Are you the Black Sheep of your neighborhood?

[scoundrel]

I bought a house in the country so I wouldn't have to worry about my neighbors or those ridiculous HOA's!

I brew on my covered back deck and there is nothing behind my house but a row of trees and then a corn field. None of my closer neighbors have any clue that I brew.

If I'm a black sheep on my road it would be due to the fact that I currently have 5 vehicles parked in the driveway (2 are for sale). But I do keep up with the house and yard at least as well as my closest neighbors.

So if I understand you correctly, by moving to the country, the black sheep in your neighborhood could quite possibly be a black sheep.

 

[blacksquid]

My new neighbour brews wine and the other just loves beer and cigars. I got my cooler mash tun for 2$ (xtreme 70) from the front neighbour. I think my forging hobby was MUCH more annoying... it's tough to deaden the ring from an anvil.

I can't say i'm the black sheep though, as the construction work being done on houses around here is much more disturbing...

 

[unionrdr]

Word man. All through the 90's into the new millenium,there was construction out the wazoo around here. forget keeping the car clean with all the clay lumps on the roads in the area. Glad that's over.

 

[nbrack]

Wow some people are crazy! If my neighbors called the cops thinking I was making meth out in public in my driveway... I would for sure on the next batch, go out and get one of those full body suits and wear a respirator during the boil just to freak them out!

 

[BrewGeek_Ohio]

I bought a house in the country so I wouldn't have to worry about my neighbors or those ridiculous HOA's!

I brew on my covered back deck and there is nothing behind my house but a row of trees and then a corn field. None of my closer neighbors have any clue that I brew.

If I'm a black sheep on my road it would be due to the fact that I currently have 5 vehicles parked in the driveway (2 are for sale). But I do keep up with the house and yard at least as well as my closest neighbors.

Sounds like my ex-wife and her new husband. Oh wait.... 7 cars, all in the yard, 2 run. Some people!

 

[DrunkleJon]

Wow some people are crazy! If my neighbors called the cops thinking I was making meth out in public in my driveway... I would for sure on the next batch, go out and get one of those full body suits and wear a respirator during the boil just to freak them out!

Make sure to display your yeast starter Erlenmeyer flask prominently. Is it bad that i actually felt shifty while buying mine?

 

[Genuine]

I don't know why anyone would look down on you for brewing, I find that strange. All the people that I tell that I brew beer, think it's pretty awesome that I make my own beer. Hell, I have neighbors come over while I'm brewing or smoking bbq to see whats going on and offer any help.

 

[nbrack]

Make sure to display your yeast starter Erlenmeyer flask prominently.

Yes! And maybe place some dry ice in it too! :rockin:

 

[andvari7]

Wow some people are crazy! If my neighbors called the cops thinking I was making meth out in public in my driveway... I would for sure on the next batch, go out and get one of those full body suits and wear a respirator during the boil just to freak them out!

Brew in a trailer, with a Tyvek suit, and go full-on Walt White.

I've just received a request for a spiced holiday beer. Two, actually. My goodness, I'm going public. This is setting a dangerous precedent. Actually, what it means is that I can't brew fast enough. What it also means is that when I go pick up lox tomorrow (for a friend, as well as for my Friday breakfast), I'll grab another two pounds of rye. Two of Briess rye, one of Maris Otter, two different hops, black pepper, Irish moss, and Wyeast American Ale II. My first experimental batch. It's going to be awful; I just know it.

 

[Leadgolem]

You might be surprised, though I've never put pepper in anything fermentable.

 

[bottlebomber]

I made a rosemary Saison with a tbsp of cracked black pepper and it was delicious.. I highly recommend messing with the pepper. People used to kill each other over that stuff you know.

 

[Packman715]

:Anyone ever mowed their lawn on a Sunday morning in Utah with a beer in their hand. I have and no one ever showed up at my house. when I lived there the people around me didn't think much of me.

Then when one would be brave and talk to me and find out I made the beer I was drinking the real shuning would show.

 

[Hulud]

weird that you're the black sheep. maybe those men should have gotten better wives?

my wife loves that i homebrew (she did not drink beer when i met her)

i trained her to like beer (haha) with every batch i make i have her try some now she likes craft beer.

also my neighbors that i have met enjoy my beer. my wife and i just moved into our house in july so i havent met too many people

 

[mikescooling]

I don't think anyone cares about what I'm doing. I could chop cars and no one would say anything. It's something about living in a city with a lot of crime, people don't want to get involved.

