What will the neighbors think?

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.
I brew in the garage, my neighbors ask if I'm making bombs...i tell them just bombers. Had to leave the car half in t9 keep them out after a while.
 
I brew out in my garage or driveway when the weather permits. The occasional dog walker (who I am not familiar with) will look at me strangely or anyone new to our neighborhood, but the neighbors around me will always ask what style I'm brewing. I guess after doing this for four years now, there isn't a lot to wonder what I am doing. I do wonder though what those people are thinking...

I have thought about getting a hazmat suit and brewing with that on just to see what happens.
 
The nosy old guy across the street stopped by one time when I was brewing in my garage. He walked in just as I was lifting the copper IC out of the kettle. He asked if I was distilling moonshine. I explained how an immersion chiller works and he was fascinated. But not fascinated enough for him to hang around, which worked out fine. :)
 
pshankstar said:
I brew out in my garage or driveway when the weather permits. The occasional dog walker (who I am not familiar with) will look at me strangely or anyone new to our neighborhood, but the neighbors around me will always ask what style I'm brewing. I guess after doing this for four years now, there isn't a lot to wonder what I am doing. I do wonder though what those people are thinking...

I have thought about getting a hazmat suit and brewing with that on just to see what happens.
Click to expand...

Just begging for attention, huh? :no:
 
I saw on the news about a year ago that the DEA raided a house here that was accused of being a meth lab. They were draining sap from maple trees in to 5 gallon buckets to make maple syrup. The only action I ever had in my garage was a stray dog that ran in and almost knocked over my boiling kettle as I was chasing him out. Other than that I don’t even think my neighbors ever notice what I am doing. Good neighbors to have in my opinion.
 
We have a pretty healthy drinking culture in my neck of the woods. I assume that's why I've never had a bad look from neighbors and passing pedestrians while I was brewing in the garage with the door open. I mean if I was doing something illegal, would I really be doing it in full view of everybody? But thankfully I've never had a bad experience.
 
I've had a few neighbors ask me questions, mostly they just seem interested in beer or bored.
 
I live in an apartment complex that has storage lockers lockers located in the building. I brew out back and I keep all my brewing equipment (which includes my propane tank) in the caged locker. We switched apartments in the building and were talking with the leasing manager and he joked about how they found a propane tank (mine) in our building and they freaked out thinking someone was trying to blow the place up! Ugh.... smh.

I just chuckled and played it off... he still has no idea it was just for beer... or that it was me.
 
I brew on the back porch, which none of the neighbors can see. Even if they could, we all pretty much mind our own business.
 
I normally start brewing on weekend mornings early.....like sun up early. It's nice, quiet, and relaxing then.....

Well you can't make beer without drinking beer. And my neighbors always seemed to come outside at 5am and I have a big glass of something good in my hands.

The judgmental looks are the best
 
I'll brew in the driveway when the weather permits. Haven't gotten any funny comments or anything. Our neighbors know we brew and probably just put 2 and 2 together.

Side note, I like the haz mat suit idea. That's pretty dang funny.
 
My back fence borders a parkway so I'm sure lots of people driving by have seen me with weird vessels (coolers and carboys) all over the place, or me standing over a giant pot of boiling liquid wearing rubber gloves. Nobody has slow-rolled or done anything otherwise invasive so far. I've gotten more questions at the grocery store when buying 10+ gallons of water to use on brew day.
 
Biggest mistake I made was sharing the good beer with the neighbors. Now they always find a way to pop in. Earlier days, I would tell them to help themselves to the kegerator out back by the pool. That got out of hand when the killed a keg within a week, really without me even noticing. Keezers in the garage now so no more open access.

Brew inside on electric, so no more looky loos unless it is during cleanup on the driveway time.
 
Wobbly Cat said:
My back fence borders a parkway so I'm sure lots of people driving by have seen me with weird vessels (coolers and carboys) all over the place, or me standing over a giant pot of boiling liquid wearing rubber gloves. Nobody has slow-rolled or done anything otherwise invasive so far. I've gotten more questions at the grocery store when buying 10+ gallons of water to use on brew day.
Click to expand...

I get similar questions when buying 10 gallons of Apple Juice.
 
