Least favorite thing about Homebrewing?

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I actually like bottling, it's relaxing to me for some reason. And I don't mind cleaning and sanitizing. But what I really hate is cooling wort. Watching the temperature slowly creep down, moving ever slower as it gets near pitching temperature, is tortuous for me.

My next upgrade is going to be replacing my homemade immersion chiller with something really fast.
 
atwoheadedcat said:
I really hate bottling. I am trying to convince my fiancé that putting a kegerator on our wedding registry is an awesome idea. I think I'm just gonna slip it in and not tell him. ;)
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It's your wedding too, put whatever you want on the registry.
 
Few years ago the obvious answer for me was bottling. I would've given up the hobby had I not started kegging. Now it can be cumbersome at times managing 5 beers on tap, 8 kegs in the keezer, and 3-4 beers fermenting at once. I keep a spreadsheet to help myself manage it.
 
FatDragon said:
Before I started brewing, I would often go for the biggest, baddest beer on the shelf. I liked the in-your-face flavors and aromas of big, challenging brews but there was probably an element of machismo in there as well. I still love a big, bold kick-you-in-the-teeth beer from time to time, but since I started brewing I've developed a much greater appreciation for more standard 4-6% beers, not least because they're cheaper and easier to make and can be ready much faster than big beers. My big beers usually age for about a year before I start popping bottles, and they often continue to get better with age. In comparison, I drink the first bottles of most of my standard brews within a month of brewday and they're already great.

I'm a patient man and don't mind waiting before I taste the fruits of my labor, but if every beer I brewed took a year to taste good I'd get a new hobby. Big, wild brews are fun, but standard ABV stuff needs to be your bread and butter unless you keep a huge pipeline of aging brews or don't mind buying most of your beer.
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Nailed it with the machismo part...:ban: Plus I thought I'd be able to make those types of beer cheaper at home. Didn't factor in the time needed to age them properly. That's what drives the price up at the local pub.

Going for a 7% citrus ale this weekend, so hopefully the wait won't be quite as long. Wish me luck. :mug:
 
Oh, did I mention not being Rich? That would make my brewing so much more enjoyable to be able to brew whatever I want, whenever I want, on whatever set up I deemed I wanted/needed at that time. Yes, not being rich is one of my least favorite parts of homebrewing.
 
Easycreeper said:
Nailed it with the machismo part...:ban: Plus I thought I'd be able to make those types of beer cheaper at home. Didn't factor in the time needed to age them properly. That's what drives the price up at the local pub.

Going for a 7% citrus ale this weekend, so hopefully the wait won't be quite as long. Wish me luck. :mug:
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Just make a simple 5-6% APA this weekend. Steep a half pound of some Crystal 40, add 3 lb of light LME and an ounce and a half of Cascade at 60 minutes, another ounce at 10 minutes, another ounce and 3 lb of LME at flameout. Pitch a packet of US-05 and ferment it in the mid-sixties, toss in another ounce or two of Cascade as a dry hop at ten days and bottle with 4 oz of priming sugar at the two week mark. Toss the first half dozen bottles in the fridge after four or five days and you'll be drinking good homebrew within three weeks of brewday. Make the citrus ale next weekend (if you don't have two fermenters, a second brew bucket costs what, $10? $15? and if you've got a fermentation chamber that can only hold one fermenter the APA can come out after the first week without any harm done). The citrus ale sounds a bit more ambitious (and thus risky for a new brewer) so I'd recommend doing something simple first so you've got some solid product on your hands in case it bombs.
 
bottling and keeping up with cleaning used bottles. i've stopped bothering with label removal. anymore, i keep them on and save at least one bottle from any new brew i try. it's like a functional bottle collection.

have been debating on selling one of my pinball machines to pay for a grainfather and beginner kegging system. not sure i'm ready to deal with a kegorator yet tho.
 
jjeffers09 said:
For all of you out there that CAN'T STAND removing bottle labels. Goof off is too expensive, but if you buy yourself some Guinness Draught in the new bottles, the labels are plastic and wrap around the bottle. Its as simple as a razor blade and they fall off! Plus its a Guinness stout bottle, heavy, and reliable.
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How are you getting out the widget?
 
Get the wort moving! Stir the wort with a sanitized spoon, or use the chiller the swurl the wort. Way faster.
 
