Brewing with the Kids?

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tunemarshall

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Hey all!

Just finished up my second batch yesterday, (having an empty primary didn't make much sense to me). It was a snow day, so I and my 5 year old had the day off. As I was brewing he was there the whole time, helping measure and time things, smelling the grains and the hops. This morning he ran down to see if we had fermentation, the bubbling airlock made his day!

It was a wonderful brew day of course. Snow day, makin beer, hanging out with the kid. But now I have a 5 year old who is "way excited" about my homebrewing hobby. Which of course raises all sorts of questions.

My first reaction is the same as when I caught him checking out the girls at the pool, "THATS MY BOY" :ban:

But it is beer and he is 5. I can hear the meeting with the principal in my head.

I can think of many reasons to keep him involved to some degree, and many reasons not to. Instead of listing all my pros and cons, I wanted to hear anyone elses thoughts on it.

Kevin
 
You are not alone.

Yes, my 4 year old has had a "brewing vocabulary" since he could talk. He likes to describe the color of my beer. Though he loves amber the most and calls most beers amber.

He knows words like mashtun, sparge, carboy, airlock, vorlauf...

Names of beer styles.

Knows about hops and growing them...


Should be interesting when he starts school. :D
 
it's get even better when my daughter told her kindergarten Teacher we were making beer. Her teachers totally hot, I can't wait till she calls me into her office to discuss it.
 
I can't brew with my son yet, he's a mere 2.5 years and I prefer him to not learn about propane the hard way.

Fortunately, with regards to beer vocab, he refers to all my beers as "Coffee". I have yet to figure out why.
 
I have two boys, 5 and 3. They both know about my brewing, and me and the wife do talk about brewing and beer with them. I'll answer every question they ask, and they do ask some good ones, like "why is your beer black but mommies beer is yellow?" and "What does yeast do?"

But they also understand that beer is strictly for adults. When they get older we'll have honest conversations with them about alcohol appreciation and responsible drinking, but they are too young for that sort of thing now.

I don't let them "help" me anymore on brewday (I brew at night after they go to bed). Frankly, they just get too excited and get in the way. I'm nervous having them around the burner and the hot water, and I don't want them to get hurt. Maybe when they get older and can control themselves better they can help, but they are too young right now.
 
My 5 year old son helps me brew too. He likes grinding grain, though he's not strong enough to do it for very long. The other day he told me there were sticks in my beer- vanilla beans.

I don't have any problem with it. I drink responsibly and never drink and drive. I figure it's showing him how to have a healthy relationship with beer, and I hope it instills a sense of self-sufficiency. As a society we are way too worked up about alcohol. I guess I have a European attitude about it.

He's had little sips of my beer all the way through the process, and he's chewed grains and smelled hops. He particularly likes sweet wort, but doesn't care much for the finished product. He used to- when he was little, he grabbed a Guinness bottle out of my hands and took a huge swallow, and poured most of it all over himself. SWMBO wondered why her 2 year old smelled like a frat house, and why his clothes were stained brown...
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
I can't brew with my son yet, he's a mere 2.5 years and I prefer him to not learn about propane the hard way.

Fortunately, with regards to beer vocab, he refers to all my beers as "Coffee". I have yet to figure out why.
Click to expand...

My son actually started "helping me" about that age. I did not let him near the brewpot except holding him and letting him dump the hops in.
 
I have a 3 yr old son and an 18 month old son and I can't wait until they're old enough to help me. I'm not sure there are a lot of cons that come to mind with having them help me. I suppose fokls might think the exposore to alchohol at such a young age is a bad thing but I dont' really see it that way.

I would MUCH rather have my sons grow up around it and seeing Dad have a drink or two responsibly rather than their first real exposure be kegs stands with Bud Light at a high school party.

It's basically "cooking" and spending some time together cooking, and keeping their interst in it doesn't seem like a bad thing to me at all.

Like I was saying, I can't wait until they're old enough to help out.
 
My son has kind of lost interest in helping. Kids are like that. Once you let them do something it loses its fascination.


