[dmtaylor]

I hate bottling.  As a small batch brewer, I never really had great options, until... now I have three 1-gallon uKeg Go's that fit on one shelf in my refrigerator.  I still bottle often enough, but find it very pleasurable when it's a day I can keg most or all of it.

[majorvices]

Clean up

Fortunately that's one of the faster and easier parts for me.

Or maybe you just aren't as lazy and sloppy as me! 

[Drewch]

Clean up. . . .

I dunno — I find clean up kind of soothing ... restoring order out of chaos in at least one small corner of the universe.

I'd go with waiting for the wort to chill ... that interminable gap where everything's done but you still can't pitch the yeast yet. That's the most boring part.

[Village Taphouse]

Yeah, cleanup is mildly annoying because you just want to be done at that point but it signals the end of the brewday.  I try to frame all of it with "this is a hobby that I enjoy" and I also want to brew when I am feeling it .. if that makes sense.  If I have an open weekend and my first thought is that I'll brew Friday evening but I'm just not feeling it, I push it off so I'm in a better frame of mind.  Talking about beer, seeing a video with a brewer in the brewhouse, etc., I get the urge to brew.  Other times not so much so I try to keep it all positive so that all pieces of the process are enjoyable.  Except chilling.  Chilling is the worst. 

[goose]

Definitely cleanup for me.  It usually takes me an hour or so to complete the job, although it is nice to be recirculating caustic through my mash tun RIMS system while the boils is going to clean that part of the brew system.

Cleaning up thee kettle, pump, and the plate chiller after transferring the wort to the kettle takes most of the time at the end since I run caustic through that part of the system for about a half hour before rinsing.

[ynotbrusum]

During chilling is when I rack the prior fermented beer to keg and harvest the yeast, if applicable, for pitching into the just brewed batch.  Then I clean and sanitize the prior fermenter and by then it is usually ready for accepting the chilled wort transfer.  I brew very frequently, so making brews back to back is convenient for me.

Occasionally I don't have a beer to rack, in which case, I sanitize the waiting fermenter and wait on the immersion chiller to reach pitching temperature...and, yeah, that is boring.

[Village Taphouse]

During chilling is when I rack the prior fermented beer to keg and harvest the yeast, if applicable, for pitching into the just brewed batch.  Then I clean and sanitize the prior fermenter and by then it is usually ready for accepting the chilled wort transfer.  I brew very frequently, so making brews back to back is convenient for me.

Occasionally I don't have a beer to rack, in which case, I sanitize the waiting fermenter and wait on the immersion chiller to reach pitching temperature...and, yeah, that is boring.

I always stir while I'm chilling so it will go faster.  I hate the concept of the wort being vulnerable for any longer than possible.  But that's me, my kettle and a 25' stainless immersion chiller. 

[MNWayne]

Driving the 4 hours to my LHBS.

[tommymorris]

For me, the most boring part of brewing is the time spent carbonating and conditioning the beer. I know there are ways to speed carbonation, but they don’t also speed the maturation process. I want instant gratification, but it’s better to wait.

[Drewch]

Driving the 4 hours to my LHBS.

Yeesh. At that distance, I think you've lost L from your LHBS.

[Village Taphouse]

For me, the most boring part of brewing is the time spent carbonating and conditioning the beer. I know there are ways to speed carbonation, but they don’t also speed the maturation process. I want instant gratification, but it’s better to wait.

Loosely-related tangent:  When I make a beer on brewday, it's because I envision this beer and I really want to sample it NOW.  But of course it's going to be awhile.  Meanwhile the kegs that are "on-deck" and ready to go to the taps are the beers that I envisioned however many months ago and I wanted to taste them THEN.    It's a never-ending cycle of wanting something that you can't have for months down the road but still .. when I take a cold, carbed keg from the on-deck fridge and get it on tap, the desire to have that beer comes back. 

[chumley]

Truth be told, the brewing process itself is all kind of boring to me. I like formulating the recipes, and drinking the results.

[goose]

For me, the most boring part of brewing is the time spent carbonating and conditioning the beer. I know there are ways to speed carbonation, but they don’t also speed the maturation process. I want instant gratification, but it’s better to wait.

Agreed!  I can carbonate the beer and drink it the next day (15-20 PSI at 35 degrees overnight), but the maturation takes a while and the first glasses out always taste very young.  It clears up in about 5 days though so I put up with it.

[Megary]

Truth be told, the brewing process itself is all kind of boring to me. I like formulating the recipes, and drinking the results.

Interesting.

I find brew day relaxing, almost therapeutic, and it is easily my favorite part of the hobby.  Cleaning, well...I'll make a virtue of necessity with good tunes or a podcast.

The beer is a bonus!

[Slowbrew]

Cleaning kegs has it hands down for me. I generally stack up 6 or 7 kegs and do them at the same time to save on chemicals.
 
  1) Dump
  2) Disassemble
  3) Rinse
  4) Fill w/ PBW
  5) Soak
  6) Repeat 1,2,3 (racking PBW to next keg), 4, and 5
  7) Rinse
  Let drip dry
  9) Reassemble
  10) Continue until all kegs are done.

I can also second the 4 your round trip to my "Local" Homebrew Supply Store.  Closest LHBS since our last one closed a few years ago.

Paul

Paul