Will my brewing come to a screeching halt if I become a dad?

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smalltown2001

smalltown2001

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All of the fathers out there, do you still find enough time to brew even though you have a family? We are going to be starting a family soon, and I am extremely excited about it, but in the back of my mind, I'm preparing myself to saying goodbye (for the most part) to brewing and woodworking on my days off. Is this a reasonable assumption, or should I RDWHAHB?
 
you just have to get better time managment,and the first few years of waking up every two hours. but in the end you get a brew buddy.:rockin:
 
Depends on your wife really.

I have a 7 week old and a 6 yr old at home and I have brewed 3 times in about 6 weeks.

I am away on the road 15-20 days and nights each month as well, and I still get ample time to brew.

Depends on the wifey, will SHE allow you to have 4 hours to yourself?
 
I get just enough time to brew but it's self inflicted brewing restriction. I pay it forward by doing something for/with the family on Saturdays and brew on Sunday. Give and take.
 
Bobby_M said:
I get just enough time to brew but it's self inflicted brewing restriction. I pay it forward by doing something for/with the family on Saturdays and brew on Sunday. Give and take.
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Same here, actually I am brewing at the moment and my 6 year old is right along helping me out! She feels very important taking the temp readings of the mash.


Congrats btw
 
i will say the same... first few months were slow as I adjusted, but I have put out a lot of beer this year with a 16 month old and a wife who works nights. I switched to brewing during the day and just time it so it works around naps etc.

Give and take. Make sure your wife has days away from the kiddo to do her thing and take a few of those late nights, and I bet you will find she wants you to get your brew days too...
 
I can't say it will not affect your brewing but you can work around it. I worked it out with my wife to set a brewing day each month to start. She knew I would be unavailible for baby issues during the brewing time. I also set up a hobby day for her which I had baby duty. When my son got older, I added more brew days a month as needed. I will warn you child proof your brewing operations now. Start looking at ways to protect your little one. They will want to see what you are doing. No matter what you try they will want to be right in the mix of your brewing operation. My boy loves to hang out with me when I brew. He's 8 now and loves to help out. I'm not sure how I feel about having an 8 year old brew master. Kind of creepy.
 
My 3 year old was very enthusiastic in helping me yesterday while I racked my barleywine. So enthusiastic, she started cleaning my siphon with the same wet wipe she was using to clean a drawing white board.

Most my brew days are actually all-nighters. I start at 9pm when she goes to bed and finish cleaning around 2am.

But I should also add my wife and I have conflicting schedules, so most the time it's just me and my daughter.
 
I started brewing when my daughter was 4 months old.No problems.
 
Yeah, you'll brew less and more efficiently, but as long as you aren't skipping important family activities so you can brew it shouldn't be a problem.

Brewing actually replaced a couple hobbies I had that took me away from home for several hours (golf and flying). When I brew, I'm home.

Congrats btw!!
 
The Pol said:
Depends on your wife really.

I have a 7 week old and a 6 yr old at home and I have brewed 3 times in about 6 weeks.

I am away on the road 15-20 days and nights each month as well, and I still get ample time to brew.

Depends on the wifey, will SHE allow you to have 4 hours to yourself?
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What a wife you have!!!:mug:

My wife just brought up "I know we said a few years, but I want to change that and start trying now..." last night, and honestly my first thought was of my burgeoning homebrewing hobby! :eek:

Oh well, they say kids are a rewarding experience....but I'm not sure...you can't snap their heads off in 6 weeks and pour them into a glass and drink them whilst watching a football game.

So I think the real answer is not enough people with kids have tried homebrewing!
 
Oh well, they say kids are a rewarding experience....but I'm not sure...you can't snap their heads off in 6 weeks and pour them into a glass and drink them whilst watching a football game.
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Kids are the most trying and time consuming thing that you will ever be involved with. They are also the most joyous and precious things you will ever know. I absolutely love my kids.

When I started brewing in 2007 my oldest were 3 and 1. We recently added another. In fact, he's in my arms screaming as I type this with one hand. My spousal unit is a stay at home mom.

My biggest thing is not finding time, but justifying the expenditures. To me it's worth it. My wife is not a beer drinker, so I have to keep things "reasonable". I just switched to all grain and she noticed the purchases on the debit card. She wasn't mad, she just felt like reminding me of how much I actually spent.

I think you'll do just fine, but family is always first. That means you may not brew as much as you want, but you'll work out something.

Good luck, BTW.
 
i had many more hobbies when kids came and all that happened is i thinned out the hobbies that weren't as important as brewing.

right now i can't brew because of money issues, but very soon that will change, i'm one of the few that have 4 day work weeks. i work 4 ten hour shifts and that leaves one whole day during the week that i can brew or do whatever i want.
 
BrewBrain said:
Yeah, you'll brew less and more efficiently, but as long as you aren't skipping important family activities so you can brew it shouldn't be a problem.
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More efficient? Went the opposite for me:D I have a 6 month old and I'm brewing right now. He's taking a nap and I'm getting ready to dough in. I'm sure the baby walker won't work too well on brew day when he's a few months older though. But don't worry I posted the same question 6 months ago and I'm on my 4th batch since today. Not a record but I can live with it.
 
OK, I read this wrong at first, I thought it said "will my brewing come to a halt if I become DEAD" lol, I was going to say... ummm I would say yes.

