Need help ASAP. I’ve been brewing for 9 -10 years but I haven’t brewed since Nov, and that batch got dumped due to multiple reasons. My mill broke, one of my burners crapped out, haven’t been to home brew club meeting in months and I’ve in general have just lost the desire to brew. I think some of the problem is stress from work, but I don’t think I can blame all of it on that (could be wrong). I’m sure others have hit a brewing wall, how does one break out of the funk and get re-inspired.
I did get a new mill for a great price, I had a friend possibly fix the burner but haven’t tested it yet so there isn’t really anything keeping me from brewing except myself.
Sometimes its good to take a break. I just got back into brewing regularly last year after a 6 or 7 yr hiatus. Part of my issue was moving due to my wife’s job and it took me 250 miles away from all of my brewing buddies with the old club. There are a couple of clubs in my new area but they just weren’t the same. I didn’t really feel like I fit in well with them. Then last year I started volunteering at a new local brewery and met some members of another club that I never really knew was here and started hanging out with them and that got the fires burning again so to speak. Although I never really broke ties with the old club because I would still visit them once a year for the big brewing competition in March, I think I finally found a new “home” here with a bunch of guys that brew beer for the same reasons that I brew beer.
I find that if my interest is slipping, two things help get me back on track: reading “Brew Like a Monk” (or some other great beer book) and/or walking down the beer aisle, checking prices ("$7.49 for a bomber of Shakespeare Stout?!? - I can make 12 gallons of that for the price of four bottles!").
Pick a simple, sure-fire recipe with a fast turn-around, set aside a little extra time to prep everything up front, and make the brew session as easy as possible. You’ll re-kindle the fire.
Just buy a case of Bud Light and drink all of it. That should get you ready for good beer again.
Or more seriously, are there any new fancy brewing toys that you’ve always wanted but never got for one reason or another? Brewing is always more fun with a new toy.
I also just watched the BIAB episode of Brewing TV and they said that sometimes just trying a new method like that reignites passion sometimes. Plus, BIAB produces smaller batches and is less time intensive. I’ve never done it but it seemed interesting
http://www.northernbrewer.com/connect/e ... nd-new-bagBeen there - brewed like crazy after starting in 1994ish. Brewed extract, got into all grain, bought a 3 tier system, built a new house with a “brew room” in it, etc. etc. By about 1999-2000, recently married, teenage step kids, pressures at work, coaching, taking grad. classes, etc. Just got to be too much. Same as you - some failed batches (due to lack of time and attention on my part) I just lost the enthusiasm. Did not brew at all for about 5 years. Just bought quality commercial kegs and put them on tap (so easy.) One day I got a new NB catalog in the mail, started flipping through it, got inspired, cleaned my brew room top to bottom, pitched all of my old plastic stuff, bought new, clean plastic, got 2 all grain kits, and have been going steady since.
Sometimes you just need a break - it is a hobby, not a job. Take some time off if you need it.
I love to brew, cook and have a degree in graphic design. So you could say I like to create. I would suggest coming up with something different. My brew club has an Iron Brewer competition going on right now. My group is fermenting a Hawaiian LuALE beer. It’s basically a gold ale with pilsner base and some belgian specialty grains and some smoked malt. We’re racking over some fruit to be decided. Either some or none of pineapple, cherries, papaya or coconut. We’re shooting for smokey, fruity hawaiian bbq theme.
So, get creative to stir those juices.
:cheers:
Or go to whichever local watering hole that has the best selection of rare beers and try some you’ve never had before.
[quote=“Braufessor”]
Sometimes you just need a break - it is a hobby, not a job. Take some time off if you need it.[/quote]
Sound advice. I’ve gotten unmotivated to brew also in my 3 or so years of brewing. That’s not long, but it can still happen. For me, it just takes brewing a real good beer to keep you interested. So now I brew my favorite recipes every couple of times and it keeps me fairly inspired. But I also get lazy and think I want more variety, so I start thinking about just buying the occasional six pack instead of brewing. It’s kind of fun and almost a ritual to go to the store and browse the beer isle for a while until you find something that is sounding good. But, then again I also remind myself of the purity of brewing all of your own beer and not buying any at all. I think it’s unrealistic to expect either of those.
If it ain’t fun, it ain’t fun.
I’ve got a few hobbies and if I don’t think of it as fun, I wont to it.
Find others to share your beer with (other than a brew club). I find it motivating to pump out good beer when others who are use to BMC beers enjoy what I made. Remember that this might require you to brew something light and easy drinking every once in awhile to keep them interested.
That’s why I’ve taken to not brewing in the summer for the most part, I do like 3 or 4 from May through September. Even now I’m starting to get spring fever and it’s not even March yet! I’m hoping to get 5 to 6 batches in before the middle of May then I can concentrate on other things like camping, golf, fishing etc.
