I've been homebrewing for about 15 years now. Over that time, I've developed some philosophies about how I do it.
This is how I do it. It's not for everyone, and I don't insist. Everyone has a hobby for a different reason. These are mine:
First, I try to avoid buying Gadget X unless I have mastered and perfected everything I can control before I need Gadget X to improve my beer. I've found that this not only saves me a ton of money, but that I stay more hands on. I've made amazing beer from a kit, in an open pail, charged with sugar in 2 liter plastic bottles.
Second, I am not trying to mimic the production of even a small brewpub. Therefore, I don't do parts of the brewing process that don't improve the taste of my beer, even if it is a lot less efficient. For example, I do not take second runnings of the mash. It might take me a whole lifetime of homebrewing to amortize the cost of a fancy lautering system when grain is so cheap.
Third, science. I don't do hocus pocus. If strong research doesn't back up a claim for part of the process, I ignore it. On the other hand, I like to use software, electronics, and mathematics to study and improve my processes.
This is how I do it. It's not for everyone, and I don't insist. Everyone has a hobby for a different reason. These are mine:
First, I try to avoid buying Gadget X unless I have mastered and perfected everything I can control before I need Gadget X to improve my beer. I've found that this not only saves me a ton of money, but that I stay more hands on. I've made amazing beer from a kit, in an open pail, charged with sugar in 2 liter plastic bottles.
Second, I am not trying to mimic the production of even a small brewpub. Therefore, I don't do parts of the brewing process that don't improve the taste of my beer, even if it is a lot less efficient. For example, I do not take second runnings of the mash. It might take me a whole lifetime of homebrewing to amortize the cost of a fancy lautering system when grain is so cheap.
Third, science. I don't do hocus pocus. If strong research doesn't back up a claim for part of the process, I ignore it. On the other hand, I like to use software, electronics, and mathematics to study and improve my processes.
