You know you're a home brewer when?

[brewcat]

When your girlfriend suggests that you should brew at her house, and her dining room, kitchen and basement are full of your brewing supplies and fermenters]

What a mistake on her part. She must be trying to keep you!

 

[derekcw83]

When you become secretly disappointed about weekend events you must attend, because you'd rather be brewing.

 

[bleme]

It's no secret here. Unless it's a beerfest, I'd rather stay home. Next week is my 15 year anniversary though so I might have to suck it up. I did brew on Mothers Day a couple of years ago though!

 

[MAbrew]

When the cleanest things in your house are 6.5 gallon buckets and 10 gallon pots.

That one hits a little too close to home.

 

[HopGobbler]

When you become secretly disappointed about weekend events you must attend, because you'd rather be brewing.

Yes, we actually chose to not go to a concert a few weeks ago, just because I really wanted to just stay in and brew

 

[GrogNerd]

When you see this and your first thought is, "what a waste of fermentation space"

And your second thought is, "I could make a fortune off my old buckets!"

View attachment 1494180453646.jpg

 

[mongoose33]

When you see this and your first thought is, "what a waste of fermentation space"

And your second thought is, "I could make a fortune off my old buckets!"

My thought was "I sure could store a lot of malt in those buckets...."

 

[Teromous]

When "Racking Day" is a known event in your house and might as well be a holiday.

 

[dkwolf]

Congratulations! A word of warning, though:

My daughter was married over the weekend and we had the reception in Dubuque. Of course I wanted to have some homebrew at the reception and was told I could not. Something about Iowa laws....this despite the fact they would have gotten the beer from me for free, whereas otherwise it was part of the contract.

We provided beer and wine at the reception but I was told I could only supply beer from their distributor. And you can guess what they had available (BMC). Ended up holding my nose and going Miller Lite and MGD.

Maybe it's different where you live in IA, maybe I don't have the laws right, but before you get too far along make sure you can do it at the reception venue.

We went and looked at reception halls today. One of them -- and far and away our favorite -- was a winery about 25 miles from where we're planning the wedding. Guy is INCREDIBLY easy to work with - he has only two hard and fast rules: No hard liquor, and if he sees anyone carrying a box of Franzia, he's going to beat them with it. Outside of that "he has a rigid policy of being flexible". Discussing the bar, we can serve any of his wines, but he does not have a beer license and doesn't want it. We can bring in cans or kegs, he will keep them in his cooler and stock them in the fridge - said he can do everything but physically hand the beer to our guests.

A little bit later, I mentioned that I was a homebrewer. He jumped on it immediately "Hell! Brew your own, bring THAT instead of Bud Light!". (Thinking about it some more... a good DIPA, a vanilla porter, and maybe a hefe.... she's got some....trouble makers...on one side of her family. Between the reception being 25+ miles down the road, and beer with actual flavor, I don't think we'd have to worry about them getting drunk.....)

Think I'll be contacting a few of the club members in the next week or so...and maybe kicking a brew day off next weekend.

 

[BikerMatt]

Your neighbour gives you a log and your first thought is "hmm I could probly smoke some grains with this"

 

[CGVT]

Wait! What? Your neighbor gave you a log?

 

[BikerMatt]

Yes trunk of a juniper he cut down. Any hidden pun meanings I'm afraid are beyond my english skill (though I have a hunch...)

 

[CGVT]

Yes trunk of a juniper he cut down. Any hidden pun meanings I'm afraid are beyond my english skill (though I have a hunch...)

No pun or innuendo intended.

I have never heard of anyone's neighbor giving them a log before and thought it was funny in a WTF? sort of way.

 

[HopGobbler]

No pun or innuendo intended.

I have never heard of anyone's neighbor giving them a log before and thought it was funny in a WTF? sort of way.

My neighbor gave me a bunch of cherry wood chunks that I used in my smoker

 

[BikerMatt]

Well it was one of those shouted over the fence things like `ey mate I just cut down this juniper, have any use for it? Heck yea could smoke stuff with it! We have a lot of shared projects as we both are truckers, bikers, both love beer and grilled meat etc... It`s a fairly big trunk for a european juniper too, might actually save some of the root end for future projects, who knows what I come up with it. First thing I did was sawed off an inch thick slice and brought it to my computer table so I can sniff it Loooooooooove the smell of juniper.

 

[Incubus2112]

When you lose your entire kitchen's capabilities for a move and you couldn't be worried in the slightest because you've not moved your brewery, yet.

 

[Darkness]

When your love of craft beer and brewing makes your basement look like a brewery/high end bottle shop.

 

[Darkness]

When someone new wants to brew with you and asks if he can do 5 gallons. And every one in the group says, "No! But you can make ten! The system dosn't turn on for 5 gallons of anything."

 

[jan_b19]

When you're out of carboys and buckets, and unable to start something else, because you have several batches of beer, mead and wine going at the same time.

 

[stella_tigre]

When you're out of carboys and buckets, and unable to start something else, because you have several batches of beer, mead and wine going at the same time.

