I enjoy fermenting food such as bread and pizza, pickling veggies such as cucumbers and onions, charcuterie: grinding and stuffing sausages, curing, grilling and smoking meats as well as cooking in the kitchen. Brewing is an extension of that enjoyment. I get a sense of satisfaction and stress relief from these projects.
Busch
Walmart
Costco
I’m moving to Denver and I’ve made a few work trips up there…They have better beer in the store than I am making…not true here in Texas…I am going to have to up my game or resign myself to paying premium for premium…
This is a great thread! I’m very new. But I ground some grains at the LHBS today and doing my first BIAB 1 gallon batch to find my way, and the aromas and excitement are awesome. I am a health professional, this is going to be a creative outlet of sorts : )
This. This is the pinnacle of brewing. When you imagine a beer, work to put it together, and it turns out… there’s nothing better (at least, not in brewing).
Thanks! These sorts of posts to by blog don’t do near the traffic that the “hey you guy, look what I managed to screw up THIS time” entries do… but this one was a ton of fun to write. I’m glad this it resonated with some people.
I’m an engineer so the things I enjoy most about brewing are the things I enjoy most about engineering: I get a thrill taking something directly from a textbook on brewing, making it a reality in the Brewhouse, and seeing the results pan out at the end of the process.
I prefer the cold and clinical in a certain sense to the artistic. I think brewing is less about an esoteric melding of artistic qualities and more about a strict adherence to technical principles. I enjoy the latter much more than the former given my background. Math and science are king for me even in light of the fact that I enjoy cinema, music, and other artistically driven things.
Hah! Those were the days.
Kids are upstairs with the wife. Tomorrow is my mental health day, but they’re off school. Gonna make them help brew.
Working on starters and listening to MY music.
Can you get a 30 pack of Lone Star? I had a night on that stuff years ago. Woo!
Ain’t been brewing lately and have been paying more for beer than usual.
My boys love to help brew, and the little girls are getting big enough, too. Everybody has to throw hops in, everybody had to have a turn stirring the mash, etc. Sometimes, they actually do useful things like holding the funnel or whatnot, but by and large, it’s fun to have them involved.
My eldest used to like to help filling kegs. If I turned my back she poured it on the floor.
The little guy likes to help bottle for competition.
Beyond that I’m usually on my own.
Engineering is inherently creative though. Like how an artist is bound by the limitations of their medium, we’re bound by the laws of physics. The only real difference is an artist doesn’t always know where they’ll end up, but they know how they’ll get there. Engineers (and some technicians) know what they want, but initially we’ve no idea how to get there.