Brewing Solo vs. Brewing with a partner(s)

[Krazykripple]

My disability makes brewing alone a bit dangerous since I don't really want to pour several gallons of boiling wort on myself. I would brew alone if I could find a way

 

[rico567]

When I started brewing, it was strictly solo. Our eldest son talked me into it, but he lived at such a distance that there was really no way I could be broken in in a group setting. So- I just read Palmer about three times and started brewing extracts. About 18 months later, while we were visiting the boy, he did a batch of AG, and I helped. I went home and immediately switched to AG.....and, except for a few instances, have brewed alone ever since. It's what I'm used to now, I have my own system, and I guess I view anyone else as more of a distraction than a help.

Also, at my age, I can't afford to view a brew session as a social event, in that there is NO drinking of beer while brewing. Once the airlock goes in the fermenter, then I'll crack a tube, but not until then.

 

[vera]

My husband always insists on helping. I would prefer to brew alone. I love taking my time, and tinkering with numbers on brewsmith. I also make fewer mistakes when alone. I have now learned to time my brew day to where hubby comes home somewhere during boil. This is when all the heavy lifting with my particular set up starts, and I certainly do appreciate his help.with that AND with final clean up ;-). He loves to mess with all the equipment such as kegs, CO2, fermenter, etc and I don't. I guess Im being a typical girl.

 

[hungry4hops]

I have only ever brewed alone

 

[dkgd184]

I have brewed both with friends and alone, while I enjoy having a kettle going in the backyard while playing with my boy I also have a regular brew crew that we try to get together and brew at least once a month. It helps to bounce ideas off others when experimenting outside the extract or partial mash kits.

 

[Slowfro]

99% of my brews have been solo. I helped my brother in law do his first batch so technically that wasn't my beer, and 1 time another friend came by to check it out. He left right after mashing in though so it doesn't really count.

I'm with most of you that I enjoy parking it in the back yard/driveway with the radio on and just doing my thing. I have opened it up to any of my friends that if they want to come check it out they're welcome to, but I'll likely be more focused on making good beer than making good conversation.

 

[mb82]

The other day I brewed my first batch totally solo. Didn't like it. I don't know, I felt like the time from flameout to pitching took entirely too long.

 

[Homercidal]

I enjoy the company most of the time, especially when showing someone new to brewing, but honestly, it's distracting to me and I usually brew better alone.

I need to take advantage of those small moments between things to do those things that I've forgotten about, or to run through the process and recipe and remember to do things and get things ready.

Once my new rig is put together and I finalize my system, it should start to get more second nature and I can afford to socialize and educate without fear of forgetting something, or having to scramble to adjust for a problem.

This reminds me I need to put together a stout recipe for my next brew day. IPA is almost ready to come out of the ferm chamber and I will want to get the stout in there right after I pull it out.

 

[rifraf]

I brew (extract) alone mostly out of necessity. My other brew friends do partial boil extract to so no one has portable burners, and we can only do one pot at a time on the kitchen stove. I'd love to do social brewing days though.

One friend is jumping to all grain and getting a burner. Once he does that we can probably start brewing together. Will probably make me want to get one too

 

[Revvy]

I like both. I enjoy group brewing with my friends or on big brew days like last week, where we had a couple hundred gathered some brewing and some drinking. And I also like doing small batch brewing on my own. Usually that involves me brewing and cooking some uber complex meal at the same time.

 

[ktblunden]

I generally brew alone, but I prefer an extra set of hands at certain points. My wife usually helps me out, but the last brew I did was a big AG IIPA and she was out of town so I had a friend come over and give me a hand.

 

[bchurch]

I always brew alone...... Nobody likes me, or maybe it's because my breath smells like fish heads.

 

[Stauffbier]

Seems as though many of us prefer to brew alone. Like you said, it is very relaxing, Stauffbier calls it "zen". I'm the same way.

You didn't mention if you are doing extract or all grain. If you happen to be doing all-grain, if you have a crusher or plan to get one don't get all caught up in the perfect motor and pulley system or drill to do the work. Attach the hand crank and grind it yourself.

It's not always practical I suppose but if you can set away a half hour of peaceful time to weigh out the grain and grind it yourself; I think on a zen factor of 1-10, you'll find grinding by hand is around an 11, but that's just me.

One thing I truly enjoy about this hobby is DIY and patience. Great therapy when life get's to busy. I'll never use a drill again to crush grain.

Wow! Where did all that come from?

I don't have a mill yet, but I can see myself being the hand crank type at heart. Although, since I do physical labor for a living I can also see myself tiring of that process. I actually crushed 6lbs of 2 Row with a rolling pin once. It was a great workout and it definitely had that "zen" quality to it, but I won't be doing that again! I'm sure when I get a mill I'll be trying the hand crank for the first time around to "feel it out"...

 

[Jayhem]

I agree on the familiar recipes thing. If I'm brewing something I've done before and don't have to think about it too much then I like brewing with the wife or a friend but I do enjoy a brew session alone for the peace and quiet and the grin on my face.

 

[seanf76]

my 9 year old is my hop helper he hates the smell of the malt though so i usually brew when no one is home. he likes to help bottle the brew up though

 

[Gameface]

I'm a lone brewer. I do all grain in my back yard and have sort of a 4-tier system going. My HLT is on a deck coming off my main floor. My yard is sloped so I have a walk-out basement. I have my mash tun on a table below the deck then my boil kettle on the patio. When it's time to drain the boil kettle I put my fermentor in one of the chest freezers just inside the basement door and gravity feed the wort straight from the kettle into the fermentor inside the chest freezer, so I don't lift very much at all.