I probably will look like a bad parent in most folks eyes for admitting this but I too allow my son a sip of the beer I am drinking. My wife and I disagree on this but I do not hide it from her. So far he respects the fact that it is a drink for grownups and is satisfied with a little sip (I approximate he only has about a tablespoons worth or so) just to see what the different beers are like. He always asks. He will usually say "Have I tried that one before?" If I say yes then he does not ask to try it. He mostly seems to want to try new ones. Not sure if I should be concerned about the fact that so far he has not said yuck to any of them. :eek:
 
You are all hitting on my pro's. The only real cons to it are Societal ones, which can all be easily deflected. The presence of boiling wort and flames is a con as well, but learning safety is another life skill we all need.

We are also having a good time fixing up the "BrewCorner" of the basement and coming up with a Brewery name. He is really looking forward to bottling.
 
Zymurgrafi said:
Not sure if I should be concerned about the fact that so far he has not said yuck to any of them. :eek:
Click to expand...

Nah... now... if you come home from work and he's plopped on the couch with three or four empty bottles, an empty bag of potato chips, a butt in one hand and the remote in the other flipping back and forth from ESPN and Monster Garage...

THEN... Then I think it's time to be concerned.
 
Zymurgrafi said:
My son has kind of lost interest in helping. Kids are like that. Once you let them do something it loses its fascination.


I probably will look like a bad parent in most folks eyes for admitting this but I too allow my son a sip of the beer I am drinking. My wife and I disagree on this but I do not hide it from her. So far he respects the fact that it is a drink for grownups and is satisfied with a little sip (I approximate he only has about a tablespoons worth or so) just to see what the different beers are like. He always asks. He will usually say "Have I tried that one before?" If I say yes then he does not ask to try it. He mostly seems to want to try new ones. Not sure if I should be concerned about the fact that so far he has not said yuck to any of them. :eek:
Click to expand...

It all started with a dip of the finger for me. Now, I have to keep my glass out of reach. It took me a few times to learn that a glass-o-beer left unnattended was oppoirtunity for my boy and I've caught him sampling more than a finger dip before I learned to take the glass with me or put it out of reach. So far, he too has never said his version of "Yuck" but, when he sample the hoppiest ones he always lights up with a "Yuuuuuuuummmmmy!"

I am thinking I should lock up the IPA's or I may have a situation on my hands.
 
Nah... now... if you come home from work and he's plopped on the couch with three or four empty bottles, an empty bag of potato chips, a butt in one hand and the remote in the other flipping back and forth from ESPN and Monster Garage...

THEN... Then I think it's time to be concerned.
Click to expand...

Especially since he is 35 and doesn't have a job yet.... :D


But seriously I would think it would give them an insight into beer and demystify it a bit when he is 16-18 and all the friends are trying to get any kind of beer to drink. May think they are idiots cause it isn't a big deal, he knows how to make it, has been for years and they are all drinking it like morons.

Or he may be a god to the friends, because he can make it. Then again he may also be the annooying snob that corrects them when they are claiming Rolling Rock is the best Ale ever cause it is from rock water, then later goes on to explain the hops is what makes IPA bitter, when they sneak a Stone IPA from someones fridge and make the bitter beer face, and gets into the IBU calculations and various hopping schedules.

Either way I have a feeling he will be more responsible with it in the end. I just think back to the idiot things I did and said, and thought I knew. If only a responsible person had shown the way, but in this country that responsible person would goto jail for it, stupid.
 
I think it's great that you guys are letting your kids help. It is way better than using the TV babysitter. It is also educational-Boil time/measures/and beginning a process to see a final result. Just because it's beer should not be a reason to get them involved.
 
Cape Brewing said:
Nah... now... if you come home from work and he's plopped on the couch with three or four empty bottles, an empty bag of potato chips, a butt in one hand and the remote in the other flipping back and forth from ESPN and Monster Garage...

THEN... Then I think it's time to be concerned.
Click to expand...

