Old knowledge for homebrew/craft newbies

[edroberts]

I was talking last night with another HBT individual who had just read the article with Steven Dresler from Sierra Nevada. He's relatively new to craft beer and homebrewing beer and was amazed that Steven started out homebrewing. He also noted that he was proud he had actually found one of their beers recently.

From my perspective, being involved in craft beer and homebrewing longer, this was kind of crazy to me. Sierra Nevada is one of oldest and largest craft brewers in the US and is extraordinarily easy to find in most of the country. In fact, they essentially created the American Pale Ale. On top of that, nearly all craft brewers started homebrewing.

That got me thinking... What are some other tidbits of information that more experienced people in craft beer and homebrewing think newbies should know or find interesting?

Contribute below!

 

[smizak]

Secondary is useless, you don't have to keep your beer in primary for 3 weeks.

Flame on.

 

[BierGut]

Watch what you say about Pumpkin Peach beers. It may get you hung, drawn and quartered.

Also, don't age your IPA.

 

[unionrdr]

Pitching rehydrated yeast at high krausen (still foamy) & within 10 degrees of wort temp makes for for less lag time & the beer ferments out faster when kept within the particular yeast's sweet spot temp-wise.

 

[AnOldUR]

Secondary is useless in many situations. You don't have to keep your beer in primary for 3 weeks, but for new brewers and some beers it can help. Flame on.

Edited to add fuel.

 

[edroberts]

One I see getting confused often. Sanitation is not the same as cleaning.
Also when cleaning, ordinary dish soap is usually not strong enough to properly clean brewing vessels. Use things like PBW to clean your brewing equipment.

 

[edroberts]

Here's an old man perspective:
Craft beer is considerably more hoppy than it was even 5 years ago. There is still great treasure in a balanced beer where hops are not the centerpiece... even in a pale ale.

 

[brick_haus]

Water chemistry and yeast pitching temps are two very important keys to success.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Use a yeast pitching calculator and be sure you are pitching enough yeast. This usually means making a starter or pitching more than one vial/smackpack/packet.

 

[hou_me]

If prehistoric humans could brew beer in disgusting places with scuzzy water and wild ingredients, you can do it with star-san, modern malt, a plastic bucket and laboratory yeast. No matter how badly you screwed up, it will be beer.

-ben

 

[Justdrumin]

Here's an old man perspective:
Craft beer is considerably more hoppy than it was even 5 years ago. There is still great treasure in a balanced beer where hops are not the centerpiece... even in a pale ale.

This is great. I used to be a hop head, but now I'm learning to appreciate the malty side and I love a well balanced beer more than anything. It's not easy to make a nice malt profile and still balance it with the right amount of bitterness and aromas.

Use a yeast pitching calculator and be sure you are pitching enough yeast. This usually means making a starter or pitching more than one vial/smackpack/packet.

I couldn't agree With this more. I don't just make a starter, but I usually try to over pitch a bit. You would have to pitch a TON of yeast to truely over pitch. A nice big healthy starter will ensure minimal lag time and less chance to produce off flavors. That with the right temps, at both pitch and fermentation, are in my opinion two of the most important things. Along with cleaning and sanitation of course. If you can do those four things, you will consistently make great beer.

 

[edroberts]

Patience grasshopper...
You won't be packaging in 5 days. Be patient and let the yeast both finish AND clean up after themselves.
Then have patience in letting your beer condition in the bottle/keg. I've heard way too many people hate on their own beer when it's only 2-3 weeks after brewing. Give it time to meld.

 

[Teromous]

Don't believe everything you read on the internet. Find out what works for you and just do it.

Don't feel like you need to buy a bunch of stuff to make good beer. If you know you can put something to use to its full potential then buy it, but don't waste money on stuff you don't need.

Don't make something you won't enjoy, just because it's en vogue or because somebody you know mentioned that they like a certain style. In the end you'll end up with 5 gallons of beer (or however much you make) and it might turn out that you don't like the style or the person you made the beer for only wants one or two bottles.

Walk through your brew day mentally before you start brewing, then put your eyes on everything you will need. That way you'll know in advance if something is missing or if you need something additional before brew day.

Always check the weather before brew day. If you brew indoors it's not as important but you might still have to go outside for something.

Feel free to experiment but be prepared to accept it as a loss. On that note...don't ever cheat yourself. Be honest with your beer. If it sucks, don't try to talk yourself into liking it or your standards will slip. On the flip side if the beer is great don't feel like it "shouldn't be" because of x, y, or z (that goes back to not believing everything you read on the internet). Even if it sucks just be proud that you made something and try again.

Before you use a recipe, ask if anyone has actually made it and how it turned out (this goes back to not believing everything you read on the internet). If you're trying to make a clone of a commercial beer ask yourself if you really want a clone or if you just want good beer.

 

[rowan57]

Don't believe everything you read on the internet. Find out what works for you and just do it.

Agree, and this is where I come undone - there are a billion ways to do anything, and its very easy to get overwhelmed when reading about all 1 billion ways. Pick one that you can understand and is clear and do it. Once you have picked a way, stop looking until you have done it or you will continually second guess yourself!

 

[RmikeVT]

Filter your water and get a water report from Ward Labs:
https://producers.wardlab.com/BrewersKitOrder.php
Doing these two things are relatively cheap and help give you similar tools to what the pro's have to start making great beer.

95% of Beer is water, make sure you know what you are making your beer with. Once you get the water test you can start building your own water profiles, etc. This is what helped me turn the corner from making OK beer to making good to great beers. Water profile makes more of a difference than we would all like to admit.

Also, cleaning is very very important. Sanitizing is great, but useless if you haven't done a good job cleaning, first.