I'm a loner in most things. I like to do things my way. Especially when I'm trying to use a new piece of equipment or change my process I don't want anyone there creating variables that I didn't plan to account for.

Brew days usually end with me secretly fist-pumping and saying to myself, "You did it again you SOB, you made beer." That would be awkward if someone else was there.

 

[Conan]

I brew alone, but not because I want to. My friends who want to try brewing are always busy on my brew days. I know what you all mean by the zen thing, too. It is nice to have that few hours of me time. Kyle

 

[BBL_Brewer]

I used to prefer brewing alone. Less mistakes that way. For the last year or so though, I've had a brew partner that spits batches with me. At first it was kind of a pain, but now that he has gotten the process down better it works out great. I did have to ban cell phones on brew day though because I got tired of his phone blowing up every two seconds. It was kind of amusing watching him clean up his first boil over though. He should have been paying more attention instead of texting.

 

[jcdouglas]

I typically brew alone, but sometimes I will invite friends over to see the process and help. Plus, two of my friends who I invited are now brewing, which is an added bonus as I get to drink their beer.

 

[Alchemy]

I have a few friends who will come over and help some times and when I say help I mean heckle me and drink all my beer. Why do I have friends again? I need a real brew buddy....someone who will show up at my door with 15 lbs of grain, hops and yeast and say "ya busy?"

I have been teaching a few people how to make mead however and that has been a lot of fun. Always cool to have someone just as excited to try new ingredients or methods.

Now that I am used to my brew system most of my brewing will be done while I work since I work from home so it will be solo....I need a dog

 

[spearko520]

i once let my ex wife help me brew a batch. She ended up hating it because of the glass she had to pick out of my back when i fell off the top of a stepladder onto a mirror that she had laid across the toilet. Never again. i prefer to be up real early or late and i relish the solitude. i will let friends who want to learn observe and report, and i let my daughter help- but that's it. i have a wife- i don't need a partner.

 

[bwomp313]

I need a real brew buddy....someone who will show up at my door with 15 lbs of grain, hops and yeast and say "ya busy?"

that's the dream isn't it?

 

[spearko520]

see and I found the journey from hand cranking to drilling to be the most satisfying out of all my upgrades

YES!!!
i may have found my epitaph!!!!

 

[BBL_Brewer]

I have to agree. Motorizing my grain mill has made brew day much more enjoyable. Watching the grain in the hopper magically disappear.....now that's zen.

 

[rbstryker]

My brew friends and I like to split the cost of our bigger recipes to cut down on cost - those days are very hectic and I wish I only brewed alone. If it's just one other person it's usually fine, but when I'm trying something new, I like to be alone for the sake of being able to focus and not distracted.

 

[grimstuff]

I've done both, and while I really dig the solo Flow moments, I always enjoy company.

 

[BeerDoctor5]

My first brew was an extract and I did it alone. The next brew was AG and I invited a friend and my Dad. They both came over around the boil. The next time my buddy stopped by for an hour or so but my Dad was there the entire time.

I got my Dad into good beer a few years ago. I've since turned him into a hop head and we enjoy talking beer. My brewing has bonded us even more. The last two times I brewed he was over from start to finish and I think it's going to turn into a tradition for us to brew together. He's really getting into it! Now he texts me beers that we should try and clone. He's caught the bug too:rockin: My daughter also helps me bottle so it's a family affair

 

[rodwha]

I do extract + grains. I don't really need the help, but I would never turn help down. I think I rather enjoy brewing alone though. I'd fear losing my focus. I'm easily distracted.

I've been trying to get people interested in brewing and often offer to show them what's involved 1) to turn someone else on to a cool hobby that can share ideas and homebrew, and 2) in hopes of finding someone I know to take advantage of ordering bulk ingredients.

Now bottling is another story! My SWMBO helps me with that and I enjoy the help.

 

[Spartan1979]

I brew alone. I've brewed with others in the past, but it just seems that one of the brewers dominates the process (in any group, sometimes it's me). In the end, it just feels like I (or the other guy) was along for the ride, but it wasn't really my (his) beer.

Brewing alone doesn't mean there can't be others around, BSing and drinking beer, it just means I'm the only brewer for that batch.

I will probably still brew with others occasionally, but 90% of my batches will be on my own.

 

[tennesseean_87]

I brew with a friend. We split the cost on the equipment and ingredients. We will brew on Saturday at his house. Three weeks later, we will bottle at his house, split them evenly, then move everything to my house and start the next batch. He prefers more hoppy. I prefer more malty. But we both appreciate a variety of styles and are having a great time trying stuff we can't get at Costco.

I just recently got a few 6 gallon buckets so I am going to start doing some batches on the side when the fermentor is over at his house.

This is how I started, but then my partner quit. He wasn't as into the whole process as I am.

I always brew alone...... Nobody likes me, or maybe it's because my breath smells like fish heads.

What kind of fishhead? Dogfish?

I'm a loner in most things. I like to do things my way. Especially when I'm trying to use a new piece of equipment or change my process I don't want anyone there creating variables that I didn't plan to account for.

Brew days usually end with me secretly fist-pumping and saying to myself, "You did it again you SOB, you made beer." That would be awkward if someone else was there.

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