Hey Guys,
Always good to see robust discussion!
@ Revvy - Thanks for such a long response. The list is intentionally designed to be simplistic for the newer brewer. I have progressed through every one of them and this is what I have found worked for me. Things like 'kegging over bottling' is more about convenience. I don't like bottling and if I didn't convert to kegging I probably wouldn't be still homebrewing. The fact that there is so much debate on forums like this suggest that 'actual facts' may not be that actual. I have written this list from what has worked for me for no other reason then to share my experience (this is not a money making venture - note no advertising etc) and I would hope that this forum is up for some healthy discussion about opinion rather than just the 'accepted facts' as these you can read from brewing chemistry books. I also think you miss my 'tongue in cheek' about the not being able to store my beer for long enough. Perhaps I need to work on my jokes!
I guess then what I'm getting at is that if you are presenting your blog as some sort of authoritative list of, as you call it "Tips for improving your homebrew" it is really incumbant upon you to seperate your opinions about what is convenient to you (i.e your preferences) from actual tips. For example kegging is your preference, it won't won't make someone's beer taste better.
Nowhere on your page to you state that this is just "what works for you" not actual tips that a new brewer can apply to make his beer better. Stuff like that confuses new brewers, then they come here and we end up correcting them- seperating the author's opinions for things that actually have merit.
People come in here then believe that, for example beer is better when made in a glass carboy, as opposed to a brew bucket, or that they have to have Stainless steel over aluminum, or can only make great beer with an all grain setup, when in truth it really doesn't matter one whit about any of those things, that great beer or piss poor beer can equally be made with all that stuff
There are huge misconceptions about brewing, a lot of misconceptions forms from people's inability to discern an authors intent, people can't tell whether they are reading a fact or someone's idea of something, heck, the entire American Political structure is based on that. Look at Fox "news" for example.
You present your whole site as some sort of authoritative site- that you are some sort of buisiness guru or something. So you truly have the reponsibilty then to seperate truth from opinion...or at least tag those opinions as such.
Or else you are mis using your "power."
There's a big difference between between saying, "this is what works for me, YOUR mileage may very" and "this is the ONLY way to make good beer. And to me, as an author, and someone who is also thought of as an authority on certain matters, I have a hard time discerning whether you're venturing opinion, or you naievly believe that certain things you put on there actually make beer taste better.
The difference between brewing facts and opinion is quite simple
Good brewing fact (or tip)
1) Temp control is important, to prevent off flavors.
2) It is important to make a starter with liquid yeast becasue it gaurentees your yeast is viable, it eliminates lag time, and ensures you have a high enough cell count for the gravity of the beer you are brewing.
Opinions Masked as facts.
1)Liquid yeast makes better beer than dry. (Which you imply)
2)Dry yeast makes better beer than liquid.
3) Kegging is superior to bottling (which you imply)
Opinions labeled as opinions
1) I like to use dry (or liquid)
2) bottling sucks.
3) Kegging is more convenient to me than bottling (or vice versa)
But your site, though you come off in tone as an "authority" is a mish mash of all three of those, and not clearly labeled. And in the long run you are going to confuse a lot of new brewers who are looking for all the help they can get. And then somewhere down the line, they will stumble upon this place, like you did, and in order for us to help them, we're going to have to do a lot of "un-learning" and clearing up some things that they picked up from you. Because on some occasion someone is going to be genuinely upset that he, for example, bought a bunch of kegging gear, and it didn't magically make his sub-par beer instantly taste better. Which though it may not be your intent,
you do imply.
By the mere title of your article you are implying that by following those steps your beer will improve. You aren't saying, "30 things that made my brew day go easier." For example...
Opinions are great, we all have them, but for the sake of the new brewers we are trying to help, which does seem to be your intent, and I commend you for it-it's many of our purposes here as well, but we NEED to be clear for their sakes.
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