Least favorite thing about Homebrewing?

[EPbrew]

Not having enough dedicated space for everything in one place. Constantly shuttling things back and forth between the garage, storage closet, bedroom closet, kitchen, living room etc. It would be much more efficient to just walk out to the garage and start brewing.

 

[iijakii]

SWMBO complaining about drinking too much.

 

[mattdee1]

After 10 batches – all bottled – I don’t mind bottling much at all. I usually do it on a week night, and have a buddy over to help. We hang out in the garage, listen to some tunes, and have a couple wobbly pops. Payment to the buddy is an open fridge when the beer is ready—everybody wins. In fact, the part I hate most about bottling is not the process itself but storing the bottles (both full and empty). They take up a fair bit of space, and if they’re all mismatched sizes, it’s kind of annoying. But, one could say that having so much beer and bottles is a good problem to have.

Removing labels… doesn’t seem worth the hassle to me. All beer goes into a glass for consumption anyway, so who cares? Of course, maybe I don’t care because I also have several cases of “blank” glass bottles bought new from LHBS if for some reason I want to put on a good appearance. The labeled ones only serve as stragglers that I can bring places and not care if I leave them there. I also hang on to some PET bottles for this same purpose.

Cleaning on brew day is not my favorite part, but if you stay on top of it and don’t get all masochistic overkill-ish with it, it’s surprisingly painless, IMO.

My least favorite part is probably wort chilling. It’s always right at the end of the day, I don’t like wasting all that water, etc. I suppose I could no-chill but that brings with it its own set of annoyances (i.e., not wrapping up the brew day all in one session).

 

[beskone]

De-labeling bottles, cleaning, bottling day. In that order.

Solved 2 of the 3 by building out my 5 tap keezer, and just did a full breakdown and deep clean of all the brewing equipment last Sunday so I'm ready to brew next weekend after a few more days of garage projects, w0ot!

 

[Patrick87]

I hate carrying stuff (especially heavy fermenters) across the house and into/out of my shed.

I brew in my shed, which means I get to carry 5.5+gal of beer from the shed, up a few stairs, into my house (while wrestling to hold the bucket/open the door), and then across the house into the bedroom closet. All-in-all, that's carrying an awkward 50lb's a total distance of about 200' (one way)on brew day.

That's just the fermenter. I then have to carry in my 10 gallon pot, a half-full bucket of sanitizer and a box of brewing gear to and from my shed. I do a lot of walking back and forth on brew day! My shed isn't insulated, so leaving everything outside is not an option.

When it's time to cold-crash, I end up carrying my fermenter across the house again for about another 50' to my kegerator.

Yes, I'm lazy. Wish I could have everything in one area.

I'm trying to find something like this on the cheap:

It would save me some carrying, and rather than cleaning off a table and moving it by the kegerator, I could just use the cart as a table.

 

[dordelli]

I hate the blowing air sound my kegerator makes when a keg is kicked!!

 

[GHBWNY]

SWMBO complaining about drinking too much.

Then tell her to stop drinking.

 

[slym2none]

Listening to people ***** about bottling on home-brew websites.

 

[unionrdr]

I got this cart to match my shelf at Walmart for 40 bucks. Swivel wheels & hardwood top;

Cart is to the right in this pic...

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

These are all definitely good points!

I guess I didn't even think about the "not having a pipeline going yet" aspect, and yeah, I'd say that dang near tops the list!

 

[petey_c]

Patrick87, Those carts with the air filled tires are the best. I've been using carts with those little schisty hard rubber wheels for twenty years or so. We finally got one at work. It's almost a pleasure to move stuff now.
What about a cart like this? http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Heav...48&btsid=270f4320-d3eb-4c9d-a54b-07ebf150f7b9

 

[petey_c]

Running out! My stocks are eternally low due to my limited time to brew, so sometimes I run dry and have to go out and *buy* beer. Which can suck, since I live in PA which means I can't just hit a convenience store or grocery and pick some up (don't get me started!).

I decided to google PA liquor/beer laws. I mean I knew they were kinda dopey (up to 12 packs to go in restaurants/bars, cases in beer distributors (12 packs now) from when I used to go to Allentown. PA needs to come out of the dark ages. Oh and the 18% Johnstown flood tax? WTF is up with that? Wasn't that about 127 years ago? Why are you still paying for it?

