Brew Day Traditions

I was debating on what forum part to put this thread in, but since I'm still probably a beginner by most people's standards (I think this will be extract batch no. 11 - started in January of 2014), I figured I'd throw it here.

Anyway - do any of you guys have specific brew day traditions? For example, do you always listen to a certain album, drink a certain beer at a certain part of the process, do anything special for the first hop addition or when you pitch your yeast?

Looking forward to brewing again Saturday. I'm doing NB's Ace of Spades Black IPA. Hope it turns out as well as their other kits have for me.

 

I don't really have any traditions for brewday,but on bottling day,I have to play the song Manhattan Spiritual,for every batch I bottle.(most are 2.5 gallon). I had heard this song when I was a little kid,liked it,but never knew the name. 2 years ago I was bottling a batch and had the TV on to one of those music channels and lo and behold they played that song,and i jotted down the name. I guess I took that as an omen, b/c I play it every time now.It has no effect on the brew,but it's a kind cool tradition.

 

I don't start the brewing before 11:00 AM. That way I can have a beer while the wort is cooling. I normally don't have a beer before noon.

 

It's always noon somewhere

I almost always have something in the smoker when I'm brewing.

 

I usually try to have the mash completed and working on bringing the wort to a boil before wife wakes up.
The house is always so peaceful then...I always look forward to a nice cup of coffee and netflix during the mash.

 

I like to get a brew day started early in the morning. Mashing & all that can be an all-day job at my age. So it allows me to get done by 3PM or so.If all goes well, it'll start bubbling by the time I go to bed!

 

Quick question....I'm 9 days into the fermentation process and i just now saw that I didn't put any water in the airlock. I quickly pulled it out and put water into it. Is it ruined?

 

Probably not. If you're using the typical 3-piece airlocks, then nothing could've settled into it. Unless there was a suck-back condition that'd suck some air in. Then maybe?...

 

Just what uniondr said.
Instead of water use vodka or Starsan solution.

 

If it's the season, I watch hockey while I brew. If not, one of a few Pandora stations. And always a beer at the start followed by half+half (tea+lemonade) after the beer is gone.

 

i do the hot scotchy thing. aside from that i don't usually drink during brewday unless friends are over.

i usually try to start around 9am.

 

Most times I pour a pint after the wort cools and goes in the carboys.

 

Our traditions consists of at least one person being too drunk to drive by the end of brew day. Gotta have a little entertainment ya know.

 

I always wait till I've taken the hydrometer sample & pitched the yeast to RDWHAHB. I made mistakes when I didn't follow that rule. Now it's a reward for a successful brew day!

 

I generally brew early in the morning on Saturday/Sunday or on Friday evenings. Different traditions for each.

Early morning: Good coffee and some Netflix in the background. Usually some cheesy action/adventure type stuff that doesn't require my full attention. Often SWMBO will bring out some breakfast after she gets up. I don't drink any beer since ya know, it's pretty early (mashing in around 6am). Also I generally have a busy day lined up after I finish brewing by 11am or so.

Friday Evening: I listen to this radio show on WNCW, a fantastic radio station out of Spindale, NC. If you like alt-country/outlaw/country-rock type stuff this is a show you should definitely check out. You can stream it online (use that link). It sounds extreme but this radio show is really the only reason I brew on Friday evenings as opposed to early morning. Anyway, since it's Friday evening I definitely like having some beers, but I've found that waiting to pour that first beer until after the boil is well underway works well for me. I don't like being all blown out and having to deal with the precise tasks of brewing.

Cool thread. Cheers.

 

Yeah I usually drink a few cups of coffee to start off my brew day, then pull a beer out once the boil is going. I like to have Netflix or something going in the background too. Usually an animated show like Family Guy, Futurama, South Park (guess I never grew out of Saturday morning cartoons!).

I gotta have my brew buddy (my dog) around to hang out with too of course! I'll throw the ball or Frisbee for her in my down time. She doesn't help much though, she mostly just lays in the sun.

My wife works every other weekend so I usually brew when she's at work.

Wow, this was probably the most off topic post I've ever seen!! Not sure why you decided to ask this question in this thread. That just made me laugh, so I had to comment on it!

 

I just sit there listening to the police scanner as well as music on my phone, staring at the boil with the constant thought it my head of "don't you dare boil over!"

I try starting early on Saturday or Sunday mornings. When the wife finally gets out of bed, I am usually greeted with breakfast.

 

Nothing too special for me, but I usually reserve Sunday mornings for my brew days. I have my recipe laid out well in advance, having made a starter a couple days prior. I wake up early and prep EVERYTHING religiously, usually enjoying my first beer once the boil starts.

 

Super early morning brewing. With French press coffee and a cigar during the mash after everything else is ready. All while wearing my Russian river shirt


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I'm on my forth batch this next week... Don't have rituals per se (yet) other than to make the kitchen lickable clean.

I do find that putting Dire Straits on the stereo keeps me mellow though! :-D

 

I always open a 'whale' when I'm getting close to being done. The last brew day it was Lawson's 'Sip of Sunshine', the one before that it was Heady Topper. It's my reward for the hard work as well as my inspiration.

 

No drinking for me until EVERYTHING is done. I don't want anything that could cause me to make a mistake. Need to concentrate... During cleaning afterwards, I'll sometimes have a beer, but I'll usually even wait until after that. (I do drink the sample for the gravity reading though).

I only have a handful of batches under my belt, but so far no traditions. So far it's always been Sunday afternoon with no music, no TV, and no nothing! Not because I don't want them. I just have no way to listen to music in the kitchen yet. Can easily fix that, I guess. Haha. And TV is just another distraction for me. Heh.

I guess I'm just not a tradition oriented kinda guy.

 

The only tradition I have is taking the airlock shot before bottling. I use vodka in the airlocks, so as not to anger the alcohol gods by dumping it, someone's gotta drink it. If there's a new person around its them.

 

that's pretty disgusting.

 

Brew day is either a Saturday or Sunday. My son comes down and then we either do brunch before we begin or lunch somewhere in the middle, depending on what time we start, and we sample the cool new commercial brews that we discovered since the last brew day, or debut earlier brewed batches that are just coming online...

 

I like to listen to the honky tonk tavern music channel ( from my T.V. ). Which is weird because I'm not a country music fan.

 

When I brewed my 1st Weissen, I ran up the Bavarian flag up the flagpole just below Old Glory.

 

Not much of a tradition but I usually brew on Friday since it's my day off. So Thurs night I filter my water into 1 gallon jug at a time to add to the BK (I do BIAB) and add my water adjustments. As I wait for each jug to fill I make my girls' lunches for camp (soon to be school). I usually finish the lunches right about the time my water is done. Then it's ready first thing in the AM to brew.