Popular Mechanics Jan2011 HBT Shoutout

[knotquiteawake]

Page 20-21 of Popular Mechanics for Jan 2011 has a little two page spread on some basics of how to get started homebrewing, showing off a $2000 Blichmann 3 tier and some basics as well.
Also they give a shout out to HBT at the end for more resources saying:
homebrewtalk.com A well-trafficked Web forum for beer alchemists to share their formulas

I searched and didn't find any other recent posts about Popular Mechanics and beer brewing.

I would scan it up but I think maybe that would be frowned upon by Popular Mech.

 

[Guidry]

how to get started homebrewing,.

showing off a $2000 Blichmann 3 tier

Just my opinion, but probably not the best idea to show that kind of equipment/investment in an article directed toward getting people interested. Can easily discourage those on a lower budget and also encourage those with money to burn to go out and invest in something like that only to get discouraged by the complexity before they actually learn the basics.

I'm in a situation similar to this myself. A relative of mine, who falls into the "money to burn" catagory wants to get into homebrewing but he keeps telling me about all of the equipment he's getting ready to order. I'm talking 3-tier systems with 15 gallon conicals and adds that he doesn't want to bother with extract at all. The only positive I can see coming out of this is I may have an opportunity to buy some nice equipment real cheap in a year or so.

 

[BigB]

The only positive I can see coming out of this is I may have an opportunity to buy some nice equipment real cheap in a year or so.

Yep, because typically people with money to burn won't have the patience to stick with the hobby to learn how to do it properly. All that equipment is nice, but if you don't use it properly or pitch yeast rates properly, or maintain temperature control, you will end up with crap beer.

 

[knotquiteawake]

Ya they don't even mention the prices for the basic equipment, the only thing they slap a pricetag on is the $2k 3 tier. They do have a picture of a smaller conical, a glass carboy, plastic bottling bucket, capper, bottles, little odds and ends, at least it puts the idea into people's heads.

 

[rustbucket]

its popular mechanics, they go to the extreme end of things all the time for the systems they do. Well that it what i have noticed.

Example: lets test these mid-size run of the mill cars - KIA and Hyundai. Two cars that should cost less than 20,000 dollars, but when they do their assessment the car range is like 30,000+ full loaded.

 

[weirdboy]

WTF they have conicals in the article? Maybe 1% of all homebrewers use conicals. I think even 1% is generous.

 

[chrispykid]

Hey guys,

I worked on the online companion piece to this that featured recipes, many from HBT regulars. There's a thread on the recipe piece here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/check-out-hbt-recipes-published-popular-mechanics-210577/

And the recipes are featured on the popular mechanics site here: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/beer-recipes-how-to-home-brew

The print piece was put together by my editor, but I did get a chance to check it out before it went to press. The idea was that they wanted brewing eye candy that also visually showed the basics of the brewing process. The top tier was ideal since it's clearly eye candy and because it's also is easier to understand the flow of liquids from HLT to MLT to boil kettle in a gravity fed system. I don't have the final version in front of me at the moment, but I believe that the text makes it clear that you can make do with a couple pots on a stovetop (like I do for every batch).

We showed a conical for the same reason - it's readily recognizable for anyone that ever walked into a brewery and it looks cool. As knotquite mentioned above, we also had a carboy and a plastic bucket sitting there to demonstrate that brewing doesn't necessarily require all the blingy stuff.

For just two pages and a couple paragraphs I think it's a pretty good homebrew primer. There's no way we could have squeezed in the full Papazian and Palmer treatment. I know there's no guarantee that some people aren't going to take one quick look at it and say "no way would I ever buy all that stuff" but hopefully there will be a bigger group that get their interest piqued and decide to do more research. We could always use a few more brewers.

Anyway, hope you guys get a kick out of it - we had fun putting it together and I get a ton of inspiration here and at thebrewingnetwork.com - would be great to see the two get a bump in interest as a result of the article.

(knotquite - thanks for not scanning it - they give a way a lot on the website, but I think they'd like people to actually buy the magazine for the print pieces)

 

[knotquiteawake]

Hey guys,

I worked on the online companion piece to this that featured recipes, many from HBT regulars. There's a thread on the recipe piece here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/check-out-hbt-recipes-published-popular-mechanics-210577/

And the recipes are featured on the popular mechanics site here: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/beer-recipes-how-to-home-brew

The print piece was put together by my editor, but I did get a chance to check it out before it went to press. The idea was that they wanted brewing eye candy that also visually showed the basics of the brewing process. The top tier was ideal since it's clearly eye candy and because it's also is easier to understand the flow of liquids from HLT to MLT to boil kettle in a gravity fed system. I don't have the final version in front of me at the moment, but I believe that the text makes it clear that you can make do with a couple pots on a stovetop (like I do for every batch).

We showed a conical for the same reason - it's readily recognizable for anyone that ever walked into a brewery and it looks cool. As knotquite mentioned above, we also had a carboy and a plastic bucket sitting there to demonstrate that brewing doesn't necessarily require all the blingy stuff.

For just two pages and a couple paragraphs I think it's a pretty good homebrew primer. There's no way we could have squeezed in the full Papazian and Palmer treatment. I know there's no guarantee that some people aren't going to take one quick look at it and say "no way would I ever buy all that stuff" but hopefully there will be a bigger group that get their interest piqued and decide to do more research. We could always use a few more brewers.

Anyway, hope you guys get a kick out of it - we had fun putting it together and I get a ton of inspiration here and at thebrewingnetwork.com - would be great to see the two get a bump in interest as a result of the article.

(knotquite - thanks for not scanning it - they give a way a lot on the website, but I think they'd like people to actually buy the magazine for the print pieces)

I figured somebody there knows about here, so no scanning to be safe! PM is cool, everyone should have it. SWMBO used our coke rewards points to gift me with a year of it.

 

[BigB]

Besides "no scanning to be safe," scanning and posting would be not only be a violation of the forum rules, but also of United States copyright laws. Chrispykid-thanks for posting the links.

 

[knotquiteawake]

Besides "no scanning to be safe," scanning and posting would be not only be a violation of the forum rules, but also of United States copyright laws. Chrispykid-thanks for posting the links.

oooh! the US Copyright laws! Good thing you mentioned that, Now I feel so bad for "almost" doing something. :cross:
Its two pages, i doubt the US copyright enforcement folks would come down on it. More so to me its just something that would have been in bad taste since its an inexpensive publication and people who work there likely post here (as we've found out).

 

[BigB]

My reference was not to the government hunting you down, but more of Popular Mechanics coming after the Der Administrator- And hence Der Administrator or the Mods banning you for breaking the rules! Besides, the government doesn't enforce copyright laws- it is up to the copyright holder to bring a lawsuit. EDIT: To be more accurate, the government doesn't enforce this kind of copyright infringement... but will go after criminal piracy operations.

 

[knotquiteawake]

I know I know, just poking and prodding because some days at work really make me want to start a fight or something like that