Threads you are tired of seeing

[MaxStout]

I have to give you credit for starting a very entertaining thread, no doubt. Where else can you go to see a recently-banned member sign up for a new membership only to be re-banned in as kick-ass a fashion as Yooper laid down?

It's not hard to spot alts on a forum. They usually have an ax to grind and tend to stand out. Watching that one get booted was hilarious.

 

[shadygardy]

and I'm back

 

[Billy-Klubb]

and I'm back

bruva, you're a masochistic.

 

[boydster]

and I'm back

Dude quit it.

Once was funny. Not in a "Wow that guy is really cool and makes me laugh" kind of way, but more of a "Did you just see that guy get nailed in the balls with his own skateboard after talking smack to all the other skaters" kind of way. You know it's wrong and probably painful for the other person, but you laugh anyway.

Twice just makes me feel like a bad person for laughing the first time because there really might be an issue that needs to be addressed.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Dude quit it.

Once was funny. Not in a "Wow that guy is really cool and makes me laugh" kind of way, but more of a "Did you just see that guy get nailed in the balls with his own skateboard after talking smack to all the other skaters" kind of way. You know it's wrong and probably painful for the other person, but you laugh anyway.

Twice just makes me feel like a bad person for laughing the first time because there really might be an issue that needs to be addressed.

yep. this.

edit: shadygardy, are you related to Albert Fish?

 

[grasshopperfirestarter]

Members you are tired of seeing

 

[yewtah-brewha]

Im tired of this one but apperantly Im the onlyone. 11 pages! effin really

 

[passedpawn]

and i'm banned again

ftfy

 

[bob1852]

ftfy

Ha!

 

[PRE66_6TART]

Im tired of this one but apperantly Im the onlyone. 11 pages! effin really

Sorry yewtah-brewha, but I'm apparently not tired of it yet. So if I may get back on topic for a moment (I believe the topic was nit-picking each other's grammar?)...

If I was a man, we wouldn't be talking about size.

*were*

I got 50 cents on whom that guy was.

*who*


Sorry everyone. I had to get that off my chest. I promise not to go around correcting people's grammar. Under the circumstances I couldn't help myself. Sorry

BTW it's nice to see someone at least make an effort with the word "whom". This is a tricky one, since "whom" usually does go after a preposition like "on," but in this case I think "who" would be the subject of the verb "was."


While I'm at it...

Wow. I didn't know there were other death metal brewers!

Why wouldn't there be? After all we are the sort of people who reject mainstream mass produced products in favor of something which is an aquired taste that the general public doesn't understand and probably considers quite strange. I'm not sure if I was talking about music or beer just there.

 

[passedpawn]

BTW it's nice to see someone at least make an effort with the word "whom". This is a tricky one, since "whom" usually does go after a preposition like "on," but in this case I think "who" would be the subject of the verb "was."

Whom

 

[PRE66_6TART]

Really, are you sure? That would be kind of embarrassing. I thought "who that guy was" would be the clause and that guy would be the subject. "Whom that guy was" doesn't seem right. I guess this is why that word is disappearing from the language. Now I'm confused. The way I see it " who that guy was" is a question and we are betting on the outcome of that question.You wouldn't say "whom was that guy?" Would you? Hmmm...

 

[AnOldUR]

OK, now I'm worried about whom I am (hehe). My username is "An Old Ultra Runner." I'm always paranoid that it should have been "A Old Ultra Runner." Have I been the butt of behind my back jokes from the educated here on HBT for the past seven years?

 

[passedpawn]

Really, are you sure? That would be kind of embarrassing. I thought "who that guy was" would be the clause and that guy would be the subject. "Whom that guy was" doesn't seem right. I guess this is why that word is disappearing from the language. Now I'm confused. The way I see it " who that guy was" is a question and we are betting on the outcome of that question.You wouldn't say "whom was that guy?" Would you? Hmmm...

I'm no English major, but one thing I'm certain of is objects of a prepositional phrase ALWAYS take the objective form. I'd consider that a prepositional phrase.

Consider these two, and choose: "I got 50 cents on he". "I got 50 cents on him". Of course him, the ojective form, is correct.

