Something You Wish You’d Started Doing Sooner (in Home Brewing)

[SwampFoxBrewer]

Hi all, new brewer here. I fully anticipate that there’s a similar thread or two with this kind of theme, so please feel free to point me towards any other resource you know would be helpful.

I’m the kind of person who dives in headfirst when he discovers a new interest or hobby, and home brewing happens to be the latest installment. I’m absolutely fascinated by the process, and I’ve already started devouring multiple home brewing books, forums, videos, etc.

While resources are great, I’ve always found that the best ways to learn are a.) doing it yourself and b.) asking others what they’ve done. That being said:

Looking back on when you first started home brewing, what is something you know now that you wish you knew (or did) then?

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you’re willing to share!

 

[Drewch]

That there's nothing magical about the 5-gallon batch size, and bigger isn't necessarily better.

My standard batches are 6.5 liters now.

 

[Bobby_M]

In no particular order.

Focus on details rather than increasing output volume
Brew more often
Take extensive notes
Focus 80% of your budget on the cold side such as oxygen sealed fermenters and good temp control
Pitch more yeast than your instinct by using pitch calculators

 

[wallyLOZ]

In no particular order.

Focus on details rather than increasing output volume
Brew more often
Take extensive notes
Focus 80% of your budget on the cold side such as oxygen sealed fermenters and good temp control
Pitch more yeast than your instinct by using pitch calculators

+1
I'll just add patience. Very tough at the beginning.

 

[Airborneguy]

Electric

 

[11thStBrewing]

The internet dry hopping techniques you see like dry hop during high krausen or tail end of fermentation just never worked for me with hoppy beers. Flushing with co2 and all that. Oxidation or weak hop character every time. Magnets suck to use for me as well.

I got one of those hop bongs and it’s no stress dry hopping. Works great. Dry hop anytime. They weren’t available when I started, but I wish they were.

I went straight to kegging with closed transfers. This is something I’m glad I did right away. After oxidizing IPAs dry hopping them(especially Hazy IPAs) in the fermenter it’s very hard to believe people aren’t oxidizing them by siphoning and bottling etc.

 

[Broken Crow]

Closed transfers and kegging! I expect many to chime in with temperature control and that'll be my next focus, but now I've got my CO2 kit, I'm better positioned to handle beer that's been carefully prepared.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Oxygen free transfers
Temp control
Water correction

These are the 3 things that took my beer to the next level. And joining HBT but you've already checked that box.

Cheers

 

[brewbama]

Closed transfer to keg: “Keep out the oxygen from the final package and keep the beer cold. And minimise the time from production to consumption. Worry about these things before anything else.” (Bamforth).

 

[Knightshade]

While I've learned...and continue to learn a lot from various resources (HBT mainly, AHA articles, YouTube, etc.), the in-person things that I've done seem to have filled in a lot of gaps.

Brewing w/other people
Tastings : Yeast comparison, off flavors, malts

I haven't gotten to the point where I've joined a local club, although I've thought about it multiple times. I'm still fortunate enough to have a LHBS that still does home brewing classes, so I've been tossing around the idea of attending one of those too. I'm sure I'd glean something out of it.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

I wish I had started homebrewing earlier in life.

 

[Upstate12866]

Definitely take careful notes, both of your recipes (including your intentions when you designed or implemented the recipe, and the result you perceived) and of basic info (a few classic recipes to refer to, some mathy figures, how a mash or fermentation works--anything you might want to refer to on the fly. It really does come in handy early on!)

Simple time also make noticeable difference. If you can wait a little longer before bottling or tasting, you will be rewarded. Beer can be ready in 2 weeks or less but if you can let something sit for a month or more, that will often balance things and just improve everything--clarity, taste, head retention, etc. You can basically do no harm by letting it sit. The trouble is that in the early days it can be hard to wait a month or more to see your results!

I also wish I didn't buy ALL the different yeasts to try, which just made things more unpredictable and strange. A pale ale is boring, so why not make it Belgian or Saison by changing the yeast? (....and then inevitably tweaking a few other ingredients until I have a new and untested recipe designed by a beginner!) That sounds more fun but makes learning harder, and makes awful mistakes more likely. Since my first few brew days took hours longer than I can do them now, making a weird/bad beer was a silly thing to do. I should have been a tad more disciplined and stuck more to classic, standard recipes that I know I will enjoy. The classic styles seemed so boring, but lo and behold, they are my favorites to brew now.

I think this has a lot to do with upfront gear costs, since your first beers will indeed cost an arm and a leg compared to what you can just buy at a store. So of course they should be special, right? This was bad thinking for me as a beginner. A better thought: I paid extra for the learning materials, and if it pans out, future beers will be cheap and tasty thanks to my time in "school" early on.