 

[lumpher]

My least favorite part is people talking about how parts of it suck. It's a hobby, not a job. Work sucks, hobbies are fun. On a side note, I keg, not bottle.

 

[specharka]

I kind of enjoy de-labeling bottles. There's something satisfying about getting all the paper and residue off and holding a clean bottle in your hand.



I don't like bottling (but don't have the funds (or space) to start kegging).

Not to be "that guy", but kegging actually saves space. My 7 CUFT chest freezer can hold 4 cornies and a few more morsels -- 200+ beers. I can't imagine what manner of train wreck my apartment would look like with that many bottles around. It's definitely an investment though...but one that I was thoroughly pleased to make.

However, one of the biggest downsides to brewing is how much space it consumes. I have a feeling I'm going to need to downsize in the near future just from how difficult it's going to be to move out of my current place. I'm not a neat freak by any means but the obsession takes a toll on my personal space.

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

For pure curiosity reasons, and I'm not trying to deviate from the thread or start a new topic, but what is a quick guesstimate of a kegs+keezer set up?

 

[specharka]

For pure curiosity reasons, and I'm not trying to deviate from the thread or start a new topic, but what is a quick guesstimate of a kegs+keezer set up?

7 CUFT Chest freezer - $180
Kegs - $55/ea
Tank - $50
Regulator - $75
Manifold, posts, air and beer line - $125
Shanks + taps - $90/pair
Wood for keezer collar - $75
Hardware + stain + lacquer - $40
Tap handles - $10-40

All in, I spent around $1k on my build -- you can do it cheaper, but a smaller chest freezer won't give you as much room for expansion. Smaller modular units come with the same drawbacks.

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

10-4. I'm a ways out from being able to do that. But one day in the future possibly. Thanks for the info bud!

 

[BrewerTom]

Cleaning up after a brew session, especially in the winter. In the summer I can at least clean up outside.

 

[daveMN]

I had just soaked them in water for a while. But then I watched a video saying to soak them in oxyclean for a few hours and they just fall all. They've been soaking now for a couple hours so well see here in just a bit.

A soak in oxyclean works wonders. the labels fall right off, then it's just a wipe to get the glue off. The "peel-and-stick" labels are my "least favorite thing". I've learned to A) just throw those ones out, and B) keg my beer.

My other least favorite part is switching between the HBT mobile app and my desktop and not realizing I'm replying to the first post.

 

[GardenElf]

There are hardly any craft breweries in here anymore (if there ever was, maybe Stallhagen from Åland) that uses the old fashioned paper-labels, that would come off with simple soaking. Almost all of them use some kind of sticker-labels, that leave most of the non-watersoluble sticky glue on the glass. The only thing that I know, that get the glue effectively off is xylene and I hate that stuff. But I use it because I like the bottle-type (long-neck 0,33 l) and don't know any other way to get the bottle clean. Brew-Dogs labels are a rare exception, they come off easily, just get hold of the corner and pull the label off, no glue stays behind :rockin:. They also make great beers.

So I guess de-labeling is also my least favorite thing about homebrewing.

 

[atoughram]

Weight gain

You beat me to it....

 

[slym2none]

Not to be "that guy", but kegging actually saves space. My 7 CUFT chest freezer can hold 4 cornies and a few more morsels -- 200+ beers.

That is funny, right there.

 

[NatureOfTheYeast]

De-labeling. I hate it so much. Being a bottler and a weekly brewer, this is the part I least look forward to. Thank the good lord baby jesus for oxi-clean.

• Peel and stick plastic laminated type labels make me want to stab someone.
• Non-water soluble glue was made by satan. Green scrubby to the rescue!
• Labels that wrap all the way around the bottle. F*ck you.
• Sierra Nevada type labels and glue are just tedious, but not the end of the world for me.
• Neck labels. Die.
• Crappy peel and sticks that peel about 1.24381mm before catastrophically failing and creating the worst feathered edge that takes about a minute to restart with a razor. Rinse and repeat.
• European labels, Duvel, Rochefort, Saison Dupont, etc. How I love thee. They fall off as you pull the bottle out of the oxi-water. A quick wipe with my yellow gloved hand and there goes the glue.

Thankfully I've been through the process so much that I've de-labeled every bottle that I own.


