What if not beer?

[wootz001]

Guess I am feeling a bit existential lately. At least about beer. And maybe everything else going on too.

I have found myself brewing less and less lately, and am wondering what to do. Part of it is time (kids), part of it is drinking less for health reasons. Most of it is probably motivation.

I’ve brewed at a friend’s a few times in the past year, and I’ve done a couple flash brewing kits from morebeer. These have helped scratch the itch, but I still see idle equipment and empty taps in my garage, and it makes me sad.

I’d like to keep my skills sharp, and my stuff from collecting dust. I’ve had the thought to try sparkling water with flavored syrups, hop water, or even trying out some NA homebrew. I’d really like to cut back on cans of diet soda and fizzy water we consume…

Offering bonus points if it goes in a keg or is brewing related/adjacent, but I will leave this question open-ended:

What has kept you brewing?

Thanks!

 

[MaxStout]

I keep brewing because I still enjoy it, and being retired, I have the time for it. But I definitely get it for those whose lives are too busy to make time for brewing (or any hobby, for that matter). Kudos to you for thinking the health issues, too.

Your idea of sparkling water, hop water, NA beers, sounds like a good plan to stay in it, yet cut the alcohol intake. Homemade root beer and other sodas might be yet another alternative and to keep a keg or two filled. That's something the kids could get involved in, if they are of the age where they'd appreciate it.

As for beers, there are plenty of tasty, low ABV brews that can be made: Patersbier, Grodziskie, lambics, light lagers, etc.

However, nothing wrong with taking a hiatus from brewing. If family matters are keeping you busy, you can set brewing aside for a while. It'll be there when you jump back in.

 

[mashdar]

If you have time, you can make some good 1.5-2% ABV beer.

If you don't have time, cider is fun and much less time investment. You could probably ferment + spund + serve in one keg.

edit: Also lots of soda mixes on the market. Unfortunately, I think McCormicks killed Zatarain's root beer, though.

 

[keystonehb]

I always have a non-alcoholic seltzer on tap both here at work and in my own personal home. They are super simple to make. I always recommend Amoretti Flavorings (peach and raspeberry are my personal favorites). My standard recipe is just 5 gal of water, 40-50ml of the flavoring, and then just carb it in a keg. Depending on how much flavor you want and which flavoing you go with one bottle of amoretti gets you 15-20 gallons of seltzer. Much better and way cheaper than buying cans at the store!

 

[wootz001]

I’ve made root beer from scratch before. Went all in and kegged a 5 gallon batch. I learned the hard way to mark the keg and replace the orings and gaskets before reusing it for beer. Root beer hazy IPA wasn’t great. Haha.

 

[day_trippr]

What has kept you brewing?

I enjoy brewing tasty beer

Cheers!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I have greatly cut back on consumption of alcohol following a health scare, started making hop water, and I have a pitch of “NA” yeast to check out. I’m not expecting to have 0% ABV, but some HB between 1-2 should be acceptable. I do continue to brew competitively and to share at HBC meetings. Oh, and in one corner away from other fermentations is a small continuous kombucha vessel making probiotics for me. Second fermentation with fresh pineapple juice is my favorite way to drink booch.

 

[wootz001]

Kombucha has been in the back of my mind. SWMBO would probably appreciate as well. What does a continuous setup look like? Do you have a favorite tea?

 

[cyoung1833]

I have been making the Hoppy Refresher hop water recipe from Morebeer and kombucha.

For the kombucha I have been using my old SS Brewtech brew bucket mini. I make 3 gallon batches. I pull off 8 cups to start my next batch and keg the rest.

 

[micraftbeer]

I had a period of time where I really wanted to brew, but didn't have the time. Or maybe had time for the odd brew day but not for the fermentor minding, kegging, cleaning that trails on after.

I did experiments. They ended up being things that were super valuable, I just never had time for before.

Some examples:

1. I got a water test kit and tested my home brewing water.
2. Measure all the various free space volumes in your brew rig to update the brewing profile in your brewing software.
3. Calibrate all your brewing temperature sensors to one temperature sensor you establish as your gold standard. I used my Thermowerks Thermapen because it comes with a certified calibration. Then I use a relevant temperature that's close to where I care about the temperature and is easy to maintain stable during calibration (room temperature). I don't ferment at freezing (plus to get true 32F you've got to deal with impurities and such) and I don't care what my boil temperature is (altitude adjustments, etc). Almost every brewing thermometer has adjustment feature in the menu- brew kettle thermometers, Tilts, fermentation controllers, etc.
4. Grain crush. Set your mill to different gaps and observe the results. Each mill is a bit different, figure out which is the best for your mill.
5. Countless mash experiments- ratio of rice hulls vs. wheat to not get stuck mash and/or mash efficiency results, different sparge methods/speeds to measure efficiency results, mash temperature vs. efficiency, multi-step vs single step mash vs efficiency, ...
6. Figure out solutions to shortcomings in your brewing process that always create an inconvenience when you brew- place to rest your spoon, ideal hose lengths if you have a multi-vessel rig, etc.
7. Experiment with how brewing salt ratios affect YOUR palate using just water as a guide.
8. Clean that boil kettle really well with soaking, scrubbing, etc.
9. Design/build/updated a bells & whistles kegerator.

