When are you considered *NOT* a newb?

I keep seeing posts that say "but I'm a newb" and their join date to the forums is like 2010 or earlier lol.

I hope I'm always a noob. After a couple of years, a good number of mistakes, and a few hundred gallons of beer brewed, I just also hope I'm a slightly knowledgeable noob. I know enough to know that I don't know nearly enough.

Hard to say. I started brewing in 1996. I still learn stuff every day. I say be open to everything and learn from any opportunity. As far as noob status, I think it's a slang term that doesn't have a ton of meaning these days.

You're a newb until you no longer act like it. I just pitched my stir bar, so I'm out for now.

Unless this is you .... your still a newb. Course, I bet they still think they are still rookies since they are learning something new everyday.

I've been brewing since 93' and I'm still learning all the time. I'm a happy little noob.

I'm always a noob at something in brewing. I know that even if I have a lot of experience that I will never know it all. Once I get comfortable with something, I learn something new.

I'm still learning a lot about water and mash chemistry, for example, although I'm pretty comfortable with the brewing basics.

Join date doesn't mean much, I started brewing in the 90's and only this year would not consider myself a newb. My definition would be: Someone who can make a batch of beer taste exactly the same way, anytime that they want.

I would rather have some one self profess their noobness, then think they know everything and post information that is obviously incorrect.

DanH said:

You're a newb until you no longer act like it. I just pitched my stir bar, so I'm out for now.

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Haha nice.

Hammy71 said:

Unless this is you .... your still a newb. Course, I bet they still think they are still rookies since they are learning something new everyday.

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Now that is one hell of a delicious looking glass of beer on the left.

Well...I think you're a noob until you get all the basics down in your process & can repeat a beer fairly accurately. Or realised your mistakes last time & get it right this time. And I agree to be open to learning all kinds of new things in brewing. And learn the difference between what really is wrong & what is someone elses experiences on a given brewing subject. We all experience things in brewing that're a bit different than what other's might experience & think is common.

neosapien said:

I hope I'm always a noob. After a couple of years, a good number of mistakes, and a few hundred gallons of beer brewed, I just also hope I'm a slightly knowledgeable noob. I know enough to know that I don't know nearly enough.

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^This.

I remember I watched an episode about dogfish head and how they had to dump about $500K worth of 120 min IPA. You think he felt like a newb then?

BansheeRider said:

I remember I watched an episode about dogfish head and how they had to dump about $500K worth of 120 min IPA. You think he felt like a newb then?

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They over charge for that beer anyway.

A noob to me is one who asks questions WITHOUT doing a search in the forums first, Learning should happen til the end.

beaksnbeer said:

A noob to me is one who asks questions WITHOUT doing a search in the forums first, Learning should happen til the end.

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+1 We can all acknowledge that no matter how long we've been at this, there is still more that we can (and hopefully want to) learn, but that isn't the same as being a noob. Being a noob is posting panicky "No fermentation after 2 hours, is my beer RUINED?!?!" threads, and asking basic questions without attempting to search.

beaksnbeer said:

A noob to me is one who asks questions WITHOUT doing a search in the forums first, Learning should happen til the end.

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drainbamage said:

+1 We can all acknowledge that no matter how long we've been at this, there is still more that we can (and hopefully want to) learn, but that isn't the same as being a noob. Being a noob is posting panicky "No fermentation after 2 hours, is my beer RUINED?!?!" threads, and asking basic questions without attempting to search.

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Sometimes they just need one of these.....

I think you are a noob until you can repeatably make one great beer. I wouldnt say I'm good at this until I can make a couple of great beers. I wouldnt say I'm great at this until I have a mutiple-award winning microbrewery. At no point would I stop looking for things to learn.

You're not a noob when you can honestly want to drink your beer over what you can get at the store. Took me about 40-50 batches to get to that point.

greatschmaltez said:

You're not a noob when you can honestly want to drink your beer over what you can get at the store. Took me about 40-50 batches to get to that point.

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I was at that point after my first batch. The only time I drink commercial beer is if its offered to me and I don't want to be rude.

I started brewing in 1986, before many on the forums were even born. I still find myself being somewhat of a newb when trying a new technique or new style, though I do know how to use the search features.

My opinion, you're not a noob when you feel comfortable doing what you're doing. That doesn't mean you don't have more to learn or don't make mistakes.... Like over shooting your mash temp by 10F and then in your panic quickly over cooling it with ice by 20F, which also results in too much mash water, so you over compensate by overextending the boil which results in a higher than desired OG and lower than desired wort volume.

That was my last brewday.

I think when you start reading about brewing and have other brewing friends, it becomes part of who you are. Just this year I started yeast farming, what the heck was I thinking buying all that yeast? In a couple more months I'll say the same thing about something stupid I'm doing now!

I'd say your a newbie only until you've done 1 or 2 (successful) batches.. after that, your just an amateur.

I'm going to restate I dislike the term newb, noob or whatever. I think it's slang and used as a connotation for something bad. It's not bad to be new to something, actually its great almost like the first time you fall in love or something. There are so many subtle levels to this hobby no one can never say they are truly experienced. But honestly that is what makes it great.

As I stated before I started brewing in the 90's and that was a time where you could languish in "newb" status for years because there weren't many great resources like HBT or a number of other forums to share knowledge. It mostly depends on how dedicated, read this as OCD in my case, you are to learning more. If you want to figure something out you can.

Now putting things to practice that is a different story. I think a lot of advanced brewing is all about understanding the effects of tweaking ingredients/conditions and how that impacts the finished beer. I disagree with the reproducing beer as an indicator of advanced level brewing. This is because most home brewers do not have the equipment to identically reproduce a beer. At a professional level this is super important because you need a consistent product. As a homebrewer it isn't relevant at all. You can make a different beer every time you brew and they can all be very very good if you mind your processes.

Sorry to go on so long but I felt like expounding a bit.