What my wife says

[njs170]

no physical honey do list... that would piss me off but we talk about things that need to be done. Of course there are things that should be done before brewing but that isn't going to happen any time soon.

I normally get "you are obsessed!" I think she is just jealous because I still find time to brew and she doesn't have time for her hobbies. We have a 7 month old. I normally put him in a carrier and he helps! He loves being apart of whatever I am doing!

 

[forstmeister]

Like many here, my wife is supportive since she likes beer and likes that I have something to do instead of hovering over her bored on the weekends. I get really restless if I don't do something every day for some reason.

I keep my expenses low by buying in bulk a couple times a year and I buy almost all of my equipment used. She actually bought me a refractometer for Christmas a couple years ago so she obviously gets it.

I try to brew early on the weekends so it doesn't monopolize the whole day. She is gone one weekend a month for school too so I try to utilize that weekend for hanging out with friends and brewing and general debauchery. Marriage is a compromise every step of the way and hobbies are no exception. My wife just bought a new laptop this week and I am using that as an excuse to add a tap to my keezer and buy a new brew pot.

 

[HeavyKettleBrewing]

Brewing is an obsession for me. Knitting is my wife's brewing. We talk about our hobbies and encourage one another. No complaints when she buys wooly mammoth yarn from Siberia and No complaints when new equipment materializes in the garage. I schedule my brew days for more than respect of her time as we have children. I involve the boys and they are learning the science of brewing. My wife loves her alone time when I brew. If she gave me grief over something I do once a month, she would soon find out how big a dick I can be. That's when I start snorting booger sugar off a hooker's .....

The only time I caught flak was when I had the "Bros" over for a brew day barbecue and we opened my bottle of blue label. Think of the "Hangover" except we never left the house. I might add that soon after the blue label, we drank the rest of my black label. Two of my friends are whiskey drinkers. Brew days are now limited to a few pints of homebrew.

 

[jflongo]

Does you wife like wine?? Make up a batch of wine for her if she does, then maybe she'll understand how great brewing is. I made a batch of White Wine, Pinio Grisio, ended up with 29 bottles, and my wife is quite happy with it. It's just as good or better than most $5 - $20 bottles we've ever bought.

Also, I like to plan ahead, and tell her, "hey this next Sunday i'm going to brew some beer". That way she is prepared for it, and I can knock out any honey do list before that.

 

[Spintab]

Got in trouble yesterday for an extract kit that I ordered last week (THAT should be your vday gift...) although I told her about it before I ordered and when I actually ordered it. Both times she said ok. She doesn't understand. I tried to get her to participate in the brew process tonight but she said things like "yeah yeah you boiled all the stuff and now your gonna add something." Meanwhile she has a dream of one day starting a cupcake business (right now she gets the occasional paying order), and I am totally supportive. Hell, half of her Christmas was cupcake related. Just got to get her to understand that beer is my cupcake.

I am in the exact same boat. Cupcake business and all. I like to throw out the possible cost of opening a brewery every once in a while. It makes the 40 bucks a batch and occasional 100 on equipment sound like beans. Our house is like Highlander though. Talent wise, we each have an excellent chance of opening a brewery or cupcake joint. The problem is we have kids so the budget makes it so there can only...be...one. We are prolonging the inevitable spok kirk battle for who goes first.

 

[frailn]

If I get slack on the pipeline, I get scolded by the wife. Go brew some damn beer! What's wrong with you!

The only complaint she has is that I keep sticking fermenters around the dining room that aren't pretty. Now, only the glass carboy is allowed because it looks nice. Oh, and get the 5,345 empty bottles out of the house and somewhere else.

I was pleasantly surprised when she allowed me to take two shelves out of our fridge so I could cold crash my porter for a few days. That deserves some flowers and candy and a back rub.

 

[BarefootFriar]

Mine was initially worried over the cost, especially since I started with no equipment and had to buy everything. I think she (wisely) was wondering what would happen if I spent all this money and then didn't enjoy it. Then she was thinking that a kit was around $100, so she was worried I was going to use the power or grocery money for beer. She said we would have to budget carefully -- which is true, because we don't make much. But when I showed her real kit prices (and then explained that buying in bulk could be even cheaper) and figured the cost per beer, she felt better about it. The big thing now is that we're both trying to lose weight and there's no point brewing a bunch if we can't drink it.

 

[nvious23]

My wife got me the the equipment to brew for Christmas I get immersed in my hobbies I'm already at twenty gallons but we have an understanding if I'm not passed out baked in the tub we are fine she buys her stuff I buy mine.

 

[Oldskooler]

I swear to god, I have tears in my eyes

I can see it in a movie, our plucky hero finally convinces his cupcake-making wife that he just HAS TO BREW, it's HIS CUPCAKE

right before long montage of them baking and brewing together while whatever flavor-of-the-month pop star's current career-bosting inspirational but completely forgettable song plays

This thread is F(*!@^ funny

 

[kaconga]

My wife is really great. She enjoys beer and likes me brewing. However she wasn't really keen on me moving to full boils outside. She was upset about the idea of not seeing me for three hours each brew day. When the time came though she changed her mind. We took the kids for a walk while the mash happened and watched them play during the boil. She enjoyed a beer (I don't drink on brewdays) and we actually spent 3 nice hours outside as a family. Now her mantra is "why would I be against it if it will make the beer taste better?"

