I read the title of this thread and think it would make a great bumper sticker.
“A Bad Brew Day Beats a Good Day At Work…” 
Taking your time sure does help. Also setting everything up and even label it helps. I got in the habit of measuring out all the hop additions then have them in plastic cups with the times marked on them. Anything else like Whirlflock or sugars gets lined up on a table with the hops in order of addition.
I try to start early in the day so sampling previous batches gets done around clean up time after the important work is done. Not that clean up isn’t important.
Little steps like crushing the grain and any sanitizing you can do the day before also helps. It’s not work, it’s fun but there is a lot to do and it is easy to skip or goof a step.
I’ve started measuring everything out like grains, hop additions and water salts the day before and put them in individual containers and label them. Hop additions get labeled with the boil time so it’s basically fool proof. Since I brew in my garage and all my equipment is in the basement there is a lot of moving stuff upstairs so I’ll even set a lot of that up the night before sometimes. I do all my sanitizing during the mash and the boil.
Also it helps to get a good nights sleep and don’t drink too much the night before. Nothing sucks more than brewing a beer with a nasty hangover.
I’ve started measuring everything out like grains, hop additions and water salts the day before and put them in individual containers and label them. Hop additions get labeled with the boil time so it’s basically fool proof. Since I brew in my garage and all my equipment is in the basement there is a lot of moving stuff upstairs so I’ll even set a lot of that up the night before sometimes. I do all my sanitizing during the mash and the boil.
Also it helps to get a good nights sleep and don’t drink too much the night before. Nothing sucks more than brewing a beer with a nasty hangover.[/quote]
A few years ago I sat down and wrote out every step I do for a brew day. I pulled out all the things that could be prepped before hand, and looked at the time required for what was left, and determined that with proper planning I could brew two batches in only a little more time than I had been taking to do one. And it worked; it’s now my regular process.
I never drink while brewing. I get confused enough trying to remember where I left my thermometer when I need it; I don’t need anything else to dilute my focus.
I do the same thing now too, prep everything possible the day ahead (except for some stuff that is easily done while waiting for other steps like mash and boil) Sure that is just spreading out the time across two days but it certainly makes brew day easier. Also found that for me brewing early in the morning works best, quiet at the house and rarely anyone stopping by causing a distraction. Means I’m done in time to do other stuff in the day as well. Less tempting to grab a beer during brew time when it is morning and I’m having my coffee.
[quote=“simple”]Well, sippin on that best bitter that didn’t get the crystal (see first post).
Best damn beer I ever made.[/quote]
Was gonna say… might not be what you were shooting for, but no reason at all to suspect that wouldn’t make a good beer! Even the pros screw the pooch and get a nice surprise once in a while.
https://lagunitas.com/beers/brown-shugga/:cheers:
