Hello,

First of all, I'm new to these forums and I'm glad to have your support. I'm pre-op awaiting insurance approval to be scheduled.

I have a lot of emotional baggage over my hobby. I've been brewing and drinking (new) beers for the past 4 years. I like to go to festivals and new breweries and try their beers. In the pursuit of this, I've acquired or have been gifted brewing equipment, beer signs, steins, and glassware. Some of which I've only received at Christmas this year and haven't had time to use. I'm full of guilt that my family has bought me equipment and limited edition steins that I won't be using for a long time if ever. Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't like the feeling that people wasted money on gifts And I also want to keep my steins and use them for other liquids.

I may return to the hobby and brew for the enjoyment of others, I have a friend who owns a microbrewery and does Keto so he rarely partakes in his wares outside of quality samples.

Sorry for the rambling posts, I'm not good at explaining how I feel :S

Jason

I completely understand what you are trying to say. I was a cider and beer drinker and loved going to festivals and tastings. I can only make it through 1/4th of a glass of cider now, and though I rarely drink it now, I do enjoy trying a sample of a new cider.

You definitely can still use your steins for other liquids or maybe even have a beautiful display of steins. My husband has a sizeable collection of steins from living in Germany, but doesn't drink beer regularly as his is a diabetic. He still uses them for other things and we have a really cool display in the wet bar he built as well.

Let that guilt go!

Hopefully you will be able to return to brewing some day as it sounds like you are very passionate about it.

Best of luck to you on your approval and continued weight loss journey.

Cool hobby!

Maybe just pack everything away for now, so you can focus on the surgery and healing process. Then, down the road you can reassess whether brewing is still something you want to do? Keep the steins out though! From what I hear both pre-op and post-op we'll be drinking lots and lots of fluids for a good while!

Either way, I'll be taking a break from the hobby for a year. It's the long term that I'm stressing over

I have an easy one year break as I'll be moving to Japan in April 2018. I'm a type of person who overthinks things and stresses about what others think.

Steins can hold tea and water! So I'll use that at least.

One of the best suggestions my doctor gave me was to make beer soap. That way I have a non-edible (hopefully) hobby.

I have been making my own soap for years now. It started as a hobby and turned into a part time home business. Beer soaps are pretty amazing! They lather very well. When I make a soap out of beer or wine I heat the alcoholic beverage and let it simmer down to a sort of syrup to evaporate the alcohol out of it, otherwise the soap might smell like "the morning after"!

I understand feeling bad that you won't be using the gifts others gave you, but my guess is they also want what's best for you and will understand. The steins sound like great display pieces!

It's sad when we have to give things we love due to this journey.

I hope the benefits out weigh the risks and sacrifices for you.

I would also warn about addiction transfer. Once food leaves our lives we find other things to plug the hole, and alcohol is one.