 

[SwampFoxBrewer]

This is really good stuff! Thank you all for taking time to share. Looking forward to when I’ll be able to share some insights of my own with new brewers in the future.

 

[Yesfan]

I wish I had started homebrewing earlier in life.

Amen! This all day long. I started brewing in 2012........about 8 years after getting my first Northern Brewer catalog (the infamous "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved My Homebrew" cover). I don't know why I waited so long, but truth be told, I wished I had started when I got out of high school in 1990.

There's no telling where I'd be today. Maybe my own brewery, YouTube channel, etc., who knows? I would bank I'd be happier had I started earlier (not that I'm unhappy btw).

 

[Jaybird]

1. Quit thinking I was going to start a brewery
2. Quit thinking every batch was some how this MAGICAL concoction that has never been done before.
3. Have more FUN with just playing with stuff in the brewery.
4. stop worrying about the numbers and just enjoy the process and the result.
5. Distilling



Cheers
Jay

 

[PCABrewing]

Mashing. For no good reason I was intimidated by the overall process. I brewed extract a long time before I gave it a shot.
Probably didn't help that I was more cost-conscious earlier due to having 4 kids lining up to go to college.
The process intimidation and the need to buy more gear was the obstacle.

The first time I mashed I was shocked at how much simpler it was than I thought it would be.

 

[grampamark]

Before you start improving your process you have to have a process to improve.

It’s possible to make beer that’s quite drinkable without temp control, water adjustments, or O2 elimination. Learn how to make basic, classic, beer styles and brew those styles on a basic, beginner’s system, until you can brew the same beer twice. When you get to that point you can start improving your process, and the quality of your beers, by adopting some more advanced methods. Before you can make great beer you have to learn the basics of just making beer.

 

[Cameronl]

Northern Brewer catalog (the infamous "How I Stopped Worrying and Loved My Homebrew" cover)

Now I'm intrigued...

 

[Beermeister32]

Fermentation temperature control.

 

[hottpeper13]

Lagers aren't the only beers to benefit from 2-4 weeks at 33* in my lagerator.

 

[bracconiere]

Looking back on when you first started home brewing, what is something you know now that you wish you knew (or did) then?

biggest thing i know now, take my time sparging...and not to use boiling hot sparge water..and grain needs to be sprouted to work in a mash!

 

[Wigglebutts Brewery]

skip extract; go electric “all in one“ system asap
keg
controlled temp fermentation
oxy free transfers
documentation/brew software
Homebrew club!

 

[tracer bullet]

Another "closed transfer" to my keg

Also - brewing award winning recipes, and tweaking if desired the next time to suit my preferences. No more piling up a bunch of grain and hops while I'm at the store that sound good but don't actually go together.

 

[jtgoral]

I would skip secondary fermentation sooner.

 

[Bobby_M]

Homebrew club!

Totally forgot about that one. That's actually the first thing you should do.

 

[byunique]

I’m a fairly new to this, only 7 brews but learned about oxidation and iPAs on brew 2 and how that was a thing. I love my IPAs so wanted to take that seriously!

That drove me to pressure fermentation/fermzilla all rounder, kegging and closed transfers. Then getting a kegerator for temp control for fermentation, cold crashing, and serving. I brew via BIAB all grain to keep things simple. I monitor fermentation and temp via an ispiindel. I also bottle which lead me to counterpressure bottle filling. Had no idea I would be on this path, but glad I made all these equipment choices as its a solid foundation so far. It's so much more than just some simple extract bucket kit, so somewhat steep equipment buying curve early on IMHO.

One thing I knew was to nail down the equipment sooner than later, and wanted to avoid a whole room of used equipment like I see in Craigslist ads.

Brewing via 2.5 gal batches allows me to brew more often and iterate quicker, which has been working out great. (I split the 5 gal kits)

 

[Yesfan]

Now I'm intrigued...

Here's a pic of the cover. It's "catalog 15". Back then, they would put a coupon code on the back of the catalog, under the mailing address. The date the coupon code expired was December 2004. I hadn't been married long when I ordered that catalog.




Here's a couple more pics. The "three hearted ale" would become their Dead Ringer kit. Check out the How To Brew book and Palmer on the cover. LOL! I think my copy is v3.

 

[ncbrewer]

He's no Slim Pickins.

 

[Cameronl]

Here's a pic of the cover. It's "catalog 15". Back then, they would put a coupon code on the back of the catalog, under the mailing address. The date the coupon code expired was December 2004. I hadn't been married long when I ordered that catalog.

