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

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

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.

Or you can use cloth diapers and keep the brewing money

 

[Dave258]

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

 

[JOHN51277]

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

 

[AnonyBrew]

2 kids (4 & 1). 26 batches so far this year.

 

[petep1980]

Start all grain brewing before hand, so when you go back to extract it seems like nothing to your wife.

 

[MMW]

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

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

 

[cjmcfoot]

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!

 

[MartyB]

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.

 

[mew]

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.

 

[Dave258]

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.

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

 

[JKoravos]

My daughter is 10 months now, I took about 8 months off, but in the last few months I've brewed more than usual. 4 batches in three months.

If you're an extract brewer, it's no big deal, you can just do it after the kid is asleep (once they start sleeping through the night). All-grain is definitely more time consuming. I do 10 gallon batches outside and from start to finish it's probably close to 7 hours that I can't help with the baby. My wife is good about it, but I actually don't like it. I'm working on a completely automated system that will allow me to brew all my batches during the week. The part I enjoy about making beer is mastering the brewery design and process (and the end product, of course), not the actual brewing of the beer.


Also, I've completely discarded all other hobbies besides brewing...and I had a bunch of hobbies. Brewing was the only one I couldn't give up.

 

[Arkador]

My family allows me time to brew every other week, but the money being spent on a 5yr old, 3 month old, and the fact that my wife is currently stay at home, money is the limiting factor for me.

I overcome the money by making about 4# of beef jerky a week, and selling most of it. Cost to make= $30, i sell it for $25/lb and we eat about 1/2 pound of it. It puts about $40 into my homebrew budget every time i make a batch. My wife encourages me to make jerky, because she loves it more than I do.

 

[JoeMama]

Fortunately for me, my daughter is older (9) and while she requires (demands) attention, there are plenty of lulls in the brewday to tend to her and other things as well. Take it slow and enjoy your family. Learn your new routine with the new family addition and see how you might be able to incorporate brewing into your schedule.

They always say "If Momma aint happy, noones happy..."
Thats a 2 way street if you ask me
-Me

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Before being a dad and after becoming a dad are two entirely different lives. Who knows what fatherhood will bring?........Apart from less sex, of course.

 

[AnonyBrew]

My family allows me time to brew every other week, but the money being spent on a 5yr old, 3 month old, and the fact that my wife is currently stay at home, money is the limiting factor for me.

I overcome the money by making about 4# of beef jerky a week, and selling most of it. Cost to make= $30, i sell it for $25/lb and we eat about 1/2 pound of it. It puts about $40 into my homebrew budget every time i make a batch. My wife encourages me to make jerky, because she loves it more than I do.

Do you sell it online? I'll take some.

 

[redraider629]

The first few months it slows down. But it will pick back up, you just need to find time to get out there and brew. I have a 16 month old and I still have time to go out and brew a batch. Although we are expecting our second in March so I do not know how two children will affect my brewing.

 

[redraider629]

congrats BTW

 

[IrregularPulse]

I have a 13 month old and actually brew more since he's been born. We realize that maybe even more so that we have a little one, we each need our individual time. I play disc golf once a week and Brew once a month. It depends on your wife and relationship.

 

[quickerNu]

Naaaa, it just won't be a priority anymore. I have twin 4 year olds. I didn't have any energy for brewing for a good while. Then I started brewing after they were asleep for the night. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was running a meth lab at 2am, but that is the only time I had. I also had to be ready to miss or delay a step if needed immediately for baby assistance. You work around it. I funded my brewing by selling a bunch of my pack-ratted motorcycle crap on e-bay. That kept momma happy. Austin homebrew takes paypal, so never a dime came out of the family checking account.

 

[mkling]

I stopped brewing for 8 years or so when I had kids (2nd one came along just when the first one was old enough for me to think about starting up again). I'm started back slowly & am now a very active brewer. As others have said, don't worry about it, spend time with the little ones. They'll be your assistants by the time they're 4 or 5.