I haven’t brewed from August to December and didn’t really miss it. Grad school keeps me busy up to my ears and I just physically can’t do it. Over the break I brewed like a madman, and now I’m just sneaking one in here and there. Making sour/funky beers also keeps it more interesting.
to stay interested I need to try something new, I need a challenge. pick a style or a process thats different and challenge yourself. doing the same old same old gets too repetitious, change it up to create more interest.
It sounds to me like you are a some what typical adult male who finds an interest or hobby and goes hog wild, absorbing as much as you can until it gradualy fizzles out and then you are stuck in a funk untill the next thing comes along.
Thats me right now. I have always loved beer but only brewed for 2 yrs. I still love to brew–when I can–still love beer, still drink lots of beer, but I’ve stopped playing with BeerSmith at work. Know what I mean?
Being a responsible grown up sucks sometimes.
[quote=“cam0083”]Just buy a case of Bud Light and drink all of it. That should get you ready for good beer again…
[/quote]
LOL Good answer! 
With regard to the original post: I have the opposite problem (if you could call it that). After many years of brewing at home I have pretty much lost almost all desire to buy beer (with very rare exceptions)… Especially given that the prices of the craft stuff are often so out of proportion to what you’re really getting.
So get back on the horse, man, and replace any broken parts of your kit…
homebrewing rules!!
:cheers:
+1 to Glugmaster - seasonality may help balance it out for you. Use the time off to enjoy other things, and drink commercial brews. After a few months of that, you’ll have had enough of the cash layout and sometimes not great beer to want your own again!
I really only brew from November through April, maybe a couple batches otherwise. There’s just too much great stuff to do in the warm months. And it’s easier to brew in winter (for me anyway), gives me something fun to do during the blah season, and it provides plenty of stock for summer.
When July comes around, and you’re drinking one of your CAPs in the heat of an afternoon, you’ll thank yourself that you brewed it months ago! Or, in my case, your wife’s German relatives will visit, and kill ten gallons in the time you can say Prost…
Oh, yeah, and another +1 to Braufesser. About the only time I’m really psyched to buy beer is when something spectacular comes along that I have yet to copy… Pliny the Elder and Hopslam come to mind… and even then the cost makes me wince.
Not that I’ve been brewing for a long time, but what fuels my passion, aside from spending much less for beer I think tastes better than from the store, is getting others into the hobby too. I really enjoy brewing with my buddies, especially teaching them the basics of brewing. I feel like growing my own hops helps too, as it makes me look forward to that time in September and the months following when I can use my own to make my own. I especially love having my wife taste all the beers, and she doesnt like beer, and get a “mmmmm thats good!”.
Sometimes I’ll go a few months, nothing, then 4 or 5 batches. Never consistant. Shadetree has a great answer, walk down the beer isle and check out the prices of the styles, and remember how you can do just as good as those guys, and for half the price. Maybe go back to an old simple favorite. Don’t worry, it will come back.If you once loved it, you’ll do it again.
Go over to the Brewing Network website and listen to some of their podcasts. The session is great for a laugh, the old episodes of the Jamil show are great for learning about specific styles, and my personal favorite, Brew Strong, is a great way to learn a lot about different topics. What I typically find is that after listening to one or two of the shows, I’ve thought about tweaks I can make to my own process, and I’m itching to try them out. Maybe something to try??
I can sympathize. A few months back, after a long brewing day, standing in the garage in the cold with the burners roaring, carrying carboy after carboy down to the basement (I brew 20 gallon batches) I said to myself, “Dude, if you just bought a keg of BBC and put it in the fridge, you could be sitting on the couch warm under a blanket watching TV.” But right now I’m drinking an AWESOME IPA, made just the way I like it, and thinking to myself, you can’t buy beer that tastes this good.
That’s why I stick with it.
I’ve had quite a few years of brewing when I only brewed 3 to 5 10- or 12-gallon batches in a year, and truly balanced beer making with other interests, commitments, and financial responsibilities, and I liked that. Since I started kegging and built a kegerator, I found that I am inclined to brew more due to less work involved, and beer quality remains high due to cold storage temps and I can pour as little as I want of a variety of beers if I want, and it’s popular so as to create opportunities for social occasions at my house. Kegging with multiple taps just added that “up town Sattidy night” aspect to brewing, and I like that. I’ve also limited the number of annual brew sessions in years past based on my taste buds changing. That’s right, there have been times when I just preferred wine or cocktails or something else and so kept less beer on hand when I was less inclined to drink it, which a couple times has lasted for quite a few months. That was fine, but it passed with time. I agree with the notion that when you feel like brewing you will do so, so no need to rush it. The fact that you have been getting your equipment in shape shows that the desire is at least on simmer! And, sometimes I feel like I need a break from drinking beer, since I also make wine, hard cider, mead, and liqueurs. Now that it’s Lent, I’m trying to somewhat significantly limit my alcohol imbibing to keep it from becoming a curse of a negative behavior rather than an enjoyable diversion :shock:
