What your pet peeve about Brewing

[BudzAndSudz]

Lack of help with any of it except drinking it. My friends and family are good at that. And give me my bottles back dammit.

That's it man, that's the number one thing for me all the way. All my friends love drinking the homebrew, but none of them want to contribute in any way whatsoever. Don't want to pitch on grains, don't want to clean bottles, don't even want to clean the counter in the kitchen after I'm done even though I just spent 2 hours cleaning everything else. I even had a roommate beg me to brew with him last friday so I agreed. What actually happened was that I bought all the grains and hops, then milled it all up. He helped me mash in, and then invited 10 other people over and ended up playing beer pong while I brewed by myself in the garage. Around midnight when I finished brewing he even had the audacity (while completely hammered) to say "Nate, where have you been all night man?"

"In the garage, brewing beer that you absolutely will not be allowed to drink."

I'm usually very down with sharing my beer, but that one pissed me off, and it is now my private reserve batch.

 

[Klickmania]

That's it man, that's the number one thing for me all the way. All my friends love drinking the homebrew, but none of them want to contribute in any way whatsoever. Don't want to pitch on grains, don't want to clean bottles, don't even want to clean the counter in the kitchen after I'm done even though I just spent 2 hours cleaning everything else. I even had a roommate beg me to brew with him last friday so I agreed. What actually happened was that I bought all the grains and hops, then milled it all up. He helped me mash in, and then invited 10 other people over and ended up playing beer pong while I brewed by myself in the garage. Around midnight when I finished brewing he even had the audacity (while completely hammered) to say "Nate, where have you been all night man?"

"In the garage, brewing beer that you absolutely will not be allowed to drink."

I'm usually very down with sharing my beer, but that one pissed me off, and it is now my private reserve batch.

I absolutely hate that man. Although it hasn't happened to me to quite that extent. I invited over a few friends for some brewdays and they sat inside got drunk and watched football while I brewed for 5-6 hours. Doesn't make sense to me at all.

 

[stompbox]

Gaining weight from making heavy beers

 

[MaddBaggins]

When too many neighbors and friends come over to my garage on brew day. The door is open cause the burner is on and I hate it when the whole street turns my garage into a party. It really ruins my Zen. One or two people and a couple of beers and I'm cool with it. Much more than that and I get grumpy.

 

[jaynik]

Removing labels and sanitizing bottles. People also seem to resist returning te bottles to me so I have reduced seriously the quantity of beer I give away.

 

[bscott1011]

Scrubbing the stove after a serious boilover

 

[Channel66]

My biggest pet peave is not enough space. I have a big house, just 2 people and a cattle dog living in it. And I still cant find enough room for my brew gear bottles, fridges, freezers, kegs, kettles, grains, I need a bigger garage. Its either that or tell SWMBO that she cant park her car in the garage any more (Im obviously not taking my classic camaro out of the garage to make room for her brand new subaru)

 

[WileECoyote]

That's it man, that's the number one thing for me all the way. All my friends love drinking the homebrew, but none of them want to contribute in any way whatsoever. Don't want to pitch on grains, don't want to clean bottles, don't even want to clean the counter in the kitchen after I'm done even though I just spent 2 hours cleaning everything else. I even had a roommate beg me to brew with him last friday so I agreed. What actually happened was that I bought all the grains and hops, then milled it all up. He helped me mash in, and then invited 10 other people over and ended up playing beer pong while I brewed by myself in the garage. Around midnight when I finished brewing he even had the audacity (while completely hammered) to say "Nate, where have you been all night man?"

"In the garage, brewing beer that you absolutely will not be allowed to drink."

I'm usually very down with sharing my beer, but that one pissed me off, and it is now my private reserve batch.

Find new friends

Cheers

 

[WileECoyote]

Lack of help with any of it except drinking it. My friends and family are good at that. And give me my bottles back dammit.

Find new friends

Cheers

 

[msa8967]

Spending the holidays with my inlaws 3000 miles from my brewing equipment and homebrew.

I spent the last 4 winter holidays at my inlaws in southern Georgia. Everyday seemed to have highs in the mid 50s-60s which is perfect brewing weather except that my equipment is 1023 miles away.

I feel your pain brewing brother...

 

[histo320]

Cleaning, Sanitizing, Cleaning, Sanitizing, Cleaning, and Sanitizing again. Other than that

I love the entire process

 

[Billy-Klubb]

again: not enough time. why the hell can't we be Romulans or Vulcans to get a few hundred years to get this stuff right?

 

[vrodbrad]

Broke my Hydrometer, thank goodness I had another one.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Broke my Hydrometer, thank goodness I had another one.

IMO, having 2 is essential.


and I think my face is holding me back. WTF, face?!? it rubs the lotion on it's skin!

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Emptying the mash tun definitely sucks. But what grinds my grain is when my brew partner slacks on the clean up. Last time I brewed (by myself) I had to scrub out the kettle he used previously for his half of the boil (which is my HLT) because he did a half a$$ job. Next time we brew together I'm going to tell him that he better leave it in the same condition he found it in.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

having to rig up my rain tarp in the middle of a boil. Nothing like seeing those first couple of drops of rain land in the kettle, and realizing it's raining while I brew... AGAIN!

 

[neko]

The cleaning part is annoying but the worst part is when you say, "Ok, just gotta rinse this funnel and then I'm all done." Then you turn around and there's a pile of dirty equipment you forgot about.

It's also funny how everyone wants to help on a brew day until the day actually comes. If someone surprises me and shows up they are usually happy about drinking the beer but not the process as much.

 

[jcam91]

I live in a small apartment so space is a pet.peeve.

 

[Hopzilla]

I would say sanitizing and cleaning up afterwards are my pet peeves.

 

[ICWiener]

My inconsistency. Years and years of doing this and I still get bad batches for reasons that I can't figure out. In fact, I still can't make a great IPA. Frustrating.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Bottling... I love everything else about the process but I absolutely can't stand bottling and don't have the funds or room for kegging, let alone a wife who supports that change.

 

[Demus]

The term "secondary" and some brewers perception that it is a necessary step in the brewing process...

 

[jcam91]

Bottling... I love everything else about the process but I absolutely can't stand bottling and don't have the funds or room for kegging, let alone a wife who supports that change.

What she doesn't understand is the change to kegging will free up more time to hang out with her. Less time bottling.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

What she doesn't understand is the change to kegging will free up more time to hang out with her. Less time bottling.

LOL, I think she does and that is what she is afraid of!! :cross:

 

[WileECoyote]

LOL, I think she does and that is what she is afraid of!! :cross:

Ouch lol

Cheers

 

[Darkness]

Fermentation space is a pain. And we have 115gal of primary space but seams like there is always to many going for what we want to dk I am spoiled. A Bunch.

 

[germanmade84]

At the moment it is actually geting 5 gals of beer from a "five gallon" batch.

 

[biestie]

Where to put spent grains. I've got a small yard. I thought maybe the garbage disposal was a good idea one, but a backed up drain and a flooded basement put an end to that.

 

[Klickmania]

Where to put spent grains. I've got a small yard. I thought maybe the garbage disposal was a good idea one, but a backed up drain and a flooded basement put an end to that.

What's wring with your garbage can?

 

[biestie]

Tried that too. Our garbage has a weight limit per can, for a 10 gallon batch I go over by a quite a bit and they won't take it.

 

[skullface1818]

Formerly: getting my carbonation right without a scale. but now I have a handy Dandy electric pocket scale.......

So now its Getting water measurements right, and having to wait 1-3 weeks before I can drink something.

 

[Klickmania]

Tried that too. Our garbage has a weight limit per can, for a 10 gallon batch I go over by a quite a bit and they won't take it.

That sucks man. Sounds like your garbage men need to hit the gym.

 

[downtown3641]

That sucks man. Sounds like your garbage men need to hit the gym.

The weight limit may have to do more with the truck than the garbage collectors.

As for what to do with spent grain, use it. Make bread, pretzels, or dog treats. You can also compost it.

 

[histo320]

The weight limit may have to do more with the truck than the garbage collectors.

As for what to do with spent grain, use it. Make bread, pretzels, or dog treats. You can also compost it.

I made Dog Treats a couple of times and all of my friends and family said they were like crack for dogs. If you don't have many friends or family with Dogs give them to your neigbors.

 

[brussum]

I made Dog Treats a couple of times and all of my friends and family said they were like crack for dogs. If you don't have many friends or family with Dogs give them to your neigbors.

Sounds like a good idea. Are there any recipes you'd recommend?

 

[unionrdr]

There's one in the cookin section down below. Bread too.

 

[Newgene]

I gotta agree with the returning bottle comment. I ask people repeatedly to get me MY bottles back. I would prefer that they give me back the bottle that I removed the labels from. However, I'll take whatever I can get. I take no money for beer, but if I can't get bottles back, I'll need to start asking people to go buy and provide their own bottles. The times I have mentioned it, they just started offering me money to go to the LHBS and buy the bottles. I then have to remind them that I take absolutely no money for beer, and they will need to pick them up. Yeah, I know I'm a little paranoid, I guess.

One thing that has really helped curb the bottle exodus is telling them to bring as many empties as they want filled with new beer. If they show up with two brown pop tops, they get two fresh filled bottles. I think people want to complain, but it's free beer.

 

[241]

Everything with the process is fine but I live in a 1 bd apartment, so space constraints are my pet peeve. Saving for a house though

 

[ido50]

I had/have quite a few pet peeves related to brewing.
Bottling was the major one. I don't do that anymore (I use party pigs).
Sanitizing was another. I'm still refining my routine.
Cooling was another. Not doing that anymore (using no-chill cubes).
Racking is what's most bothering me now. I don't like dealing with all those hoses and ridiculously long auto-siphons in my small kitchen...

 

[bk082789]

Where to put spent grains. I've got a small yard. I thought maybe the garbage disposal was a good idea one, but a backed up drain and a flooded basement put an end to that.

I'm sure living in Iowa there's gotta be a farmer or two that would love to get his hand on your spent grains for feed. A lot of breweries in WI do that, probably on a much larger scale though.