This ^^^^ pretty much sums it up. Once you have won a medal at a major competition, there may be no turning back.
I lost interest in the competing part of brewing years ago. Just found it a huge PITA having to package beer and ship it out.
I’d agree, try some comps. You may like it, or like Major and I, you may quickly find it a pain in the ass and quit doing it. But it’ll give you feedback on how you can tweak your beers. Are you making your own recipes? I have never had any interest at all in brewing others recipes (with the exception of Mdixon’s wit) because to me, it holds no challenge. What I am doing may be exactly the same as someone else (after all, you can only add Citra hops so many times…) but it’s mine because it’s what I wanted to make, not because I read that this is what I should make or how I should do it. It’s your beer. F’ing it up is part of the fun.
Also, I’ve read brewing in kilts enhances the experience although I’ve n’er tried it. And is your cooler blue?
Lastly, if you only brew a few times a year for yourself and that’s all you want to do, that’s fine too.
I think if you are not wearing a kilt while you brew, you’re not brewing!!!
My 2₵ worth:
Start kegging - bottling is a tedious chore.
Get out of the kitchen and start brewing on a larger scale.
Upgrading your equipment and techniques will upgrade your enthusiasm too.
1 dollar spent on brewing buys 2 dollars worth of happiness!
I’ve been known to take breaks up to a year, like when I’ve moved house and stuff. Suddenly though, I’ll read an article or have a look at the AHA forum or some flavor profile will appear in my imagination and I’ll become inspired again and I MUST brew.
thinking about this on way to work today. I also like to get friends involved. it is fun to share the hobby and show off a bit.
Thanks guys. I knew you’d get it. I have loved it so far, I think I just got bogged down in “diminishing returns”. I think I’ll just sit back and try to coast with it a while, rather than actively seeking something new. I’ll work on tweaking recipes and taking it easy.
I am a member of the local homebrew club, but I really haven’t tapped their resources much. That sounds like a good idea.
You guys are great!
In my experience, your homebrew club s what you make of it. If everyone sits around and just drinks beer with no direction or focus, it makes it a lot harder. A club that is working towards making the club members better brewers through education and involvement is a wonderful thing.
My homebrew club takes the mullet approach to meetings: business up front, party in the back. We usually have a style assigned to each meeting, people bring in some commercial examples, we talk about the style, then try the homebrewed examples of the style. After that, we try whatever other homebrew people brought, then we kinda break up into smaller groups to socialize for the second half of the meeting.
It may help to reflect on why you got into the hobby in the first place, and what this or other hobbies mean to you. I started homebrewing at a point in my life when a lot of other things were a bit mixed up for me. It took me a few months to get to the local homebrew club, and I’m sorry I couldn’t have spent more time with them – what nice people – before my life turned around and I found myself where I wanted to be. But the brewing process was, and is, a sort of zymurgical therapy. There, as where I am now, I can find plenty of excellent beer, though I do like to brew things that are not so common. Thinking about the process, planning my next brew, mulling over my current brews, reading up on brews, planning my equipment… I find that a very pleasant “vacation” from other things in my life.
I have the opposite problem which is I’d love to brew more but my life gets in the way. I am thinking of doing the occasional stovetop extract brew this coming academic year just to keep my hand in it.
I have to admit I also hit this “wall” not too long ago after I did 2 competitions, a wedding, a brew club mass brew, and a large backyard BBQ. Now that I’ve had a short break from the cleaning, sanitizing, recipe formulation, brewing, transferring, serving…and repeating I’m feeling much more inclined to do something fun versus what the masses wanted. Time to get back to the home brewer roots!
Agree. There are some good and constructive clubs and then there are some not so good clubs. But a good one with knowledgeable and (here’s they key) HELPFULL members can really turn you in the right direction. Be warry of a club that just sits around and drinks beer and shoots the bull most they time and be equally wary of clubs that only focus on criticism.
Summers are my time to drink the lagers I made in the winter. I do not like to brew in the summer heat. Now it has cooled down to a temperature where I am thinking of doing a brew agian. Landbiers are a style that I find tasty, and there is not much information out there abouit them. Told my wife I am now on a mission to brew one. If you don’t know this lager style, you might find one imported from Germany, or if you are not so far from Wisconsin, the New Glarus 2 Women Lager is also a “Country Lager”.
This is what is inspiring me to brew again. It might only fit into category 23, but I am brewing it for me.
Clubs - mine has little structure, but has some educational demos and the information is exchanged in face to face discussion. For some reason, I get a lot of questions on making Pilsners these days. Happy to share what I know.
Hmmm… wonder why that would be?
Our club is more on the social side of the scale, without so many demonstrations and educational business. However, we have many experienced brewers that offer good advice if you ask questions. I like the more social clubs, but I am looking at joining another club that is more educationally focused. Glad I live up here in beer central where I have 4-5 homebrew clubs within a 15-20 minute drive.
Oh I ain’t scurred. 
You’ve only scratched the surface grasshopper. ;D
Over the past 5 years I’ve sworn to pack it in a number of times but so far have resisted quitting brewing. Indeed, a couple years ago producing a batch of beer was such an incredible PITA that it filled me with a tremendous sense of dread knowing I would be committing almost a full day to it.
So I changed my equipment up and brought the brewing back into the kitchen! I make half as much beer but have quadrupled my satisfaction and enjoyment of the process. The beer is better too. 8)
No reason to be scurred…But if you’re scurred - say you’re scurred!! hahaha
I went nuts when I first moved to MO and had all the space I could want. I got a giant kettle and outdoor burner, and I was convinced I’d be doing a lot of 10-gal batches. Turns out I hated the extra work, and I hated brewing outside. Back in the kitchen too, with 5 gallon (or smaller) batches again.