View attachment 810024


Here's a couple more pics. The "three hearted ale" would become their Dead Ringer kit. Check out the How To Brew book and Palmer on the cover. LOL! I think my copy is v3.

View attachment 810026 View attachment 810025

Clever parody. Thanks for sharing.

 

[RyPA]

All grain brewing - I thought it was way more complicated than it really is. If I knew then what I know now, I would have never went extract for my first attempt at brewing. Not hating on extract, but all grain is a little more fun. It does take some time to learn the process/lingo but it gets easy over time.
Bulk grains/hops - I used to order individual recipe kits and only brew those. I then decided to pick up a 50lb sack of 2-row and a few adjuncts/specialty grains that I found I was using in the styles I like. I also decided to do the same with hops, and put them in the freezer. Having grain & hops on hand at all times, and a few packs of dry yeast in the fridge, I can now brew whenever I want. With a variety of different hops I can also experiment with various hop combos.
Oxygen free post-fermentation - Oxidation is what made me give up on brewing 5 years ago when all of my beers tasted and looked like garbage. I thought it may be partially/totally caused by using malt extracts so I decided to get back into brewing with all grain. My first batch tasted and looked awesome at transfer time but then in a short amount of time began to suffer from oxidation. This is when I learned I could make good beer and there was something happening after my transfer. I began researching and learned oxygen was likely the issue, and that was it. 5 years ago I did read about avoiding oxygen but I didn't take it seriously -- kind of like hearing people swear by having to transfer to a secondary.
Cleaning up during brew day - I used to do my entire cleanup after pitching. I now begin cleaning once I am done with an item. By the time I pitch, I have to only clean my kettle, wort chiller, spoon, a few buckets, and wipe down counters. There's 30-60 minutes of boil time, perfect way to put that time to good use.
Fermenting/serving from the same keg

 

[BeerAndTele]

Electric

Boogie woogie woogie

 

[BeerAndTele]

For me it was the switch from extract to small batch (2.5 gal) stovetop BIAB batches. It’s easy, allowed me to brew more often, and it increased the number to ways to tweak and refine recipes.

 

[GoodTruble]

These answers, while good advice generally, may not necessarily correlate to "good advice for a new brewer." I agree with everything said above, but my advice for a new brewer is to learn the process on cheap equipment first (like stove top and a fermonster). Once you can make acceptable (not bad) beer on cheap equipment, you can decide what equipment upgrades will suit you best. But I suggest learning the simple stuff first before adding more complicated layers (even if those layers would improve beer overall, if you don't have the basics down, it won't matter).

This allows you to (1) make sure you like brewing and will keep doing it long enough to justify spending more money and (2) figure out what process/schedule/etc fits your situation and what equipment upgrades would improve your brewing experience most.

Your beer will get better with time and experience any way. Skipping straight to more expensive and complicated stuff may not speed up that timeline much.

But in keeping with the assignment, I wish I had known more about planning brews further in advance. Planning ahead can make brew days go much quicker and smoother and help you keep the types and amounts of beer you want onhand. I now usually start planning beers/brew days 3-4 months in advance.

 

[Rich1234]

Lots of good advice in this thread. One thing I might add is to use a brewing app. I've got about 20 batches under my belt and I'm making some pretty good, consistent warm fermented pressure pseudo-lagers. Brewfather guides you through your brew day and you're not wondering afterword... Did I forget step x? Also, you can add your notes right along as you go.

Also, I'd say electric brewing has made my brew day easier as well. Something to look into if you've got the $$ to get into. You certainly can throw a lot of money at this hobby if you're not careful... lol

 

[TheCache]

I'm not sure I could say that there is any one thing I wish "I had started doing sooner", but rather as I concentrated on each step of the process I found something that made that activity more efficient or more enjoyable or both and then incorporated it into the process. But there were a few key moments along the way...

To get wort out of a kettle I read discovered auto-siphon, but then somewhere along the line I wanted a fermenter that was easier to work with so I got a fermonster and ordered it with a spigot - amazing! No more autosiphon to bottling bucket.

When I wanted clearer beer I tried cold crashing and learned that suck back was really a thing so I read more and discovered cold crash guardian which solved the issue and which also led eventually to dosing bottles and bottling direct from the fermenter after the crash with guardian still attached. All of which helped control oxidation and made bottling much simpler. Also learned about gelatin somewhere in this stage.

When I wanted to brew a lager I learned about temp control and incorporated a freezer, heat mat, and ink bird controller.

When I wanted to expand my grain options I tried one partial mash brew (had been extract/steeping before that). The partial mash was so simple I immediately went all grain BIAB stovetop with 2.5 gallon batches and it was much simpler than I thought, but I had a couple years of experience with extract under my belt (over hanging over as the case may be).


