Homebrewing Blog

[scottland]

Anchor's comment reminded me of good point on cameras. You don't need a DSLR to get great looking photos, but photos of people and things look great when there is a shallow depth of field. To get a shallow depth of field, you need to shoot the photo with a larger aperature (smaller numerically). A common misconception is that DLSRs do that out of the box. Most DSLRs come with a kit lens that while optically great, typically don't have a much larger aperature than the typical Point-and-Shoot camera.

Look for a camera or lens that has a low f/stop number. Typical cameras will go down to the f/3.5 or so. You'll get some good separation between your subjects and the background/foreground once you get under f/3.2. F/1.8, 2.0, 2.2, etc all would be ideal.

 

[NateLTB]

365beers.blogspot.com is a blog that a couple of drinking buddies and I started about five years ago when we chronicled our attempts at drinking a different beer a day for a year. One of my drinking buddies (Gus) is now my brewing buddy and we revived the blog to keep track of our brewing (mis)adventures. I have a hard time updating it but Gus updates it a couple of times a week.

 

[Lavender_Pepper]

So, if I haven't mentioned it yet, my post about my Spiced Peach Belgian-ish is now up.

Also, my blog gets to go in a new direction. The boyfriend and I broke up so now I get to move off of the homestead! Yay. Blech. I hate moving.

I guess I'll write a post about how to move 10 gallons of beer that are in secondary. ::sigh::

 

[TenaciousJ]

Bringing my blog back from a LOOOOOOOONG break. lots of real-life stuff recently, but looking to focus on writing in the near future.

BTW, I've been killing a lot a time checking out as many blogs as I can in this thread (more than I remember!). Tons of great stuff out there. Prost!

 

[AnchorBock]

Bringing my blog back from a LOOOOOOOONG break. lots of real-life stuff recently, but looking to focus on writing in the near future.

BTW, I've been killing a lot a time checking out as many blogs as I can in this thread (more than I remember!). Tons of great stuff out there. Prost!

Followed your blog, we just redid our kitchen as well. It's so worth it in the end, but the process sucks! I hated not having a kitchen sink or anywhere to prepare food!

 

[JLem]

So, if I haven't mentioned it yet, my post about my Spiced Peach Belgian-ish is now up.

Also, my blog gets to go in a new direction. The boyfriend and I broke up so now I get to move off of the homestead! Yay. Blech. I hate moving.

I guess I'll write a post about how to move 10 gallons of beer that are in secondary. ::sigh::

Moving does suck, but...silver lining...less boyfriend means more time to brew? (sorry)

 

[1stTimer]

Donkey Milk Stout brew day and recipe up on the blog. CHEERS!

http://atomicdonkeybrewing.blogspot.com/

 

[JLem]

Beer Blogger Conference anyone? http://beerbloggersconference.org/

I'm intrigued...especially given it is local to me. The beer dinners/events sound pretty cool too.

Anyone participate in one of these in the past? Any thoughts about it?

 

[Lavender_Pepper]

Sounds fun! And the registration fee isn't over the top!!

 

[blakelyc]

I have been working steadily on my blog: http://www.alementary.com

It started as a way to help my mostly non-brewing friends follow along while I try to figure all this out. That beer bloggers conference looks fun and we'll be in Boston around then anyways.

 

[Lavender_Pepper]

I have been working steadily on my blog: http://www.alementary.com

It started as a way to help my mostly non-brewing friends follow along while I try to figure all this out. That beer bloggers conference looks fun and we'll be in Boston around then anyways.

Cool! Just added your entries RSS to my Google Reader!

 

[blakelyc]

Thanks! Let me know if you have any feedback.... I am still a toddler in brewing experience!

 

[Nightshade]

I am not motivated enough to keep up on a blog but did my first webcast on Friday. Planning to do it again on Monday and keep it going as a regular thing. Also may expand it to interviews, tours, live Q&A sessions etc. with various people ranging from homebrewers to nano and microbrewers. I want to focus on multiple aspects involved in brewing, brew culture, expansion and more.

