We’re hoping that a little polling will help settle a debate at my LHBS about drinking while brewing. Thanks!
I’ve done it a couple of times when I have guests for brew day, but in general I won’t crack the first one until I’m chilling the wort. The beer turns out much better that way.
I am just now finishing chilling the wort and I’m on my third beer of the day. It’s 4:00 on a Saturday for cryin’ out loud!
I have one during the boil 
First one after the yeast is pitched.
Unless it’s a special situation, like Big Brew or Learn to Brew Day, none at all. I wait til everything is done, cleaned up, and put away. Drinking while brewing increases the likelihood I’ll screw something, and the cleanup seems like much more work if I’ve been drinking. Not to mention that I usually start by 9 AM and I just don’t want to drink beer that early.
I’ll usually have one when I start boiling and one when I’m chilling. I don’t like having more than two during a session. I like to be able to think on my feet if need be.
Once the wort is in the fermenter I’ll have a beer before I start the cleanup.
Tubercle brews in the afternoon so wort will be at pitching temp the next morning (see other thread somewhere about his). From the start of crushing grain to finish cleaning and sit down is roughly 4.5 - 5 hours. So I would say approximately 4.5 to 5 hours worth.
I’ve usually had a few by the time the yeast is pitched. I almost never have one until after the wort is boiling though.
I like how you speak in the third person! Makes you either seem like the crazy/radical brewer, or just plain crazy. Only the flavor of your beer will distinguish that. ;D
Depends on the time of day. I never have one before noon (Eastern time) and never more than one at a time. May sound like I enjoy drinking beer while brewing and I do. Only got sh–faced once (while brewing). Woke up in the middle of the night trying to remember if I pitched the yeast.
I guess it’d be the same answer as Tubercle…
Oh and I light up a stogey during the mash.
Hmmm . . . now that I think about it, I’ve always attributed the beer turning out poorly to the beers I drink when I have company during a brew day (it’s really rare, I brew alone 95+% of the time). Maybe it’s the company distracting me and not the beers! This calls for a test ;D
My strategy, too. It’s a nice reward to look forward to.
As I was reading this the song “I drink alone” started playing in my head.
I too start early in the morning so when the clock strikes 12:00, I pour one by the time I’m cleaning up Ive had a few! ;D
Sometimes I have one or two, lately I’ve been waitng until I’m finished cleaning up, so I can kick back and relax.
We have just enough.
Not until the wort’s in the fermenters and things are cleaned and put away. If I have a few during the brew, I tend to get lazy and sometimes forget things I shouldn’t so no beer for me.
Same for me. I enjoy having a beer while brewing (it just seems to make sense), but no more than two so I’m not increasing my chances of messing up. I have more than enough ability to do that without being tipsy! ;D