FatDragon said:
Just make a simple 5-6% APA this weekend. Steep a half pound of some Crystal 40, add 3 lb of light LME and an ounce and a half of Cascade at 60 minutes, another ounce at 10 minutes, another ounce and 3 lb of LME at flameout. Pitch a packet of US-05 and ferment it in the mid-sixties, toss in another ounce or two of Cascade as a dry hop at ten days and bottle with 4 oz of priming sugar at the two week mark. Toss the first half dozen bottles in the fridge after four or five days and you'll be drinking good homebrew within three weeks of brewday. Make the citrus ale next weekend (if you don't have two fermenters, a second brew bucket costs what, $10? $15? and if you've got a fermentation chamber that can only hold one fermenter the APA can come out after the first week without any harm done). The citrus ale sounds a bit more ambitious (and thus risky for a new brewer) so I'd recommend doing something simple first so you've got some solid product on your hands in case it bombs.
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Thanks for the advice. I've already bought the ingredients for this recipe:

http://homebrewacademy.com/citra-pale-ale/

Seems similar to what you're suggesting other than being all grain (I started AG from the beginning by the way). Substituted Maris Otter for the standard two row to get a maltier backbone. Thoughts on this?

If you think this is still a bit advanced, I'll have to see if the LHBS has anything in stock other than odds and ends.

And I have several carboys, but space enough in the ferm chamber for only two. Should have splurged on the larger freezer. Hindsight is 20/20.

Sorry for the off topic.
 
Easycreeper said:
Thanks for the advice. I've already bought the ingredients for this recipe:

http://homebrewacademy.com/citra-pale-ale/

Seems similar to what you're suggesting other than being all grain (I started AG from the beginning by the way). Substituted Maris Otter for the standard two row to get a maltier backbone. Thoughts on this?

If you think this is still a bit advanced, I'll have to see if the LHBS has anything in stock other than odds and ends.

And I have several carboys, but space enough in the ferm chamber for only two. Should have splurged on the larger freezer. Hindsight is 20/20.

Sorry for the off topic.
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Ah, Citra Pale Ale. When you said "Citrus Ale" I was thinking this might be something of your own devising, with some kind of citrus rind/juice/extract that you were going to add in (and god only knows what horrendous specialty malts - in keeping with the typical new brewer's tendency to get a bit overzealous with their recipes). That would be a lot easier to screw up than a kit pale ale with citra hops, which should work out pretty well.

Also didn't know if you were going AG or extract yet, hence the super-simple extract suggestion. All grain from the start is a challenging way to begin but if you can pull it off, it saves a bunch of intermediate steps in developing as a homebrewer (not to denigrate those who exclusively brew extract brews - many of them make beer that's head and shoulders above my best efforts). I went to all grain (BIAB) on my second brew and never looked back.

That said, if you've got a source of good extract (being in the States the answer to that is yes, for me in China it's a bit dicier), a simple extract brew has some distinct advantages. It may not be the best beer you ever brew (though it's also possible that it may be), but there are fewer opportunities to screw it up and brewday takes half the time of an AG batch, so if you want to put down a sure thing and/or don't have the time for a full brewday, it's a fantastic plan B.
 
FatDragon said:
Ah, Citra Pale Ale. When you said "Citrus Ale" I was thinking this might be something of your own devising, with some kind of citrus rind/juice/extract that you were going to add in (and god only knows what horrendous specialty malts - in keeping with the typical new brewer's tendency to get a bit overzealous with their recipes). That would be a lot easier to screw up than a kit pale ale with citra hops, which should work out pretty well.

Also didn't know if you were going AG or extract yet, hence the super-simple extract suggestion. All grain from the start is a challenging way to begin but if you can pull it off, it saves a bunch of intermediate steps in developing as a homebrewer (not to denigrate those who exclusively brew extract brews - many of them make beer that's head and shoulders above my best efforts). I went to all grain (BIAB) on my second brew and never looked back.

That said, if you've got a source of good extract (being in the States the answer to that is yes, for me in China it's a bit dicier), a simple extract brew has some distinct advantages. It may not be the best beer you ever brew (though it's also possible that it may be), but there are fewer opportunities to screw it up and brewday takes half the time of an AG batch, so if you want to put down a sure thing and/or don't have the time for a full brewday, it's a fantastic plan B.
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Oops. Sorry for the terminology mix up. Guess I was projecting the final flavor profile as what the beer should be called.

And not quite ready to take the training wheels off and make my own recipe just yet. Still a little unsure about malts an appropriate quantities.

So, guess that's another bothersome thing about home brewing. Not able to just pick it up and wing it. Gotta study a bit and make some mistakes along the way.

Thanks for taking the time to give your insight and share your experience. It makes a big difference knowing you've got a wealth of knowledge on this forum and people willing to lend a hand when you get stuck. :mug:
 
Agreed, the wait is one of the worst. Its also a PITA when people come into your brew space after everything is sanitized and then touch something...
 
