Raising gravity for the sake of raising gravity. Okay, your beer is going to have more alcohol in it. Do you like being drunk? Just do shots of vodka if that's the case. A lot less trouble, a lot quicker, and probably a lot cheaper in the long run. Most of my beers that I brew now, aside from the occasional Imperial Stout or Trappist-esque Belgian, are between 3-5% abv. Why? Because I like drinking beer, not getting drunk.
+1. I have a few friends who ask if I would please up the alcohol content specifically for them to get a buzz off it. 'Uh, no.' But more power to those who want to.
My other peeve ... getting 'ran-over' at the wildly popular LHBS by brewers who think they own the place. Yes, you may spend a lot of money there, and yes, you are likely a more seasoned brewer than I, but that does not give you permission to throw typical civilities out the door. A while back I snapped at a guy because he rudely pushed me out of the mill I was using to grind my grain purchase, all while snidely commenting that I 'obviously ' had no clue what I was doing. (Granted I was struggling but had figured it out). I snapped back and said 'huh, I bet you were new to this once too, and thanks for your overwhelming help.'
He actually apologized the next time I saw him there....said he forgot that new brewers come in the door and that he should have offered assistance. I chalked it up to him just having a bad day.... but I've ran into it more than once.
Was this at Steinbart? A place I love, but could TOTALLY see that happening there... Man, I HATE stuff like that... The nerve! GRR! How about "Hey man, is that thing giving you grief? Can I help?". I used to hang out at a LHBS specifically to HELP the new folks coming in... Hopefully this time next year there will be a LHBS on the horizon so I can do that again... (local sore spot... politics... grrr )
whitehause said:I agree with new brewers not going overboard. I think the Double choc. juniper strawberry sour wheat stoudt should wait a till a few brews in.
When I'm in the kitchen for three hours, the last 10 mins when I'm transferring my cooled wort to the fermenter (thats on the floor) is when my wife decides to march our Golden retriever through the kitchen to put him out. He's a dog...I'm pouring sweet smelling liquid in to a bucket on the floor...are you
That and fruit flies....damn you fruit flies....damn you all to hell.( done in best Heston voice)
tom_gamer said:I've done the no chill, not by choice, but had great success.
One thing that has always bothered me in brewing is calling water you are going to brew with "liquor". It's just water dammit!
Brewing Pet Peeves.
Isn't this supposed to be a fun hobby? Then why are we all getting bent out of shape? Lots of things on here are things that OTHER people are doing that impact the poster not one iota.
One thing that has always bothered me in brewing is calling water you are going to brew with "liquor". It's just water dammit!
rifraf said:The fact that a 1g batch takes the same amount of time as a 5g batch. I'd love to experiment more but I'm afraid to have 5g batches of a beer I don't like but always feel like a smaller batch is a waste of time.
bobbrews said:I have a few:
*Adding fruit, oak, bourbon, or spices if you've brewed less than 5 batches, and sometimes more. This is also a fad.
My pet peeve? People on here that hate on new brewers making high abv or high number of adjunct beers in their first few batches. Many people get into brewing because of DIPAs or a beer with cactus fruit in it. My first brew outside of mr beer was a DIPA an my 4th batch was an 10% Belgian golden strong with peaches in it. To each his own...
YouTube videos of "brewers" with top of the line equipment that seem to have no idea what they are doing. It's not the equipment that makes you good, its the process. This goes for anything.
People with expensive sports bikes where you can tell on their tires they never leaned into a corner their entire life.
People with top of the line guitar equipment that can even hold a beat.
Practice makes perfect, not money.
When posters on here go off on a tangent about how they do a certain thing that is completely irrelevant to the original poster's question. Everyone has their own setup, their own methods...but when you totally ignore the OP's questions and give someone a rundown of how you do things, it's not particularly helpful.
passedpawn said:Nothing wrong with buying good equipment if you have the money. There's no rule that says you have to learn to brew on ghetto equipment. Why not buy good equipment from the start, and practice on that?
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