I'm still really a newbie (approaching 1 year in a few weeks) but I've actually had this question in the back of my mind.
At first it was the time commitment. I do really enjoy brewing, but it is time consuming and during the last year got in the way of a couple other hobbies. My brew process the first year was about as simple as gets (hot side anyway). Propane burner BIAB in the garage. I enjoyed it but it's also pretty labor/focus intensive. I'm moving indoors and electric soon (have 95% of the parts assembled for the new system and rest are in route) and while I know the time is still going to be the time I'm hoping that having some automation can help as I can at least walk away more and do some things around the house etc.
Now I'm starting to realize what I really like about brewing (well besides having really good beer on tap in my house) is the process and upgrading the process. I spent most of the last year gradually improving the cold side since I'm an NEIPA lover and wanted to get as much oxygen away from the cold side as possible. I already mentioned I'm upgrading the hot side now. I'm not doing everything I want to do on that side now. Saving some for future to spread out the money. One of the things I really like about the hobby though is thinking about how to improve the process/set up. I know there will always be improvements I can make, but there will also be a point I'm 95% percent of where I want to be and the improvements will be small incremental. There's a voice in the back of my head wondering if I'll like it as much when I get to that point.
At first it was the time commitment. I do really enjoy brewing, but it is time consuming and during the last year got in the way of a couple other hobbies. My brew process the first year was about as simple as gets (hot side anyway). Propane burner BIAB in the garage. I enjoyed it but it's also pretty labor/focus intensive. I'm moving indoors and electric soon (have 95% of the parts assembled for the new system and rest are in route) and while I know the time is still going to be the time I'm hoping that having some automation can help as I can at least walk away more and do some things around the house etc.
Now I'm starting to realize what I really like about brewing (well besides having really good beer on tap in my house) is the process and upgrading the process. I spent most of the last year gradually improving the cold side since I'm an NEIPA lover and wanted to get as much oxygen away from the cold side as possible. I already mentioned I'm upgrading the hot side now. I'm not doing everything I want to do on that side now. Saving some for future to spread out the money. One of the things I really like about the hobby though is thinking about how to improve the process/set up. I know there will always be improvements I can make, but there will also be a point I'm 95% percent of where I want to be and the improvements will be small incremental. There's a voice in the back of my head wondering if I'll like it as much when I get to that point.