Homebrewtalk.com brewers grow up fast

Hear me out:

I haven't been brewing all that long in the scope of things. Just a year and a half. 170 gallons under my belt. And yet, when I get together with other brewers who have been brewing much longer but don't use a resource like HBT, our beers just don't compare. Don't get me wrong, experience is a very valuable teacher, and there is no replacement for it, but unless you are utilizing a dynamic and interactive media like this site, experience alone will only progress brewing skill so quickly.

For the longest time my only contact with other brewers was through this website, and I assumed that every other homebrewer learned something new about brewing every day, listened to podcasts on new techniques, discussed the best method for culturing a yeast bank and the importance of oxygenation, etc. As it turns out, I think we are in the minority.

I know there is no shortage of "this site is awesome" threads. My point is just how good we can get at brewing in a short time when we have sites like HBT available to us, as opposed to just reading How to Brew and then brewing for a few years. As an added bonus, all of the brewing info is available for free, but once you know you're going to be keeping this "hobby" for a while, you can't help but feel good knowing that you help support the website. I highly recommend it.

p.s. Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered.

I think you'll find any time you branch out and actively seek different ways of doing things, you'll constantly challenge the way your currently operating (if you are humble enough!). Generally, I find the homebrew community to be welcoming and humble and willing to try new things and new perspectives, regardless of how off-the-wall. This is not a hobby for stubborn people, by and large, and not exploring the wealth of information that exists for a certain topic will narrow your breadth of brewing, IMHO.

+1 I'm hopeless at researching stuff. I have learned much more by the drip method simply by visiting this site every day than I would have ever learned from book reading or word of mouth.

It's huge being able to diagnose an off flavor in 30 seconds. Where some brewers out there have to break out the books to find what may or may not be a decent answer, we can just search. Brewing without HBT is like what writing reports were like when we were in school. No internet to instantly answer questions, no forums with the combined wisdom and experience of thousands, just books that may or may not contain relevant information, and are surely outdated.

Any time someone thinks up a new technique or hears of one from another brewer, it can be validated almost instantly here. Someone can probably explain the science behind it, and at least a few people will be willing to experiment and tinker with the technique to make it better or work out the bugs. Someone else will probably troll that thread and state reasons why it won't work, and another person will come in and debunk that. Not to mention the power of having dozens of seasoned brewers look at your potential recipes and tweak them, offer suggestions, or just tell you that it's going to taste like crap.

P.P.S. Help control the human population. Get yourself a vasectomy or hysterectomy.

Coastarine said:

Hear me out:

I haven't been brewing all that long in the scope of things. Just a year and a half. 170 gallons under my belt. And yet, when I get together with other brewers who have been brewing much longer but don't use a resource like HBT, our beers just don't compare. Don't get me wrong, experience is a very valuable teacher, and there is no replacement for it, but unless you are utilizing a dynamic and interactive media like this site, experience alone will only progress brewing skill so quickly.

For the longest time my only contact with other brewers was through this website, and I assumed that every other homebrewer learned something new about brewing every day, listened to podcasts on new techniques, discussed the best method for culturing a yeast bank and the importance of oxygenation, etc. As it turns out, I think we are in the minority.

I know there is no shortage of "this site is awesome" threads. My point is just how good we can get at brewing in a short time when we have sites like HBT available to us, as opposed to just reading How to Brew and then brewing for a few years. As an added bonus, all of the brewing info is available for free, but once you know you're going to be keeping this "hobby" for a while, you can't help but feel good knowing that you help support the website. I highly recommend it.

p.s. Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered.

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Hey! I didn't know Bob Barker was a homebrewer!!!

OK, now that I'm done teasing you, I have to agree. I went to a local homebrew club meeting just to check it out, and found that guys that were pretty high in the pecking order of the club really didn't know much about a lot of things that guys learn here as matter of progression. Only one or two in the club had ever lagered, none knew how to make their own candi sugar, and only a few were brewing AG. and they had been brewing for several years. The point is, folks that hook up with the gang here seem to learn more, and faster. And they expand their horizons faster, too.


Oh, and my dog is spayed........

+10000

I've really only ever spoken with about 10 other homebrewers. Total. Ever. Granted I've only been brewing for about a year.

My understanding of...well...every part of the process that I pay attention to has grown exponentially thanks to this site. I laugh when people say that they tried homebrew once and it was atrocious, they obviously didn't try any from people that had correctly observed or bothered learning the process.

