do you brew alone?

[DaNewf]

I always brew alone.

I schedule brew nights for evenings my wife (she's a nurse) is pulling a night shift. I may start the mash before my kids are in bed but they are asleep before the boil begins.

 

[cheesehed007]

I'm still using kits (have my 1st PM waiting in the wings) so nothing too exciting going on other then watching water boil. I did have my son help on a Cream Ale. Fun having him help but pretty sure he got bored with it. I do prefer to do it myself. I crank the tunes and don't worry about anything but the brew. But I can see as I move toward all grain where help would be nice.

 

[Bulls Beers]

I also usually brew alone. I start early and nobody wants to come over..Good..

 

[yewtah-brewha]

Lone wolf here! I would like to find some brew buds, but I find it hard with work family and sleep. my last batch I started at 11 pm and finished at 6 am. not too many takers on that schedule. lol

 

[grem135]

I brew alone while SWMBO is at work. She doesn't like the smell. In fact i haven't even bottled with anyone home. The only bad is that i work evenings so i cant drink while brewing

 

[atoughram]

I brew alone..... yea, with nobody else.....

 

[Clonefan94]

I have a neighbor who started brewing 1 gallong batches. So, he's been over for my last couple of brews to watch me do my 5 gallon batches. His wife an he were over this weekend both Saturday and Sunday drinking, so I kept throwing out there how we need to invest in a larger system where we can do 10 gallons at once and split the bounty after a brew day.

 

[bobmcstuff]

Brew alone except for the GF sitting in the living room yelling at me to tidy up before I've even started

 

[badgerbrew14]

When I was posted overseas, I used to host "Brewfests" to teach people how to brew. Always simple stuff (extract with specialty grains) so the process wasn't too long. It was fun for them (and often completely new), as I was teaching I was highly organized, and I made everybody stir a bit so they all had a hand in making the beer. Most of them would wander in and out of the kitchen but spend the rest of the time socializing in other rooms, where my husband was in charge of the rest of the party. But when I am doing all-grain it's just me and the old man. I completely hose things up if I have people over for the event.

 

[LowNotes]

I brew alone, but invite a friend to come over some times.. I can't stand when focus goes off the homebrewing .. that's when times, temperatures etc are missed and things go wrong.

This weekend it was great brewing alone, didn't have to focus on anything but the beer, very serene.

I am exactly like this. Pretty much always brew alone, and almost always early in the morning on teh weekends. Nice alone time, get to relax without any thoughts of work, chores or errands, no hurrying at all, just thinking about beer and brewing.

I have had my brother over once...and I ended up messing up my hop additions because we were talking/drinking. I've had a friend over once or twice too, but usually just for the last part of the boil and wort chilling.

I thoroughly enjoy losing myself in the process, always thinking about the next 2 or three steps, and using downtime to read HBT, work on recipes, or update my brew journal. Sigh...now I wish I was home brewing instead of at work.

 

[abarker8541]

When i brew alone, i prefer to be by myself!

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

When i brew alone, i prefer to be by myself!

Just you and your buddy wiser?

 

[plumber_bob]

I brew alone as well. Most people I know aren't interested in brewing. just drinking the end product.
The two neighbors might pop in once in awhile but rarely stay too long. One, a bud I used to work with is the most frequent visitor, but not interested in the process much.

Mrs.Bob on the other hand hates my brew days. Mainly because the propane scares her. She walks wide circles around the whole setup. (she's weird that way)

I wouldn't mind a brew buddy or two, but brewing alone is cool too. And I do like the, "Me", time as well.

pb

 

[Chadwick]

I brew alone now. I used to brew with friends years ago. My beers taste much better now. Of course there are several differences that account for this. Mostly, I brew sober now. Years ago my friends and I would get sloppy drunk while brewing and things would go drastically wrong. I recall the time that the bag of salt and sugar got mixed up. Another difference is that all decisions are mine now. With friends it was like congress, bills were getting tacked on to decisions, compromises made, etc. In the end the result was every decision only made things worse.

Yes, I brew alone.

 

[tmac2050]

Solo for me as well. I'd love to have a daytime brewday and share the hobby if possible, but with 2 kids under 5, I only brew at night.