Shiat. You just described my weekends when my wife is away. :off:
 
i think its also great to show your kids that you have interests and hobbies other than work, and that you can do your best at many things other than watching tv. My daughter loves to cook with me. Making beer also goes along with show like "how stuff works/is made" . She loves that suff.
 
One way to keep him involved and not worry about it too much is to have him brew soda. It's kind of the same process in many ways and he can be creative and make all kind of different flavors using different ingredients. I don't have kids but I know a guy that does this and I know that I'll do the same when I have kids. Keep him involved in your brewing as well just let him know he can't taste the finished product until you deem him old enough. Besides kids usually don't like beer, they are all for the soda.
 
Well, my oldest is almost 10 so it's a bit of a different situation. However, he loves to hang around while I'm brewing and check out all the equipment and the process. What's really cool is that he got a Mr. Rootbeer kit for Christmas! So last brew day, I was brewing up a batch of beer, and he was making a batch of root beer...so cool! I of course helped him with sanitizing and filling the bottles but he did most of the work. I highly recommend the Mr. Rootbeer kit...easy to follow instructions and makes some decent root beer too. :mug:
 
The problem arises when the zero tolerance, nanny state gets wind of that little sip and you get stern looking humorless people dragging your children away and you are getting charged with reckless endangerment, contributing to the delinquency, underage drinking and stoopidity in the night time. The state takes a dim view of just about eveything, including that innocent little sip. They don't see any difference with that or letting the kid take a toot off of your crack pipe.

If your kid goes to school and tells Mrs. Ballbricker daddy lets him taste his beer....The feces have just dropped into the launcher, engage rotating oscillator.

Never underestimate the mean spiritedness of your local authorities.

end of rant:
 
Fortunately for me may daughter (and wife) dont like the taste of beer. Although my daughter (8) loves to help me in any way she can. In fact, she gets mad if SHE cant to the additions to the brewpot.

I love the fact that I have an extra set of hands come bottling or transfer time as it makes my job easier, and she gets to help. (Not to mention we have some cool bonding time)
-Me
 
You can only shield people from things while you are around them.
Shielding them from (potentially) harmful ideas that are present
outside your presence is only ill-preparing them for when they will
inevitably come in contact with them.

I can't think of a more positively enriching way to learn about beer
than by brewing with your father.

And they ARE going to learn about it.

Edit - There may actually be laws about letting your kids handle
beer during the brewing. Not that the cops are watching through
your window, but the nanny state post is dead on.
 
Well ranted IowaHarry! I am sure we could all come up with some anecdote to give credence to that. Which is why that one solitary Con on my list of "why NOT to brew with your kids" has the potential to negate all the pros.

It only takes one crazy person.

Like most "adult" topics, you have to be sure your kids understand discretion. When you can and cannot talk about certain things and who you can't talk to about what.

But we who embrace the richness and joy of life cannot be swayed! First they came for my Bottlecapper, and I said nothing, then they came for my carboy, and I said nothing. . . . .

One con is that my boy dropped and broke my hydrometer. Gonna have to go the LHBS! Not a con

Kevin
 
Cape Brewing said:
......I'm not sure there are a lot of cons that come to mind with having them help me. I suppose fokls might think the exposore to alchohol at such a young age is a bad thing but I dont' really see it that way.

I would MUCH rather have my sons grow up around it and seeing Dad have a drink or two responsibly rather than their first real exposure be kegs stands with Bud Light at a high school party.

It's basically "cooking" and spending some time together cooking, and keeping their interst in it doesn't seem like a bad thing to me at all.....
Click to expand...

iamwithstupid.gif
This pretty much sums up my feelings as well. All of mine help at one time or another. Of course, the 2 year old is usually just keeping the dog in line with my mash paddle, but he tries.
Each of mine have tried it at one time or another as well, but not necessarily with positive responses. My wife and I have much more "world-wide exposure" than the average bear, so our views are a bit different from the norm here in the states.
 
0202 said:
......Edit - There may actually be laws about letting your kids handle
beer during the brewing. Not that the cops are watching through
your window, but the nanny state post is dead on.
Click to expand...

