Kinda burned out. What to do?

'What I do know is that your experience and willingness to help others on this forum speaks volumes in regards to your passion for the hobby".

A good point to ponder.

 

i'd highly recommend a sabbatical...it's not going anywhere. I have taken many myself as the cleaning and feeling like constantly have an hour or two long chore i need to get done, can get old. It's not a job, it's a hobby. If you start to bore, put it aside for a while. You'll have the itch again before you know it.

 

I'll echo what others have said. If you don't feel like brewing, then don't brew. Whenever I'm feeling un inspired and unsure of what to brew next I take a step back and forget brewing for a bit. I always find myself itching to brew with a whole list of new styles I want to try sooner rather than later. Homebrewing is a hobby. Hobbies should always be fun, so when its not fun, don't do it.

 

Sorry to hear that.

 

I rarely attend releases due to the fact that it seems they are always during work hours.

 

Loiter in the craft aisle of a reputable liquor store and find some commercial products that sound interesting. Buy them. Drink them. Remind yourself that consuming beer is fun. Bet one or more of those commercial brews will inspire you.

 

I hear ya. I have no temp control other than a swamp cooler, frozen water bottles, an old t-shirt and fan, so the past 8 batches or so have been Belgian this or that. As much as I love saisons, it's starting to wear on me, and looking forward to at least another month of this doesn't help. As much as people talk up the Philly beer scene, it sucks as if you're a homebrewer and work nights. Just can't justify the prices by the bottle at the shops, don't want a whole case of a niche beer, and don't want to go out to a bar immediately after a 12 hour shift in the kitchen, so not too much inspiration there. Oh well, just a little bit longer and its time to work on the perfect robust porter again.... and the export india porter, rye porter, bourbon porter.....

 

I've been there as well. Like MillRat- Usually I just go out and get samples or individual bottles of commerical beers that interest me or those that I may not have had and/or revist some I have had. It usually provides me some inspiration to brew something in the same vein.

 

Here is an article I saw last week http://jaysbrewingblog.com/2012/08/08/21-ways-to-keep-passion-in-the-hobby-of-homebrewing/

 

#3, #5, #8, and #14 all the way.

I enjoyed brewing a whole lot more when I didn't care about entering contests and brewing to style. It's fun to experiment and make beers that you can truly call your own, not just your own take on an APA or something. Create some new styles.

 

I am just coming off a 2 month burn out not wanting to brew especially here in Texas where it is 105 degrees before you ad 2 full burners going. One day I woke up and got the itch and started brewing again. I find I get this about every 6 months or so and a few weeks or a month off always does the trick. Just wait it out and it will come back to you. Good luck

 

Which #5?

 

Take some time off and do this.

Make a trip to a well stocked beer store and by as many odd ball beers you can find. Do some research (drinking). A few will probably pique your curiosity. Make plans to to brew some of those.

In parallel, work on your brew projects.

I Typically only brew 4 months out of the year; Jan, April, July and October. I plan about 5 or 6 batches for each season. The months in between I spend planning and working on my brew projects (and other projects). I find myself looking forward to each brew month. Not sure if it's the anticipation of brewing or the fear that I might run out of beer.

my 2c

 

When I hit that wall, I visited a bunch of breweries. Took the tour of their facilities and talked with the brewers. Some of them were my age and some were older and a lot wiser and a lot more experienced. Those trips brought that passion back.

 

Adding new ingredients, trying different brewing techniques, etc

 

Make something with spelt in the mash. I love spelt.

 

Why? I just used spelt in a homebrew, unmalted, cereal mashed, 2.2 lbs in a 5-6 gal batch. The hydrometer sample (post-primary) seemed quite slickery in the mouth. Nothing wrong with that. I'm just wondering what you get out of it because you don't hear about people using it much.

 

I don't have any personal experience brewing with it but there's a local brewery that makes a lot of "farmhouse" brews with spelt and I think it works really well in that style. It's got some similarities with wheat but tastes much more rustic/earthy to me, and it adds something to the body sort of like rye and an aroma that's hard to describe. And like you mentioned, not many use it but I feel like it has a lot of unexplored potential. Try using it in a peppery earthy saison.

 

I've managed to keep it fresh by brewing less and making larger batches. The volume is still there to satisfy various commitments, and I can take off large blocks of time from brewing and still have something left over to keep me in beer until the next effort.
And then maybe you are really unhappy brewing and need a change. That works too and I have enjoyed your posts. Cheers!