Brewing burnout?

Hawkbox said:
Anyone else struggling to get organized to even brew lately? I've brewed maybe 3 times since Christmas and it's felt like a slog each time. Nothing has changed in the work or time involved, I just struggle to find the drive to measure out the grain to even start the brew lately.

It's weird and kind of disconcerting when I take the time to think about it. I used to do it as a relaxing way to burn an afternoon, lately it's felt like a burden. I don't get it.
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I've been feeling that way more this past year. One of the primary reasons is being very busy (work and home) for the past year and more. With little down time, I always felt tired and rushed on brew days so I wasn't really enjoying it as much as I used to. Also, tendonitis in my wrists made cleaning & bottling a literal pain. But I came to realize that not brewing was even less fun. So I plan to start prioritizing brew days, in spite of other demands on my time. Also, I'm moving into kegging. So, we'll see how all that plays out. I hope you figure out a solution to your funk @Hawkbox! Remember, we are always here for you, whether you are brewing or not.
 
Wanted to add one more thing:
I love to fish, but that initial getting up at 5am to see the sunrise does take some effort. When I get over to the beach, I love it... Another thing I don't have a lot of time for right now though.
Same with brewing. It does take a little effort to get everything ready, but when I am doing it, I enjoy the hell out of it.
If you can't enjoy it when doing it, then it might be time for a break. If it is the effort to get motivated, well that is something we all have to deal with every morning.
Hobbies are something to do when you have time that you enjoy. Whatever you decide, I hope you make yourself happy.
 
You'll miss it when you get away from it for a while.
I hired a brewer just over a year ago and now that I'm not brewing often, I really love it when I do grab the reigns!
I brewed yesterday and hit it hard! Start to finish including clean up and paperwork in 4.5 hours! Not bad for a BBL of Helles!
Get back on the horse.
Cheers,
Brian
 
Hawkbox said:
Anyone else struggling to get organized to even brew lately? I've brewed maybe 3 times since Christmas and it's felt like a slog each time. Nothing has changed in the work or time involved, I just struggle to find the drive to measure out the grain to even start the brew lately.

It's weird and kind of disconcerting when I take the time to think about it. I used to do it as a relaxing way to burn an afternoon, lately it's felt like a burden. I don't get it.
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I started brewing in 1990 with my father. He has since given up the hobby, but homebrewing got myself and my best friend through college.
We brewed every weekend religiously.
Then, life happened. Jobs, wife, kids....
Now he moved out of state and has the dream brewery in his basement.
He's worked at a local brewery part time just for the fun & experience.
Myself however, has been diagnosed with a super rare autoimmune disease and had to go on disability.
I still love to brew, but mustering up the motivation can be a real challenge, as movement is painful and I don't sleep very well at all, so I am constantly drowsy.
So for myself what I do is the night before I plan on brewing I get everything ready for brewing.
I run the hose for my wort chiller, sanitize everything have my mise en place ready.
That way all I have to do is just brew and clean up on brew day.
I have decided on brewing partial mash recipes as they are less effort and still produce great beers. I also brew cider and mead, as I have a 6 tap keezer to keep stocked. Did I mention that I love beer more than life itself?
So, I don't know if any of this helps, but just tackle it a little at a time, simplify when possible and most importantly, brew to have fun and enjoy your rewards.
Cheers!
 
Cheebajoe said:
I started brewing in 1990 with my father. He has since given up the hobby, but homebrewing got myself and my best friend through college.
We brewed every weekend religiously.
Then, life happened. Jobs, wife, kids....
Now he moved out of state and has the dream brewery in his basement.
He's worked at a local brewery part time just for the fun & experience.
Myself however, has been diagnosed with a super rare autoimmune disease and had to go on disability.
I still love to brew, but mustering up the motivation can be a real challenge, as movement is painful and I don't sleep very well at all, so I am constantly drowsy.
So for myself what I do is the night before I plan on brewing I get everything ready for brewing.
I run the hose for my wort chiller, sanitize everything have my mise en place ready.
That way all I have to do is just brew and clean up on brew day.
I have decided on brewing partial mash recipes as they are less effort and still produce great beers. I also brew cider and mead, as I have a 6 tap keezer to keep stocked. Did I mention that I love beer more than life itself?
So, I don't know if any of this helps, but just tackle it a little at a time, simplify when possible and most importantly, brew to have fun and enjoy your rewards.
Cheers!
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Sorry to hear about the diagnosis!
 
Great topic. I think most brewers go through this or will eventually go through the brewers burnout.
I'm there right now. Sometimes teaching someone how to brew brakes me out of my funk. Join a home brew club if your not in one or join another one if you're already in one. I like to brew something I've never brewed before.
I've been brewing since 1982 and I've had quite a few breaks. 1 time I didn't brew for 3 years. There will be times you just need to take a brake and have someone else's homebrew.
 
I went through this too. Did extract brewing for a bit then stopped - work, family, etc. My son got me started again when he got me a Brewzilla for Christmas. Even then there have been some dry spells.

What works for me to keep me interested is change. I love trying new recipes (and that is why I'm here) and rarely brew the same thing (or at least the same way) twice. Play with whole leaf hops vs pellet - which is better for dry hopping etc. Different yeasts make a huge difference etc.

Also changing equipment, technique, etc. keeps the interest up (more expensive). Move from bottling to kegging, try water conditioning, doing your own milling, Tilt vs refactrometer etc.

