Frustrating hobby

[Pataka]

Reading this thread, I didn't quite get it at first. Why, I thought to myself, are these people knocking Mr Beer over any other fermenter? Then I realised something. Mr Beer is a fermenter, but it's also a regime of kits as well, custom-sized to match their fermenters. So when people make comments about Mr Beer, they're not just talking about the fermenter, they are talking about the kit as well.

I say this because I spent almost a year wanting to try my hand at making beer, but struggling to grasp the notion that you could make beer in any batch size you wanted. I didn't want to do 5 gallon batches, and instead knew I wanted to be a 1 gallon brewer. But while the kits for 1 gal batches definitely existed, they weren't exactly plentiful where I lived. I knew I'd end up paying a premium to get a smaller kit size.

Then one day it dawned on me - I could make whatever batch size I wanted. All I needed was a calculator. I could buy 5 gal kits and just divide the quantities, then store the rest of the kit in the freezer. And then another thing dawned on me - just because it was a kit, didn't mean I couldn't add elements to the kit to give myself experience at the next level of brewing.

My first beer was made from a 5 gal kit, taking only enough to fit the brew size of my fermenter. You can do this too, regardless of your fermenter.

My second beer was made from the same 5 gal kit, but used some additional hops and DME, again, made for the size of fermenter I use. You can do this too, regardless of your fermenter.


There's been some good advice on here, and I'd agree that a kit with steeping grains and/or additional hops is going to be a step forward on what you're doing currently, but I guess what I'm really trying to get across is that you can improvise and scale to fit whatever fermenter. You might be reading the advice here and thinking "sure, but how do I fit that kit into my LBK?" but you can just divide.

 

[govner1]

I don't think of it as a frustrating hobby but as a learning experience to improve my outcomes. Brewing beer is much more complicated than say, wine making (sorry vintners), I've done both. There are so many variables to control (or modify) that can change your end product.
I've learned that patience, consistency, patience(yes, I repeated) and a good understanding of all the processes involved is key. You can't just mix up a bag/box of ingredients & expect good beer in a few weeks.
Equipment section, temp control, along w/ good cleaning & sanitation are key.
Of course, as surgeons say, better lucky than good, always applies!!

 

[drunken_snail]

Sometimes it is annoying when you make a silly mistake or whatever but thats how you learn and make a better one next time. Do what u can afford both money and time. If you want to step away from liquid malt go to dry malt extract and add some grains. Ive had success with DME(no grains added). Won best kit beer two years in a row here in Western Australia.

The number one thing is cleanliness.
number 2, document every thing you do, get a journal and fill it with all you do. Its good if you have a success then you have what you did. or a fail you can go back and maybe pinpoint something. And then over time you can see how much you have improved. I know there is software for figuring out amounts etc. but documenting as you go.
Just if you make any notes about improvements you want to do read it before your next brew day.

and when u can afford or have space for a fermentation fridge with a dual temp controller. thats the next step to control the temp of the ferment.

Checking out forums and grabbing a couple of good books.

Brewing classic styles by jamil zainasheff

How to Brew by john palmer is another good resource.

And just chatting with other brewers either home or craft. listening learning.

And of course dont worry have a homebrew

 

[brewshki]

Well I hit up th LHBS today and it was a ton of fun. They basically advised me that those leftover mr beer kits are just kinda trash and that i shouldnt expect anything out of them.

the woman who helped me then allowed me to get lost and have my fun before she answered all of my questions very kindly.

I finally decided to get a light ale kit and split it in half. its a 5 gallon kit, so i can make 2 2.5 gallon batches without having to throw down more money for new equipment. i also got two white labs california ale yeasts to use (one for each batch).

I'm going to reread part of John Palmer's book and hopefully jump into a batch later this week.

 

[ObiBeerCanobi]

Thumbs up for sticking with it. I've only been at it for a year and I'm still learning so much. I find brewing a lot like cooking, the better you get at the craft of it, the better the results are. The joy I get is not limited to the final product but the experience itself. As a lot of your peers have suggested, I also moved to all grain fairly rapidly. Being a beer snob, I found my greatest results from starting with just the grains. With some fairly modest investments, you can make some truly exceptional beer.

 

[bobeer]

I have been brewing for about 4 years now and I just had my first 2 bad batches- in a row. To top it off my wife and I just had a baby 5 months ago so finding time to brew these 2 batches was difficult. When they turned out bad I was extremely bummed. I didn't brew again for a month or so because I had just lost all the momentum I had for it. So, I took a break from brewing. During that break I didn't think about brewing at all. I just bought commercial beer and enjoyed it.

Now, I'm back to brewing again and just brewed a christmas beer yesterday. Last week I did some research, asked some questions and figured out where I went wrong. It was the water in the new county I just moved to. It wasn't even anything I could have really known without pulling a water report. Now, I'm glad I'm back to brewing and I'm planning on brewing my next batch asap.

Mess ups are going to happen. Yea, it demoralizing and sad but it's part of the hobby. Wasting time, money and effort isn't on anyone's to-do list so it's even harder when you have to dump a batch but just keep brewing. If you need to take a break for a while then do so and come back to it. It's only wrong when it stops being fun!