When I started all-grain I wanted to save recipes and discovered brewing software and all of the details that come with that - eventually leading to mash temp, water additions, ph all new things to learn to control and use when brewing.

The point is, these were all important steps and additions in my brewing development, but I learned them when I was ready for them. If I had learned them earlier they probably would not have made much sense because I just wasn't there yet.

The journey, one step after another, is the most enjoyable part of brewing for me, even on par with relaxing with a homebrew.

 

[Steverus07]

These answers, while good advice generally, may not necessarily correlate to "good advice for a new brewer." I agree with everything said above, but my advice for a new brewer is to learn the process on cheap equipment first (like stove top and a fermonster). Once you can make acceptable (not bad) beer on cheap equipment, you can decide what equipment upgrades will suit you best. But I suggest learning the simple stuff first before adding more complicated layers (even if those layers would improve beer overall, if you don't have the basics down, it won't matter).

This allows you to (1) make sure you like brewing and will keep doing it long enough to justify spending more money and (2) figure out what process/schedule/etc fits your situation and what equipment upgrades would improve your brewing experience most.

Your beer will get better with time and experience any way. Skipping straight to more expensive and complicated stuff may not speed up that timeline much.

But in keeping with the assignment, I wish I had known more about planning brews further in advance. Planning ahead can make brew days go much quicker and smoother and help you keep the types and amounts of beer you want onhand. I now usually start planning beers/brew days 3-4 months in advance.

I love/hate this advice. I’m in the “buy once/cry once” camp generally with hobbies, so I hated that all the new brewer kits are limited volume, extract focused. That’s what I’d gotten for Christmas and it frustrates me that nearly 100% of new brewers are oriented on this experience.

But now, further down the rabbit hole, I’m starting to appreciate the advice. I can’t count the number of things I’ve gotten that on process refinement or exposure I realized we’re not the best option for me or my preferred process.

So maybe I’ll offer the advice in a different way. You don’t know what you don’t know. You can make high quality beer without more expensive stuff. Take your time with “entry-level equipment (which is whatever equipment you happen to start with)” - it may limit you in some ways but you can navigate and mitigate these limits. And figuring out what that looks like can help make sure that if you need to buy stuff, that stuff won’t subsequently require replacement to match your desires either. Brew with other people who have different stuff before you replace any stuff and you’ll better understand.

I’ve made decent beer with extracts, all grain, carboys, kegs, stainless bucket and conical fermenters. Kits, clone recipes, and my own inventions. With electric and propane. And I’m not that great a brewer - it’s just easy to make decent beer whatever your equipment if you clean well and follow the process.

 

[Jaybird]

Homebrew club!

AB_SO-FRICKING-LUTLY! I actually started the Shasta Society of Brewers (SSOB's) our local homebrew club about a year before I started my company that is now Nor Cal Brewing Solutions. Your LHBC will be invaluable to a new brewer.

Cheers
Jay

 

[DuncB]

Wish I'd dared to build the gear from Dave Lines books and get all grain brewing last century. Instead gave up malt extract brewing for 26 years, before jumping into all grain again.
What a lot of joy missed there.

 

[TheCache]

Well, have to update my statement from above. I've been doing stove top BIAB for a few years using a paint strainer bag and it was fun, but it started to tear so last week I received a bag from @wilserbrewer . OMG! I got pretty good at working with the square corners on the old bag to avoid the inevitable spill over, but using a bag with a rounded bottom is a game changer.

Had I started with a Wilser bag, I might not have a permanent mark on my stove top (gas stove, but metal catch pan) when I missed some wort spillover and cooked it onto the stove top for 60 minutes :-(

So I stand corrected, there is something I wish I had thought to do earlier, and my wife probable does too, although she is very nice about it as she quietly keeps attempting to clean off the baked on wort.

 

[TheMadKing]

Well, have to update my statement from above. I've been doing stove top BIAB for a few years using a paint strainer bag and it was fun, but it started to tear so last week I received a bag from @wilserbrewer . OMG! I got pretty good at working with the square corners on the old bag to avoid the inevitable spill over, but using a bag with a rounded bottom is a game changer.

Had I started with a Wilser bag, I might not have a permanent mark on my stove top (gas stove, but metal catch pan) when I missed some wort spillover and cooked it onto the stove top for 60 minutes :-(

So I stand corrected, there is something I wish I had thought to do earlier, and my wife probable does too, although she is very nice about it as she quietly keeps attempting to clean off the baked on wort.

A thick PBW solution left on overnight will dissolve that wort