 

[pava]

I actually didn't even start brewing until after I was a father so I don't know what it would have been like to brew when free time was always my own. That being said, I only had one when I started and now I have a 4 year old and a 1.5 year old. My advice to you is this, first of all never put brewing before family time. If you are needed or just wanted for fatherly duties or just for spending time with the family then always put that first. If you are successful at that you will always be afforded time to brew. Secondly, make sure (as others have mentioned) that your wife gets equal free time to do what she wants again, if you are successful at this you will have no problem being afforded time to brew. Again, I only started brewing after I became a father so I have no other experience here with the timing of brew sessions, but what I typically do is schedule brew sessions for late nights or early mornings when everyone is asleep. My typical brew session will start when the kids go to sleep and will end around 12 or 1 AM, that way I have taken nothing away from the family and actually my wife gets an evening to herself as well without me bugging here . On days like my birthday for example I will usually request that I have the whole day to myself and actually get to brew during the day and will often pull double or triple brews on that day alone. I could probably do more daytime brewing, but again per point 1, I make it a point not to let brewing interfere with family time, I don't ever want to look back and realize that I let a hobby get in the way of spending time with my family when I had the chance. Good luck with upcoming life change, it is the absolute best thing you will ever do in your life and do not by any means give up your hobby, having time to yourself is still a necessity and in the end will make you a better father (more relaxed and energized), just learn how to manage both and you will be fine. Congrats and enjoy the adventure.

P.S. Oh and one other thing that helps. . .not sure how spontaneous of a brewer you are, but I always make sure that my wife knows about my brew sessions well in advance (at least several weeks) and typically she has a general idea of my brew schedule for the entire year. What months and how many brews I have going, that way it is easy for her to plan around and it never catches her off guard.

 

[quickerNu]

Well said pava- that is exactly how I do it also.

 

[JKoravos]

I funded my brewing by selling a bunch of my pack-ratted motorcycle crap on e-bay. That kept momma happy. Austin homebrew takes paypal, so never a dime came out of the family checking account.

LOL, that's exactly what I'm doing (except not with motorcycle stuff...old tools, speakers, electronics, etc.). I'm trying to run everything through paypal so it doesn't upset the family funds too much.

 

[quickerNu]

Yep- lot easier to keep the peace that way.

If your wife feels your brewing is taking away from the family at all, she won't like it, and neither will you for much longer. Get creative and be responsible. There are a bunch of great ideas in this thread! It should be sent to all new brewer-dads!

 

[mmb]

It starts slowly at first. The gradual end of blow jobs, for instance.

Sucks to be you, I've seen stock rising long before our number 2 arrived in May with no decline in sight.

Brewing, however, IS few and far between this summer but looking up for the fall.

 

[ImperialLover]

I didn't start brewing until I was a father (of two). I'm only 26 years old so I've got a lot of crazy friends that want to go out and party. I get my wife to let me brew by saying, well, I could go out to the bar with so and so (eventhough I have no intention of it). We're also on a dave ramsey budget and I set aside my blow money for my grains etc. So in the end, it keeps me at the house with her and the babies and I've got money set aside for it. Time isn't an issue. I get my little girl to help me stir the mash and then mama takes the kids during the boil. I reciprocate by watching the kids for however many hours and letting her go do something she wants to do. You'll probably get into a similar rhythm when it comes to "me" time.

 

[ImperialLover]

I completely agree with pava too. Family FIRST.

 

[budbo]

Sucks to be you, I've seen stock rising long before our number 2 arrived in May with no decline in sight.

Brewing, however, IS few and far between this summer but looking up for the fall.

Give it time, a few more years.... it will happen

 

[smalltown2001]

Well we finally got the good news, we're going to have our first child! I'm so excited, and really forgot why I was so anxious about not having enough time for brewing. But I've caught myself calling the little one in the womb "the brewmaster". I did get a look from the wife though .

 

[78kombi]

Congrats to you smalltown!, the frequency of brewing did decline for me, but I am also drinking far less as well.
I keg and brew extract, but usually only when the momma is out of town.
So like once a month.