I'd also say there's opportunity in changing your beer mindset. It's OK to pour out beer. We easily get caught up on the "waste" aspect. But there are lots of hobbies where people spend money and don't have anything at the end of it. People pay money to bowl, but they don't walk away with a new bowling ball at the end of the night. They pay $, they enjoy themselves, they move on. Brewing CAN be more productive, but it doesn't HAVE to be.

One last philosophical thought related to your health comment. Let's say your batch of beer costs you $50 in ingredients. But you only end up drinking the odd beer here and there and end up dumping most of it in the end. But if you consider that $50 kept you busy for a couple months, made you happy, and improved your health vs. drinking all that beer yourself in the same time period, $50 seems like a bargain.

 

[Snuffy]

The older and less active I get, brewing gets more interesting to me. A lot of my hobbies have sort of faded away - mostly due to issues with the buddies that I shared the interest with. I used to ride motorcycles a lot. A couple of road crashes slowed that down to mostly offroad now. Used to go on long canoe camping trips. My best canoe buddy has diabetes foot issues that make a week wading and fishing a problem now. I still work on bikes and side by sides, but I don't have the garage space I used to have, so that has waned as well. Used to brew with friends and enjoy the sharing and partying that went with that. Most of my brew buddies have lost interest or are in the same cut-back-on-alcohol mindset I see here. I get it. I may get there as well eventually. That is a depressing thought tho. When I get bored, brewing is there to keep me busy. Hunting up a recipe. Ordering the ingredients. Setting up the gear. Cleaning, brewing, cleaning and more cleaning. I enjoy it. There's a zone I get in. It's almost a Zen thing. Also, it's a great rainy day activity. Brewing today, BTW. Brit IPA clone. Keeping that pipeline filled.

 

[wootz001]

Thanks all for the responses so far! Please keep them coming!

Sometimes I do have to remind myself that my brewing hobby is an investment in my own happiness and mental health rather than a series of sunk costs that need to be recouped or their output maximized somehow.

“Minimizing waste” and keeping the pipeline full were driving factors for me for a long time, but older, wiser me knows a little better. It is OK to take a break. It is OK for stuff to collect dust, I am going to have to clean it eventually anyway!

Maybe I’ll turn to smaller 1-3 gallon batches. Maybe I’ll add some new styles to the recipe book. Like things I can put in a fancy bottle and share with friends and family for the holidays.

 

[micraftbeer]

@wootz001 your comment about brewing a new style gave me another idea. Assuming you can get OK with dumping bad beer, pick a style that seems challenging, then set out to make a great one. Brew it, try it, learn from it, and feed those results forward to your next attempt.

I've got a Cream Ale i loved that I'm trying to replicate. I have the taste very clearly in my mind. I'm still a long way off. So I've made several batches that were ok for the sake of beer, but not what l wanted and not that I enjoyed. No temptation to drink a bunch of that, and no tears shed as it goes down the sink...

 

[Snuffy]

@wootz001 your comment about brewing a new style gave me another idea. Assuming you can get OK with dumping bad beer, pick a style that seems challenging, then set out to make a great one. Brew it, try it, learn from it, and feed those results forward to your next attempt.

I've got a Cream Ale i loved that I'm trying to replicate. I have the taste very clearly in my mind. I'm still a long way off. So I've made several batches that were ok for the sake of beer, but not what l wanted and not that I enjoyed. No temptation to drink a bunch of that, and no tears shed as it goes down the sink...

The talk about dumping beer makes me cringe. I never dump a batch. Never. With a capital N. Even if it's not awesome, I drink it. It may lanquish a while on the back of the shelf, but I get around to it eventually. All the work my yeasties and I have put in will not be in vain. Bad batches are rare with me unless I wing it and deviate from a recipe too far. That's the chance I take then. But I still consume. There is no bad beer. Just beer that needs to age longer.

 

[wootz001]

The talk about dumping beer makes me cringe. I never dump a batch. Never. With a capital N. Even if it's not awesome, I drink it.

@Snuffy I take it that you’ve never accidentally made a root beer hazy IPA before!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

It sounds like we are all echoing some of the same reasons and I am there too.

So far this year I haven't brewed. Not because I don't want to, just too many other things cropping up. The flu, snow storms, laziness but mostly just procrastination.

I was in the fence many times if I should continue to brew my own or just buy it. After a couple times out I came to realize, again, that I can brew much better beer!

Today after shoveling more snow, I'm down at the brewery weighing out grain. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day, but I WILL BREW!

To the OP, take a break but darn it, get back to brewing! You will be rewarded!

 

[Snuffy]

@Snuffy I take it that you’ve never accidentally made a root beer hazy IPA before!

I have not.

 

[Snuffy]

I'm trying to picture that as an accident... Or even as a thing.

 

[Bobby_M]

Smaller batches.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Smaller batches.

YES!

In the last few years many brewers I know are doing just that. Smaller batches are much better than just quitting the hobby.