Favorite part of brew day?

[Jaybird]

So, what is your favorite part of brew day? Just curious.
For me, it's the smells. The grains being steeped. The sweet smell of the hops right out of the package.
Never gets old.

For me it's the beer design work leading up to dough in. This process for me can take as little as an hour and as much as several weeks to complete. From there then it's the putting all of the grains and hops together measuring everything out etc... Then the evening before dough in setting up the system with the proper volumes and temperatures etc. But once the HLT gets drained at dough in it's all work from there... Ha ha ha...

Cheers
Jay

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

bet you got some great tasting melanoidins tho..!

I’ll let you know. It’s carbing and settling as we speak. I was shooting for a marzen so it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

 

[bracconiere]

One of my favorite parts is the trip to the LHBS…

lol

 

[BrewMan13]

Probably the mash. I know there's so many complex reactions and such happening in there, and it's so satisfying when it comes out the other end. I remember being almost giddy at this step when I did my first all grain brew.
Second would be fermentation. Yeast seems to only recently been getting the credit it deserves for it's role in creating unique flavors, not just a tool to turn sugar into alcohol.

 

[JRHDBrew]

I did my first all grain batch on Saturday. My favorite part was mashing in and a close second was the boil the boil. The very malty smell mixed with a bit of Cascade right out of the gate. The apex was with about 25 min left the cinnamon and orange peel went in. The garage smelled amazing. Cleanup is a… I hope the Holiday Amber Ale that now has a 2.5 inch krausen will be worth the cleanup. The tad of wort I pulled from the kettle and tasted was of course a bit sweet but shows great promises.

 

[Spartan1979]

MY favorite point is after the first hops addition and everything that can be cleaned has been. That's when I have a homebrew from a prvious batch!

 

[Coastalbrew]

I enjoy the entire day. A brew day means I don’t have to, or am not going to, worry about anything but making beer.

I’m self employed and the principal owner of a small business. OK, I’m a farmer, but a farm is just another small business, with the extra, added attraction of being subject to a lot of regulatory requirements. I’m the guy who balances the books, pays the bills, deals with vendors, lenders, buyers and bureaucrats. So, having a half a day, once or twice a month, when all I have to worry about is milling, mashing, boiling, pitching, and cleaning, is a welcome break from the real world. Plus, it takes homebrew to make homebrew. What’s not to like?

This. I to own a small business and the opportunity to get to step away for an afternoon and brew is a wonderful thing.

I love the whole process, except the cleaning. Especially like the smells of the grain, wort and hops and that feeling of satisfaction when the airlock starts bubbling happily.

Cheers!

 

[InspectorJon]

Hot break, particularly with a thick dark stout.

 

[beersk]

No nap for me. I find myself peeking at the boil every 2-3 minutes.

Oh I look at the boil like sitting around a fire, just get lost staring into it. It's great.

My favorite parts of the brew day are mashing in, love the smell and closing up the fermenter after pitching the yeast and aerating. Clean up sucks, but I've got it down pretty efficiently. Most stuff is cleaned as I go, but kettle and chiller clean up pretty quick.

 

[seatazzz]

I love everything about a brewday. Not one thing comes out as best, although sitting back in my chair, sweaty, stinky, covered in grain bits, and knowing everything is clean and put away for the next day, is pretty nice. If I had to say one thing, it would be being able to start a brewday on the fly; since I buy grain and hops in bulk, and now have natural gas, I almost never have to worry about having enough ingredients/fuel to brew something.

 

[crazyjake19]

Mashing in, just as my pot of coffee is ready. From there on out it's easy work, measurements and numbers. Usually around 6:30am at that point.

 

[hout17]

Seriously folks most of the brew process is awesome. Otherwise we wouldn't do it. So many parts of the process are interesting and the smells are divine and you think holy crap I'll have beer before too long!

 

[BeerAndTele]

The best part is the beginning. The anticipation. Getting the supplies ready to go; scale on the counter, brewing salts beside it; thermometer within arm's reach; printed checklist (yeah, I like a printed copy, along with a pen) on the counter; whisk ready; begin to fill the kettle with distilled water. And so it begins.

 

[JAReeves]

I am a lover of all things brewing-related. I love designing beer recipes as much as I loved designing the specials when I was in restaurant work full-time. I love all the parts of the process in making it and getting it into the fermenter; the smells, tastes, and the feel of the crush, everything. I love cleaning up afterwards, just as I loved cleaning up after the rush was over at the restaurants. The whole process of resetting everything back to spec means that I can do it again, and again, and again....

What I find the most frustrating is that I cannot drink enough beer to empty out my supply so I can make more. I really like the process of making it.

 

[D.B.Moody]

I am a lover of all things brewing-related. . .

What I find the most frustrating is that I cannot drink enough beer to empty out my supply so I can make more. I really like the process of making it.

You need to get that brew pub started.

 

[enkamania]

Start of the boil.

 

[IPAMike]

I am a lover of all things brewing-related. I love designing beer recipes as much as I loved designing the specials when I was in restaurant work full-time. I love all the parts of the process in making it and getting it into the fermenter; the smells, tastes, and the feel of the crush, everything. I love cleaning up afterwards, just as I loved cleaning up after the rush was over at the restaurants. The whole process of resetting everything back to spec means that I can do it again, and again, and again....

What I find the most frustrating is that I cannot drink enough beer to empty out my supply so I can make more. I really like the process of making it.

Here, lemme give you my address real quick.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I'm like the OP....I like the smells. I brew a fair number of NEIPAs. For quite awhile, I really had no boil hops....maybe some the last 5 minutes, but mostly whirlpool and dry hop.

I started adding a small amount FWH for two reasons. One, I wanted a bit more bitterness, but I have to admin reason number two is a bit sketch: I just like the smell of boiling wort with hops!

 

[hamachi]

What I find the most frustrating is that I cannot drink enough beer to empty out my supply so I can make more. I really like the process of making it.

I also live in SoCal and have the same problem. So I thought of suggesting that we meet and exchange brews, but that really wouldn't solve the problem, would it?

Anyway, I too enjoy pretty much everything about brew day -- including my nap during the mash or boil, and the hot scotchy I reward myself with afterward.

 

[Jayjay1976]

When I am done. the rest is work. Fun work, but still work.

^^This is some deep truth^^ Fun work, but still work.