Forgive me HBT, for I have not brewed...

[Hwk-I-St8]

Since May.

Between my mother in law battling cancer and passing away, my first overseas vacation ever, my mother having health issues and needing my support, and a myriad of other minor issues, I just finished off the IPA I brewed in early may last weekend.

I still have some blonde ale that I brewed late may on tap and I haven't bottled the 12.8% stout that I put on CO2 in June. The stout is still sitting at 36 degrees in my fermentation freezer.

I have one open keg now but plans for both days for the next three weekends. The Oktoberfest I was going to brew is gonna have to wait for next year. I've got ingredients to brew a brut IPA so I'll do that next, but it will probably be the third week in September before I get to it.

Ugh...from a brewing perspective (and for other obvious reasons) this summer has sucked.

 

[Velnerj]

Take a look at the thread titled what I did for beer today. Try not to look at our hobby as a brew day/packaging day or nothing. You can do something everyday in the hobby of homebrewing. Browse threads, look up new equipment, plan recipes, research new brewing ideas, listen to podcasts etc.

Many of us are busy and life usually throws us for loops. Having a past time you can lose yourself into even for a few minutes a day might help with your well-being.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Take a look at the thread titled what I did for beer today. Try not to look at our hobby as a brew day/packaging day or nothing. You can do something everyday in the hobby of homebrewing. Browse threads, look up new equipment, plan recipes, research new brewing ideas, listen to podcasts etc.

Many of us are busy and life usually throws us for loops. Having a past time you can lose yourself into even for a few minutes a day might help with your well-being.

I've done many of that. I picked up a motor for my mill and motorized it. I created my Brut IPA recipe and figured out the water profile. I started the carb process for my big stout. I've spent time researching what type of system I'm going to go with when I go electric.

All those things I can do in small increments. Getting things aligned for a brew day this summer has been near impossible.

 

[Jtk78]

I haven't brewed since April due to abruptly losing my job in early May. I've stayed active here, been to every homebrew club meeting, researched and gave a presentation on yeast rinsing to the club, etc since. When I lost my job I had 4 kegs tapped. I knew 1 of them was very low, 1 was about 1/3 full, and the others were 3/4 full. They're all empty now and 2 kicked in consecutive pours.

I started a new career on July 11th. I have the ingredients for two batches, and plan to do it this weekend, but the motivation to actually do the brewing is not as high as I would like right now. Planning on prepping tonight to spark the fire if you will.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

I'm about to end my brewing drought since May as well this Sunday. I feel for you it sounds like issues piling up man I'm sorry to hear it. My reasons are not as stressful but getting back into a brew day will ease my mind.

 

[Rob2010SS]

That sucks man. I know how you feel. If I go a month without brewing, I get antsy about it and start to get a bit angry that I haven't been able to.

 

[tgolanos]

First off, sorry about your summer. We've all been there at one time or another; you'll get through it.

I haven't brewed in a while, either, but only because work has been keeping me busy. I'm also well stocked for the time being.

The last time I went through a brew-drought I was working 2 jobs and studying a post-grad degree. I tried planning my brewing, but found other things just kept interrupting my plans. I just decided one day to put everything else aside and just brew, unplanned. It ended up being the down-time I needed.