"I don't have time to brew."

[BL41R]

Here is my background in homebrewing: started doing research about 3 months ago (Dec '13) and didn't actually brew til 3 weeks ago. I read everything I could from extract to all grain. It consumed me. It felt amazing to learn more and more about something I originally had no knowledge about.
I felt compelled to share/suggest this amazing hobby with other beer "experts" that I would occasionally converse with at the local liquor stores. I feel th
at it is important to describe my personality. I'm very social, outgoing, I love talking to strangers.. I just love interacting with people and trying to make them think.
(on a side note, I am in school for US history and to teach high school!)

Well long story short, almost every person that I have a conversation with regarding craft beer I end up asking 'do you brew?' Sometimes I get the 'ya, i have been meaning to try it' or sometimes people respond 'i did it before but the beer was 5hitty.' Anyways, handsdown the most common response I get is that they don't have time for it. The first dozen times I heard this I didn't really know how to respond.. Now I just say 'hey I'm brewing right now and talking to you. The yeast does the work bro"...

Whatever. I think its bull**** excuse and people are lazy. I wouldn't have ever made a thread about this but almost literally everysingle person i have recommended brewing has used that excuse.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

They don't have time because they're not interested. There are a lot of things I don't have time for (because I'm not interested) but beer isn't one of them

 

[The_Professor]

...Whatever. I think its bull**** excuse and people are lazy...

Do you make your own clothes? What are you, some kind of lazy a******?

 

[dudius]

Try to remember that not everyone is interested in home brewing, even if they are knowledgeable about beer. Some people love sushi but haven't bothered trying to make it.

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[Thedutchtouch]

And brew day does take a while... I have a hard time fitting it in sometimes, particularly on days like today, where I left my house at 0500 and got home at 2000. Could I have squeezed a brew day in after work? Sure, but I also have other responsibilities, and I'm tired. Call me lazy if you want, I don't judge, or get offended.

 

[taoisilent]

Homebrewing is a serious time commitment. Extract brewing takes a couple hours, AG can take 4-6 hours. Then there's bottling, kegging, cleanup, etc.

Many folks who love good beer have too many other commitments to get involved in this amazing hobby. That and the resurgence of good craft beer in the US over the past 15 years or so makes it easier for beer lovers to find what they want at the store without having to brew it themselves.

We all have different passions as well as different priorities. Be content that YOU enjoy taking the time to brew, and that you can share your experiences here with others who also enjoy this great hobby. But try not to judge others who just aren't able or willing to make the commitment.

But it's good that you have such enthusiasm, eventually you're likely to find some converts

Cheers, and brew on, brother!

 

[ktblunden]

I brewed a hell of a lot more before my son was born than I do now. An AG batch takes me about 4-5 hours and a lot of times my weekends don't have that much extra time. I could brew at night after he goes to bed but I'm usually just exhausted.

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[BWE]

Some people cant see the forest cause the trees are in the way. Come on OP. If they dont wanna brew, whats the big deal? Do your thing and dont worry about other people.

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[chris0879]

I have had fun brewing AG. Switching back to partial mash since the birth of my son. Not lazy just busy.


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[Hopinista]

Come on guys. The OP has made his -ONE- batch so obviously he should be the homebrew evangelist

 

[brew_ny]

I work from home a couple days a week so I feel like it is my duty to brew one of those days so I can feel like I am getting paid to brew

all the best

S_M

 

[khawk95]

I have had fun brewing AG. Switching back to partial mash since the birth of my son. Not lazy just busy.


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Ditto. With a 2 year old and one on the way, time is a commodity that is hard to come by. I have to get up by 5:30 AM if I want to brew AG on the weekends. I've had to cut back, just trying to keep the pipeline full.

To the OP, enjoy the obsession, and buy all of your equipment before you have other obligations!


Roed Haus Brewery

 

[garcia]

Look at me, look at me, I've been brewing for 3 weeks.

 

[BL41R]

You are too cool.

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[elkshadow]

Why so much hate for the OP?

I kind of feel you. I wish I had a Benji for every time I've had somebody tell they want to start brewing and I say, "Well come on over Saturday and I'll show you how." Then it's, "Oh let me see what I got going on saturday." Then it's never mentioned again.

If you just don't want to do it, that's cool. But if you say you do then don't make time for it what's the point? Pretending to want to brew doesn't make you any cooler than just saying, "That's cool for you but I'm just going to keep on buying it."

Meh

 

[Clonefan94]

I always use golf as my go to, because a brew day for me, from the time I start getting equipment out, to the last piece i put away, takes about as long as it would for me to go play 18 holes. Anyways, I don't have time to golf, but I have plenty of time to brew. Mainly because I enjoy brewing and I've kind of lost interest in golf over the years. I think the "I don't have time" is a legitimate excuse. Some people just don't have enough interest in the hobby to take the time to do it.

