Why do some people get stressed when brewing?

[Brewmenn]

Maybe others just have a different definition of "stressed". I might get stressed over my job, or my finances, or my families health. Those things matter. Sure, I strive to make good beer, and to constantly improve. But if it doesn't turn out I'm only out a couple of hours of my time and maybe at most $50 in ingredients. Nothing I'll lose sleep over.

 

[gstrawn]

I am a graduate student and brewing on the stove top wasn't cutting it, plus the lady friend wasn't a fan of brewing indoors. I could only brew when going back to the parents for the weekend. These trips were already stressful trying to balance time between both my family and hers, as well as many other factors. All the while I felt I had to brew every time. I started to not enjoy it. Now we have moved the a house with a huge yard and shed. Now I make sure I have enough time to brew without stressing. It should be fun. And now I enjoy it so much more. Not to mention a better finished product.


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[garcia]

The most overrated saying in this hobby is "relax don't worry relax have a homebrew." I personally hate that saying, especially when used during the process of brewing and used as a response to someone's question. Question: Should I make a yeast starter? I didn't and pitched into 1.080 wort. This ok? Answer: RDWHAHB Question: I missed my OG by 20 points. Will this be a problem? Answer RDWHAHB. Statement: I don't sanitize my equipment and I'm fine. RDWHAHB! Statement: I did everything half-a$$ by I still made beer! RDWHAHB! Question: My beer tastes bad, it's been in the bottle for 2 months. It made me vomit when I opened it. Should I dump it? Answer: Yes! The massively annoying wrong answer... No! That's a waste. Just let it age longer if you don't need the bottles and RDWHAHB!

The quality of beer a homebrewer makes is based on two things, experience and knowledge. During the brew day it's the cumulative result of decisions the brewer makes during each step that will determine how well the beer will be. So yes, stress over the mash temp. Stress over the OG, etc. Stress over every single step until your experience combined with knowledge makes the brewing process stress free.

The time I "RDWHAHB" is when I pour a glass of a brew and can verify my hard work paid off. I certainly don't RDWHAHB when I mess up a step that cannot be undone. I take note of it and "stress" about it during the next brew day. If I was RDWHAHB'ing my beers, I'd be highly buzzed or drunk. I might leave during the mash and get to it later. Probably just sprinkle dry yeast on every batch... after all RDWHAHB. This hobby takes effort. It takes work. Mistakes are made. Lousy batches are produced. Batches are dumped. It's all part of the complete joy of homebrewing.

You really need to RDWHAHB.

 

[Yesfan]

You really need to RDWHAHB.

LOL!, you beat me to it. I was going to post the same thing.

 

[brewbama]

I think folks read sites like this one and others where times and temps are strictly enforced, conflicting info is given, and vendor instructions are shunned. A new brewer is confused, with all the conflict.

So... folks get stressed out when trying to brew per the accepted internet method of the day.


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[JordanKnudson]

I get stressed out on brew days for one of two primary reasons.

The first is if I'm trying out new equipment or new techniques. This can also be a lot of fun, but the stressful part is having to monitor and react when things don't work at all like you expected. For example, I once built a mash tun from a large rectangular cooler and leak tested it with water a few days in advance. Then, on brew day, while my grain was sitting in there with the hot water, I noticed that it had somehow sprung a leak after all and was drooling sticky wort all over the floor. If that doesn't stress you out, it's not that you're so cool and chill. It's that you just don't give a sh*t.

The second reason is that there are often other people around when I brew. The girlfriend assists in the brewing, but is often not very helpful as she gets distracted and starts her own projects as soon as there's a second of down time -- and this is usually in the immediate vicinity of where we're brewing. Our roommate comes out, hovers around, sticks his nose in everything, and then usually decides that (if we're brewing in the kitchen rather than outside) this is the perfect time for him to make dinner. Sometimes a friend or two who are interested in brewing, but who don't brew themselves, will come for brew day to be helpers. Invariably, they wander off and play on their phones as soon as there's a second of inactive time, and I can't wrangle them back to work for the rest of the brew. All in all, I love having my friends and family around when I brew. But sometimes, the level of unfocused (or at least, unrelated to brewing) activity that they bring into the brewing area can cause stress.