Having to drink all that beer so I can make more. Since I started kegging I've gained 20 pounds
 
After a few batches under my belt and trying to dial everything in, I'd honestly have to say inconsistency.

I haven't made the same batch twice, so I don't mean it in that sense (yet) but I lean inconsistency within the same batch.

Some of it has been my own fault, as in I had some bottles I didn't clean well enough so they had some funk and were dumpers, but the latest inconsistency was my ESB.

Had 42 bottles of my ESB and am down to my last 12 pack of them. None had been gushers, all poured great, all tasted great... Until I pulled a 6 pack and put them in the fridge for a bit. I opened one, didn't gush or anything like that, went to pour it in a glass and it literally poured nothing but foam, grabbed another glass real quick and it poured nothing but foam, grabbed ANOTHER glass poured nothing but foam. 1 12oz bottle poured 3 full glasses of foam. Eventually it settled out and I was able to have a couple drinks of it but poured most of it because by the time it settled it was warm and flat.

The exact same thing happened on 5 of the 6 I poured. The last one... Poured great, about an inch of head, and tasted absolutely delicious.

That's what irritates me and makes me scratch my head. I understand sometimes your priming sugar liquid mix may not get dispersed very well etc, but 5 out of the 30+ beers that I've had is just a very very small percentage that would lead me to believe that was at fault. I checked the bottles after I rinsed the yeast out and didn't see any tell tale signs of infection in them bottles and again, they weren't even gushers when I popped the top, hissed just like normal, but fizzed every pour... Weird
 
+1 on everything else that's already been said here- I lack patience, so this hobby is hard sometimes. I don't mind cleaning too much, but brewing is 75% washing dishes. I didn't mind bottling when I did it, it's kinda cool to have all ur beer in portable units. But I keg now so life is much easier. I guess what I hate the most is not having enough room in my fermentation chamber.
 
I want to brew more than space, time, or budget allows. I drink like a brewer so waiting for a keg to kick can be tough, too.
 
I'd have to say racking from primary to a bottling bucket. Lots of setup and sanitization for a 5 minute process.
 
Tactical-Brewer said:
After a few batches under my belt and trying to dial everything in, I'd honestly have to say inconsistency.

I haven't made the same batch twice, so I don't mean it in that sense (yet) but I lean inconsistency within the same batch.

Some of it has been my own fault, as in I had some bottles I didn't clean well enough so they had some funk and were dumpers, but the latest inconsistency was my ESB.

Had 42 bottles of my ESB and am down to my last 12 pack of them. None had been gushers, all poured great, all tasted great... Until I pulled a 6 pack and put them in the fridge for a bit. I opened one, didn't gush or anything like that, went to pour it in a glass and it literally poured nothing but foam, grabbed another glass real quick and it poured nothing but foam, grabbed ANOTHER glass poured nothing but foam. 1 12oz bottle poured 3 full glasses of foam. Eventually it settled out and I was able to have a couple drinks of it but poured most of it because by the time it settled it was warm and flat.

The exact same thing happened on 5 of the 6 I poured. The last one... Poured great, about an inch of head, and tasted absolutely delicious.

That's what irritates me and makes me scratch my head. I understand sometimes your priming sugar liquid mix may not get dispersed very well etc, but 5 out of the 30+ beers that I've had is just a very very small percentage that would lead me to believe that was at fault. I checked the bottles after I rinsed the yeast out and didn't see any tell tale signs of infection in them bottles and again, they weren't even gushers when I popped the top, hissed just like normal, but fizzed every pour... Weird
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Honestly sounds like they weren't in the fridge long enough. Remember that gases are more soluble in liquids at colder temps. So your beer was either not cold enough or not cold enough for long enough for the CO2 to dissolve fully. This is why there were no gushers (correct amount of CO2 in the bottle, just not "inside" the liquid) and probably why the last one was the best.
 
Pangaia said:
Honestly sounds like they weren't in the fridge long enough. Remember that gases are more soluble in liquids at colder temps. So your beer was either not cold enough or not cold enough for long enough for the CO2 to dissolve fully. This is why there were no gushers (correct amount of CO2 in the bottle, just not "inside" the liquid) and probably why the last one was the best.
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Awesome! I didn't even think about that!

Yeah, I've got a horrible habit of grabbing them from where I store them, throwing them in the fridge for just a bit and get ancy to drink one. Didn't even think about that. Thanks for the heads up 👍
 

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