Fatherhood And Brewing

[brhenrio]

When my first, and so far only daughter was born 20 monts ago i was just starting to brew. As i have now given up my other hobbies (sports, my body has given up on me) my wife lets me brew once a month, but i like to keep it as short as possible. So i take a half hour to an hour the night before to prep and clean as i go on brew day. During mash i will go in and play with my daughter, and she "helps" wherever she can. Picture is a few months old. Weed has grown alot since.

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[tofuguy]

It occurs to me that a brew day might be viewed as more acceptable to the family if it were combined with some other activity. I imagine a long day some weekend spent smoking some meat on the grill, playing in the back yard with the dog/in the pool/whatever you have in your back yard, and a beer quietly mashing/boiling/cooling somewhere just out of notice. If you were well prepared you could tend to it in short instances a few minutes at a time while doing everything else.

I usually mow my lawn during a brew day. Small 1/4 acre lot and everytime I have to dump the clippings I check on the brew. So my wife supports the hobby.

 

[triethylborane]

Weed has grown alot since.

Haha, thats a great pic :fro:

 

[Sailingeric]

Remember when brewing with children, they need a full hour mashing at 155

 

[Burndog]

My sons wanting a Chemistry Kit is what lead me to start brewing...

My wife bought me a Home Brew Kit for Xmas and I was like "Honey , I got enough hobbies. Send it back...." Meanwhile my sons on about wanting a Chemistry Kit with a bunsen burner etc, and how he wants this in his bedroom. Obviously that's not happening so after finding the return cost to be prohibitive, we decided it would be a good father and son project. He's 14 and did most of the work, making sure things were done on time etc etc.

Turns out making your own beer, turns out some pretty damn good beer.

Now I'm hooked, and my son does help still but not as interested as he was. :-( Same with us Surfing together :-(

Such is the life of a Dad. Enjoy it while you can as they grow up fast, get independent and their friends become more interesting then family. -> insert more sad faces.

Next I'll have to start watching for when he gets an interest in CONSUMING beer. Lock the fridge? Go back to bottles so as to monitor stock...bridges crossed when encountered.