I don't worry about it if my numbers aren't perfect. Those things can vary and I know that it will just be a slightly different beer than planned -- no big deal. But there can be other sources of stress on brew day that are pretty real for me, and RDWHAHB doesn't cover all of them. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy myself, overall. It just means that sometimes things stress you out. And it seems counter to the whole "it's no big deal" mentality to make a big deal out of that...

 

[illinoisbrassman]

I have a buddy who has to put in seemingly hours of research before he tries something new or purchases a new brewery item. It was a major ordeal with spreadsheets, just for him to buy a mill. Im the opposite, I figure at the end of the day, they are all going give similar results, and just pull the trigger.

 

[Teromous]

I think there's a lot of things that can really cause a person to get stressed on a brewday, and I would be out of my mind to judge them for it. The biggest one would be injury. If you burn or cut yourself, that's a very easy way to ruin the brewday. You can try to laugh it off or stay calm, but if it's at the beginning of your session and you have to spend the rest of the day moving things around with a damaged appendage? That's rough. Another one would have to be money. Not everyone can afford to brew every weekend or shrug off a bad batch. I also think it is understandable for people to want to perfect their beer and improve. The path to perfection can often be stressful. You have to remember that not everybody enters this hobby with the same mindset or goals. Some people are after the perfect brewing experience and some people are after the perfect beer. Not everyone is blessed enough to enjoy both, and not everyone is lucky or skilled enough to have a choice.

I really enjoy brewing, and it is very cathartic. I've always enjoyed brewing more than the drinking, but I've always hated the cleaning The whole experience is abundant with memorable stories and riddled with sensory milestones. There's the dry puff of flour that gets in your nose and on your tongue when you dough-in. That sweet smell of mash when you stir. Tasting the sweet malty nectar as you begin running it off. Watching the kettle boil and remembering how it looks like the wake off the back of a boat. Opening a bag of hops and smelling that funky, earthy, spicy, piney, or citrusy wonderfulness. Tossing the hops in and watching them disappear under the folds of boiling wort and hot break and foaming up a layer of green. Hearing that loud propane POP at knockout.

Sometimes it's the little things like opening a mash tun in the dead of winter and watching the steam shoot out like a volcano. Seeing the blue flames of your propane burner in the early morning, listening to the world wake up while everyone is still asleep. Feeling the side of the kettle to see how warm it is, even though you have a built-in thermometer, just because.

What I've learned along the way is that you have to do what you can to make things easier during your brewday. The easier things are, the more you will enjoy the experience. If you get thrown a curve-ball or two it's much easier to handle than an avalanche of problems. You'll learn what steps you need to take to make things go smoother, what you should buy or make to improve the flow of the day, and things will start to get better. There will always be problems, but you do your best to make less of them. Sometimes it means changing your setup, whether that is going more advanced or getting back to the basics.

 

[akillys]

Seriously, I have never gotten stressed when brewing. I find brewing a time to have fun. I will drink whatever I brew, unless something major happens (which hasn't happened).

You didn't hit target gravity, big deal. It missed mash temp, boo who, you're still going to drink it:

Stop whining, and enjoy your brewing.

I agree, as I stated in another post, all of my beers have sucked; But, I still keep brewing and drinking what I brew because it is fun. When it stops becoming fun and starts becoming stressful that's when I will quit.

 

[soccerdad]

Really gotta get my eyes checked. ... I thought you asked why some people get DRESSED while brewing. For the life of me I couldn't think of a good answer.

 

[Croyzen]

You really need to RDWHAHB.

Yes I know I pretty much set that one up! Funny still. I would have posted the same thing.

 

[BadDeacon]

My problem is time. I get stressed in a brew day if I start then realize that I am running short on time. When I first realized that I can wait to pitch the next day and cool down to pitching temp in the ferm chamber, that took a big load off.

That being said, I hate bottling days. SWMBO has a cider that has been needing to be bottled for a month, but I hate bottling. Here's to bulk conditioning......

 

[garcia]

Yes I know I pretty much set that one up! Funny still. I would have posted the same thing.

you took it well.

 

[Brewmenn]

I guess I just have it too easy. No SHMBO, no other people hanging around, no worries about wasting $50 on bad beer.

