What do you guys do when you hit a wall?

[Seven]

I say if you're feeling like you've hit a wall, take a break from it. In time you'll either want to start brewing again... or not. Nothing wrong with taking a step back and taking some time to re-evaluate things.

 

[Bulls Beers]

Ohh and my wife doesn't even drink my beer.

I've been brewing for 6 years straight with no break and sometimes I lose a little motivation, especially in the summer. I also have a wife that doesn't drink beer and only one friend that likes homebrew. I've really come to love the beer I brew, so I guess I have to brew.

Sometimes the night before a brew day, I'm not into it, but when I'm done I"ll have a nice 5 gallon batch of beer, so I'm glad I did it. I get lazy once in a while, but I have to keep the pipeline going or I'll run out. I make mostly lagers, so It's 8 weeks to tap the next one. That's a long wait...

Oh, and the bottling vs kegging thing...I only keg. Bottling blows. Cleaning, sanitizing, filling and capping 50, is much more of a pain in the ass than filling one..It's also quicker.. IMO.

I play guitar and haven't picked one up in a long while. I'm looking at one hanging on my wall( Beautiful Les Paul sunburst with a killer top) as we speak wondering why I don't pick her up.. I believe it's a life long passion and I'll come back to them again. Take a break, you'll come back to brewing sometime...Relax don't worry and have a glass of wine..

 

[KingBrianI]

I've gone through periods of low motivation as well. It's not that I'm not motivated to brew. It's just that my motivation to brew is less than my motivation to avoid the work of brewing. You can overcome it in one of two ways. Either increase the motivation to brew by finding new styles, ingredients, recipes you want to brew. Or, decrease the hassle of brewing by eliminating hurdles in the process, upgrading equipment, simplifying things, etc.

 

[danorocks17]

one think that reinvigorated my brewing was going AG. I made the switch in the summer of 2011. before that I was kind of in a rut. it has been strong ever since then, and getting into kegging this past summer also up'd the ante.

 

[paulster2626]

This thread made me sad.


Anyway try and make something your bmc loving friends would enjoy. You want a challenge, make a light lime lager.

 

[petep1980]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I feel like a break will help. It's the work I hate. Maybe by winter or spring I'll forget the hassle the entire process is and want to brew again.

 

[Bulls Beers]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I feel like a break will help. It's the work I hate. Maybe by winter or spring I'll forget the hassle the entire process is and want to brew again.

Shyte, where do you live? I love brewing. I'll brew you a keg a month...

BTW, I noticed your avatar..It must be hard to brew with a baby in your fermenter...No wonder why you don't like it..

 

[dbrewski]

I've gone through periods of low motivation as well. It's not that I'm not motivated to brew. It's just that my motivation to brew is less than my motivation to avoid the work of brewing. You can overcome it in one of two ways. Either increase the motivation to brew by finding new styles, ingredients, recipes you want to brew. Or, decrease the hassle of brewing by eliminating hurdles in the process, upgrading equipment, simplifying things, etc.

I agree with this philosophy. If you are really burned out, just take a break. But it might help to examine what those feelings are coming from. I did not have burn-out, but after obsessively pursuing tons of equipment, pumps, valves, and other equipment, I found what really wanted was more simplicity. I built a gravity stand and focused on what made brewing a hassle and tried to minimize those things. Just a thought.

 

[paulster2626]

I'm in the same boat right now sorta. Have a 5 month old and it's such a pain to be able to brew. Wife doesn't seem to understand that I cannot watch the kid while I do this - I need 3-4 hours of "no baby" time.
Of course this is a HUGE deal and every time I brew a batch I'm made to feel like some ******* dad with these little passive-aggressive looks and comments and whatnot.

But screw it - it's what I enjoy and I'm not gonna stop. I don't think asking for time to brew once every 3-4 weeks is a big deal.

The real problem here is that women are annoying. That's basically it.

 

[unionrdr]

I can dig these last few comments. I think what burns me out is the work aspect of it as well. The BK of chilled wort is getting too heavy for me to carry,walking with a cane now. Gotta get some kind of cart to haul heavy stuff back & forth.
Not to mention,the cleaning. That's a lot of stuff to clean when you think of every single little piece. But I do love my home brewed ales watching it ferment. Moving to partial mash helped as well. It was like being a noob again.