I stumbled upon the law governing alcoholic beverages and minors here in SC. I was a bit shocked, but it is lawful for an adult to give "HIS MINOR CHILD" alcohol within the confines of their home. BUT, this varies state to state.
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
It all started with a dip of the finger for me. Now, I have to keep my glass out of reach. It took me a few times to learn that a glass-o-beer left unnattended was oppoirtunity for my boy and I've caught him sampling more than a finger dip before I learned to take the glass with me or put it out of reach.
Click to expand...

Again, so far so good. He respects the beer glass. Though he did once chug down most of the glass of my wife's apfelwein when she left it unnattended. Oops. We weren't sure what was up with him at first he was wilder than usual and a bit flushed in the face. Then we figured it out. Doh!

I believe he thought it was just juice. I think he learned a lesson there. He was not too pleased at the effect himself even if he did not really understand what was happening.
 
Originally posted some laws for GA, but apparently they are VERY complicated
so I removed them...
 
I have a 4 year old who loves to brew beer with me,
in fact I just got off the phone with her and she was very exited when I asked if she is going to help me with my Oatmeal Stout tomorrow.
I see nothing but good things coming out of this
1) I get to spend more quality time with her
2) my wife is happy since my daughter is not bothering her for a couple of hours
3) she'll have great science projects in high-school, starting with chiller....etc
4) Since she'll know how to make beer at home she will not have that urge to have a fake ID to go by some fizzy yellow stuff that some call beer.
 
Nah... now... if you come home from work and he's plopped on the couch with three or four empty bottles, an empty bag of potato chips, a butt in one hand and the remote in the other flipping back and forth from ESPN and Monster Garage...

THEN... Then I think it's time to be concerned.
Click to expand...

THEN you realize the apple does not fall far from the tree.
 
I don't have kids, but hope to one day brew with them.

I also think the idea of making soda occasionally is a great one, allows them to try out what they helped make.

I agree that it can be a great way to start teaching the kids about enjoying beer/alcohol responsibly.

I started reading the thread, though, because I wanted to mention my boss and his kids.

I work for a new, small microbrewery. (3 FT, 4-5 PT employees) He has twin 5 year old daughters and a 6 month old son. The girls have been brewing with their daddy since they were a few weeks old. Our flagship beer came out of him wanting to brew but not haul them (2 or 3 at the time) to the home brew shop so he worked up a recipe based on what was at home.

The funniest thing is that the girls now love to help out at the brewery. I'm in charge of bottling there, and they came in at the end of the day yesterday and helped open boxes. They love to help me clean up the tasting room on a friday afternoon before tours the next day. One time I let one of them "help" me carry a fresh keg up to the front to put on tap.

Once I came in wearing a t-shirt I was given that had Santa holding a beer and said "Its the most wonderful time for a beer!". They thought that was the funniest thing, especially when I noted it was a lighter colored beer and said it was our Wheat that Santa was drinking. Then one girl got all excited and declared that she was going to leave a bottle each of our beers for him!

Probably the funniest thing of all was a few weeks ago, we had a bbq at the brewery for the local bar/restaurant/liquor store employees to give them a chance to see the brewery, try out our new beer, etc. I was hanging out by the kegorator with our then new IPA. We taught one of the girls how to pour a beer, and she was doing better than some of the people who work at the bars!
 
I have a 3 year old daughter and a 1 year old baby boy, my daughter saw me brewing and knows i like to brew and drink beer, she gets a sip once in a while cause she is just curious about the taste but thats about it, she never asks for more than a sip.

So i don't see any big deal with that, when she gets to be a teen she might even find it pretty stupid to see her friends trying to get some at the store with a fake ID then to hide and drink it nervously like it's the coolest thing on Earth.

When i was a kid everyone was drinking beer at family gatherings and then people sang and danced, never any attitude problems or fights or anything like that, if people got too drunk they just slept over at the place and that was all.

I'm from Quebec and here Beer is as commonly used as the French use wine, and there are no specific laws for brewing beer in Quebec, unless you make a moron out of yourself and go driving under the influence that is.
 
