hit the switch to start heating water at 4am. By 8am I've pitched yeast and beginning the cleanup
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That's cool that you're able to get up at 4:00 am willingly. I'm jealous that your brewday is that smooth. However...I don't care if it's for brewing or not, I'd rather have someone hit me in the head with a hammer than get up at 4 on the weekend. I get up at 5:30 everyday for work and I hate it more than anything.
 
Brew day starts at 7AM. Prep, clean, then during the mash, pork belly and eggs with a nice Bloody Mary (I make mine with bourbon). Back to brew, clean as I go, no beer until the last 30 minutes of the boil. Chill to ferment temperature, transfer to primary, pitch yeast, clean clean clean,...drink drink drink...nap, mountain bike ride,...more beer. Water,...BBQ....more beer...wake up on couch at 4 AM...move to bed...try not to wake the wife as I climb in...
 
passedpawn said:
I hit the switch to start heating water at 4am. By 8am I've pitched yeast and beginning the cleanup (unless I am doing a double batch).

I brew outdoors under a covered patio. I turn on Turner Classic Movies and catch two oldies during my brew session. It's a very relaxing morning, and typically runs like clockwork.
Click to expand...

That's impressive.
 
Rule #1:

No rules.

Although, the SWMBO does engage in and thoroughly enjoy every aspect (including cleaning!!) of brewing. I find that I really like that.


If others come over (the kids, whatever), they know that I'm not going to be the most social creature in the world. Worst case scenario, I can lock the cellar door.

(I should point out that "the kids" are all in their 20's..)
 
NO vacuuming during a brew session; after yeast is pitched and airlocked is fine, but not before.
 
1. Don't get drunk while brewing. I try not to have one before the boil starts. 1 leads to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, 4 to "Eff it, cold enough. Throw in the yeast"

2. Try really hard to remember rule 1

3. Clean as you go. I brew on a rims system of all stainless and copper and it takes no effort to soak it for 15 in some pbw and hose it out while your boiling. Takes quite a bit of effort if you sluff it off for a week. And it smells bad.

Funny after 3 years of doing this I only have 3 rules. Maybe I'll add 1 rule per year.
 
My only major rule is don't crack a beer until the boil starts and I'd say 95% of the time it gets followed. Its a make sense time to start drinking. If you start when you mash in, thats a lot of drinking before you beer gets put into a fermenter...


Clean as you go is more of a practice than a rule, but I work pretty hard during brew day and generally "bang it out" pretty quickly.
 
a lot of you guys seem to have a less than ideal brew space. i have plenty of room and things are all kept out. organized, but in plain view.
i kinda find it funny that so many of my fellow homebrewers only drink 1 or 2 beers. why brew beer if you dont like drinking it??
also, i wholeheartedly agree with everyone else about cleaning as you go. i didnt my first couple brews then i started doing it this way and realized that i was just making it harder on myself not cleaning as you go
 
I must wear some beer related shirt

No beers until chilling (occasionally broken)- either way - sometimes no beer (rushing to go somewhere) or a beer during the boil.

I'm always doing something else while brewing. Sometimes it is beer related (ie kegging), sometimes not
 

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