Left/Right brain - which kind of brewer are you?

[Crazy Climber]

Brewing is one of those hobbies that can accommodate many different types of personalities. Some people measure ingredients to the fraction of an ounce, taking care to get every IBU just right. Others prefer the "pinch of this, dab of that" method. For some folks, the joy of the hobby is "the thrill of the chase" -- planning a beer, creating the recipe, meticulously planning the process and the brew day...while others open the brewing fridge and say "what do I have on hand today?"

It's a left brain/right brain thing.

Left brain -- attention to detail. Careful planning. Rigid structure.
Right brain -- creative, outside-the-box, less structured.

So...which kind of brewer are you?

[philm00x]

i'm kind of both. i like to think of new things, but i also like to follow a procedure, and put all my tools and ingredients in order that i'm gonna use them.

[Beer-lord]

I think I'm a little of both as well. I plan ahead but don't mind being creative.

[FrozenInTime]

I lean to the right, never left.

[duff]

I start out with a good plan but sometimes my creativity just takes control.

[mashani]

Left Brain = Process. Cleaning, sanitation, bottling, temperature, ensuring happy yeast, making sure proper equipment is ready to go. Also deciding on the basic framework of what I'm going to brew, but not always***.

Right Brain = Everything else. I'll take the framework and then mess with it to make it my own, even if it pushes it out of style. I also may decide to change some aspect at the last minute because it "feels right". ***In some cases I'm in "frankenbrew" mode and just make whatever I feel like out of what I've got around by the seat of my pants. I can get away with it because I've brewed for so long that I don't do totally dumb things, and manage to get reasonable proportions of whatever into the product, so that it makes decent beer.

[zorak1066]

middle of the road. . . usually organized to the absurd level, but not afraid to tweak a recipe here or there to see what happens.

[Gymrat]

This describes me
"the joy of the hobby is "the thrill of the chase" -- planning a beer, creating the recipe, meticulously planning the process and the brew day"
But I also have certain beers I want on hand all the time. I had a number of beers that I really liked. I always wanted them on hand. It got to where I was brewing just to keep certain beers on hand which took all the fun out of brewing for me. I lost that "thrill of the chase". The experimentation and anticipation of what the finished product would be like. I am very meticulous when formulating a recipe. I measure each ingredient to the tenth of an ounce.

Then it is also fun to taste a beer. Try to identify what is in it. Then try to brew one like it. Now that right there is a challenge. Gosh I love this hobby.

[FedoraDave]

I've had instances where I brewed by the seat of my pants, just taking some ingredients that I thought would work well together and creating an off-the-cuff ale, just because I felt like using up some ingredients, or if the LHBS is out of some of the key ingredients I'd planned on.

But those instances are rare. For me, the creativity comes through the recipe-building process, but even then, it's a kind of structured creativity. Knowing the qualities of the ingredients allows me to depart intelligently from the plan without taking too much of a risk.

[RickBeer]

Everything I do is left brain. My deviation (no, not that deviation) would be that if a recipe calls for 4 oz and I have 5.1 I'm not going to worry about it. But everything I do is off lists, following procedures, etc. I love exactness!

[Rayyankee]

I am more right then left but i do measure everything and write down what i did so i can recreate it if it turns out to be a great brew!

[joechianti]

Like most, I'd say I use both sides. I start with a plan and then I improvise while executing the plan. Probably close to 50/50. If anything, probably lean to the creative side just a tad.

[BigPapaG]

I guess both for me... Right brain for the creating recipes and as Gymrat explained, analysing commercial beers and trying to determine how they are made... And left brain for process and documentation.

@ CrazyClimber
You didn't tell us where you fall on this topic...

Other than that, here's what I got out of this so far...

@ Beerlord, Duff, Rayyankee, JoeChianti, Gymrat and I are bi-curious when it comes to brewing... Both left and right brains seem to be in play...

@ Zorak1066 uses roadkill from the middle of the road for his brews...

@ FedoraDave can't keep his pants on, or out of his brews anyway...

@ Philm00x moonlights as a surgical assistant on the weekends...

@ mashani only brews when there is a high chance of of a lightning storm so his 'creations' can come to life...

@ Rickbeer has 'deviations'...

And @ FIT is right handed...

[philm00x]

@ Philm00x moonlights as a surgical assistant on the weekends...

That would be pretty neat! Be makin more money than I am now, so I could brew more

[BlackDuck]

I tend to lean more to the left brain. I love the research and planning that goes into a recipe. And watching how the stats change on the software when amounts of ingredients change. But I also love to be a little creative by trying to come up with different recipes.