So I just had the most relaxing and relaxed brew day (morning really) in a long time. Kept it simple. Simple water locked in the pH (yeah I made the usual notes but maybe now I won’t need to check things like that except for a totally new style.) Simple mash (153°F and mash off) gave a wort of superior quality and the usual yield. Went back to FWH so I could walk away and forget about most of the boil. I actually think this might be the best beer I have made in a long time, and most importantly, it was really fun again! Next stress reducer: I’m going to quit filtering my beer. Heck, I know it’s clear and clean enough after lagering, I’m just wasting my time and stripping my beer. I just cut an inch off the dip tubes in my lagering kegs and made a jumper from spare tubing and parts! Thanks to Jim for his original post.
Before I began brewing again, I was REALLY into BBQ. I learned to de-stress and simplified that process, quit judging, and turned it to a very relaxed fun day. When I decided to begin brewing again (when AL legalized the activity) that mindset naturally transferred. I don’t add a bunch of BS, the simpler recipe the better, I don’t stress over exact temps or times or much else. Close enough is good enough. …and I have made some pretty good beer. Cheers!
“There is real science and math underneath what we do, but we don’t have to access it directly to be successful.” Gordon Strong, Brewing Better Beer.
You are most welcome. We may end up with an Alice’s Restaurant type movement here!
Jim, are you up for relating the story you told me about your helles?
Great post and I find myself along the same lines at times. I have about a dozen ribbons/medals from comps and I haven’t entered in a couple yrs and that might be all I ever have on my wall to show for it. But I have learned I really don’t care what anyone else thinks of my beer. My beer is for me and a few close friends family that have the pleasure of drinking my efforts from time to time. There is no one to please but myself.
I have gotten a bit into auto pilot and that’s fine but I have also learned what is important and what isnt within my brewing, my process and where to better focus my effort.
It’s in here if someone wanted to dig. But sure…
Basically, a couple years back I devoted myself all winter to “perfecting” a Munich Helles. Chose that for difficulty level. I brewed it umpteen times, making improvements along the way. I employed the help of a couple Grand Masters. #1 and #2 in charge of BJCP Education. Following their suggestions after sampling beers I sent them. I sought out every authentic technique I could find and could do on my equipment, including step mashing on my direct fire recirculation mash tun, kettle acid, etc etc. After nearly depleting my will to live, I brewed one final iteration using my same ol same ol single infusion, no mash out, no kettle acid, bla bla bla… bottled up a couple bombers off my beer gun and hauled them to Seattle. After the friday night session of judging NHC Round One, I rounded up Randy Scorby, Steve Antoch, and Tedd Hausotter. Three guys who know beer in my opinion. They judged it in front of me after I convinced them I wanted their gut honest opinion. The average score was 42. The ding I remember was the slightest hint of sulfur. A few more days in primary would have bumped it closer to 45.
I’m all for pursuing the deep end of the pool. Go for it if you enjoy it. And maybe all the intense, advanced, complex, traditional techniques might get you a 43, or 45, maybe even a 50. Awesome! Go for it! I applaud you! But go easy on the rest of us. A thing you read in a book and tried once doesn’t make you superior to anyone. It’s not about being superior, at least not for me.
I’m glad I put myself through it. But, for ME, and my time, my enjoyment, my whatever… simple methods make plenty good beer. Of all of the iterations of that helles, simple ruled the day enjoyment-wise, and score-wise.
I have not brewed that beer since. I do brew a slightly bigger slightly hoppier version that I love.
All of my other beers improved drastically after that exercise, but not because I use any complex method. I think it was just the experience.
For what it’s worth.
At the end of the day, people should do what they enjoy and do it how they like.
I’m on a hiatus right now but not because of burnout. It’s more about not having all that much time with 2 kids running around to sacrifice a few hours on the weekend. I still keep up at our site, our forum, and revise our spreadsheet.
With that said, I’ll be retooling my rig up again here soon and getting going. Same process as always. Easy peasy.
Very good points made here- and a very good reminder of what its all about for each of us!
For all the great things that the internet provides, it also has provided a tremendously damaging yard stick for folks to measure aspects of themselves against others and lose the perspective that we all need. This post is a nice reminder of that need. As a parent of two young children I have found myself thinking about and talking about this often.
Homebrewing is a microcosm of life? Go figure…
Happy New Year everyone!
Feel free to send me another bottle when you do. 
