Have any of you ever felt bored with brewing and what did you do to get over it?

I've been doing this for a while. I made the usual progressions from extract - all grain - kegging. The only thing I have left to do is step up from 5 to 10+ gallon batches. I've got a pretty good stable of beer recipes that I'm happy with and friends and family seem to enjoy as well. I used to experiment more but I'm running out of ideas.

Is there a point in this hobby where you make the transition from "homebrewer" to being just "the guy who brews his own beer"?

(Don't get me wrong, I still love making beer and I will continue until I'm physically unable to do so.)

I think you need to either expand your style research to styles not yet tamed/mastered/satisfied with....

Or start getting all wacky and adding wheat/rice/corn to your beer.

Or go buy a case of mass produced stuff and sip only on that for a few weeks... then you'll get the 'eye of the tiger' back....

Mike, as any beer I brew is always an experiment im not sure if i:ll ever get bored with it. "The Guy who brews his own beer is fine with me"

I've gone through periods where I just wasn't up for brewing for some reason and stopped for a few months. My interest stays present because I'm always excited to try something new. I get ideas for new experiments all the time, but don't have the time to try brewing them all. Last year I made the transition to all grain and to kegging, which has opened up tons of new possibilities. My thing is that I've only brewed three recipes twice, and never more than that. It's always something new. I love tweaking recipes and making new ones.

Not really sure what advice to give you other than take on the challenge of a new style you haven't made before or try to put together some crazy recipe ideas. One of my friends is trying to get me to make a raspberry version of my mocha porter. Should be fun!

Go to a beer tasting event and try some new stuff and get inspired. I never knew how much I loved wild beers until I went to the belgians and barleywine beer festival in Vail, CO. Now half of my carboys are being used for the next 2 years with infected batches.

Wheat isn't Whackey! I use it in most of my recipes.
Try somthing new! mabye enter a competition or show some friends how to do it.Go by your own style, Try to make a beer that doesent fit into a category, or switch it up a little, instead of a barley wine, make a wheat wine, make a beer with absolutley no hops, or heres a new one: brew with Coca Cola. ive always wanted to do that!

1. Go HUGE for something like DFH 120 Minute IPA.
2. Start using Brett
3. Start using your own blends of yeast.
4. Start culturing your own yeast and see if you can get something that isn't commercially available.
5. Brew beers to go with specific foods.
5.1 BBQ / Smoked Meats
5.2 Cheesecake
5.3 Other Deserts
5.4 Salmon
5.5 Thai Massaman Curry

6. Brew beers for specific people in your life and cater exactly to their needs.

7. Brew the smallest beer you can. How much flavor and balance can you get out of a 3% beer?

Most long time brewers I know start looking at what else they can ferment.

i;d say just take a break. My 6 months of not brewing due to moving has re-inspired me to brew more.

maybe it's just too early, and I'm not reading that correctly.....cheesecake? in beer?... oh wait, think I just figured it out. brew beer to go with cheesecake...still doesn't sound right. I prefer dead cooked animals with my beer....

For me, I tell people I brew my own, but I also buy at the store still. I do AG 5 gallon batches, and am just starting with kegging...I see no reason to stop. If I wasn't so damn lazy, I'd brew more often too. I like doing 5g so I can always have something different on hand every month or two. Amazingly, I don't drink as much as I used when I started to brew. I now take more time to enjoy very different, heavy beers from Belgium and styles like that...that's my next progression I guess...to become better at brewing Belgians. But I'll always have a mainstay of wheat ales...love the flavor, love the speed it can be done in, especially with force carbing...

Beer and cheese is a great combo. Cheesecake is just a challenge.

Also, try fermenting with wine must and see what happens.

Long time no see SimpleD. Those are good ideas.