[You should not ask] for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee (paraphrased from John Donne). I think that aptly describes the situation here

 

[TheZymurgist]

Seriously, this should be stickied in Drunken Ramblings. Truly fun.

 

[Dave37]

OK, now I'm worried about whom I am (hehe). My username is "An Old Ultra Runner." I'm always paranoid that it should have been "A Old Ultra Runner." Have I been the butt of behind my back jokes from the educated here on HBT for the past seven years?

No i'm pretty sure you are correct using "an". The simple way i like to break down is if the word following your use of "a" begins with a vowel then you should use "an" as it does in your user name.

U R all good.

 

[BinghamtonEd]

[You should not ask] for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee (paraphrased from Metallica).

Fixed it for you.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Hey Dave, where in queens?

 

[MaxStout]

Whom are you?
Whom Whom?
Whom Whom?

 

[PRE66_6TART]

I'm no English major, but one thing I'm certain of is objects of a prepositional phrase ALWAYS take the objective form. I'd consider that a prepositional phrase.

Consider these two, and choose: "I got 50 cents on he". "I got 50 cents on him". Of course him, the ojective form, is correct.

[You should not ask] for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee (paraphrased from John Donne). I think that aptly describes the situation here

I'm no English major either (actually I only took one and a half years of high school before dropping out and working full time), but my understanding is that prepositional phrases do not contain verbs. Here is what a quick google search on prepositional phrases turned up:

http://donnayoung.org/english/grammar/prepositions.htm

"Notice that the prepositional phrase contains no verbs. Generally, they contain an adjective, a noun or pronoun and they can also contain a gerund."

Since I had no idea what a gerund is I had to look that up too:

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-gerunds_2.htm

"If we want to use a verb after a preposition, it must be a gerund. It is impossible to use an infinitive after a preposition. So for example, we say:

•I will call you after arriving at the office.
•Please have a drink before leaving.
•I am looking forward to meeting you.
•Do you object to working late?
•Tara always dreams about going on holiday.

Notice that you could replace all the above gerunds with "real" nouns:

•I will call you after my arrival at the office.
•Please have a drink before your departure.
•I am looking forward to our lunch.
•Do you object to this job?
•Tara always dreams about holidays."

So since "who that guy was" contains a noun and a verb, I think that makes it an independant clause, therefore "that guy/who" would be a subject, not an object? Thus who instead of whom. Perhaps an English major (or someone's wife who has a master's degree in education, Jon73 I'm looking at you), can jump in here and settle this?

Can I just add that in all the months I was lurking here learning how to make beer I never would have guessed my first bunch of posts would be a who vs whom debate. Sorry for making you all suffer through this. This is probably a strange place to do it but thanks to everyone who takes the time to answer everyone's questions, no matter how silly or repetitive. Even though I never actually asked any questions I was there quietly absorbing TONS of useful information. There is beer all over the world that tastes better because of you.

 

[whoaru99]

Seeing the same type of threads repeatedly seems more like an indicator of how poor the kit instructions are for beginners. Granted, some people wouldn't ever read the instructions anyway, but if you are packaging and/or selling kits (either equipment or recipe), you've got to know that there is a higher concentration of new brewers

Is it?

I understand your point about happy customers but I occasionally write service bulletins and work instructions. They are not written at the level or with the expectation that someone with zero or very little mechanical knowledge just steps in and does it.

The same holds true, IMO, about beer kit instructions. They are not written with the intent of being the beer brewer's only point of experience and reference.

Saw a point made on another forum where someone suggested to RTFM but was called rude for saying that. The rebuttal to accusation of being rude was, "What's more rude, someone taking no personal responsibility to become educated about what they're doing and instead expects people to spoon feed them answers, or someone who simply suggests they first make an effort try to educate themselves with readily available information?" Thought that was an interesting point to contemplate.

 

[TheZymurgist]

Is it?

I understand your point about happy customers but I occasionally write service bulletins and work instructions. They are not written at the level or with the expectation that someone with zero or very little mechanical knowledge just steps in and does it.

The same holds true, IMO, about beer kit instructions. They are not written with the intent of being the beer brewer's only point of experience and reference.