I (we) really loved that beer! And thanks for the kind words.
FWIW, I’m in a drawdown stage too. Haven’t brewed much lately. I have a cider still sitting in a keg conditioning, but that’s it. I don’t frequent the forums as often either. Just taking a bit of a break for now.
I know I’ll get the itch again.
Steve
Hey steve!!! Wait till that itch clears up before you brew, lol.
There is a bit of caution that could be inferred from Jim and Derek’s experiences. Both were striving pretty diligently at ‘perfection’ and had to back off. While I would love to create and drink perfect beer, I realized a long time ago that its almost folly. I’m glad that both of these guys are still at it, but don’t overlook the good while seeking perfection.
If you get too serious, you might overlook the joy of brewing. These examples scream of ‘Relax, don’t worry…’
You know, I apply that philosophy to my car hobby, but never thought to do so with beer. When I first got into cars, I had to have everything perfect. Go into replacing a part with a perfect knowledge of how to do it, find the perfect shocks, and so on. Needless to say it wasn’t much fun, and I was easily frustrated. Since then I’ve become more than ok with “good enough”. The internet show Roadkill showed me that it really doesn’t have to be perfect to be fun. (And also I was hanging out with the wrong (high dollar) car crowd, I don’t have road course money.) Now I don’t sweat it when things aren’t perfect, and I have a far more enjoyable time working on cars. Taking things slow and figuring out how to to be good enough when ideal isn’t doable is enjoyable.
I never thought about applying the same mindset to brewing. Thanks!
Wise man here!
Just to be clear: my hiatus has nothing to do with burnout. If I had the time between work, family (my kids are 2 and 4), and looking for a new house, I’d be brewing at least once a week.
I’m still striving for and pursuing the background stuff (blog, articles, spreadsheet, simplified Low Oxygen small batch rig) and I haven’t lost the desire or the drive to keep talking about and enacting the methods.
For me, the joy of brewing IS getting lost in the weeds in trying to perfect the Trappist beers I love. It’s actually the opposite of burnout. I’m overflowing with ideas and the desire to do it but time is a limiting factor. As a guy who prides himself on trying to be the best Dad, taking 3-4 hours straight plus cleanup on a weekend even monthly was conflicting with other things.
Brewing has never worried me one bit. [emoji6]
Having just moved, good luck to you. That’s something I never want to have to do again.
So I’ve thought some more. I’m not going to quit filtering, at least now. It’s such a reflex thing it’s not much hassle. And I’d maybe want to replace it with fining or longer cold storage. Hassle. My worry with it was O2 pickup (and I do believe in that post fermentation). I just got carbonation lids for my serving kegs, so I can easily better deaerate the water I flush my filter with. It’s still all about finding what puts your mind at ease. I don’t really have to change this part of my routine much to feel better about it. Maybe I was closer to cruise control than I realized! Cruise control for that VW microbus…happy happy new year! 
Second thoughts, then third. I didn’t filter this batch after all. Got up early, decided to just jump it over and see how it goes. Looks perfectly clear. (Didn’t even have trimmed dip tube.) Now it’s carbonating on my new carbonation lid. Wow, that was easy. Can’t wait to blow a keg and put this on! Really cruisin’.
OK Robert,
I’m falling for it, why do I want a carbonation lid? Is it for faster carbonation? Will the stone create a better foam bubble?
Never mind I reread you post. It is for your water correct?
I was going to use it to deaerate flush water if I filtered, but I got it (them) for carbonating. It’s a corny lid with a gas post on top, a barb inside, a tube hangs a stone at the bottom of the keg. I don’t think the quality of carbonation is any different than any other force method. I’ve always been a crank-and-shake guy. My back is getting too old for shaking kegs! I tried a stone on a tube on the gas-in years ago, carbed great, but causes foaming in the keg on dispense. So the need for a separate gas post. I just don’t do the slow force because I believe once the beer is fermented, lagered and off the yeast, it’s time to carb and drink. As I say, it’s not ageing, just getting old. (The method is you set pressure at 2psi, leave it a few minutes, and ramp by 2psi increments at intervals of a few minutes until seving pressure is reached and you no longer hear gas being admitted. Switch gas to regular post.)
Carbonation Keg Lid,Ferroday Stainless Steel Carbonation lid With 0.5 Micron Diffusion Air Stone Amazon.com
Edited to clarify method