Typically, I'll heat strike water during dinner. Bathe the kids during the mash, and then head out to the garage to boil while my wife puts the kids to bed. It takes some planning to make sure brewday falls on her storynight. My setup also has a lot of moving things from the basement to the kitchen to the garage, so having company join me for that would get a little hectic in our small house.

 

[jacobg83]

I rarely brew alone. It's mostly me and my younger brother. Sometimes a friend or two. It's nice to have help cleaning and a extra set of hands. Makes for a less frustrating brew day. We always have the grill going too cause we're fat kids.

 

[Doed]

Yes, I brew alone. I live outside of town so there is no one around. My dog hangs around during brew day because I think she has figured out when I get that big shiny pot out, she is going to get a treat of sweet grain after the mash. My 15 yo daughter stops in a couple of times during the brew session to talk and occasionally I can get her to help me if I need something. She also likes to feed the dog handfuls of spent grain.

 

[MuddyCreek]

I brew alone, with nobody else, and when I brew alone. I prefer to be by myself.



Dang, looking back through the thread, I see I was beaten to it...

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I've found that when I brew with others, it seems that one of the brewers ends up dominating the brew and it's really his beer, the other guy is really just along for the ride. I've been on both sides of this.

Myself and another brewer from my club did two collaboration beers. We both brew 10 gallon batches, so we worked together on the recipes and each of us got 5 gallons of each batch.

These ended up being brew days where we invited club members over to hang out, and in essence both brew days were "dominated" by the guy whose house it was. After all, we each know our respective systems and processes like the back of our hands, so we'd probably spend more time explaining what needs to be done to the other brewer than just doing it ourselves. (Of course, we helped each other with the mundane tasks like cleaning/milling grain/etc).

All in all, having one person *in charge* actually was a good thing. We probably each made better beer by collaborating on the recipes but *NOT* letting each other have a truly active hand in the brew process, as that would have just potentially introduced errors.

 

[NathPowe]

I'm all about the solo brew. It's the only way I had ever brewed up until last Saturday. Had a buddy over who knows a bit about brewing. We had a good time but I found it distracting and didn't dig my lack of focus (we were of course pouring shnifters the whole time).

I do, however, enjoy having SWMBO around when I brew. She doesn't really brew with me as she'll be doing other things, but she will lend a hand if need be. Even better, she usually whips up a tasty breakfast. Score.

 

[Bamsdealer]

Alone. Not that I'm opposed to brewing w a buddy but when I'm not sparging or adding hops I'm doing something else like sanitizing a fermenter or cleaning a mlt. If they want to learn or brew, I'm in but if they want to drink I'd just as soon build a fire or turn on a game. The couple times I tried to get my wife involved I'd cringe as she attempted to do something unsanitary. It got to the point where she just steers clear of me when brewing.

Just friday I walked outside as she was washing her car and spraying a hose around chilling wort. She said... oh right, the beer... and went inside till I was done transferring. I swear that was on purpose

 

[mrshaund]

Alone as well, my daughters might go out and play to keep me company on occasion but mostly alone, Drinking it on the other hand is a different story seems like the In Laws know when the kegs are ready to serve.

 

[bizarrojosh]

I brew extract alone and AG with my buddy. He bought a blichmann burner and I supply the brew kettle and MLT. We brew 10 gallons and split the cost of materials 50/50 so it works out well.

It's nice b/c I can have that long brewday while eating pizza, drinking beer, and generally relaxing with my friends. I guess there are some "hectic moments" and I'm at his place so it's not as comfortable as my home, but it's fun and that's the way it will be for a while.

Extract is great for when I want me time or I want a quick 2-3 hour brew session so I can get some beer in the pipeline fast

 

[beersk]

"When I brew alone, I prefer to be by myself!" I also get too distracted when people are around. Just like knowing I don't have to entertain anyone and can focus on the beer.

 

[SudsyPaul]

I'm about 50/50 for solo-brewing.

I have a buddy that I've been trying to convince to start brewing, since he loves craft beer, but he's lazy. We did some extract brews and he likes those better than AG (effort-wise).

Whenever I solo-brew, I just do menial tasks while the mash and boil take place - namely, clean/prep equipment for the next step, or watch Chop & Brew videos or something.