Finally bought myself a Fermonster for my birthday, because two (six gallon) carboys is not enough.....

We have a bucket and 5 gal plastic carboy, and several glass carboys, but we don't like buckets (can't see what's going down!) 5 gal too small for beer- krausen and won't fill a 5 gal keg. And glass is purely used for bulk aging of wine and cider 'cause safety issues, and weight.

So we have quite a collection of fermenters!

 

[seatazzz]

When you go out in the brewery the morning after enjoying a few too many of your finest and discover you left the airlock off your carboy with the Centennial Blonde you're fermenting for your daughter's wedding after taking a sample the night before...and just shrug your shoulders and pop it back on because c02 blanket blah blah blah. Almost ready to keg and smells & tastes fantastic.

 

[pshankstar]

When Father's Day is approaching and your wife says "I have no idea what you need or want for your brewing needs, so maybe you should just order what you want". My response "Really"? Wife's "Yes, I can't keep track of what you do". Me "Ok, since there's no spending limit...". Wife very quickly "Slow down, I didn't say you have a blank check"! HAHA

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

When you totally lose track of time browsing websites filled with all sorts of shiny new gadgets you'd love to add to your home brewing set up.

 

[MaryB]

There went the 2 14 gallon stainless fermenters eh?

When Father's Day is approaching and your wife says "I have no idea what you need or want for your brewing needs, so maybe you should just order what you want". My response "Really"? Wife's "Yes, I can't keep track of what you do". Me "Ok, since there's no spending limit...". Wife very quickly "Slow down, I didn't say you have a blank check"! HAHA

 

[jan_b19]

Finally bought myself a Fermonster for my birthday, because two (six gallon) carboys is not enough.....

We have a bucket and 5 gal plastic carboy, and several glass carboys, but we don't like buckets (can't see what's going down!) 5 gal too small for beer- krausen and won't fill a 5 gal keg. And glass is purely used for bulk aging of wine and cider 'cause safety issues, and weight.

So we have quite a collection of fermenters!

I always do my primary's in buckets. Why? Personal preference I guess. Like you I like to watch my fermentation but I had multiple blow outs in carboy's last year haven't had one in a bucket yet so...

 

[Onkel_Udo]

When you are in your new house, prepping your old house for sale and the checklist of priorities for the moment the house is on on the market:

Install outlets for brewery
Make a batch of RyePA
Install Washer and Dryer hook-ups
Do laundry
Brew any other "no temp control needed" beer
Get second bath shower working
Build fermentation chamber in brew space
Level floors so you do not fall down on the 3 degree slope from the kegorator to back deck
Brew Brown ale
Actually make sure all legs of the 14' x 14 deck make contact with the ground.
Brew porter
Install gutters so the crawl does not flood
Brew RyePA again since you drank it all
Install stairwell railing so you do not fall and die coming down from the second floor for another beer
etc

 

[johnwpowell]

You have a 3pm flight to Germany and you get up early to brew a batch.

 

[Lefou]

When you totally lose track of time browsing websites filled with all sorts of shiny new gadgets you'd love to add to your home brewing set up.

Exactly.
You know you're a homebrewer when The Precious isn't a ring forged of gold, it's a shiny Blichmann Fermanator made of 304 stainless steel.

 

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

When you've been out of town for 4 days on a family vacation and both kids are in bed, and you think to yourself "I wonder what the fermentors are doing right now?"

 

[Mathomson75]

When you go to the store and buy a 12 pack of Coors light. Then realize it's the first time in over a year you've bought store beer. Because you brew 5 gal a week and still seem to run out of beer! I don't know if this is a sign of a homebrewer or an alcoholic?

 

[JohnSand]

When you skip dinner because you're brewing.

 

[Davevjordon]

When you sleep with your beer under your pillow? And stick a nipple on one to suck on to fall asleep. What!

Maybe not a beer under the pillow, but metaphorically... Yeah... I have MOSTLY gone to bed with a beer. (But only RECENTLY became a home brewer).

 

[Sbe2]

That there is nothing like a fresh IPA, and that anything sold at the store is old and bitter.

Get off my lawn...

 

[Mainer]

When you go to a poker game and someone offers you the leftover beer to take home and you say, "No thanks, but can I have the empties???"

 

[Dcpcooks]

You base a home purchase on brewing space!

 

[GrogNerd]

didn't get a picture, but this morning on the Beltway, passed a van with license plate SIMCOE

... when your first thought seeing that license plate is "I bet the inside of that van smells like cat pee"

 

[csurowiec]

When someone walks into your kitchen, sees an ehrlenmeyer flask spinning away on a cigar box stir plate, looks at you and says "what the hell are you doing?"

 

[johnwpowell]

Every cooler looks like a mash tun

 

[TANSTAAFB]

when someone walks into your kitchen, sees an ehrlenmeyer flask spinning away on a cigar box stir plate, looks at you and says "what the hell are you doing?"

👍😎🤘

 

[oylerck]

Every cooler looks like a mash tun

This has been happening a lot lately