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el_horno

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I have only been here 'actively' for about a month and am already seeing the same questions over and over, I cant imagine how the veterans feel!

Up in the upper left hand side of this site, there is a search option, it works quite well. Also, google any question, and add HomeBrew to your search and guess where you are bound to end up? Back here.

As long as this site has been around, and as long as beer has been around there is a very good chance your question has already been answered.

Just some friendly advice from a newb to these parts! :tank: :rockin: :mug:
 
oxymoron thread?

i understand where your coming from but, the people who use the feature will continue to do so and the people who dont will....prob not use it like they always havent.
this "topic" has been beat to death in 70% of new threads, and such, here is another.
just my .02
 
I do always search before I make a new thread, but not always if I post a question in an existing thread. :hs:
 
oxymoron thread?

i understand where your coming from but, the people who use the feature will continue to do so and the people who dont will....prob not use it like they always havent.
this "topic" has been beat to death in 70% of new threads, and such, here is another.
just my .02

Ya got me, I didn't search this topic before posting. :cross:
 
Well search for something and im gonna tell ya right now theres 50 different answers. Theres nothing wrong with clarification. If half the people here knew what they thought they knew its be perfect but its not. Oh i been brewing for a year and still clueless bc of all the different answers. Misinformed people is what make this so difficult.....
 
I personally will spend hours searching before I post, but I certainly have more patience than most and am a bit on the stubborn side to the point that I want to do my own research. Most people today certainly have an Internet/fast food/microwave NEED IT NOW!!! mentality, and that's certain not going to change, it's only going to get worse!!

That said, does pumpkin go in the mash or boil??????? Is my beer infected??? Why isn't my four day old beer carbonated?? Oh, and why is my extract OG is off.........:tank: (<--- I wish we had a "shoot me in the head" emoticon!!)

On the positive side, it sure does make me look like a genious to newbies when I can explain base concepts that have been covered a million times. Any ego stroke is a good ego stroke, right?
 
el_horno said:
google any question, and add HomeBrew to your search and guess where you are bound to end up?

I do that a lot.
 
I actually don´t open threads very often, all the basics are covered if you search. But again it doesn´t annoy me to answer the same questions over and over not yet at least
 
Three perfectly understandable reasons why people post topics redundantly:

1. That search feature does not work as well as you lead on. It's serviceable, but not great.
2. Many of the threads that come up when you search are from 2010-2006... things change quite often, new theories and practices. Not long ago, everyone was using secondaries.
3. Many of the questions people have are ones in which they'd be better served by open discussion and the ability to ask questions and be interactive.
 
Ya got me, I didn't search this topic before posting. :cross:

I was going to ask you that :fro:.....Because there's usually at least one thread like this every 6 months or so...had you searched you would have seen how nasty they usually turn out. You're going to hear the same arguments from folks who get pissed off with being suggested to search...





Though I agree with you. :tank:
 
Yeah, I try to search most things - but the search feature on the site itself is pretty woefully inadequate. Most of the time, I go to Google and get better search results back to here - but I do get results.

Oftentimes though, you'll find you're looking for something very specific to a given situation though, and searching just doesn't quite get there. A few days ago I was ruminating on RIMS tubes and wondering if I could pull one off with 120V - search is absolutely perfect for that, but Google search, not the one built into this site (sorry HBT, it's a sad truth - I could've waded through those search results for 10 or 15 minutes, maybe more, and probably found an answer or used Google and found the answer in about 45 seconds, guess which option won). But this summer when I was considering just how much, if any, Rye malt to add to the blueberry ale I was planning, well, that seemed pretty dang situational (considering the rest of the specific recipe I was considering and all), so I started up a new to discuss that particular question.
 
If half the people here knew what they thought they knew its be perfect but its not.

Right on, brother! And not all questions have a single right answer. It's annoying as hell to read someone's advice based on personal experience and then have some know-it-all claim his way is the only right way.
 
