Brew Friend Problem.

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If it were me, the next time he asks to do another batch I would just say:

"Nah, it takes too much time for us to do it this way... But I like hanging out. Tell you what, I will go with you to the LHBS and show you what equipment to buy. Its just a drain on our day to have 2 people doing 1 batch."
 
Sounds like you should start "renting" your equipment to him. "hey buddy! $20 and the rig is yours for 8 hours!". Check in occaisionally to make sure he's not burning your house down, and after 10 or so brews either the money will add up and he'll start thinking about his own rig, or you'll just continue to make money!
 
dont be a wussy. if he is your friend, honesty is paramount. tell him to stop being a biitch and shiit or get off the pot. But, it sounds like he just wants someone to hang out with and brewing beer with you is a sure way to do it. if this is the case, then maybe he needs you as a friend more than you need him. this is an opportunity for you to truely bless someone with friendship that they may have never had before. sometimes rich people get so lonley because everyone wants something from them and it is refreshing to have someone giving something of themselves, especially if it is our most valuable commodity: our time.
 
Lots of good advice here, actually. I agree with the consensus view: simply tell him you don't want to brew with him. You can and should (of course) do it politely, since you value his friendship. And it will suck to have to say it, but it really should be said:

"I was happy to show you how to brew, and I still hope you'll begin brewing yourself now that you know how, but there's really nothing more I can show you about the process until you get your own equipment. The truth is that I really prefer to brew by myself, and I prefer to buy my own ingredients (so all my work gets me the full batch). I hope you understand."

Something like that would be hard to take too badly. If you really feel guilty--you shouldn't!--but if you do, you could also get him Palmer's book as a sort of "parting gift" since your brew partnership is at an end. Not necessary, but if he's a reader, it might help inspire him, and seems like it would be a nice gesture of goodwill if you're afraid he's the type to be hurt.

Even though I am a chick ;-) , I'd probably just tell him bluntly and simply "No, thanks" the next time he asked. But I'm a little more candid than most, and I figure if a "friend" gets angry at me for straightforward, reasonable requests, he or she isn't really friend material anyway. It's too draining to hang out with people who are constantly offended.
 
This is too good. I can't believe I've said three times that I've already decided what I was going to do yet people just keep posting. Let's go for 10 pages!!!
 
wilserbrewer said:
No problem, tell him you will let him know when you are ready to brew another batch w/ him but you are pretty busy so it might be a while?? Call him when you are ready, willing and available. If it never happens, oh well?
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This. Tell him. If everything you say is true, then he's just taking advantage of you. My guess is that his SO has put the ky-bosh on his brewing at home, and this is his solution. It's not necessarily easy to do this kind of thing with a friend, but it's the answer, I believe.
 
Nostrildamus said:
This is too good. I can't believe I've said three times that I've already decided what I was going to do yet people just keep posting. Let's go for 10 pages!!!
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Well.....as you might have noticed, contributors to this forum do enjoy chiming in with their own anecdotes. If you think the thread has gone on too far, you can always ask the mods to lock it.
 
Nostrildamus said:
This is too good. I can't believe I've said three times that I've already decided what I was going to do yet people just keep posting. Let's go for 10 pages!!!
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A lot of people reply to posts as they read through a thread so they're not actually seeing your "ok I've decided what to do" when they hit "Reply". Just saying :)

Just doing my part to get to 10 pages :ban:
 
TexLaw said:
. . . or just stop tuning in and let folks go on and on forever. No one has to babysit the thread any more than they have to babysit a novice brewer who won't get his own stuff. :)


TL
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True, just unsuscribe from the thread and let it ferment in peace, like a forgotten batch of apfelwine in the closet in your spare bedroom you brewed up last year :D
 
I am thankful of the brewbuddy I landed with. We were both Extract brewers, and are both collecting everything to do our own all grain batches. At the moment, we don't either have everything, but between the two of us, we do. So he comes over and brings the parts I am missing. We Brew, drink, and eat (I have provided food so far, but he has bit of a drive, and I don't go there incase my wife needs me to help her with our kids.)

At the end of the day, we both have our wort, and clean up. The next time, we both taste each others beer because we use different fermentation techniques, and usually different yeast. In another 6 months when we both have our own completed rigs, I hope to still brew together on occasion because i enjoy the company, and it makes the day go a bit smoother, and we are learning together.

For you, I agree with what most are saying.. tell him this arrangement isn't working out for you. When I have someone that wants me to make them 5gal of beer, they pay for me to make 10, and I keep half.
 
I did read most of this, but I wanted to post something I didn't see (and because I feel the exact same way about having people over for the whole brew). Why not have him come over half way through the process? It sounds like you don't mind hanging out, you just don't feel like doing it for 4 -5 hours. Have him come around when you're going to start sparging, that way he's pretty much only there for the boil and chill (and you can have him take care of the cleanup while he's watching).

And honestly, whether he's seen it before or not, there really isn't anything to watch for the first couple of hours. Heating up water and pouring it into a container? Then waiting an hour? He can miss that and still be there for the process.
 
OH! As much as I was tired of people continuing to comment on this thread, Arkador has made about the best suggestion I have ever heard. Bob is going to pay for the entire batch next time and I'll keep half. That would totally interest me and make it worth my while.
 
Nostrildamus said:
OH! As much as I was tired of people continuing to comment on this thread, Arkador has made about the best suggestion I have ever heard. Bob is going to pay for the entire batch next time and I'll keep half. That would totally interest me and make it worth my while.
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And he's still getting a deal on some good beer over buying it in the store! Win/Win!
 
Ahhh screw it. He can get his own set up. I only pay $30 for a 12 gallon batch as is. How friggin' cheap can I get?

But nonetheless, should I accomodate, it is a win/win.
 
Nostrildamus said:
it is a win/win.
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You only get half. Half-win for you, n'est-ce pas?

If a glass is half full of beer, is it half full or half empty? A good attitude will tell you it's half full, but there's still the fact that that guy walking away drank the other half, and that might rankle a homebrewer.

Really, I'm just kidding. In fact, I have the exact same situation going on tomorrow. Pretty good friend of mine is coming over, we're brewing 10g of a Belgian quad, and he's taking half. Actually, I will continue to incubate his beer in my equipment, and he will come over and bottle when it is time. He is paying for everything. I will do this once, but that's it. I can't be a surrogate mother... it hurts too much in the end.
 
passedpawn said:
Actually, I will continue to incubate his beer in my equipment, and he will come over and bottle when it is time. He is paying for everything. I will do this once, but that's it. I can't be a surrogate mother... it hurts too much in the end.
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I am pretty sure that somebody bottling my half would make up for anything else that I had to do in the process... of course if he is only bottling his half, then ya, something has to change...

I actually know a few people that have been (like me) doing pre-hopped kits for ages... I would love to get them into doing more, just so that I could talk to somebody about the obsession (I am slowly collecting the equipment for AG)
 
lady_brewer said:
I am pretty sure that somebody bottling my half would make up for anything else that I had to do in the process... of course if he is only bottling his half, then ya, something has to change...

I actually know a few people that have been (like me) doing pre-hopped kits for ages... I would love to get them into doing more, just so that I could talk to somebody about the obsession (I am slowly collecting the equipment for AG)
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He's not bottling my half (now that would be sweet) but I'll fill and he will cap. That is really a lot of help with a 10 - 12g batch.
 

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