I love to sit here and learn, and occasionally participate.

You guys are awesome!

khuygie88 said:

You guys are awesome!

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There is no "You guys" That is the point. There is only "We guys"......And we are, indeed, pretty darn awesome as a collective. A total noob can come in here at any moment and have a ground breaking new idea, and he won't get ridiculed for it if it is good. It will be a heads up for the collective.........Oh yeah, and then he will be assimilated. Resistance is futile, etc. etc.

Can I get in on this love fest?:fro:
GO!-TEAM!!!
Group hug.
HEY! Who grabbed my ass?
Seriously though.I haven't brewed w/ any other brewers but you -er ,I mean US guys and am probably better off for it.Whenever I talk to my LHBS owner and he says something WACK, I think-Damn,he needs to get on HBT PDQ.

PS-I am neutered and SWMBO is spayed.Didn't want anymore little versions of me going around setting fire to stuff!

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

There is no "You guys" That is the point. There is only "We guys"......And we are, indeed, pretty darn awesome as a collective.

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Well, for me, there is "you guys", the ones Bob calls my "imaginary friends".

I often say this- I would have NEVER stuck with the hobby without you guys. My first couple of batches were "meh" but when I had a question and came here, my batches starting improving. Pretty soon, I was AG and within a couple of years, kegging! It all seemed so intimidating, because of the equipment and I'm kind of "girlish" and intimidated by all of the gear that seemed to be involved. But everyone helped me step by step.

I blame you all. Every last one of you.

I would have to aggree with this... I was talking with another guy that has been homebrewing for sometime and the stuff I have learned and what I am doing has well surpassed this guy, he threw out a batch that got moldy I would never well not for many years. Its a great resource thank you whoever started it.

grahamfw said:

This is not a hobby for stubborn people, by and large, and not exploring the wealth of information that exists for a certain topic will narrow your breadth of brewing, IMHO.

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+10000

My future FIL and I started brewing right about the same time (about a year and a half ago). He started extract, I started with PMs. By the 4th month, I had gone AG. I think he is using steeping grains, but I can't talk him into a PM batch.

What killed me about him was that he is a trained scientist....but he was ridiculously stubborn about the hydrometer and the timing of his beer. If the directions from the Williams Brewing kit said to ferment for 7 days, then by god, he's fermenting for 7 days. Or only watching the airlock as an indicator of fermentation. Seriously??? A biologist that won't use the freaking scientific tools at his disposal to determine if fermentation is done? Drives me nuts.

Plus, he just thinks I am insane for the amount of time that I leave my beers in primary now (~4 weeks). He is stubborn and sticking to his 1-2-3 directions from the kits.

But, he likes the beer he makes, so that's all that matters. I will just keep gently reminding him about this place every now and then.

I have a tendency to jump into everything headfirst, Full speed ahead and Damn the torpedoes!

After my first extract kit recipe I formulated (stole and modified!) and put together an original extract recipe. My next batch was AG. I would have, probably, followed this progression with or without HBT but with the info and advice available here I was able to actually improve with every step.

After only a year of brewing I am quite willing to try anything knowing that if I run into problems or find a question that I cannot answer I will get good solid advice based on real experiences from the members here.

After a few more simple single infusion (batch sparge) brews I will be trying a DFH 120 IPA clone. Triple decoction and about a trillion Hops additions. I am sure that I will be posting numerous stupid noob Qs and getting bashed mercilessly for my naivete. And chuckling right along with everyone.

+1, this is a wonderful thread.

To be brief, I agree with all of you. I haven't been brewing long at all, only a few months, but the difference in quality from my first brew to my most recent is astounding. The amount I've learned from perusing HBT everyday instead of doing work is incredible. My friends who started with me and collaborated on the first batch didn't really stick with it, and now they come to me whenever they have a question about anything beer-related.

HBT is a glorious place.

Totally agree, when I went to my first and only home brew club meeting in Salem last year, I was disappointed by the lack of knowledge that even the "experienced" brewers had. Hell even talking to my LHBS owner is disappointing at times because he can be so old school about stuff, I have a very scientific mind and if research has proved that something is better I progress rather than staying with "this is the way we have always done it."

You get out of something what you put into it, but having the resource to ask hundred, hell thousands of other HB'ers is such an advantage.

My dog and cats have no balls.