My only worry is the one previously mentioned about it getting too late. I usually brew on Sunday and a couple of those times I got a late start or something put me behind schedule and I ended up too late on a work night.

 

[myelo]

If you're brewing beer and nobody is shooting at you, what is there to get stressed about?

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Excellent point. I think it has to do with how involved you get with the hobby. I'm also a guitar player. In the beginning if I could strum an open G chord and more or less keep time with the record it was a blast. Nowadays if I don't hit the right notes at the right time it's not as much fun. And brewing is such a long term process you can't just stop and say, "Take 2". But you're right. At the end of the day you'll still wind up with pretty darned good beer.

I like that, maybe why I'm so anal with my recipes and numbers. I've been playing guitar for over 20 years now.

That makes three of us and good analogy! Just playing a simple riff used to be very satisfying but now I know Im capable of far better and expect a lot more from myself. When I play Little Wing and make even more than a couple slight mistakes it bothers the hell out of me.
I think many people start to evaluate their skill as a brewer by how well they execute a brewday and being able to do it consistently. Many of us are simply not satisfied with making good beer. We want excellence and that drives us to be better brewers.
Now I agree when it comes to brewing don't fret the small stuff like being 2pts off from the OG you were shooting for or mashing at 155f when you wanted 153f. But making bigger mistakes or too many little mistakes bothers me and stresses me out a bit. I also make sure to learn how to cut down those mistakes in the future so they don't happen.

 

[troy2000]

The callousness you choose to exhibit about people's personal reactions to this hobby is silly. While not everyone will get wiggly over errors and such, some do and I assume that they just would like to see their efforts rewarded by a good product. I know I feel that way but never at any point do I whine, as you so cleverly put it. I discuss my errors, I exhibit dissatisfaction and a desire to improve and I move on. I also tend to avoid telling people who get worried to stop whining. The only part I can agree with is about the hobby not being stressful. No hobby should be but being concerned over errors is okay by me. Learning through the errors can only make us all better brewers.

So you're awesome and you never worry. That is super and I'm sure your beer is just as fine as mine is no matter what mistakes are made. Perhaps you can just understand people react differently and nothing more.

It's all good. RDWHHB....

Of course, that's easy for me to way when it comes to brewing. But if I were building something and it wound up out of square, I'd be banging my head on the nearest wall....

Maybe the difference is I've been carpentering and woodworking my whole life, and just don't have much of an excuse when I screw up a project. Also, what I build hangs around to haunt me. Whereas no matter how good or bad my last batch of beer turns out, it's ephemeral; it's going to be gone in a while.

 

[kombat]

The only time I get stressed is at the end of the boil. I get anxious worrying whether I've sanitized everything enough, whether I've got all the connections made properly, making sure the pump is plugged in and ready to go, the ice water is cold enough, etc. A couple of times I've gotten to the chilling step and discovered I shouldn't have left my pump and/or garden hose in the garage overnight (both frozen) and had to scramble for a solution. I'm stressed a little from knockout to pitching, but other than that, it's pretty relaxing.

 

[AsgardNorth]

Brewing for me is stress relief. Generally I only boil when my son (5 years old) is at his mom's for the week. When he is there I am stressed because he doesn't want to be there. So I brew whenever I can to not think about anything else for those handful of hours.

I even find cleaning bottles relaxing. I think I need help. HA!

 

[Temptd2]

Brewing for me is stress relief. Generally I only boil when my son (5 years old) is at his mom's for the week. When he is there I am stressed because he doesn't want to be there. So I brew whenever I can to not think about anything else for those handful of hours.

I even find cleaning bottles relaxing. I think I need help. HA!

That makes me a little

But I'm glad you have a way to get your mind off things!

 

[AsgardNorth]

Temptd2,

Yeah that makes me like that too. Hopefully someday.

I do brew the occasional 1-gallon brew when he is here, then afterwords use some of the leftover yeast to do some homemade root beer together.

It does help, looking up recipes, brewing, and the like makes the week go faster.

 

[chefjaypeek]

I've been an engineer for 32 years now, EE, but mostly software for the last 20 or so. One of the guys I've worked with off and on at different places for much of that time once told a coworker, "No, that's a good sign. If he's swearing in 7 different languages it means we're making progress. It's when he gets really quiet we have to worry."