I usually answer a question if I know the answer... not just post the Google Search thing... I freakin hate that... If people are wasting ur time, then use another forum... If you everyone took the time to answer instead of complaining, it would be better
 
I sometimes do, sometimes don't. It depends on what I"m wondering about.

This is a forum, so it's important that people feel free to post. In fact, it's against our policy to reply "Use the search!". If no one could post about anything that's already been discussed, we'd no longer have a forum at all.

Discussion is the whole point of the forum. No one should ever be dissuaded from posting.

Oh, except for "Did you hear the White House is homebrewing?"!!!!!!!!!! :D
 
I rarely search, if it is an imposition to answer my question despite someone else asking the same question previously then don't bother yourself with it.
It's not like anyone has to go through this forum and answer questions.
 
I search the forum or google the question I have, and most times it will be answered. I mostly only make new threads only for my new brews to share and get feedback on them.
I dont mind answering a simple question when it pops up, but leave the difficult questions to the vets, since im still a beginner.
 
I sometimes do, sometimes don't. It depends on what I"m wondering about.

This is a forum, so it's important that people feel free to post. In fact, it's against our policy to reply "Use the search!". If no one could post about anything that's already been discussed, we'd no longer have a forum at all.

Discussion is the whole point of the forum. No one should ever be dissuaded from posting.

Oh, except for "Did you hear the White House is homebrewing?"!!!!!!!!!! :D

Wait, the White House is brewing?? Since when??

:cross:
 
I am not gonna lie, I don't search. If I wanted to search for an answer, I'd use google and not homebrewtalk.com The name of the site suggest the true intention of the site to me. If searching was the primary concept behind a site like this, I image the site domain would be homebrewsearch.com.

From my readings, there are folks like Revvy with so much knowledge to offer, I like posting a question and hoping someone like him or the other vets on this site will answer and share with me directly a little piece of the experience they have.
 
I have found that if one does search google for answers one ends up back here, I am not a rocket surgeon or brain scientist I do search for advice sure alot of different advice is given, I dont want to make up a beer, I just want to brew a good beer and take the advice that makes the most sense, what I found in the begining was when something is being explained,is WHY it is done this or that way, it is knowing WHY that makes us understand,what is straight forward for some is not for others. I am more guilty than most when explaining something in my field I expect the person whom I am explaining to to have a certain basic knowledge but this is not always the case.
 
I search everytime before I open a new thread. Certain situational questions (like Rye Malt in a Blueberry ale) are obviously not going to come up in search, but most answers to most of my questions HAS.

One thing that I've tried to do is this: When searching you end up learning way more then you set out to learn because you get way more then just the answer to your question from reading those searched threads. Eventually, (I started in November of 2011 and I'm brewing my 30th batch or so this weekend) when you've done enough research you come across the standard answers and commit them to memory. I try to frequent this beginner forum and use what I've found to answer others' questions on those topics. If I find an old thread that was particularly useful I'll point the OP to that thread, otherwise, I just give them what they're looking for....an answer!

I try to be deferential in my answers because there is always a counter argument to be made, and I know that even after a lifetime of doing this stuff, nobody can know everything.

BTW, if someone gives you a quick and helpful answer, give them an attaboy via the LIKE button!
 
BTW, if someone gives you a quick and helpful answer, give them an attaboy via the LIKE button![/QUOTE]

Uh, is there a function for this on the app? Iv never used this site on a pc only ipod app.
 
EnjoyGoodBeer said:
BTW, if someone gives you a quick and helpful answer, give them an attaboy via the LIKE button!

Uh, is there a function for this on the app? Iv never used this site on a pc only ipod app.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately not:(
 
Guess i need to search for the Android app thread. No way to `like` using it that i can find.
 
The search function is excellent. Not only that, there are links below the selected thread to other potentially interesting threads.

While some of the threads are old, it doesn't mean they are wrong or outdated. An explanation of mashing temperatures or enzymes or water chemistry doesn't necessarily change 5 years later.