I'll definitely second what Jon said, I went straight AG for my first brew after about 6 months of planning and research from this very website. I actually brewed my first beer with Jon at his house with his assistance and learned an immense amount that day as well. It may not have been the best beer I have brewed so far, but since then the brewing and planning part has been progressively more independent of outside reliance. Just this past weekend I brewed my 5th beer and currently am drinking two world class beers brewed before that on tap. I just started brewing in February and since then I think I have made leaps and bounds as far as knowledge and confidence is concerned with my brewing and I owe it all to this website, Jon Z (Coastarine), and everyone here who is glad to answer a question when one should arise.

Just this Friday we are doing a double brew day with a two hearted AG clone and then going straight into a huge RIS that will barely fit in the 10g MT, and I have no concerns whatsoever.

When I was volunteering at the brewpub I was surprised by how little the other two "helpers" knew. They had a top notch resource at their fingertips (the brewmaster and a British gentleman that has written a few Classic Styles books) that they were not utilizing and these two guys were still grappling with steeping grains.

When I started volunteering, the brewmaster and the British guy were both impressed with what I knew, while the other volunteers were pouring themselves pints at 9:30am, I was asking actual brewing related questions (and pouring pints), when asked where I learned what I know, I said HBT.

It definitely helps to have a dedicated group to learn from. I started with HBT, then found my LHBC (full of great brewers; I wish everyone could have a club like mine), and am now back on HBT because apparently I was getting too much done at work

All in all, without the help of others I'd have done two batches, said 'these aren't that great' and then stopped. As it was, I did two batches, said 'these aren't that great, I can do better' and went AG

Cheers to that. I'm almost 24 with a couple hundred gallons under my belt, and I have people telling me I should go be a master brewer instead of graduate school. I've got to think HBT had something to do with that.

Yeah you know I brewed for probably 4 years before I found this place. I used to make a couple of batches a year and was never really impressed with the results. After finding HBT I did one more extract batch and then went all grain, now I do more like a couple of batches a month and I get lots of compliments on my beer and I'm even starting to win brewing awards.

I am definitely far more advanced as a brewer with HBT, then I would have ever been without it. The books are great, but they are not updated often and do not reflect new methods.

I would have probably still been brewing extract, using secondaries and bottling without the encouragement and informaiton I've found here. I would have never had the confidence to pick up an angle grinder and cut the top out of kegs had I not seen it done in Bobby_M's video. It's a great thing to not only learn from everyone here, but also to be somewhat involved in your lives as well. We know if you are having a child, have something going on in your life, a death of a friend or family member, etc... With few exceptions, I'd probably consider a good portion of you friends. I know for a fact if I came into your area, you wouldn't hesitate to invite me out for a beer, and chances are you wouldn't hesitate to invite me into your home.

I don't socialize with many people, and honestly a good portion of my social interaction is here at HBT. I know more about many of you than I know about my neighbors.

Now that I'm done getting all mushy and finishing up Koombaya, Thanks a lot fellow brewers for everything you've done for me in the last 2 1/2 years or so.

Relatively new here and just stumbled across this forum in the usual way (Google, click, click, etc.) This forum really is great. I wonder about the other forums out there. I'd hesitate to get too involved in a company forum, just cuz. I'm sure there are other great homebrew forums out there but homebrewtalk folks are pretty friendly, genuinely helpful and pretty much all my questions have already been pre-answered

It is doubtful that one could find a better forum on the interwebz, and I am not inclined to try. I am content here and have the assurance that any question I may have could be answered here.

And RCCOLA, sorry about the ass grab. But you posted right next to Yooper and it was an honest mistake.

I have to say that this forum has taught me a lot, and I support it because it has always been such a great resource for me and my brewing. The fact that everyone I have met through the forum has been great is just a bonus, and another reason I visit every chance I get.

That just reminded me of another awesome aspect of this place: putting us in direct contact and creating relationships with the vendors. It's so great to be able to give feedback and help the vendors know our needs.

I agree with everything everyone has already said.

As a resource HBT is simply outstanding.

My ability as a homebrewer went from "meh" to "wow" in very short order.

Because of this forum I am going to have to start some kind of serious exercise program.

I now drink way more beer than ever before.