A gross exaggeration. I'm a son of a sailor, but I can only swear in 5 languages.

I'm a Chef and my line cooks really only get scared of me when I get quiet. That's when I'm really pissed about something, and it is all "Yes, Chef!"

I've actually had cooks tell me the worst they felt was when I did not yell at them, but when I calmly and cooly told them how bad they screwed up...

I'm the son of a sailor too, I can only swear in 3 languages, but I can make you feel like an imbecile without swearing...

Chef Jay

 

[jbaysurfer]

For me: sometimes caring leads to stress.
Most of the time caring leads to great beer as well.

I take the good with the bad. If I get stressed about something it's because I care about how it turns out. Life's too short to invest 7 hours in a batch of mediocre beer. I'd rather buy good beer and go surfing. But if I can make GREAT beer? I'll spend my time on that instead.

What'd be good is if everyone rdwhahb and stopped judging others approach to the hobby. What works for you may or may not work for the next guy/gal.

Brew your own beer! Stop getting hung up in how others do it!

 

[Brewmenn]

For me: sometimes caring leads to stress.
Most of the time caring leads to great beer as well.

I take the good with the bad. If I get stressed about something it's because I care about how it turns out. Life's too short to invest 7 hours in a batch of mediocre beer. I'd rather buy good beer and go surfing. But if I can make GREAT beer? I'll spend my time on that instead.

What'd be good is if everyone rdwhahb and stopped judging others approach to the hobby. What works for you may or may not work for the next guy/gal.

Brew your own beer! Stop getting hung up in how others do it!

I agree, but not stressing does not mean not caring.

 

[mozart4898]

I'm also a chef and I wonder sometimes why I would want to spend most of a day off essentially making a large pot of soup Kidding though, really I'll cook at home to relax even if I've already done it all day so it's not that surprising.

I think because I'm constantly working with food, I don't really get all that stressed brewing. I definitely plan out recipes for beers and stick to them (...mostly) but I also just have a pretty good trust in my process. Even sanitizing, which is a big scary point for a lot of people, isn't really for me. I did read Papazian when I first got into brewing a number of years ago and therefore not only had RDWHAHB kinda drilled into my head, but also didn't realize until recently that very few people use bleach any more as a sanitizer. Therefore I unleash a bleach bomb on all my equipment every time I brew...and I worry very very little about infections.

Some people thrive in a structured, regimented environment and therefore would naturally work better with a little stress. My job itself by nature is like that. I prefer just to let brewdays roll by as they will. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[chefjaypeek]

Actually I think I enjoy brewing because it is different from what I do at work. Then again, I kinda do get why people stress about brewing, especially if they are making beer they want to share with friends and families. I know my girlfriend and parents really freak out when they cook for me. They are hyper critical of what they are doing because they think I'll be disappointed in their efforts. Really? You are cooking for me cause you know I just spent 12-15 hours in a hot kitchen and you want to let me relax on the couch with a beer and make me a sandwich? I'm not going to nitpick anything!

I can see people thinking that... "My friends and family think I make the best beer ever, and I have to keep that up!" or "My buddies drink budmilcoors and I want to get them to drink good beer, if this batch sucks, I'll never hear the end of it..."

Is home brewing any different than any other hobby? (Insert hobbyist here) stress over perfection in their (hobby)...

Chef Jay

 

[garcia]

I'm the OP, but I'm kinda stressing because I'm getting married in Jan 31st of 2015. What should I brew for them?

 

[jbaysurfer]

I agree, but not stressing does not mean not caring.

I also agree, which is exactly why I emphasized that everyone should brew their own brew.

 

[jbaysurfer]

I'm the OP, but I'm kinda stressing because I'm getting married in Jan 31st of 2015. What should I brew for them?

Now that's a way more interesting thread topic right there! :rockin:

Congrats!

 

[BigAndo]

I'm the OP, but I'm kinda stressing because I'm getting married in Jan 31st of 2015. What should I brew for them?

What's your brewing ace? What do you like to brew most? Do you have a signature style? Maybe that's a good starting point?


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