kids helping me brew

[Homebrewtastic]

My three year old boy is fascinated with my brewing. I have to put my brewing gear up high so that he can't reach it. He loves to help me wash bottles and watch the wort foam up when I throw in my whirfloc.

I don't think that there's anything wrong with it at all. People who do see alcohol only as something to get you drunk. Not something to appreciate and enjoy, and appreciate the effort that goes into it. I really hope to teach my son (when he's a bit older) all about brewing. That way when he gets older he will understand that beer is something to respect and appreciate instead of being a moron and doing keg stands and beer bongs just to get drunk.

 

[mr_goodwrench]

SWMBO & my daughter bought me my starter kit for Father's Day when she was 3, so it is only natural that she should help me. She is now 8 and extremely into science and loves to help me whenever I brew. There is certainly nothing wrong it at all. She does things like stir the mash, measure hops, pitch yeast, helps during bottling and when we lived in NY, helped with harvesting hops.

What is she learning from this? She is learning science, horticulture, self sufficiency, that positive male interaction is the norm and what responsible alcohol use looks like. None of this seems damaging to me.

When she was in 2nd grade, they had an ongoing assignment called writer's workshop where they would draw a picture and write a short story about it. One day she came home with several of them and as SWMBO looked through them, she came upon one titled I Help My Dad Brew Beer! There was a picture of her and I on our deck with my kettle on the burner. She talked about helping me brew and how proud she felt that she could. Also, she said that she olny did the safe stuff! SWMBO was mortified at first thinking that the teacher would call CPS on us! In fact, her teacher was kind of tickled by it.

 

[SilentAutumn]

Same here & Thumbs up for saying so!

Ha! Your avatar is awesome.

 

[HDChef]

I've got 3 boys who fight over who gets to mill the grain, throw hops in and pitch the yeast. My oldest boy wants to help bottle, especially now that I have a bench capper. The other 2, twins, always loved hearing the noises the fermenter made. My daughter, the oldest, has since retired from the brewery to make room for the boys, but works on label design.

 

[philogeek]

7 pages of similar, I'm sure, but here goes anyway: they're clowns!
My son has helped me with my winemaking for well over a year, and is already looking forward to helping me with my beer efforts, too - he's 9.

Hell, another place/time, EVERY child would know how to ferment beer and/or wine - they'd be drinking it, too.

You have nothing to worry about.

 

[emjay]

In much of France I know it's common for many kids to get a watered down glass of wine with Sunday dinners. I wouldn't water beer down like that, but the post about the girl pouring herself 1oz from the tap is adorable... it's harmless, probably even healthy for their development towards a mature, moderate drinker, and all the science lessons and whatnot wouldn't be complete without being able to experience the result.

I'm chuckling a bit imagining a parti-gyle with an already low grav beer and using it for special occasions, a more interesting take on the French thing, but in reality I know I'd personally rather have a sip of great beer than a pint of slightly beer-tasting water.

 

[ndsgr]

No, that's just standard human behaviour. Everyone thinks they know better than others about things. Happens all of time when mentioning religion, politics, breastfeeding, diet, numerology, Jersey Shore... The list goes on and on.

This is exactly why the only advice I give to new parents is, "just remember, people have been raising kids since the beginning of time. You'll be fine, trust your instincts." This is usually so contrary to what everyone else tells them, and usually get a smile out of it.

I remember being a new parent and everyone gives their opinion of how to raise a kid, even if they aren't even parents themselves! Every little freakin' detail. It used to drive me up a wall. I even got baby advice from my mom, who was too busy partying (read: drugs) until I was 8 to really experience anything.

 

[Skinner]

I'll chime in too. My kids love to help out until it gets "stinky" - right after the hops go in. They just want to spend time with me doing something I enjoy. My kids are 9,7 and 7 and as far as I'm concerned the day will come all too soon when they won't want to hang with me at all so I enjoy it while I can.

I also let them sample my beer when I'm drinking. Only a sip or two but I feel it takes away the "taboo" about the whole thing. I don't want them to feel like beer is a bad or forbidden thing.

Cheers!
K

 

[Oscbert]

We are having a daughter in March and I can't wait to teach her how to make beer.
I don't see anything wrong with it. Spending quality time and teaching your kids anything is time well spent.

 

[Huff360]

When your 15 year old daughter is "rebelling" with her boyfriend getting together enough stuff to make beer, there's are going to be in the backseat of a 2010 Camaro "rebelling".



I was always amazed to meet the parents of the wild kids in high school. They were all prudes. Us 'normaler' kids always had very cool parents. I helped dad make wine from the time I could walk till well into high school.

 

[I_B_Mongo]

Wow, you're a better man than me if you were able to bite your tongue. So long as it wasn't my supervisor, I'd have told them to shut the eff up! I have little to no patience when people decide to look down their noses at me. I don't give a damn about what they think, but once they say it out loud, I'm ready to let them know where they can stick their unwanted thoughts on my parenting abilities.

 

[sweet_corn]

My daughter was under 2 weeks old when we did a daddy daughter shopping trip. Fleet farm for pistol ammo and then to the brew store. The owner was excited to see the little kid. There have been several times where she watched her while I shopped. My wife was as we were out of the house. As she got older, she could sit in the stroller while I heated mash water, ground grains and mashed in. By 14 months she was pulling empty bottles out of the case for me to load in the dishwasher.

I know I am spending time with my kid, and that is what she will remember. She will understand that alcohol is OK in moderation. She will learn about cleaning, science, math, colors, etc.