But the best reason is that an expert may have answered that question a year ago, in a long and detailed post. Why should they take the time to do that for a lazy person who can't take a few minutes to search?

I always search before posting ... and ... much of the time I find the answer. And more. I learn additional things that I would not ahve learned if someone just gave an answer to my question.


>>3. Many of the questions people have are ones in which they'd be better served by open discussion and the ability to ask questions and be interactive.

Some are, most are not. Critique my XXX is a good example of a post that would benefit from an answer.

"Why is my beer not yet carbonated after 3 days" is constantly asked, and takes up space. Worse, it causes teh search to turn up scores of those types of posts.


Try using the search before asking some questions. Do that a few times and you may be surprised.
 
Why should they take the time to do that for a lazy person who can't take a few minutes to search?

Excuse me? The fact that I choose not to search does not make me lazy, if I was lazy I wouldn't bother with home brewing and just buy whatever I wanted to drink.
 
Excuse me? The fact that I choose not to search does not make me lazy,

Sure it does when you can get your answer with a couple of minutes of "effort"
:fro:


If no one used the search function, who would answer all the questions?
There would be twice as many posts.

I make it a point of not answering questions that are easily searchable (and come up weekly). I may make an exception for a newly joined member, or novice. But in addition to answering their question, I suggest also using the search function.

Do you all expect Martin and AJ to answer 20 water chemistry threads daily?
With the same types of questions?

My water is heavily Chlorinated, my Ph is 13.87726, is that good for brewing?

I use water that is contaminated by runoff from a mine, its Ph is 4, and its heavily buffered, is that good for a mash?

Will I die from the Diacetyl in my beer? Or get Alzheimers from Aluminum pots?
 
Menerdari is not lazy, he is our lead Idiot! He even is getting a black dipa being brewed and named after the great "am i an idiot" thread. Great reading btw. :)
 
Sure it does when you can get your answer with a couple of minutes of "effort"
:fro:


If no one used the search function, who would answer all the questions?
There would be twice as many posts.

and 4 times as many "google it" replies. ;)

....I make it a point of not answering questions that are easily searchable (and come up weekly). I may make an exception for a newly joined member, or novice. But in addition to answering their question, I suggest also using the search function..........

:mug:


That's all it really takes and (seriously) I thank you and others who do that. Some other forums I've been on (non-brew related) aren't that way.
 
I think it's important to note that many people learn differently.

when I started brewing, I don't think we even had the internet at our house. Eventually, of course, we did. And when I had a question about a batch that didn't seem right, I went to google and pulled up this forum.

I asked my (dumb) question and got some very nice replies, and all were respectful even though it was probably something I could have figured out with some searching.

Because of that welcoming response, I stayed on this forum and felt a part of the community.

Had someone said, "We get that question four times a day. If you would have looked at the "beginner's questions", or done a search....." I would have been gone. Instead, I stuck around and became a moderator of this forum later on!

This is a forum, with give and take, and for discussion. If someone doesn't want to answer noob question #700, that's fine. There are many other members who will. It's better to walk away than to say, "We get this question all the time...." and make the OP feel small.

If you don't feel like answering the same question, that's certainly understandable. Luckily, others who benefited from the forum's knowledge in the past will come along and answer. No one is ever forced to answer a question, of course!
 
Thanks to Yooper, Revvy and others I have learned a lot just reading the beginners forums. I have stopped reading other(non brewing) forums because of members harassing noobs. Remember we were all noobs at one time , I know i still am. BTW I do google but I also ask especially when on my phone.
 
When I was a newb that freaked out over every batch I searched a lot and started a lot of threads. Now I tend to brew by the seat of my pants and learn new lessons and refine my process as I go!
 
I always search first. I go not want to appear as an idiot. I know this is a personal problem. :)
I search on Google. Enter Homebrew talk.com search terms.
At the end of the first result hit More from Homebrew talk.com.
With one exception, I have always found an answer to my question.

No disrespect meant to menerdari on the above - epic thread, thanks. :rockin:
 
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