However I have to confess that since I retired (about a year ago) there is nothing better than a Wednesday brew day with a good cigar.
 
Hawkbox said:
Anyone else struggling to get organized to even brew lately? I've brewed maybe 3 times since Christmas and it's felt like a slog each time. Nothing has changed in the work or time involved, I just struggle to find the drive to measure out the grain to even start the brew lately.

It's weird and kind of disconcerting when I take the time to think about it. I used to do it as a relaxing way to burn an afternoon, lately it's felt like a burden. I don't get it.
Click to expand...
Yup agree can be a slog especially if you're an all grain brewer with lots of equipment to clean up!! In Australia FWK ( fresh wort) kits are getting popular and by all accounts a decent product. You basically get the 15LT wort from the brewer in a box/ packet, add 5lt water, pitch yeast and you're up & running :) I'm keen to try for my next brew as finding time for a brew atm with work commitments is a challenge.
 
Sounds interesting. Northern Brewer had a sale on a 20 minute boil extract kit. I pushed the "buy me" button. I'll give that one a try soon.
 
Take a break. I did after a spectacular fail on a Nina Colada inspired brew. You'll feel like brewing again, dust off the gear, and be back at it. FYI - The break did me good and my brews are much better, and enjoying the brewing process much more.
 
Ward Chillington said:
Springtime is coming Hawk...hang tough!
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This might be more prescient than I realized. Since the sun started coming out I'm suddenly interested again. I am starting to wonder if I have some serious weather related mood changes. I brewed yesterday for a friends new baby gift and I finally set up the barley crusher I bought from a guy at our brewing group in December.

I literally had the S40 filled with water just needing to turn on for so long it grew a film on it. Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has ups and downs though, and I definitely need to get back in the calls. I get down on myself for not brewing and then I dodge them, which just makes it worse.

Part of it too is I can open up my garage and clean it out I think, over the winter crap piles up and I am kind of claustrophobic so I get twitchy when things pile up and I can't do anything about it. Also I ended up with way more grain than I had room for from a bulk by last year that I think might have put me off my game. When I don't have room to move I just sort of spin in circles and shut down.

Lots of good observations here, and I've done a bunch of them and they're great. I used to love just setting up shop on a Sunday afternoon with a beer and brewing away, then it just kind of faded. I think I'll try to get that back.
 
Lots of things come up that take us out of our game. I had a BIG one. I desperatly want to brew, but I cant right now. I' m really glad you feel better. The weather here has been beautiful the last few days, upper 70s to mid 80s, ideal for me. I havent had a whole lot if time to enjoy it though.
 
Sounds like you need a scenery change in the winter.
Maybe plan a vacation, somewhere warm and sunny , 1/2 way through winter to get out of the winter blues funk.
I think we all get it to some extent, some worse than others.
Good luck and lm hopeful that you find an answer to this.
Cheers!!!!
Brian
 
Glad to here you back brewing Hawk one step at a time hey buddy.

One thing with doing my job inspecting people's houses oh how many times they go sorry about all the crap in my shed I say oh boy you should see mine don't worry about it gotta store your stuff somewhere.

I made a goal before Christmas last year once a month were gunna tackle one room going clockwise around the house cleaning it top to bottom.

This month it was my shed :oops:
Yeah It didn't get cleaned :(!
So count me in on needing to get my arse in there and clean it up!
 
It's kind of wild how you can look at it as you're coming out of a funk and go "Oh wow, yeah I was out of it" while being completely unaware during it. I'm back at my level 1 blacksmithing certification too so clearly this all hit me at once which isn't something I'm used to. In theory Alberta has the most sunny days of just about anywhere, but that doesn't help when the sun goes down at 3:30 in the afternoon.
 
That is where I am lucky. The last time it snowed was 1989. It does get chilly in the winter, but nothing a denim jacket and a couple of layers of clothes won't fix. I can wear flip flops about 355 days a year. The summer is the killer here with the heat and humidity combination.
 
Hawkbox said:
It's kind of wild how you can look at it as you're coming out of a funk and go "Oh wow, yeah I was out of it" while being completely unaware during it. I'm back at my level 1 blacksmithing certification too so clearly this all hit me at once which isn't something I'm used to. In theory Alberta has the most sunny days of just about anywhere, but that doesn't help when the sun goes down at 3:30 in the afternoon.
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Not just that, but what time does the sun come up in the winter?
The winter days are short at your latitude for sure, eerily long on the summer too I bet!
 
Hawkbox said:
It's kind of wild how you can look at it as you're coming out of a funk and go "Oh wow, yeah I was out of it" while being completely unaware during it. I'm back at my level 1 blacksmithing certification too so clearly this all hit me at once which isn't something I'm used to. In theory Alberta has the most sunny days of just about anywhere, but that doesn't help when the sun goes down at 3:30 in the afternoon.
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I agree completely. I've been in those deep, dark holes. Thankfully, a few friends saw what I could not, and asked about it. I said I was OK, but it made me think... and realize I was not.

I left something that had once been quite good and healthy but, sneakily, changed. It took some time after that but with the cause gone, I recovered.

That was long ago, but it made me more aware of my own self. All for the better.

---
It's particularly difficult to avoid filling the garage when there's a few meters of snow just outside...and it's -40.
 
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