 

[resQman4]

I am with you packman. I live south of salt lake and my family is the only non lds family on the block. We are so the black sheeps. A few people wave but nobody will talk to us or invite us to their block parties. Gonna start brewing outside and in the garage after Christmas. Can't wait to see how we are treated then. Actually not true.... I don't give a s..t. I don't like judgmental people (and I am totally being one right now)

 

[Leadgolem]

I am with you packman. I live south of salt lake and my family is the only non lds family on the block. We are so the black sheeps. A few people wave but nobody will talk to us or invite us to their block parties. Gonna start brewing outside and in the garage after Christmas. Can't wait to see how we are treated then. Actually not true.... I don't give a s..t. I don't like judgmental people (and I am totally being one right now)

Interesting, when I lived in happy valley I found that the anti-mormon counter culture, although small, was also very close knit. Even more so then the predominant culture in the area.

 

[highgravitybacon]

One night, about 20 of us were in my driveway, working on motorcycles, burning a couch, and having a dog fight. I made this killer tripel we were devouring. It wasn't very late, maybe only 2 or 3 am on a Monday. After the burnout contest, I decided we should do a steinbrew with some of the granite rocks around the neighbors koi pond.

Well apparently the teetotler neighbors didn't like my home brew because they gave me a dirty look the next day when I got up at 4 pm. Their kid said my kid can't come to the birthday party so he's crying about that.

Some people just have a lot of misperceptions about homebrew.

 

[Lushife]

I'm the 10 year younger single father at my daughter's bus stop. All the mothers are kinda cool but I feel a little weird. I'm always looking at brewing catalogue waiting for the bus. I have some crappy wine I made on the bored should I give it out as presents ?

 

[gbx]

The neighbours were more weirded out by my hop plants - some people think they are weed plants and when you say "they are hops" they hear "they are pot". People have thought the immersion chiller was for distilling and the mash tun was for making meth so I brought 2 kegs to last summer's block party. My wife was telling me I should make something every can enjoy like a pilsner. I didn't think yellow beer drinkers would appreciate even the best homebrewed lager so I went with a brown porter and an english special bitter. Somebody else brought a keg of commercial lager that survived the whole party but both of mine got killed within the first hour. I think people understand now. Even the older ladies into gardening ask me how my plants did this year.

 

[dallasdb]

I tell everyone I'm homebrewing so I can cook my meth in the driveway. They just assume the gas mask and hazmat suit are par for the course.

 

[TNGabe]

Let's see, self-employed, work from home mostly, 30 yrs younger than everyone, don't have a 'We still believe in Merry Christmas' sign out by the road, acre plus garden this year, and several hog killings....nah, we fit in great. The worst part is probably how little I cut the grass. It's the number one pastime of all the retiree neighbors. Acres and acres of grass on a tractor. And they think we're strange. Funny thing is that my wife's family has been within 10 miles of here for over 200 years, so most of the people who think we're freaks are outsiders in my book.

 

[Barnesie]

I live in the burbs. Serious burbage, rows of houses all about 2000-2500 square feet all in a development built in the late 60's. We're all sitting on about 1/4 acre each, so it's about as average as you can get.

Sure I make beer, which is unusual...but my neighbor two doors down restored a B-25 engine in his garage last year and this year he's restoring two 1930's diesel tractors, so occasionally we walk outside saturday to see him joyriding a gigantic tractor at 5 miles per hour up and down our completely average suburban street.

So no, I'm not the black sheep... but everyone in our neighborhood likes the black sheep so it wouldn't be bad anyway.

 

[Lushife]

I live in the burbs. Serious burbage, rows of houses all about 2000-2500 square feet all in a development built in the late 60's. We're all sitting on about 1/4 acre each, so it's about as average as you can get.

Sure I make beer, which is unusual...but my neighbor two doors down restored a B-25 engine in his garage last year and this year he's restoring two 1930's diesel tractors, so occasionally we walk outside saturday to see him joyriding a gigantic tractor at 5 miles per hour up and down our completely average suburban street.

So no, I'm not the black sheep... but everyone in our neighborhood likes the black sheep so it wouldn't be bad anyway.

Sounds like a fun neighborhood.

 

[scoundrel]

weird that you're the black sheep. maybe those men should have gotten better wives?

my wife loves that i homebrew (she did not drink beer when i met her)

i trained her to like beer (haha) with every batch i make i have her try some now she likes craft beer.

also my neighbors that i have met enjoy my beer. my wife and i just moved into our house in july so i havent met too many people

I wish my wife loved homebrew. Whenever I ask her opinion, she will reluctantly taste it and say "it tastes like beer" Although supportive, I think she'd push back at the other wives if she could tell them how good it is.