As for cleaning, if you can, ditch the kitchen sink. I'm the weird guy on the block out on the driveway cleaning my equipment and rinsing with the hose, but it has made cleanup so much easier. I used to dump my oxi-clean water down the driveway but I realized that it's probably a dick thing to do so I lug it back into the house and dump it down the drain. It sucks in the winter though. I live in TX, so it's not too cold, but I had a few nights of numb fingers and toes doing hose-rinsing in 35 degree weather with who knows how cold groundwater. I feel for my brothers and sisters in MN, WI, and MI.

 

[Dangeruss]

Don't like Chilling the wort no plate chiller just a small immersion chiller, lifting the wort from garage to the basement ( gets heavy), clean up after brewing or cleaning fermenters/kegs , and the most frustrating is not knowing you have a gas leak somewhere and your co2 tank goes empty

 

[unionrdr]

Buying that FIY cart with the hardwood top & casters sure helped a lot. Getting full or empty kettles, bottles, & other equipment back & forth from kitchen to man cave/brewery is easier now. But if had a room with a utility sink, stove & hood, it'd be way easy at my age. I'm cleaning a bunch of bottles & other stuff now. Finally figured I best get it done so I can dirty it all up again with the mumme'.

 

[jbb3]

CLEAN-UP and trying to manage all the bits and pieces.

And I didn't say bottling because I no longer do it...

 

[unionrdr]

If I could get, say, a 3 tap kegerator & maybe 5-6 kegs,I'd have a crap ton more room in here...

 

[jbb3]

If I could get, say, a 3 tap kegerator & maybe 5-6 kegs,I'd have a crap ton more room in here...

Here's some inspiration. Now get started!

 

[unionrdr]

Say, that's purty! Looks like colorado slate tiles? I was also inspired by this;

Looking at the wood paneled walls. Here's a link to a close up of what they look like now; http://abeautifulbar.com/luchow_restaurant_interior.htm
I want to copy the wood wall panels in pic 3 on one wall of the man cave/brewery. Leaving about 3' across the top for paintings of beer related pastoral scenes. Something like august Luchow did in his German restaurant.

 

[jbb3]

Say, that's purty! Looks like colorado slate tiles? I was also inspired by this;

Looking at the wood paneled walls. Here's a link to a close up of what they look like now;

I want to copy the wood wall panels in pic 3 on one wall of the man cave/brewery. Leaving about 3' across the top for paintings of beer related pastoral scenes. Something like august Luchow did in his German restaurant.

Thanks!

They're fake slate (ceramic). The look without the flaking and porousness of natural slate/stone. I do spill one every once in a while...

That's some gorgeous old paneling. They don't make it like that anymore...

 

[unionrdr]

not to much, anyway. There's this house from the 1700's on the strip in old Avon with wood work like that. The old barn was on the news, as it was original, one story, original glass & stone, etc. That was dismantled & sold as I drove by everyday to & from work. Anyway, there's a construction company around here that can do that kind of work. I just figured it out from woodworking classes & workin' with pop & my uncle, who was a journeyman carpenter. One piece at a time.

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

I will never De-label again without oxyclean!!!

That made de-labeling a breeze! Easy peasy!

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1456610702.411454.jpg

 

[Stillraining]

Dominoes any one?

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

Dominoes any one?

At first I thought you were talking about pizza, and I thought YES! Then I realized what you meant and I thought no... Haha

 

[slym2none]

*redacted* I'm stupid.

 

[Murphys_Law]

Making a beer I don't care for. And bottling. I avoid that as much as possible.

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

Making a beer I don't care for. And bottling. I avoid that as much as possible.

That's why you get a handy dandy bottler for bottling day!

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1456621964.881755.jpg

 

[A2HB]

Brewing a beer, waiting, 5+ weeks for it to ferment and carbonate in the bottles, then you open that first bottle and there's no carbonation, beer's all flat.

Wait 3 more weeks and beer's still flat.

Drinking the flat beer cause you refuse to let it win

 

[slym2none]

Yes, Tac, your SWMBO is hot. We get it. No need to rub our noses in it.

 

[A2HB]

At first I thought you were talking about pizza, and I thought YES! Then I realized what you meant and I thought no... Haha

Not a fan of provel?

I live in the hometown of Domino's and I can say there's way other better pizzas to be had around here lol.

I want to try some provel pizza though, it looks good