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30 Tips to Improve Your Homebrew

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@Revvy - You make some interesting points in both your replies even though I don't necessarily agree with the tone of your writing considering the forum (pardon the pun) and the intent of my post. Without wanting to push this post too far off topic, I also have a different perspective to you about absolute 'facts'. It is the acceptance of 'popular wisdom' that inhibits innovation and discovery but this is probably a discussion best had over a few hombrews :mug: I will consider your relevant points and edit where I think appropriate but I ask you to consider how the tone of your replies may reduce the impact of your message amongst certain readers.

@ Tiber Brew & BmillaTheBrewzilla - Thanks for making similar points to Revvy in a constructive & positive way.
 
@Revvy - You make some interesting points in both your replies even though I don't necessarily agree with the tone of your writing considering the forum (pardon the pun) and the intent of my post. Without wanting to push this post too far off topic, I also have a different perspective to you about absolute 'facts'. It is the acceptance of 'popular wisdom' that inhibits innovation and discovery but this is probably a discussion best had over a few hombrews :mug: I will consider your relevant points and edit where I think appropriate but I ask you to consider how the tone of your replies may reduce the impact of your message amongst certain readers.

@ Tiber Brew & BmillaTheBrewzilla - Thanks for making similar points to Revvy in a constructive & positive way.

What i see Revvy getting at is the fact that what everyone does on brew day is so different that generic and sometimes conflicting tips will not work for automatically better brewing as you have presented it.
this site has helped in the disspelling of many many brewing related myths since its inception and is constantly pushing the boundaries of small batch brewing just look at the DIY forum.
if you hang out some more and read alot you will see that Mr. Revvy is a VERY knowledgeable brewer and has been helping out new brewers for quite a while.
around here his word is one of the few on this site that is pretty much gospel.


Gospel.....Revvy
I see what i did there.... im going to bed
 
Gospel.....Revvy
I see what i did there.... im going to bed

LOL, Good one buddy. :mug:

Again Breton, I'm just saying when you present yourself as an authority on something, which by the tone of your website you come off as, you have a responsibility to your "audience" to let them know when you are presenting, straight forward facts, or your interpretation of something (i.e. your opinion.)

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with giving your opinion on something or giving BOTH together in a presentation, we do it all the time. Pure recitation of facts can be boring....We should mix things up.

Here's an example from my own work, (the other one besides brewing where I am considered an "authority." :rolleyes: :D (This is from my E-book "Knowing God, Knowing Ourselves; A primer for 21st Century Mystics."

"Dr. Some’ writes in his book, Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman, that the Dagara don’t really have a word for God, or the spiritual realm. The closest thing to their concept is Yielbongura, which translate as, “the thing that knowledge can’t eat” (8). What they mean basically, is that this concept is so huge and complexly powerful, that it is resistant to any kind of the “categorizing” that humans try to place on things. This is a FACT his book says this and hence my citation from the book. This is in beer tips "Temp Control is important to preventing off flavors from the yeast." It's undisputable, the Dagara indeed have that word in their language, AND Temp control is important.

My personal belief is that God is so infinite and all pervasive, that any single name, or concept for that matter only limits “It.” Even to say that “God is the Universe,” is not enough. I also believe that the God of the Muslims, whom they call Allah, is the same as the God of the Christians, it is also the “Great Mother” of the Native Americans, as well as the “Buddha Mind” and Krishna Consciousness. Even the multiple gods of the ancient Greeks and Romans were really just the “many faces,” or aspects of this same creative force. Actually to me, these different definitions are but little pieces of the same, for lack of a better term, “being.” Even being doesn’t fit, because God, to me is everything, and at the same time it is “in” everything. I think you can see how utterly complex or, conversely, how simple it is. This paragraph begins "My Personal belief," I make it clear that this is MY interpretation, my opinion. In beer language this is "Kegging is better than bottling." It may be my "truth," my experience, but it is caveated as such.

There's nothing wrong with saying both things on the same page, but we just have to make it clear to those reading that there's a difference. And what I and those other other folks who have come in before me and pointed things out to you, is that you fail to do that effectively.


But you have to realize that for so many folks starting out brewing, or who listen to ministers preach :) things seem so complex, with so many things that they think could go wrong. That people look for the information you are providing. But they don't know the difference between Facts and opinions yet.

They will literally google looking for tips to improve your homebrew" and they will literally believe what you tell them. Because they don't have the basic info yet to understand the difference.

And we get those people in here each and everyday day.....And since like Jp posted, we've busted a lot of those "common wisdom" things people sometimes get pissed. Look at the ENTIRE history of the "Long Primary/Autolysis Myth" discussion on here. Many of us pioneered it on here YEARS ago, skipping secondary in favor of month long primaries- and we got bashed and trashed for it for a good number of years, while more and more folks began adopting it. And folks were (mis) quoting Palmer's passage in how to brew the online edition. But now Palmer has come out and corrected it, and is now more in favor of long primaries and downplayed the autolysis fear that he contributed to instilling in millions of new brewers, in subsequent editions. But we STILL get folks coming in who don't know that the times have changed on this topic.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/secondary-not-john-palmer-jamil-zainasheff-weigh-176837/

You're new here, so you don't know. But most of what you may think of common wisdom has been disproven and changed...mostly by us here. Challenging those things.

There are a ton of great threads and blogs on here that do a great job of just providing actual tips. And there are some great threads here, and blogs that do nothing but show what worked for the brewer, and then allows the reader to come to his own conclusions and incorporate that into their own practice.

And there are some great blogs and sections of this forum where folks "battle" (in good spirits usually) or discuss back and forth their opinions. But the more effective ones make it clear to the reader, especially the beginner, what is what- what is fact and what is opinion.

Again, I think your intent is good. But you did ask for tips from us. Well many of us have given you some tips, they are not new, they're just about you improving or tweaking your blog a little.

We love to have new brewing resources for helping people. I cite people's brewing blogs all the time on here, as well as links to podcasts and such, the more info the merrier as far as I'm concerned, if I think they have good info. Personally I would have a difficult time referencing your site to a new brewer. I think it sows more confusion than truly helps folks out. I just don't think it is clear enough for new brewers.

*shrug*
 
Here's a noob's* take to your list:

It's awful preachy. Best example is #20. I don't want to keg and from what I've read whether it's better or not is a matter of personal preference. It's great that you enjoy doing so but that specific bit of advice won't work for everyone. If I had read only your list prior to buying my startup gear I probably would not have gone forward due to the cost of getting a keg setup- not to mention having to figure out how it works.

Another major problem I see is that you assume everyone is like you in terms of access to homebrewing resources. I live in the middle of nowhere. There are *no* homebrewing stores nearby. It really irks me when someone recommends I go to my local homebrew store. From what I can tell there's only one homebrew store in my entire state, and it's three hours from me.

Finally, my major pet peeve with homebrewing advice is "you need gadget x" statements. I'm beginning to see that I can make perfectly good beer without an all grain setup, a wort chiller, or any of the other gadgets everyone seems to need. I don't have the money for them anyway.

So my advice would be to tone down your enthusiasm for your system. It works for you, which is great, but it does not work for me.

*my noob credentials: brewed only three batches. I've only been brewing since early June. I'm still learning brewing basics, although I've read a lot on this website and elsewhere.
 
I just wanted to commend you on a nice job with the re-write. I think it's much clearer and less confusing than before. I think, like I said in the private message, that in you clarifying that theses are are your opinions, it seems like you also better explained them.

Good Job!!! This would be a good primer for folks, especially kit an kilo brewers.

:mug:
 

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