 

[SupervisingChildren]

Brewing for me is like going to the restroom. I prefer to be alone, but my kids ain't having it... so it's either late night brewing, or getting interrupted every few minutes by them... so usually it's me brewing at night to get some 'alone time'

 

[46andbrew]

I am about 50/50 on brewing alone. I think I prefer brewing with my brew buddy because I usually have a few of home brews while I brew. We are both real into brewing and learning and experimenting so we bounce things off of each other.

We are both pretty intensive but one night we were brewing 2 batches back to back and were drinking all kinds of different beer. Just trying all kinds of beer and by the end of the night we were both pretty wasted. But both beers came out amazing as do all of our beers. Not bragging just been lucky so far and defiantly getting better at all phases.

I LOVE HOME BREWING!!!!!!!!!

 

[TylerGuy]

i tell my friends WHO WILL HELP ME PICK THE CORN....
ya know the story? only when no one helps me i still share with them... im a pushover.

 

[logdrum]

Alone 95% of the time, usually first thing in the morning.

 

[yewtah-brewha]

I am about 50/50 on brewing alone. I think I prefer brewing with my brew buddy because I usually have a few of home brews while I brew. We are both real into brewing and learning and experimenting so we bounce things off of each other.

We are both pretty intensive but one night we were brewing 2 batches back to back and were drinking all kinds of different beer. Just trying all kinds of beer and by the end of the night we were both pretty wasted. But both beers came out amazing as do all of our beers. Not bragging just been lucky so far and defiantly getting better at all phases.

I LOVE HOME BREWING!!!!!!!!!

nothing better that getting a buzz and doing something productive with someone you like!

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Brewing for me is like going to the restroom. I prefer to be alone, but my kids ain't having it...

Ha! I'm officially stealing that one!

 

[honreth]

Solo with random interludes of annoyances... Yep. having to crash with the folks sucks sometimes... especially when dad and bro try to tell me I'm doing it wrong.

 

[lunchbox]

I'll go with the minority here and say that I've NEVER brewed alone. I have quite a few friends that brew and there's always someone coming over when I'm brewing. And quite frankly I enjoy having people over when I brew.
Sure there have been times when I don't add my 60 min hops until 50 min, but the beer still turns out great and a good time is had by all.

 

[daksin]

Brewing totally alone today. Making 2gal of an experimental hopless ale while my wife is at work. When she gets back around 4, we'll do a 6gal of pale ale together.

 

[murppie]

I usually brew alone, but I like to filter stuff out before I go into primary so I like to have someone there when I'm racking, but aside from that I tend to be alone.

 

[hio3791]

Solo for me as well. I'd love to have a daytime brewday and share the hobby if possible, but with 2 kids under 5, I only brew at night.

Typically, I'll heat strike water during dinner. Bathe the kids during the mash, and then head out to the garage to boil while my wife puts the kids to bed. It takes some planning to make sure brewday falls on her storynight. My setup also has a lot of moving things from the basement to the kitchen to the garage, so having company join me for that would get a little hectic in our small house.

This sounds almost identical to my situation! My kids are 4 and 7. I'll start the mash shortly after dinner, get them ready for bed and work it out so my wife puts them to bed while I start the boil.

I also brew in the garage and keep almost everything in the basement so it's a lot of going up and down the stairs. I am hoping to convert part of the garage into my dedicated brewery within the next year and that will certainly help make brew day a bit easier.

 

[kh54s10]

I live alone, have no friends that brew, so I brew alone.

 

[plumber_bob]

I live alone, have no friends that brew, so I brew alone.

I feel the same way.
I like it, some
, but would love to teach someone to brew. Our even just have someone to compare notes with.

But not someone who acts like it's a chore.

pb

 

[unionrdr]

I brew alone,yeaaaheah with nobody else. you know when I brew alone...I prefer to be by myself. When I brew around breakfast,I don't want no coffee or tea,just me & my good buddy wiser,is all I'll ever need,& I brew alone! Maybe with his buddy Jack Daniels,& his partner Jimmy Beam...:rockin:

 

[clowe]

I usually brew alone on my day off during the week. I do have a friend who brews and enjoy when we get a chance to brew together.