Coastarine, you hit on something that I have been thinking ever since I stumbled in here. I came across homebrewing almost accidentally, but the minute I clamped the lid onto the fermentor of my first batch I knew I would be doing it again. It has been an obsession for the last 6-8 months or so, and I've already brewed about 20-25 batches. I started with John Palmers book after that first batch, then picked up Brewing Classic Styles, and after a couple more batches I found this place, and things have taken off insanely fast. I'm glad I read the books because they acted as a springboard, but it has truly been HBT that has allowed me to brew such great, All-Grain beer in such a short amount of time. In short, I thank god everyday for this forum! PROST!

bull8042 said:

And RCCOLA, sorry about the ass grab. But you posted right next to Yooper and it was an honest mistake.

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I'll take 'em however I can get 'em!

Gotta pay tribute!

I am a fairly good researcher (which is how I stumbled onto HBT...) but coming here as often as possible made me realize that there were things I didn't even know were searchable. I mean I've found books and recipes and answers to dozens of brewing questions...all from other sources. But when I come here I'll see a thread started by someone else on a topic I never considered and I start thinking that I want an answer to that question too! There is no doubt that my methods and outcomes have greatly improved since HBT.

The feedback from freinds is getting better too so I must be paying attention or something...wait, what did you say again?

-Tripod

PS:

YooperBrew said:

It all seemed so intimidating, because of the equipment and I'm kind of "girlish" and intimidated by all of the gear that seemed to be involved.

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How can a hockey player of any gender be intimidated by gear?? Hee Hee... -T

I think sites like this and the other good brewing message boards on the internet attract a certain type. I believe we're the ones striving to make the best beer possible, while most people are just doing it in their spare time once in a while. We are the obsessive types.

This place and others are totally valuable resources. We're lucky to have the internet. It makes things so much easier.

carnevoodoo said:

We are the obsessive types.

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Speak for yourself, I'm not obsessive. Having carboys in your living room isn't obsessive. Ordering new ale pails with every grain purchase isn't obsessive. Re-reading Designing Great Beers for the 25th time isn't obsessive.

Is it?

llazy_llama said:

Speak for yourself, I'm not obsessive. Having carboys in your living room isn't obsessive. Ordering new ale pails with every grain purchase isn't obsessive. Re-reading Designing Great Beers for the 25th time isn't obsessive.

Is it?

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There's a carboy on a table in my driveway. There's really no place that is safe in my life. We're obsessed. Its ok.

carnevoodoo said:

We're lucky to have the internet. It makes things so much easier.

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So true. I was just thinking this as I was organizing my entire budget, using my online checking access and google maps to figure out what each purchase was in seconds.

llazy_llama said:

Speak for yourself, I'm not obsessive. Having carboys in your living room isn't obsessive. Ordering new ale pails with every grain purchase isn't obsessive. Re-reading Designing Great Beers for the 25th time isn't obsessive.

Is it?

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No, you're good.

I love the info here, but I can't seem to get my buddies to hang out here. One of them has a casual interest in the process of brewing, but doesn't like beer. He is starting a drink -a-day thing for his health, so if I can brew a beer he likes, he might want to get more involved and brew more himself. The other brews sometimes and seems to be more into it lately again, but I don't think has seriously checked this place out. What a shame because there is a buttload of good info here.

I've visited another popular site, due to it being the hang-out place of a friend of a friend, but I did not like the whole feel of the place, and the info is a bit harder to find IMO. There is a our-way-or-the-highway approach over there. Maybe they are right, maybe not. Just not a good fit for me. I still like their podcasts though. I wish he'd give this place a try. But maybe once you make your friends, it's hard to leave.

I'll be seeing him at the homebrew festival in GR on May 9th. He's judging this weekend.

This place is awesome. So much info. I have been brewing only 4 months and each batch is a 100 times better than the one previous to it. Thanks to all here for your willingness to share your knowledge.

Coastarine said:

p.s. Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered.

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+1.

My son-in-law registered here a while back. I hope he's doing his homework on here! I'll be doing an AG stout with him soon. There will be a test afterwards. So if you are reading this, get busy on the beer threads ahole!!

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

My SIL registered here a while back. I hope he's doing his homework on here! I'll be doing an AG stout with him soon. There will be a test afterwards. So if you are reading this, get busy on the beer threads ahole!!

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Took me a minute to figure out why you were referring to your sister in-law as "he".:cross:

Homercidal said:

There is a our-way-or-the-highway approach over there.

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To be fair, you will find group think on any message board you are on, including here. There's a lot of information that is repeated ad nauseum and it will just become "fact" after a while. I don't really subscribe 100% to anything anyone says here, as I would expect them to question the things I say and use their best judgement as to whether or not it all makes sense.