Starting with a few test broadcasts first though so this is my plug to click the link in my sig and give me input of what you would like to see and I will see what can be done to make it happen.

 

[Lavender_Pepper]

Blog redesign / rename and a brew-post in the hopper.

Also, goodness, I'd think the webcast requires more dedication than a blog post! Kudos to that!

 

[lewybrewing]

I hope this doesn't sound like a rant, but for anyone doing a blog it is very important to "NEVER" have a post called, "I'm getting back into blogging" "It's been a long time" or any other like statements. It really makes the blog feel old and abandoned. Personally, I want to feel like you are out brewing and carefully formulating that next post about it. Who really cares if it takes 3 to 5 months a post. No one gets upset about it.

Like most everyone else I started my website as a recipe database for myself and still treat it like that. I can look at recipes, notes and other brewing goodies. Also if people ask for a recipe I can point them in the right direction. I post a lot, honestly to much, but that's OK because they are focused at me and my brewing experience. My buddies can look at see whats on tap, when I'm brewing and the recipes I'm working on. It's all about the journey.

 

[Lavender_Pepper]

I wonder what brought up the reason to do the 'rant'?

 

[Nightshade]

Blog redesign / rename and a brew-post in the hopper.

Also, goodness, I'd think the webcast requires more dedication than a blog post! Kudos to that!

I brew multiple times a week on average so it is just a matter of turning on the webcam and sharing my day with others really. I suppose it is a bit more than that and hopefully it is evident I am putting some time into it from todays webcast.

 

[lewybrewing]

I wonder what brought up the reason to do the 'rant'?

I didn't want it to sound like a rant, but I guess it did. To me, this thread sounds like people wanting to increase their page clicks. It was just a suggestion not have those types of post. By all means, if you want to post "I'm getting back into blogging" do it. It just discourages the majority of people from adding your blogroll into a RSS feed.

 

[brettwasbtd]

I didn't want it to sound like a rant, but I guess it did. To me, this thread sounds like people wanting to increase their page clicks. It was just a suggestion not have those types of post. By all means, if you want to post "I'm getting back into blogging" do it. It just discourages the majority of people from adding your blogroll into a RSS feed.

I concur, and I have shamelessly promototed myself a time or two in this thread. I have mostly used the thread to pick up new blogs which I add to my bloglist on my site. The list is getting rather long, but since I have it setup to order dynamically based on the most recent posts (on top) I don't mind to much. I actually, use the list on my blog a couple times a week to catch up with everyone else. I think there are one or two other members of this thread which use a similiar linking system to follow me as I can see in the analytics who I am getting a lot of hits from.

Another thing I would like to get off my chest is commenting. If I can add something insightful, ask a related question, or add to the discussion of your post, I am going to try and comment. Some of you are really good about responding to a comments and I appreciate it! Others just don't...If your blog is just there for your own recipe database, thats fine, but I tend to think of it as sharing avenue, much like the forum but on a little more personal level. It saddens me when fellow bloggers don't respond to comments. Its good for everyones blog when disccusion occurs.

 

[lewybrewing]

Another thing I would like to get off my chest is commenting. If I can add something insightful, ask a related question, or add to the discussion of your post, I am going to try and comment. Some of you are really good about responding to a comments and I appreciate it! Others just don't...If your blog is just there for your own recipe database, thats fine, but I tend to think of it as sharing avenue, much like the forum but on a little more personal level. It saddens me when fellow bloggers don't respond to comments. Its good for everyones blog when disccusion occurs.

I agree with the comments. I love getting comments, but I also hate commenting on other blogs when I know I will not get a response.

 

[scottland]

Ya, I agree with you guys. Someone took the time to read the article, and comment on the article. I always try to reply back to every comment, even if its just a "Thanks."

