Has brewing made you smarter?

[petep1980]

For about 6 years I sold some sort of engineered equipment for a family company. I didn't know the stuff that well, but whatever.

I started brewing and got hooked. I noticed a ton of people on here were engineers. I also saw that in order to be a pro brewer it was recommended you were an ME, CE or micro-biologist.

Considering I was kind of already in the ME field, I decided to go back to school for mechanical engineering. This was done with the pipe dream in the back of my mind I could become a pro brewer.

Since then I've completed Calc I, II, III, Physics, Diff Eq, Chem, Statics and Thermodynamics. In almost every class (except calc III and Statics) I have applied the principles taught to my homebrewing skills. I often do home brew math rather than actually homebrew considering time restraints.

I am now confident I can sit down and tackle any kind of problem with a little thought, and once the summer session is done I am going to begin applying for a much better job.

I have homebrewing to thank for this. Who else?

 

[rexbanner]

Well thanks to homebrewing I set my personal binge drinking record of 18 glasses of brown ale in one night.

 

[kpr121]

You mean you havent been able to apply partial derivatives and spacial vectors to brewing?!? And what about calculating the forces applied to that angle iron at a temperature of 160 degrees supporting three 15 gallon vessels at various fulcrum lengths?!

Just kidding, I had to google most of that stuff and I graduated from engineering (civil) less than 3 years ago.

Brewing makes me feel like I am smart, drinking makes me dumb. It evens each other out.

 

[o4_srt]

You mean you havent been able to apply partial derivatives and spacial vectors to brewing?!? And what about calculating the forces applied to that angle iron at a temperature of 160 degrees supporting three 15 gallon vessels at various fulcrum lengths?!

Just kidding, I had to google most of that stuff and I graduated from engineering (civil) less than 3 years ago.

Brewing makes me feel like I am smart, drinking makes me dumb. It evens each other out.

You mean you haven't created a formula to predict the flow rate out of your bk at a given volume, then used that formula to optimize a counterflow chiller's flow rate?

I dot blame you, I hate math. Unfortunately, electrical engineering requires a ton of it.

Can't wait til summer (end of the week)

 

[kpr121]

You mean you haven't created a formula to predict the flow rate out of your bk at a given volume, then used that formula to optimize a counterflow chiller's flow rate?

I dot blame you, I hate math. Unfortunately, electrical engineering requires a ton of it.

Can't wait til summer (end of the week)

If you change the formula from volume to inches of head pressure, we can all use it for our different brew kettles!

 

[emetcalf]

You mean you haven't created a formula to predict the flow rate out of your bk at a given volume, then used that formula to optimize a counterflow chiller's flow rate?)

that would be diff. eq. and he said that he has used that for brewing

 

[beergolf]

I am fasinated with the chemistry of turning beer into urine. I do it on a regular basis.

 

[stanley1271]

Well I feel like an idiot just trying to figure out what you guys are talking about. Guess I just need to go have a homebrew (or10) to kill of some brain cells just to make it more that a feeling.

 

[o4_srt]

Well I feel like an idiot just trying to figure out what you guys are talking about. Guess I just need to go have a homebrew (or10) to kill of some brain cells just to make it more that a feeling.

I wonder if you could use an exponential decay formula to plot the rate brain cells die when exposed to alcohol.

 

[drunkengoblin]

Well I guess you could always use the Heat Equation to calculate what conditions are best for optimally bringing your wort to boil. In special cases (homogeneous material) the equation should be easy enough to solve. If you have any nonlinearities then solving the p.d.e could be a royal pain.

 

[cclloyd]

I don't know if I'm any smarter but I have a lot more knowledge that is absolutely useless except when I'm brewing. I mean, in what other situation would you benefit from knowing the activation and deactivation temperatures of alpha and beta amylase enzymes and how their actions affect the fermentability of wort?

 

[TheSeether]

To answer OP's title, "No".

However, brewing has provided me a great deal of opportunities to utilize the intelligence I was naturally gifted with. So many things in life are pre-dumbed down with no benefit to be derived by analyzing it further. It's nice to have something that lets you foray into the multiple sciences that comprise it. The only hobby I've experienced that had the same degree of scientific meat was mycology.

 

[chip82]

As an current graduate student in the engineering field, there is a difference between smart and useful. That being said, i am smarter to the ways of brewing, but as others have said, it isn't useful other than brewing.

 

[doctorRobert]

Brewing can't make you smarter but you may learn a whole lot from it.

