Don't drink (heavily) and brew

[azazel1024]

We've met? I've only been to CONN a couple times, and that was a long time ago....

No way I could do an 8+ABV beer and stay focused on hitting all my times. I'd have one, then another, and well hell at that point I might as well just turn everything off and go for a nap.

Every now and then I get a drive by "helper" who's under 5, I'm not going to take a risk of someone getting burned on something hot. She does love to add hops, though....

You are lucky. My 3 and 5 year old generally ignore it. I WISH my 7 year old would. He loves to walk in to the kitchen, "Daddy. Are you brewing beer again? It STINKS! STOP IT!"

sigh.

 

[BUCKNUTS]

I don't think I could ever brew by myself or with anyone who isn't drinking during the brewing process.

I agree. It should be unlawful to brew beer without drinking beer. I set up in a way that I dont need to be sober. That's what timers, brewing calculators and brew day sheets are for.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Just think...what if this had been the best beer you ever made. Then the problem would have been trying to replicate the exact same errors......instead of making NEW drunken errors.

It probably sucked because you forgot to say "BOOM" when you made each hop addition.

 

[azazel1024]

Just think...what if this had been the best beer you ever made. Then the problem would have been trying to replicate the exact same errors......instead of making NEW drunken errors.

It probably sucked because you forgot to say "BOOM" when you made each hop addition.

It generally takes me at least a beer before I am willing to start cackling while I stir my pot heating up to strike temperature (BiaB). Boil, boil, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble *hehehhehhehehehehhe*

 

[Roadliner]

I don't think I could make it through a brew day without drinking... heavily lol. My druken state isusually what make cleaning bareable

 

[rodwha]

I made mistakes on brew days when I started with a beer, and that was prior to my partial mashes! These days I generally wait until I've added my bittering addition to crack the first, and despite this I still makes mistakes once in a while. But it's sacrilegious not to drink beer on brewing and bottling days, just as it is on BBQ and mowing days (after a shower and plenty of water that is!).

I certainly wouldn't try brewing after happy hour. My beers are generally 5.2-7% and I'll have 5-7 or so. But that's also in as many hours as I'm a bit of a slow drinker (1 every 30-60 mins) unless drinking with friends.

I do partial mash/partial boils and have considered boiling my LME and top off water (3 lbs and water is ~1.5 gals to total 5.5 gals) with my aroma addition (7 mins) and cooling so I'm not exactly using straight water for top off to reduce my overall IBU's so much. But then I'm also considering reducing my over all volume so as not to need more than 1 qt of top off.

 

[BrotherGrim]

My brew days normally start at 6AM. No way in hell am I drinking that early.

I have found it is impossible to drink all day if you don't start in the morning.
:cross:

 

[SnakeRidge]

I have found it is impossible to drink all day if you don't start in the morning.
:cross:

This is true. I've collected a lot of data on the subject. I have also found that a fishing rod somehow multiplies the number of beers I drink in the morning.

 

[blizz81]

Gotta drink homebrew while brewing homebrew. Although I really don't drink more than three beers in a "session" anymore anyways. (Granted, I like and mostly brew stronger beers, but still, after years of being the binge guy every Friday and Saturday, I decided to give up my belt a couple years back).


Though we did use the last brew as our platform for drinking one of my xmas presents, a 3L bottle of Double Bastard. And we figured a 3-hour boil barleywine brew was enough of a spectacle for that (along with some homebrewed 10% quad and 10% belgian golden strong and a bomber of Abyss going around the brew circle). Yeahhh....there were a couple things around flame out and after that I don't quite remember...

 

[brick_haus]

You are lucky. My 3 and 5 year old generally ignore it. I WISH my 7 year old would. He loves to walk in to the kitchen, "Daddy. Are you brewing beer again? It STINKS! STOP IT!"

sigh.

Thats how/why I quit smoking 26 years ago. I'm sure my wife put him up to it!! Sure can breathe better now though..

 

[rodwha]

I quit smoking cigarettes when mine was about a year old. These days I do enjoy a cigar once in a while though...

 

[azazel1024]

Thats how/why I quit smoking 26 years ago. I'm sure my wife put him up to it!! Sure can breathe better now though..

I don't smoke, but it is half the reason I normally brew outside on my burner instead of in the kitchen on my electric range. Less complaining from the wife about clean up and my older son about the stinky smell.

Listen kid, if you behaved better daddy wouldn't need to drink so much, so I wouldn't have to brew as often.

Just saying

 

[fuelish]

Listen kid, if you behaved better daddy wouldn't need to drink so much, so I wouldn't have to brew as often.

I believe that's an excerpt from the little known, non-bestselling childrens book Daddy Drinks Because You Cry, yes? I might have one or two when making something , but anymore, I make meads, and it's a lot faster and not as time crucial as brewing....hard to mess up a mead, other than either poor sanitization or poor recipe choices....heck, there's no boiling involved (unless making a braggot, I guess) As far as drinking in the a.m., I work 12 hour night shifts doing floor nursing .... if I want a beer or a mead at 08:00, AND I worked the night before, I'm entitled to it, dammit....it's like dinner time for the "real world" and it's DEFINITELY "happy hour" when I get outta that place, adult beverages or not!!!

 

[sboyajian]

I don't care, I'm pitching it

This made me laugh.. you could almost see the disgust in yourself ...

 

[brew_ny]

Don't drink (heavy beer) and brew

fixed that for ya

that is why I drink milds brew day

all the best

S_M

 

[passedpawn]

I don't drink and brew, ever. I brew early in the AM. Beer time is when I'm done and cleaned up.

 

[TungstenBeer]

Great story, I enjoyed it a lot! nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:

That's why I don't start drinking until at least the mash has begun.

I have this problem where if I have a beer, I have to drink it so I drink fast... so I don't crack the first one until after the hot break!

 

[brew_ny]

I don't drink and brew, ever. I brew early in the AM. Beer time is when I'm done and cleaned up.

I wait until I pitch the yeast , I clean as I go

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

My semi-fitting story is don't have a drunk girlfriend by you when making Ice Cream. I was making a custard, basically a chocolate covered oreo ice cream. it was really freaking good. At some point we were gonna make a mint ice cream, forget when, but I digress. ANyway while I had my back turned or something she snuck some mint extract into my Oreo ice cream. Now a little mint extract would have been fine. I was tired and buzzed so I didn't catch it (not that that would have mattered) so I put the ice cream in the freezer to set up. Come the next day, I open the ice cream and my nose does an immediate WTF. I couldn't understand how mint got into it. Turns out she dumped a solid half an ounce of mint extract into an ice cream that mind you already had vanilla extract in there. It was terrible. It was like eating creamy listerine. Just terrible.

 

[wyobrewer1]

During my first ever brew, I consulted a friend of a friend for some advice. He goes "ok, first thing's first. Open a beer."

The rest is history.

 

[Dixon9717]

Great story.
I try not to drink to early into the game but fail as often as not.......

 

[SharonaZamboni]

The more I drink, the longer it takes me to brew.
Have a beer while heating mash water. Oh, it's too hot. I'll have a beer while it cools a bit. Now it's cooled too much, better have a beer while it heats. Repeat. Several times.

 

[DonnieZ]

That's why I don't start drinking until at least the mash has begun.

Can verify, but it's not like we don't try to get you to start earlier.

 

[cyberbrew]

I generally wait until the boil to grab my first beer. So far that's worked well, at least with regards to "mistakes".

 

[ChefRex]

Far too many words in this thread, I might reread in the morning as a brew