 

[JLem]

I concur, and I have shamelessly promototed myself a time or two in this thread. I have mostly used the thread to pick up new blogs which I add to my bloglist on my site. The list is getting rather long, but since I have it setup to order dynamically based on the most recent posts (on top) I don't mind to much. I actually, use the list on my blog a couple times a week to catch up with everyone else. I think there are one or two other members of this thread which use a similiar linking system to follow me as I can see in the analytics who I am getting a lot of hits from.

Another thing I would like to get off my chest is commenting. If I can add something insightful, ask a related question, or add to the discussion of your post, I am going to try and comment. Some of you are really good about responding to a comments and I appreciate it! Others just don't...If your blog is just there for your own recipe database, thats fine, but I tend to think of it as sharing avenue, much like the forum but on a little more personal level. It saddens me when fellow bloggers don't respond to comments. Its good for everyones blog when disccusion occurs.

I agree about the commenting thing, which is why I try to respond to any comments in a (relatively) timely manner. I often wish for replies to my replies - to sort of get a dialogue going, but I guess that would only happen if enough people were regular visitors and I posted more than once a month.

 

[AnchorBock]

I usually post in here when I have a brew day update and regularly look on this thread for updates. I try to check on to many blogs to follow them all via email so I actually appreciate it when people post in this thread with a new post on their blog.

I like the bloglist on your site brettwasbtd!

 

[1stTimer]

Agreed on Jelms comments as well. I get some comments and I have it set up so i get an alert on my phone. I respond immediate if possible. If not, I do respond within a day.

 

[1stTimer]

Agree with Brett as well.

 

[1stTimer]

I certainly was after hits when I first started the blog. I was also trying to get it out there to more people. But I've learned through time that its more about content. I've been trying to do a better job of that.

Soon I will be going to a site I pay for. Its all part of our hopeful expansion into the business. We shall see. Hope everyone is well. CHEERS :rockin:

 

[Lavender_Pepper]

I agree with what's been said about comments. I love creating a dialogue, and more so I think it's important. I don't get too too many on my blog, likely because it doesn't have a super tight 'beer blog' focus (beer/brewing, slice of life, and until I moved: gardening), but I do my best to get back to them ASAP. Similarly, I love commenting on blogs where I know I'll get a response.

 

[hoppedupbrewer]

While we're talking about commenting, what are people's thoughts on comment systems?

Blogger blogs allow a host of login options, blogs hosted on wordpress usually allow people to sign-in with facebook, twitter, or use a name and email. Disqus is becoming more popular and has options similar to wordpress.com blogs.

Asking the general audience in this thread: are there barriers to commenting that keeps you from engaging an author?

I'm personally guilty of reading feeds in a feed reader, so I don't always click over to the article and see if there's a discussion going at the site itself unless the article ends with a question to the readers or is otherwise engaging enough that I have something I feel I can add.

 

[brettwasbtd]

While we're talking about commenting, what are people's thoughts on comment systems?

Blogger blogs allow a host of login options, blogs hosted on wordpress usually allow people to sign-in with facebook, twitter, or use a name and email. Disqus is becoming more popular and has options similar to wordpress.com blogs.

Asking the general audience in this thread: are there barriers to commenting that keeps you from engaging an author?

I'm personally guilty of reading feeds in a feed reader, so I don't always click over to the article and see if there's a discussion going at the site itself unless the article ends with a question to the readers or is otherwise engaging enough that I have something I feel I can add.

I like being able to sign in with a name/URL that blogger offers, however, I then miss out sometimes if I don't follow up. I really like, which i think wordpress does, the comment system which allows the commenter to select if they wish to receive email updates when other people comment. Its nice to know when others are commenting rather then having to make a mental note of where I left a comment a circle back.

 

[Biscostew]

Posted a couple beer industry related posts in the past few days including one on my take in the recent craft vs. crafty debate. Check em out and let me know what you think!