 

[ktblunden]

Got lucky, have an indulgent spouse wrt my hobbies, and she enjoys my brews!

It's all good! :rockin:

Cheers!

I have the same. She takes an interest in what I'm interested in and leaves me to it when she gets bored.

 

[Gothgar]

Get her involved. Let her name a beer, help bottle, etc.

 

[darrenbrews]

Some women get pissed when we have hobbies and they don't. Mine is glad I'm brewing at home and not spending my free time in the bars. She doesn't even mind the money I spend b/c I would be spending much more hanging around in bars.

 

[IanJ]

In almost exact wording, minus the expletives:

Stop wasting your money on beer stuff

 

[Saxomophone]

If mine ever complains about the time or money I'll threaten to take up playing golf.

 

[day_trippr]

^ Too cruel...

Cheers!

 

[Jbird]

no physical honey do list... that would piss me off but we talk about things that need to be done. Of course there are things that should be done before brewing but that isn't going to happen any time soon.

I normally get "you are obsessed!" I think she is just jealous because I still find time to brew and she doesn't have time for her hobbies. We have a 7 month old. I normally put him in a carrier and he helps! He loves being apart of whatever I am doing!

That's so me man. I have a 3 year old boy and 10month old twin girls. They love to play in the garage on brew day with daddy. I always he that "you are obsessed" look from my wife.

 

[Cranny04]

My wife just says "do what you want"


As long as I don't buy something insane (morebeer sculpture), she is completely supportive.

 

[SteveHeff]

My wife drinks the beer I make. And she usually enjoys it. So when I brew, she either participates or leaves me alone. No nagging. The way it should be.

 

[sweet_corn]

I guess I have it good. I started brewing while dating my wife. It was the last test. She did not mind it, so we got married. Since then we each have our own spending money, so no quarrels there. Also no quarrels when she goes shopping. Now I just time the brewing around her and the kids schedule. For example, wife may sneak out of the house during mash time while I watch the kids. Works for both. Some long mashes, but no complaints. Need to find what works for you.

 

[Disintegr8or]

My Wife likes beer just as much as I do. I just got her hooked on Stouts after a couple days in Asheville Brewery hopping. She even had a half glass of my Sweetwater Happy Ending yesterday, and didn't spit it out.

We are sitting around today getting recipes in order so that we are ready for Spring and Summer around the pool. Going to do a few lagers this year. I couldn't imagine it any other way.

 

[ArtimusBeerimus]

Our first married Christmas she says 'I got you a hobby' (brewing).
This years anniversary was copper, so she got me a copper ale and a copper wort chiller.

Awesome! Hmmm... That's got me thinking... Which year is the stainless steel anniversary again...? There's got to be a stainless steel anniversary, right???

 

[jtd_419]

Looked it up and steel is the eleven year anniversary.... not specifically stainless but should work

 

[Jeffro74]

I'll echo the "watch the kids during brew day" trick. I get to brew beer, the kids can help weigh stuff and stir occasionally, the wife gets to go out to a movie with her friends. Win/win/win.

I'm lucky as well, though, because my wife will drink what I brew, is interested in possibly making our own wine, and her mother was the one who got me my first kit.

 

[ArtimusBeerimus]

Looked it up and steel is the eleven year anniversary.... not specifically stainless but should work

Crap! Missed it!!

LOL - who came up with this stuff, anyway?

 

[Britinusa]

Mine does not like beer, but she is happy I have a hobby, she bought me my first brewing kit as one of my Christmas presents!

 

[Billy-Klubb]

my wife is very supportive of my hobby. she's not really a fan of beer, but I'm trying to find a wine she likes.

 

[homebrewdad]

My wife does not drink beer and doesn't care for the smell of brewing, but is supportive about me brewing, and is great about picking me up new craft beer to try when she is out.

She's not crazy about the fact that my brewing gear is slowly taking over more and more of the space in our basement, but we're working on ways to mitigate that (aka organization).

 

[Jbird]

I'll echo the "watch the kids during brew day" trick. I get to brew beer, the kids can help weigh stuff and stir occasionally, the wife gets to go out to a movie with her friends. Win/win/win.

I'm lucky as well, though, because my wife will drink what I brew, is interested in possibly making our own wine, and her mother was the one who got me my first kit.

That's funny because my wife's mother was the one who got me my first kit. I bet she didn't know it would lead to this.

 

[Gothgar]

That's so true man. Beer is our cupcake.

Dying here, hilarious

So, extract brewing is like using a boxed cake mix, extract with specialty grains is like using a boxed cake mix, but changing it up with stuff like jello or extra eggs/vanilla, and all grain brewing is like making cupcakes from flour, sugar, etc.