Ohhhh a DAD, Wouldnt know as Im a year or so from having a child of my own, however I would assume it will slow a little. But I would try to work out time with the wife so you could brew every now and then. Just to keep from getting rusty and have a little home brew on hand. Esp if you wife is into your brewing im sure she will help keep you into it. If not just tell her you dont want all your expensive equip to go to waste... works every time. ;)
 
It all depends on SHMBO. Ive got 3 girls and i still have time to
brew. I have met some that once they had kids they couldn't
do anything but be on call 24/7 for there wifes... I would go
insane...
 
Brewin_CRAZY said:
Ohhhh a DAD, Wouldnt know as Im a year or so from having a child of my own, however I would assume it will slow a little.
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A year or so? Isn't that if all goes well? Or are you just planning on kidnapping one so you can be sure to hit that time frame.... :D
 
Baja_Brewer said:
A year or so? Isn't that if all goes well? Or are you just planning on kidnapping one so you can be sure to hit that time frame.... :D
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LMAO, no no no, planning on thinking about having children in a year or so, lol. Im just finishing up my graduate program, then get a job, then a house.... then kids... maybe... possibly squeeze in a few toys in there some more horses... maybe then kids... eh... ;)

But yes kidnapping is always an option... ill have to keep that in mind.
 
As long as you can manage the time and money concerns you should have no problem. My daughter is 3 months old. I didn't brew for the first 8 weeks, but I've knocked out a batch a week for the last 3 weeks. Going to brew a fourth today. My wife is VERY cool about my brewing and is into craft beer herself. Definitely dropped some other hobbies to keep this one alive. Our doctors, nurses, midwife, etc. all told my wife to have a beer every day to promote better milk production (the stress management is a nice bonus), and even said that bottle conditioned beer would be best due to vitamin content of the yeast. Works out well since SWMBO loves Hefes, "When's my batch going to be ready?"
 
I started this obsession recently and I have an 8 month old. So it may slow you down at first but its still do-able.
 
I have a 2 year old and am 8 month old. Been brewing since before the 2 year old came along, having kids and other things slowed me down for awhile but I have recently picked up production.

Going to all grain for cheaper beer helps me justify the costs of the hobby. I get up with the kids Saturday morning so my wife can sleep in, she gets up with the kids sunday morning so i can brew.

Also i found that i can brew 5 gallons in x hours or 10 gallons in x+2 hours. I can infusion mash a second 5 gallon batch while the first one is in the kettle, to sparge after the first batch is in the fermenter. It makes the brew day a bit more hectic but with a little organization and a little extra work i double my output.
 
My daughter is just over three months now and she has not slowed my brewing at all. She has helped me brew about 50 gallons so far. It all comes down to what kind of parents you want to be and how you want to spend your time. Some people stop their hobbies for a time and some don't. Evan! had his son at the same time we did and he is still brewing strong too.
 
the best day ever after you have them is the day you no longer need to go down the diaper isle at the store. You can buy alot of grain for the price of Pampers. :tank:
 
My kids are 6 and 3 (next week). Every one needs a little time apart from the kids one or two weekends a month. Your time could well be spent brewing (tell her it's cheaper than golf... :D)

BTW...that time away from the kids thing? Don't forget SWMBO will need a break now and again too. :D
 
I have an almost 4 year old girl and a 1 year old girl. I just started Home Brewing about 2 months ago. I have made 4 batches so far, and have 2 more planned for tomorrow/Thursday.
I do most of the brewing/bottling at night when everyone goes to sleep. My 4 year old was watching/helping me clean bottles the other day.
I am surprised that my wife puts up with it.
Dave
 
I took a break for about 2 years. I am back at it fully now. It is nice to have my 3 yr old help me clean the bottles. He is slow, but it is one thing I do not have to do anymore! WooHoo!!! Only 18 more years till he can start enjoying it. (legally) Ha Ha
 
JOHN51277 said:
I took a break for about 2 years. I am back at it fully now. It is nice to have my 3 yr old help me clean the bottles. He is slow, but it is one thing I do not have to do anymore! WooHoo!!! Only 18 more years till he can start enjoying it. (legally) Ha Ha
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I'm thinking about brewing one of those table beers to give my kiddos with dinner. Have you seen what milk costs recently? I bet it will get them to bed a little earlier too :D
 
Father of two kids, girl and boy. 8 and 5 respectively. Both of them have had some role in the brewing process and they are always eager to have a taste of the most recent batch.
Brewed about 11 batches so far this year. They recently learned that beer does indeed neutralize a spicy pepper in your mouth!
 
My wife knows there are far worse (and much more costly) hobbies I can get into. And everyone likes the results.
No kids yet. 1st one due in January, and the wife is expecting some good hard cider to drink after the baby is born.
 
I'm not a parent, but I'm planning ahead by buying all the brewing stuff I can afford before I'm married. That way brewing isn't juxtaposed to real responsibilities.

You could also brew more per batch (10 gal instead of 5) and start kegging. That'd save some time. But if you need more equipment to do that, buy now.
 
mew said:
I'm not a parent, but I'm planning ahead by buying all the brewing stuff I can afford before I'm married. That way brewing isn't juxtaposed to real responsibilities.

You could also brew more per batch (10 gal instead of 5) and start kegging. That'd save some time. But if you need more equipment to do that, buy now.
Click to expand...

Wish I thought of that. Try explaining why you need 4 more
6gal better bottles, and more space in the basement.
A kegerator and kegging has not come up yet. Waiting for the right time.
Dave
 

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