I only say near-perfect because i don’t want to jinx my next session.
Had some friends over on thursday to help me brew because they were interested in the process and may want to start homebrewing themselves. Everything went smoothly and they had a blast. I let them add the grains, stir the mash, vorlauf, etc etc while I instructed them during the whole process, they even helped me clean up!
We spent the whole day brewing, eating bbq, drinking beers and laughing while the kids played in the yard. Such a great day!
btw, the SNPA Clone we brewed is bubbling away and smells great!
I highly recommend having people over to help you brew, it made my brew day just that much better.
My friends are definitely not interested in brewing. They will, however suck down all my beer when they are over. I prefer not to have the distraction. 8)
Kudos on the BBQ-Brewing event. Sounds like a good way to keep the wives and kids happy while the brewer(s) gets to working.
The wives did just as much as the husbands during the brew session which made it even better. I also made sure that everyone tried each ‘job’ (pouring, stirring, measuring, etc etc.) atleast once during each phase of the brew day.
One of the cool things about homebrewing is how well it adapts to so many personality types. I love brewing alone. It’s my stay-at-home get-away. I save my brew days for when I can enjoy them all by myself. I’ve attended other folks’ brew sessions where they clearly love having lots of people involved. Those are fun for me, but only because I’m on the sidelines.
My brew days are the days alone for me! Days when I’m away from the corporate rat wheel, away from the office so crammed with people we have to scoot our chairs if somebody needs to get out of their chairs…yep brew days are days with my beer, making my beer, and working with my equipment.
I’m with you guys about brewing alone. It’s a solitary endeavory for me. I never had anyone show me how to do it, so I wasn’t taught in a group setting. I have friends who like to have parties while they brew. Not me, I like no one to be around.
But it does sound like quite a fun time y’all had, brewing or not. BBQ, friends, and beer is always a good time.
Yeah I fall under the brew alone category. Yesterday; perfect weather, windows open, the smell of malt and hops wafting from the garage, blending with the rose garden blowing in the kitchen window, a pot of peaberry Kona coffee, and Gypsy Kings on Pandora. Good brew day yesterday.
I too am of the brew alone crew. for all the reasons stated above plus the fact that my available time for brewing is between about 6:30 pm and 2:00 AM on friday nights. It’s just me, my dog and, around 11:00 PM on the neighbors cat who sits silently in the shadow of the house and watches the kettle boil. (S)he’s not a black cat but I figure a cat to watch the cauldren is always a good thing. I think it prevents boil overs. ;D
Like most, I typically brew alone. However I started a tradition last year called “Man Day”. Several people expressed interest in making a brew so I figured I would have them all at once. So on the 23rd of December I invited everyone to take a half day and come over to brew. We made a Steam Beer, smoked cigars, drank some beer and a whiskey tasting even broke out. There is something about a dozen guys standing around a brew kettle in 30F weather talking smack, drinking and smoking cigars. They made me promise to do it again this year as everyone had a blast and everyone took turns performing a task like with Tony. I really enjoyed it as well even though I typically like the solitude. It was a cool change of pace and it makes you realize just how much you know about homebrewing as you answer the mulitiudes of questions everyone has.
I like to do both. Most of the time it’s just me, which is great since I can really concentrate on what I doing. Usually when I am brewing I don’t have high expectations for the beer since I am also drinking and hanging out. But group brew days are fun every now and then.
The OP’s description sounds a lot like our brew day yesterday. Since I got a large conical, I’ve enlisted a friend to help me fill it every so often. Its a nice change of pace to brewing by myself and I appreciate the help on a 15gal batch. The only thing about brewing with a friend is that we tend to break out some beers early on, and drinking too early in the process makes the last steps (especially cleanup) less enjoyable.
I suppose unless you’re doing it professionally and it becomes a major job complete with worrying about payrolls, profits, outputs, and bottom lines; brewing beer with or without friends is one of the most satisfying things you can do. If you do it alone you’re able to think about the process and are able to concentrate on perfection. If you brew with friends and family the process becomes collaborative and about enjoying where you are in the moment. My only concern about a party with kids near boiling liquid would be making sure that said liquid and said kids (and dogs) were kept far enough away from each other. Nothing spoils a great brew day like a trip to the emergency room. So a little pre-planning pays off in a great day.
I too experienced a near-perfect brew day, yesterday! Howerer, I was a little concerned that my OG came in way too low. I just realized this afternoon that I forgot to add the dark Belgian candi syrup for my Abby Dubbel recipe. But, now I can stop worrying, because on another thread, I’ve been assured that I can simply add the syrup to my fermentor when I get home. I feel so much better now! ;D
