Newcomer to Homebrewing: Disciple or peer?

Hey guys, I've got a giant obsession with beer and the homebrew fever for almost a year. Just made my second all grain batch last weekend, the tasty Octoberfast Ale that's chugging along nicely in secondary. I absorb any knowledge and tips I can find, especially from Zymurgy, BYO, my local brew club that I joined in April, and of course this great forum.

So though this question may have a relative answer, when does someone in my shoes start mastering the science of brewing? When have you all decided when you've graduated from brew student, to brewmaster? At the tender age of 23 and still trotting on the last year of college, I'm not sure if I'm moving too fast or slow compared to some of the bigwigs I see around me and at HBT. Perhaps it's even more ambitious (ludicrous) to imagine starting my own microbrewery someday and make beer my primary way of life; a young punk can dream, can't he? :cross:

Much thanks everyone,
Ben

I too daydream more and more often of brewing for a living...

zplug123 said:

Perhaps it's even more ambitious (ludicrous) to imagine starting my own microbrewery someday and make beer my primary way of life; a young punk can dream, can't he? :cross:

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Oh, well that's just a different thing entirely! Some people have told me that they'd really wish I would go pro: but I'm not sure I'd be willing to go that far. I like the fact that I can brew for a hobby and not be constrained to trying to produce mass marketable beer. I've gotten to a level that I do like my beer over quite a few microbrews (and there are some of my fav microbrews that I still buy and get ideas from). I don't judge quality of beer from whether it's a one time home brew batch vs a huge commercial brew. I respect that there is a difference in technique when you have to produce a product on a large scale vs doing a batch at a time approach that I like doing....I'm not sure I want to sacrifice that to shoot for becoming pro.

I think there is never a golden mean as to when you're a "master" vs "student". Actually, I think that's what might set the craft brewers apart from the large scale brewers. The large scale brewers are looking for repeatability, while the craft brewers are looking for variety. A good brewer is like an artist: they're never really content and are always looking for alternatives or ways to improve their current techniques. They realize that they can also gain a lot by either encouraging other brewers, or not trying to stiffle "competition" since craft beer is all about variety.

I don't have any desire to be a professional brewer either. I actually hate the conception that some of the local professional brewers around here have that because I'm a homebrewer, I wish I were good enough at it to be in their shoes and have their amazing job. Nope. It's a fun hobby/obsession. Wouldn't ever want it to be my career. My brewing partner can't comprehend or believe that I actually feel that way, though. He would love to go pro.
As for when you're a master? Huh. I don't know. I think I'll always feel like a noob, but maybe not. I hope even the people who have been brewing 20+ years are still learning and progressing in the hobby. Some people judge it according to competition medals. Other people don't give a rat's ass about style constraints and judges' opinions, and probably just base it on how consistently successful they are at producing beers that are as good or better than they can expect from any microbrewer.
Personally, I'll know I was successful if by the time my future sons and daughters enter college they can taste a beer and be able to tell you whether it's an English Pale or an American, or whether it's a brown porter or a robust, etc...

zplug123 said:

Hey guys, I've got a giant obsession with beer and the homebrew fever for almost a year. Just made my second all grain batch last weekend, the tasty Octoberfast Ale that's chugging along nicely in secondary. I absorb any knowledge and tips I can find, especially from Zymurgy, BYO, my local brew club that I joined in April, and of course this great forum.

So though this question may have a relative answer, when does someone in my shoes start mastering the science of brewing? When have you all decided when you've graduated from brew student, to brewmaster? At the tender age of 23 and still trotting on the last year of college, I'm not sure if I'm moving too fast or slow compared to some of the bigwigs I see around me and at HBT. Perhaps it's even more ambitious (ludicrous) to imagine starting my own microbrewery someday and make beer my primary way of life; a young punk can dream, can't he? :cross:

Much thanks everyone,
Ben

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https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/best-brewing-science-books-107280/

start reading.

I first brewed 20 years ago, on and off. A year or so ago I started getting the bug real bad again. In that time I've picked up more books, got on this awesome forums, started listening to Basic Brewing Radio, and The Brewing Network podcasts.

I'm sure there are several here who could be pro brewers. I know I am not one of them. Some people I know sometimes say that I am looking to do that, because I geek out on the process of brewing and beer in general, but I know realistically where I am, and it's a long way from pro brewer!

I think that if you really enjoy homebrewing, and don't have any aspirations beyond that, then continue to geek out and have fun. If you are interested in going pro, then consider doing some very difficult reading and learning and maybe even pay for classes at Siebel. At the very least, get ANY kind of job at a brewery. I wish I had one near here, just so I could hang out and help them clean and see how they brew. Making that my job would probably ruin the fun of homebrewing.

Learn the science inside and out. Consider going somewhere like the Siebel Institute. Keep in mind that, as has been mentioned above, the pros have to make the same beer taste the same every time, and that's a lot harder than it sounds.

My dad says he wants to open a brewery when he hits the lottery, and wants me to be his brewmaster. I keep telling him that I wouldn't want to introduce stress to this hobby. Do I make good beer? Yeah, I think so, though there's certainly room for improvement and I'm working on it. Do the reasons I brew match up to the priorities a professional brewer has to maintain? No, not really. I admire what the good ones can do, and draw ideas from them, as they do spend a lot more time learning and thinking about beer than I do, but it's going to remain an avocation for me.

That said, if you've got the particular mindset to be a pro brewer, those science books are a good start, as is applying to local breweries to do anything they'll let you do. A lot of pros I've talked to or read about started down the ladder, or at a really small brewpub.