It's mostly wives of the older men in the area. One neighbor loves Guinness and he said he once tried to put a kegerator in his basement and his wife was flat out against it. It may be the old mentality of "what will the neighbors say". So, I think when the guys see how cool home brewing is, the quality of the results and how my wife is ok with my 4 tap fridge, the men love it and the wives don't.

 

[MTate37]

The worst part is probably how little I cut the grass. It's the number one pastime of all the retiree neighbors.

This is totally our situation. We're in our mid-thirties and both of our neighbors are nearing/past retirement age. Our next door neighbor has a landscaping crew at her house once a week, and our backyard neighbor did a $10,000 backyard remodel about eight years ago and cut down every tree in his backyeard and had new sod put in about two years ago. He can frequently be seen with his backpack leafblower blowing leaves IN THE DARK! I think I cut my grass three times this past summer because I would rather be doing things like hiking, brewing beer, going to shows and playing disc golf.

We had a number of trees cut several months ago and figured it would be easy to find people that would want it for firewood so we didn't have the tree crew haul it off. Turns out over half of it was sweetgum which nobody likes to burn, so we're stuck with all this yard trash that is going to be either extremely laborious or expensive to remove.

Life is too fun and too short to spend endless hours cutting grass, raking/blowing leaves and trimming hedges. When we bought this house, our first house, we wanted something with a nice yard and trees, unlike the newer developments you see with tiny yards and no trees. Our next house will have exactly that.

I've bought a propane burner and larger pot with the intention of taking my brewing outside, but being in bass-ackwards Alabama where homebrewing is STILL illegal I'm still questioning the wisdom of moving outdoors.

 

[Whippy]

One neighbor is the Mayor and he thinks it is great that I brew! He's a cool guy and is all about letting folks do what they want (within limits, of course) without judgement. Another neighbor is a craft beer guy who trades me beers for my homebrew pretty regular, so no problem from him either! The others surrounding my are all friends except for two who stay to themselves, so don't know how they feel but would wager one of the two would be totally cool with it. I've got it made, pretty much

 

[Whattawort]

One of my neighbors like to mess with me on brew days and threaten to call the feds (it's technically illegal to brew here), but he's a good guy and I usually give him a few. Another neighbor will occasionally come over for a brew day. But we do have a few families around us who are super Christians with an agenda, so I usually don't advertise when I'm brewing. I brew in the garage, so the big door is down and the smaller door is open.

 

[krackin]

One night, about 20 of us were in my driveway, working on motorcycles, burning a couch, and having a dog fight. I made this killer tripel we were devouring. It wasn't very late, maybe only 2 or 3 am on a Monday. After the burnout contest, I decided we should do a steinbrew with some of the granite rocks around the neighbors koi pond.

Well apparently the teetotler neighbors didn't like my home brew because they gave me a dirty look the next day when I got up at 4 pm. Their kid said my kid can't come to the birthday party so he's crying about that.

Some people just have a lot of misperceptions about homebrew.

I think I see the problem.You should really have your smoke shows during daylight hours so everyone can fully enjoy the visual as well as the aroma and audio.

 

[BeardedIdiot]

Every other person in my neighborhood is 2 - 4 times the age of my wife and I. We're the "young in's" in the neighborhood for sure. I've only brewed out on the driveway/in the garage the last 4 weekends in a row, so they haven't had much exposure to it yet. Mainly I just get people walking by looking, but not seeming overly interested.

And lawn mowing is definitely a favored past-time for about 2/3rds of the neighborhood. I have one neighbor that mows every 3 days regardless of if it needs it, if its raining, or if the grass has stopped growing (they mowed this past weekend, when it was 35F out).

I'm assuming they'll stop once there's actually snow on the ground? Maybe?

 

[sr20steve]

Your situation sounds similar to mine. I really don't worry about it at all. I love this hobby too much and the people who approve outweigh the few that don't.

I find it's typically wine drinkers who don't like or understand beer. Not to mention, I have 3 kids, so I think that plays a role. I think they think I brew to get hammered and lay around all day, which is sooo far from the truth. Ironically, one of my prime motivations for brewing is that it is a social ice breaker.

If they only knew how seriously I take brewing, I think it would be ok. I don't drink until I've pitched the yeast, have a detailed step by step process and take alot of pride in what I make. It's very similar to my bbq passion It's passions like these that make life worth living. As my friend TKNice says, "to be happy, you have to have something to look forward to".

I have also said before that brewing is allot like BBQ in that very small attentions to detail make one big difference in quality. And I think people who are into both are very close in personality. BBQ was my gateway drug, haha.

As far as my neighborhood, I don't think anyone even notices or could care less maybe its a CA thing.