I would have to disagree with this. I think they are written for those with absolutely no knowledge of brewing, and assume that the user will make no effort to gain any more knowledge. The fact that they rate fermentation in days rather than gravity points is perfect evidence of that.

I think their expectation is that a random person walks into a brewing supply store, picks up an equipment kit and an ingredient kit and goes home, with no conversations on the actual brewing process.

 

[whoaru99]

I disagree with your disagreement.

My brewing kit came with an instructional CD/DVD, that I assume goes way beyond the one-pager that typically comes with the ingredients kit. I suppose I should watch it sometime...but instead I read FAQs, how-to articles, watched YouTube videos, read forums, etc. before I cracked open the first ingredients kit.

Actually, I had done lots of that even before buying the brewing kit to see if my perception was more hassle than it's worth to me to even start brewing. Brewing didn't look too hard so jumped in having considerably more than zero info from the get go.

 

[TheZymurgist]

I disagree with your disagreement.

My brewing kit came with an instructional CD/DVD, that I assume goes way beyond the one-pager that typically comes with the ingredients kit. I suppose I should watch it sometime...but instead I read FAQs, how-to articles, watched YouTube videos, read forums, etc. before I cracked open the first ingredients kit.

Well, that's kind of an exception, isn't it? I think the vast majority of kits only come with the one page of instructions.

 

[whoaru99]

Brewing equipment kit vs. beer ingredients kit. Ingredients kits generally come with just one pagers. I can only speak to the brewing kit I bought from Midwest having the instructional CD/DVD.

EDIT: Just a quick check shows that Northern Brewer equipment kits come with instructional CD/DVD too, and Austin Home Brew includes an "Illustrated Guide to Homebrewing".

Not implying any of these are the definitive answer for everything you should know but the point is I don't believe the ingredient kit instruction is intended to cover everything for someone starting at ground zero.

 

[boydster]

If someone has brewed more than a few batches of their own, it is safe to assume they only need a fraction of the information in the instructions. The amount of information in the kit is overkill for your experienced brewer and a far cry from easy-to-understand for a complete novice.

No single guide is going to encompass everything you need to know. They could do a much better job explaining things to their target demographic though. I posit that their target demographic is new brewers. That is not to say that they ONLY sell to beginners, or even that they don't sell a lot of kits to experienced brewers - surely, they do. I am only stating that a prepackaged kit with "how to" instructions seems to be targeted at someone with relatively little brewing experience. Example: I rarely buy kits now that I have a good handle on what I am doing - I either make my own recipes or use recipes found elsewhere (thanks, HBT!) and purchase the ingredients.

 

[boydster]

Saw a point made on another forum where someone suggested to RTFM but was called rude for saying that. The rebuttal to accusation of being rude was, "What's more rude, someone taking no personal responsibility to become educated about what they're doing and instead expects people to spoon feed them answers, or someone who simply suggests they first make an effort try to educate themselves with readily available information?" Thought that was an interesting point to contemplate.

Frankly, I'd agree that "RTFM" was a rude response, because the kit instructions usually suck. Hence why I said the kit instructions should be made more clear for beginners.
Step 1: Send out better instructions
Step 2: ?
Step 3: Big Profit

 

[TheZymurgist]

Brewing equipment kit vs. beer ingredients kit. Ingredients kits generally come with just one pagers. I can only speak to the brewing kit I bought from Midwest having the instructional CD/DVD.

EDIT: Just a quick check shows that Northern Brewer equipment kits come with instructional CD/DVD too, and Austin Home Brew includes an "Illustrated Guide to Homebrewing".

Not implying any of these are the definitive answer for everything you should know but the point is I don't believe the ingredient kit instruction is intended to cover everything for someone starting at ground zero.

Now we're talking about two different things. Equipment vs. Ingredient kits. Sorry I wasn't clear. My point was only on Ingredient kits, since I bought my equipment piecemeal, I don't have any experience with the Equipment kits.

 

[passedpawn]

So since "who that guy was" contains...

Maybe you're right.