Being smart means you're able to learn quickly \ are mentally alert. If anything, having draft beer at home has made me dumber, even though I now know more about chemistry and biology that I ever cared to learn previously.

 

[phenry]

I started brewing and got hooked. I noticed a ton of people on here were engineers. I also saw that in order to be a pro brewer it was recommended you were an ME, CE or micro-biologist.

Well then I must be in the perfect field. Environmental engineering is pretty much a mix of civil engineering and microbiology. It also doesn't make a whole lot of money compared to the other engineering degrees, so that's another great reason to look at going pro I guess

 

[petep1980]

Well then I must be in the perfect field. Environmental engineering is pretty much a mix of civil engineering and microbiology. It also doesn't make a whole lot of money compared to the other engineering degrees, so that's another great reason to look at going pro I guess

It was something I glanced at once looking on these boards. I could have been drunk at the time, so I can't promise I remember correctly.

I'm just trying to credit brewing with opening a whole new world of science and math for me.

Also, now that I think of it, I can't think of anything from Calc II which helped.

 

[sjbeerman]

Can you develop a calculator to determine the yeast cell count from a stepped starter? That would be very useful because as far as I know there is no online calculator that provides this info. Mr malty doesn't provide this so I use a program on my phone, but it would be nice to have something to compare against.

 

[Yooper]

I is dumb.

But through brewing, I have an all electric system so undertand a bit about SSRs, PIDs, and 50 amp circuits. I understand a little water chemistry, until AJ Delange explains something to me, and then I'm a dummy again. I have a little understanding of mashing and alpha vs beta amylase reactions. I have a vague understanding of yeast cellular activity.

but I can brew a kick-ass beer.

I still is dumb.

 

[petep1980]

Can you develop a calculator to determine the yeast cell count from a stepped starter? That would be very useful because as far as I know there is no online calculator that provides this info. Mr malty doesn't provide this so I use a program on my phone, but it would be nice to have something to compare against.

http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_pitchrate.cfm

 

[Seven]

E=mc2

 

[Sixstring78]

Out of nowhere during my first batch I started to fully understand the second law of thermodynamics and how much entropy can really be a prick. I also started to ponder how beer aged on the international space station would taste vs. beer aged on earth due to the difference in speed, therefore a difference in perceived time. lol

 

[stanley1271]

but I can brew a kick-ass beer.

That makes you the smartest one here then.

 

[jtakacs]

i deal in thermodynamics every day and brew to avoid doing so. probably explains why i just got horrible efficiency on tonight's brew.

 

[sjbeerman]

http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_pitchrate.cfm

That calculator isn't exactly user friendly. There is definite room for significant improvement in this area.

 

[unionrdr]

Hmmm...has home brewing made me smarter? Isn't that a misnomer? lolz. But yes,insomuch as learning more about what gives a particular brew it's aromas/flavors/colors,etc. Now,every time I drink a craft brew,I'm analyzing it as well. So I guess the answer is yes.

 

[wildwest450]

Smarter no, poorer, hell yes. More informed on the topic, definitely.

_

 

[curlyfat]

I add grain to hot water. Then I boil that liquid with flowers. Then I infect it with fungus. When I drink it I get really smart. Just ask me, I'll tell ya!

 

[wildwest450]

I add grain to hot water. Then I boil that liquid with flowers. Then I infect it with fungus. When I drink it I get really smart. Just ask me, I'll tell ya!

No onions???

_

 

[curlyfat]

No onions???

_

Sssshhhh....that's my secret ingredient!

 

[viking73]

Smarter no, poorer, hell yes. More informed on the topic, definitely.

_

Definitely this.

 

[GoodRatsBrew]

I done got smarter bout voidin them revenuers tryin to claim them there Obama Healthcare taxes on my hooch... hell its non taxed grain yeast water n herbs where and who spiked it with the alcohol?!?!

 

[curlyfat]

Actually, the deeper I get into brewing the dumberer I feel. I consider myself to be a pretty bright individual, but I can not get a handle on water chemistry.

 

[MyNameIsPaul]

Smarter? No.

More annoying to drink beer with than my non-brewing friends when the topic of brewing comes up? Oh hell yes. There's a 10 minute rule, no beer talk for the the first 10 minutes of all of us getting together.

 

[rmullins]

Brewing gave me a topic with what seems like infinites amount of topics to learn about, with varying levels of difficulty, that I truly enjoy reading/practicing so I put much more effort into it.