 

[Joewalla88]

This weekend will be my first brew day in three months. With school, a full time job, and a 1 year old, it's hard to find time. I'm done with school till June though. Maybe I can squeeze in some more brew time between now and then. Anyways, It's definitely a time commitment, and some people would rather do something else with that time. I get it.

 

[mozart4898]

I kinda see where he's coming from too. I mean, I talk to people from time to time about brewing but don't know anyone else personally who brews, other than the guys at the LHBS (and when I go in there, I talk their ears off, I wonder sometimes if I annoy them, lol). I talk about it at work from time to time but I know that for the most part, they're not horribly interested unless I've actually brought some in for them to try. Of course I understand time commitments so it's totally reasonable, plus for many people they just don't believe they could make something as good or better than what they'd buy.

I know, there's home brew clubs for the exact reason of meeting up with others who brew and sharing like interests. Of course there's time commitment issues there for some people too. I'd love to belong to one, except clubs generally meet in the evenings and working in the restaurant industry I rarely have evenings free.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

I'm taking advantage of the storm to brew, if I can't go anywhere and my "to do" list is done I brew, but don't get me wrong, I got my recipe together today, crushed my grain bill and have it in a sealed 6 gallon bucket, my brew kettles, mash tun, digital scale, yeast nutrient whirlfloc tablets, fermenting bucket and yeast are in place ready to go, tomorrow morning I plan to wake up, wash and sanitize the kettles and mash tun and utensils, and start brewing hopefully by 8 or 9 am.
I try to keep busy during the mash and boil, weighing out the hops, washing and sanitizing the fermenting bucket, washing and sanitizing one of the kettles and the mash tun during the boil and so on.
I'm not an expert, but I do know that I need to utilize any free time during the brew process, I can usually complete a brew in 4-5 hrs, from start to putting all of the equipment away, since I still brew indoors on the kitchen stove, I need to make every min count.

 

[northcal]

It could be the people you talked to are too busy with other things in their lives... work, family, remodeling, and so on.

I'd cut them some slack and meet some brewers at a lhbs or club if you really want to meet brewers. It does not surprise me that strangers met at a liquor store don't brew.

Take care,

 

[Chadwick]

Hey, brewing takes time. AG brewing especially. I completely understand how some people have trouble finding the time. I strategically brew according to what my time schedule will look like in the future. For instance, this time of year I don't have a great deal of time and I know I won't have a much time free until June. So I brew barleywines. These beers need that extra time to turn out the way I like them. I don't have time to attend to them, but that is ok. They need to rest anyhow. Once June gets here, I'll brew a lot of low gravity beers where it's brew, ferment, bottle in a short time span.

It still requires time. Sometimes I feel like that guy in the "Time to make the Donuts" commercials of years past. "Time to bottle the beer", that's me. But I manage to brew the coffee so I can get the beer brewing too.

It takes an effort sometimes to get going, but all good things come with a little effort. Besides, think of how terrible it is to be out of homebrew and you live where I do. The closest thing to good beer within 60 miles of my home is Sierra Nevada. And worse, only one store within 30 miles of my home carries it. And on top of that, they usually only have Pale Ale! Which of course is decent, but I want Big Foot!

 

[Chadwick]

Hey, brewing takes time. AG brewing especially. I completely understand how some people have trouble finding the time. I strategically brew according to what my time schedule will look like in the future. For instance, this time of year I don't have a great deal of time and I know I won't have a much time free until June. So I brew barleywines. These beers need that extra time to turn out the way I like them. I don't have time to attend to them, but that is ok. They need to rest anyhow. Once June gets here, I'll brew a lot of low gravity beers where it's brew, ferment, bottle in a short time span.

It still requires time. Sometimes I feel like that guy in the "Time to make the Donuts" commercials of years past. "Time to bottle the beer", that's me. But I manage to brew the coffee so I can get the beer brewing too.

It takes an effort sometimes to get going, but all good things come with a little effort. Besides, think of how terrible it is to be out of homebrew and you live where I do. The closest thing to good beer within 60 miles of my home is Sierra Nevada. And worse, only one store within 30 miles of my home carries it. And on top of that, they usually only have Pale Ale! Which of course is decent, but I want Big Foot!

 

[jbaysurfer]

Hey, if you're 22 and you have no responsibilities beyond school, it's easy to judge. When you're 41 with kids, a mortgage AND work(school for you), life becomes about something bigger then just yourself and your wants. It becomes about others. I don't call people who recognize this lazy, I call them salt of the earth.

PS, I've got my wife and daughter and dog in bed, I'm off to make a 5L starter for the double batch Imperial RyePA and Russian Imperial Stout I intend to brew this weekend.