 

[boydster]

Now we're talking about two different things. Equipment vs. Ingredient kits. Sorry I wasn't clear. My point was only on Ingredient kits, since I bought my equipment piecemeal, I don't have any experience with the Equipment kits.

I've seen the Mr. Beer instructional video but it wasn't any better than the ingredient kit instructions. My kit came from my LHBS but it was only equipment - no paper instructions, no video. I guess I haven't seen what the instructional videos look like from any of the major online vendors. My first post about this was from my firsthand knowledge with the Mr. Beer kit and then the various ingredient kit instructions that I've read.

I think Craigtube and TSA should get together and do a beginners guide to brewing DVD. That would be epic!

 

[Rhumbline]

Maybe we've come upon the reason for a lot of these posts.

I did a lot of reading before I started my first kit. The kit instructions were clear and easy to understand but they were also very basic. If I'd brewed the kit and then came on here I'd be panicking about all of the things that the kit didn't tell me about.

Boiling my water to remove chlorine, aerating the wort, tightly controlling the ferm temp... And a host of others.

All things that many folks feel are critical. I can understand how people can panic after seeing all the stuff they could have been worrying about.

 

[signpost]

I'm pretty sure NB equipment kits also come with an instructional DVD.

*edit*

Whoops, I responded before updating the browser window. Had the window open for a while and didn't notice the other responses.

 

[peterj]

I know there is a search function and it seems to not get used very much so what threads are you tired of seeing popup I'll start The is it ruined because I ( insert object here) was in my wort unsantized am I screwed

Smug garbage like this. Go find a grammar forum if your so hung up on minutia.

Seriously. I hate it when get on their high-horse about crap we learned in second grade. I mean, who expects us to remember that far back? Not like it's useful in today's society. Who cares if someone looks like a complete idiot when they're typing? If they want to appear like a dumb bumpkin from the back-woods, then let them!

I can forgive and overlook a few grammatical errors and mispellings, and while text speech is very annoying to me, it's ok as long as I can understand what you're trying to say. I take issue when the person posting is obviously making no effort and it gets to the point that it's hard for me to understand what they are trying to communicate. When you don't use any punctuation whatsoever it makes it very difficult to read your post and understand what you're trying to say. It doesn't take that much more time to press the period button even if you're on a cell phone. And as you can see, punctuation saves lives.

 

[Dylan42]

I just figured that this thread could use an appropriate chariot

 

[MaxStout]

I can forgive and overlook a few grammatical errors and mispellings, and while text speech is very annoying to me, it's ok as long as I can understand what you're trying to say. I take issue when the person posting is obviously making no effort and it gets to the point that it's hard for me to understand what they are trying to communicate. When you don't use any punctuation whatsoever it makes it very difficult to read your post and understand what you're trying to say. It doesn't take that much more time to press the period button even if you're on a cell phone. And as you can see, punctuation saves lives.

Don't forget the Oxford comma. Soooo important.

 

[erockdoc]

Nothing worse then asking a question only to get "that's been asked before" as a response. This site constantly has new users, and searching isn't always as fruitful as one would hope. Beside, some of us want to start up a conversation rather then just use the search feature. Isn't that the point of a forum? The conversation?

 

[hillybilly]

you are right bur the 100+ threads on I put my beer in ferm chamber and the starsans got sucked into fermenter is it ruined/ what happened or the 100+ on air locks getting clogged and blowing off what happened/ did it get infected do get old

 

[hillybilly]

and no I don't click or reply to them

 

[boydster]

you are right bur the 100+ threads on I put my beer in ferm chamber and the starsans got sucked into fermenter is it ruined/ what happened or the 100+ on air locks getting clogged and blowing off what happened/ did it get infected do get old

You're just doing this on purpose, now, aren't you?

 

[whoaru99]

Nothing worse then asking a question only to get "that's been asked before" as a response. This site constantly has new users, and searching isn't always as fruitful as one would hope. Beside, some of us want to start up a conversation rather then just use the search feature. Isn't that the point of a forum? The conversation?

I agree to a large point that most forum search tools aren't the greatest, or maybe I should just come out and say in many cases they suck.

Google's advanced search can help a lot particularly if not familiar with Boolean operators/expressions and searching that way.