My next door neighbor is the head of the Metro Drug Unit and he once rolled in under my garage door which was two thirds of the way down and I think he was more or less just curious about what I was doing and how beer was made. He did smell the hops I had and made a comment about a similarity to the smell of pot.
 
dpeters said:
My next door neighbor is the head of the Metro Drug Unit and he once rolled in under my garage door which was two thirds of the way down and I think he was more or less just curious about what I was doing and how beer was made. He did smell the hops I had and made a comment about a similarity to the smell of pot.
Click to expand...

They are cousins.

Now about that illegal entry thing...
 
My deck is in plain view of what is now a busy road. I’ve had people slam on their breaks, back up, and sit there and stare. I had cops come because they had 2 calls the same morning. One said I was cooking meth, the other running a still. I ended up putting up a privacy screen. People here can’t mind their own business. I will say it is nice Brewing in a private setting.
 
I brew indoors on my electric system and vent through the dryer ductwork. Of course it creates and interesting odor which is directed right at my neighbors back deck, where they more often than not, seem to be enjoying a morning coffee on my brew days. To this day they haven’t said a word about the unique smell coming from our dryer.
 
KIDD69 said:
I brew indoors on my electric system and vent through the dryer ductwork. Of course it creates and interesting odor which is directed right at my neighbors back deck, where they more often than not, seem to be enjoying a morning coffee on my brew days. To this day they haven’t said a word about the unique smell coming from our dryer.
Click to expand...

Try our new Bounce...with a delicate aroma of Beer! Waitasec, my clothes already smell like that....
 
I brew in the front yard, never had anyone say anything. Not a lot of foot traffic in my neighborhood and people usually drive too fast to notice anything
 
Just sit with some small scales and weigh your cone hops in full public view into little ziplock bags...

That plus brewing equipment (stainless) with pipes and smells and water running for the plate chiller i can see how that could worry some people LOL.

I brew partially visible from the street. My immediate neighbour asked if i was brewing home brew once but no other questions from anyone
 
Actually had someone think my homebuilt electric bike with wires that i hadn't cable tied together nicley say to me that thought it was a bomb until i unlocked it to ride home from the supermarket so It doesn't matter what you are doing it can be far enough out of someones experiance they might think the worst. Glad they didnt ring the cops.

I thought about joking to them that each battery cell is like a little bomb but thought better of it.
 
Haha I love this thread! I brew on the gas hob in the kitchen, so nothing funny to contribute from my side, but I really enjoy your stories!

I really think that one of you public brewers should try brewing in a haz mat suit for our all amusement asap!

Meth flavoured moonshine... Brilliant :D
 
Last edited:
I store mine in the shed at the end of the garden, had one neighbour ask "are you growing something dodgy back there" he came around that night and left stumbling
 
I brew in my garage ,

I kept having this guy walk back and forth past my garage and eventually he walked up and asked if I was brewing lol . Turned out he does the same thing on the other block.
 
Depending on how the wind is blowing, I'll brew in my garage (front of house) or on the back porch. None of my neighbors really say anything when I brew out of the garage, but my back porch is on the 18th tee of a golf course. I've heard a lot of comments from the golfers. Mostly "what are you cooking?" but a few have joked "when will it be ready so I can get some? After this hole?" Uh...try 5 or 6 weeks. You see a lot of drunk golfers on the 18th tee and see a lot of funny stuff.
 
There’s a number of older folks in my apartment, and I brew in the back yard area of my building. Amazed no one has called the cops or VFD.

Picture a very breezy spring day outside with the two tier outdoor burner. Can’t find my insulation to properly manage mash temps. Forward to me attempting to wrap the 16 gal kettle in bedsheets, bungee cords, and blankets. Thirst got the better of me and upon returning 1 min later with a beer I find my entire kettle is engulfed in 6 ft flames!!! Don’t worry the beer was okay. Coulda given a crap about the sheets!
 

Similar threads

Clint Yeastwood
Kveik Lutra at 75: Headaches?
Replies
10
Views
500
kevin58
kevin58
MMP126
Homebrewers Hop Quality
Replies
10
Views
989
ncbrewer
N
Red over White
The opposite of what you think
Replies
11
Views
762
BrewZer
BrewZer
dmaxweb
First Biere de Garde
Replies
21
Views
2K
jcech
J
K
Old brew in keg, still safe/worth saving?
Replies
9
Views
671
barry.hastings
barry.hastings

Latest posts

Back
Top