I have a 3 year old girl and 18 month old twin boys....I fully plan on letting them be involved in my hobby when they start taking interest. I haven't allowed them to take a sip yet, but I don't see a problem with that. The worry about having to answer to CPS or an over-bearing school administrator at some point is a realistic threat. I happen to think that the more serious and more likely threat is to those kids who grow up sheltered from all it and can't handle unlimited access to it once they get to college. I would think that the number of parents getting prosecuted for serving their own children alcohol responsibly in the privacy of their own home is far less then the number of kids that die as a result of alcohol related accidents. I don't have any statistics to support that, but I am much more worried about the latter.

I personally hope that by the time my kids get to college (or even high school), they will understand what good beer is, and won't have interest in doing keg stands of Busch Light :). Since it will be more difficult for them to access good beer until they are of legal age, maybe it will curb their drinking a bit until they are old enough to buy it on their own.

Because let's be realistic, how many of us refrained from drinking until we were of legal age? We can't expect our kids to do the same thing. If you educate your kids about it and expose it to them (not their friends) in very limited quantities, they will be more likely to trust you and be up front with you about their drinking habits.

Just my drug store psychology :)
 
Sounds like fun. Teaching your child a fun hobby that he/she may get into later in life, I would include if i had any kids.
 
its kinda like demistifying it for them. Hopefully it works. I drink less now that I am drinking for the taste of it than in my get drunk college years.
 
I've discussed this with my wife. My son is only 5 months old so it will definitely be some time before he can help, But I think if he takes an interest and wants to help then that is a very good thing. Anything a parent and child can do together (within reason of course, lets not go on family killing sprees!) is a good thing. And if/when he takes an interested and hangs out with me all day putting work into it, yes he will be able to taste it at all stages. Mind you post fermenting sips will be just that SIPS. But I plan on introducing him to beer young. Not giving it to him buy the glass by any means but tasting it and seeing what it can be. and I think at 15-16 he should be able to drink a glass of Dad's beer at dinner with Mom and Dad. 1 Glass. I want to promote the craft of the drink, not the effect it CAN have. He will probably still drink in highschool at parties but I hope through the years before that he can pick up, through my teaching, that beer beer can be fun but it can be dangerous if abused. It should be about the craft, and not the quantity. SWMBO doesn't agree with the young age drinking, but he is still her tiny little baby, that may change.
 
I view the subject of beer and alcohol the same way I view firearms in the house. Education is always the best policy. If you want your kids to respect your firearms, teach them about them so its not so much of a mystery. Likewise alcohol, teach them about it so it doesn't get abused.

I have a 12 year old son and a 10 year old daughter. From an educational perspective, I call it a real time biology experiment. They have both tasted my beers and other alcoholic beverages for several years now. Neither of them liked any of the commercial beers that I have been drinking, but of the two brews that have made it through the bottle conditioning phase thus far, they have both been met with rave reviews from both of my kids.

I have been told from my eldest that it is illegal for him to drink the stuff, which also gives me the opportunity for an education in civics and law. Which, depending on a persons perspective, can also lead to various learnings in governmental propaganda and requests to read the book "1984", but thats a discussion for later.

And one more final point to make, if I can teach them patience in the process, they will very much so be the better person for it. At the very least it will make them much less likely to be arrested for carrying a fake identification card upon the college years. That could be considered a federal offense depending on the circumstances.
 
My 10 year old daughter loves helping me on brewday, up until the point I start boiling, then her and her sister walk around the house with clothespins on their noses. Bottling day is when I get the most help, one preps the bottles and caps, I fill and cap then the other puts the bottles in the boxes. I too am just waiting for the call from the school. At least I am spending time with my family, I could have just popped in a Disney movie and done it all myself very easily. To the hyper-sensitive, over-protective school administrators all I am going to say is ... Relax and have a homebrew.

P.S. I am slightly concerned of the ramifications of this once they are of legal age to consume and discover boys, and the boys discover that my girls can make beer, how popular they may become. ah fatherly pride is a razors edge indeed.
 

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