kblankenship11
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2012
- Messages
- 244
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I haven't posted anything here in a while but wanted to write a little 'diary' type post.
I am finding myself digging out of a brewing "funk". I think what I'm going through now a lot of home-brewers experience.
Starting out with the first few extract kits lead to an early stage of confidence. I can brew beer!! My friends are amazed!! So many new styles to try!!
Move to all-grain. This brings the fiddly, mechanical, process-driven phase that is always fun and new. After a year or two it's dialed in. Nothing much new to explore or discover once my system was running how I liked.
Time to explore recipes!! Forget anything anyone else has brewed; I'm confident, things are working well, I'll make something amazing that nobody else has brewed!! I think this is the 'I can open a microbrewery' phase that every homebrewer seems to dream of until reality sets in.
Eventually this drunken stupor of confidence and naiveté wore out. The more books studied, articles perused and knowledge through experience gained--the more this confidence waned. I suck.
This chart of what photographers go through I feel relates very well to what homebrewers experience as well.
Murphy's law threw me an exploding carboy and an infected batch. The constant, condemning fear of every batch spoiling, inevitably lessened and lessened the enjoyment factor. This delayed each brew-day longer and longer and I found myself not brewing for 3 months or so.
I found myself sitting on my couch picturing my next brew in my head after the infection. Do I even really enjoy brewing anymore? All my friends aren't blown away that I brew any longer, the excitement of new recipes, equipment tweaks, has gone. I suck.
In this struggle of the men on my shoulder in my brain continued it came to me.
What originally made me homebrew? Beer.
What do I love? Classics.
Ahh, the light-bulb above my head went off. Get back to basics!! I've heard this before!! I have brewing classic styles!! Enough screwing around. Lets get back to basics. I have the knowledge and experience to brew excellent beer.
I dusted off my old Irish Red recipe that I brewed years ago. No water additions, no crazy mash process, no stress. The weather was nice, it was a quiet day and I brewed. It was fun.
What did I learn from this funk? I think as homebrewers we shoot ourselves in the foots with over-complexities and trying to "outdo" ourselves. Constant progression is fun and I crave it. But it comes to a point where it just comes down to the activity. I love the act of brewing. I love the results. I love sharing beer.
"Get back to basics". I've read that here before and I'm following that mantra to climb out of my rut. Cheers!!
I am finding myself digging out of a brewing "funk". I think what I'm going through now a lot of home-brewers experience.
Starting out with the first few extract kits lead to an early stage of confidence. I can brew beer!! My friends are amazed!! So many new styles to try!!
Move to all-grain. This brings the fiddly, mechanical, process-driven phase that is always fun and new. After a year or two it's dialed in. Nothing much new to explore or discover once my system was running how I liked.
Time to explore recipes!! Forget anything anyone else has brewed; I'm confident, things are working well, I'll make something amazing that nobody else has brewed!! I think this is the 'I can open a microbrewery' phase that every homebrewer seems to dream of until reality sets in.
Eventually this drunken stupor of confidence and naiveté wore out. The more books studied, articles perused and knowledge through experience gained--the more this confidence waned. I suck.
This chart of what photographers go through I feel relates very well to what homebrewers experience as well.
Murphy's law threw me an exploding carboy and an infected batch. The constant, condemning fear of every batch spoiling, inevitably lessened and lessened the enjoyment factor. This delayed each brew-day longer and longer and I found myself not brewing for 3 months or so.
I found myself sitting on my couch picturing my next brew in my head after the infection. Do I even really enjoy brewing anymore? All my friends aren't blown away that I brew any longer, the excitement of new recipes, equipment tweaks, has gone. I suck.
In this struggle of the men on my shoulder in my brain continued it came to me.
What originally made me homebrew? Beer.
What do I love? Classics.
Ahh, the light-bulb above my head went off. Get back to basics!! I've heard this before!! I have brewing classic styles!! Enough screwing around. Lets get back to basics. I have the knowledge and experience to brew excellent beer.
I dusted off my old Irish Red recipe that I brewed years ago. No water additions, no crazy mash process, no stress. The weather was nice, it was a quiet day and I brewed. It was fun.
What did I learn from this funk? I think as homebrewers we shoot ourselves in the foots with over-complexities and trying to "outdo" ourselves. Constant progression is fun and I crave it. But it comes to a point where it just comes down to the activity. I love the act of brewing. I love the results. I love sharing beer.
"Get back to basics". I've read that here before and I'm following that mantra to climb out of my rut. Cheers!!
