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Orfy

Orfy

For the love of beer!
HBT Supporter
Joined
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Cheshire, England
I'm not sure if it's the law of diminishing returns but I really struggle to listen to the drivel. It's a good few years since I last listen to it and I was absorbing the information.
I've just tried listening again and couldn't get past the crap and burping. I gave up.

Can any one recommend a different podcast that I might be able to enjoy and possibly learn from?
 
TBN is the web/brewing equivalent to the morning drive time radio shows here in the US. I would suffer from SERIOUS road rage if that was all I could listen to... and the web has merely empowered more people to pursue their dreams of being heard.

I reckon some people find it very relaxing. I am not one of them I guess! I do like both of the shows revvy suggested. If only NPR had a dedicated brewing show... The Splendid Mug. We need to get Kaiser on that. Kaiser and Revvy... German accent and radio voice... Orfy, we need an audio sample... you could be the third man!
 
I second (or fourth?) basic brewing. It's about 50 minutes of good information. I have some older ones I still listen to- hops substitutions from 2007, I believe, is one of my favorites. It's friendly, but not chatter-y. James Spencer is a good interviewer, and I've enjoyed Kaiser's appearances.

I usually listen while walking the dog- so about an hour works great!
 
chefmike said:
If only NPR had a dedicated brewing show... The Splendid Mug. We need to get Kaiser on that. Kaiser and Revvy... German accent and radio voice... Orfy, we need an audio sample... you could be the third man!
Click to expand...

This would make the world a better place by far.

I don't know anything about the other podcasts people were mentioning, though...
 
You know, I was *mildly* and pleasantly surprised at the last "Can You Brew It?" episode I listened to. It was the show about cloning Roxy Rolles, it's one of my favorite beers and I wanted to get some insight into what was in it (and I've been thinking about making something like that). There was still SOME of the juvenile humor, but it wasn't the total time waste that so many of the Jamil Show episodes became - there was actually a lot of good information, a good interview with Magic Hat's brewmaster, not as much of the bull****.

So, I might start listening again.
 
I dunno. I think The Jamil Show (both old and new) and Brew Strong are pretty darn good shows. There really isn't that much screwing around in those. James Spencer's Basic Brewing is OK, but it's a little NPR-like. I couldn't listen in the afternoon following a big lunch unless I really wanted a nap.

I tend to think that most of the criticism of the BN is aimed at The Sunday Session, which is indeed one hour of brewing info spread over a four hour show.
 
StunnedMonkey said:
I dunno. I think The Jamil Show (both old and new) and Brew Strong are pretty darn good shows. There really isn't that much screwing around in those. James Spencer's Basic Brewing is OK, but it's a little NPR-like. I couldn't listen in the afternoon following a big lunch unless I really wanted a nap.
Click to expand...

You must have gotten lucky - a lot of the older Jamil Shows (especially when they were on the second or third show of the night) were chock-full of absolute bull****. Good information, but it took them literally twenty minutes to just start talking about the beer. It's fine to have fun, but many of those episodes were so over-the-top as to be useless.

But as I mentioned, the Can-You-Brew-It episode I heard recently wasn't too bad.
 
Coming from a n0ob, I enjoy the Jamil show. The earlier ones on the different styles are really info packed and I've really learned alot about how different ingredients and processes really after the end result.
 
I like basic brewing radio a lot. In fact, I am listening to it as I talk.

The sound effects and blabbing of some of the other ones just annoy me. I like to hear about beer, and don't need the crap.
 
I listen to and like both The Jamil Show and Brew Strong. Sure, a lot of the humor is sophomoric, but I don't really mind that. I get a few chuckles out of it from time to time, and I really have learned a lot.
 
Orfy said:
I'm not sure if it's the law of diminishing returns but I really struggle to listen to the drivel. It's a good few years since I last listen to it and I was absorbing the information.
I've just tried listening again and couldn't get past the crap and burping. I gave up.

Can any one recommend a different podcast that I might be able to enjoy and possibly learn from?
Click to expand...

I completely agree. It's not as technical but I listen to Basic Brewing Radio...
 
I like Basic Brewing. It kinda grew on me. At first, it seemed a bit like SNL's "Schweaty Ball" sketch, but the guests are usually top notch, and the information presented is usually solid. James Spencer reminds me of an amateur Paul Harvey with a nervous/awkward laugh, but that's easy to get past. I also like the lack of stupid self-produced commercial content from which the other podcasts seem to suffer. It's like they want to be like "real" radio, so they inject dumb commercials with bad jingles and tag lines. I'm not trying to feed the HBT vs TBN fire, but I do prefer Basic Brewing over TBN.
 
I like the Brewing Network guys more after meeting them. Justin in particular was really cool in person and his persona on the show makes a lot more sense and is less grating after knowing him a bit better.
 
Yuri_Rage said:
I also like the lack of stupid self-produced commercial content from which the other podcasts seem to suffer. It's like they want to be like "real" radio, so they inject dumb commercials with bad jingles and tag lines. I'm not trying to feed the HBT vs TBN fire, but I do prefer Basic Brewing over TBN.
Click to expand...

Yeah that "playing radio" and playing at it badly, along with taking stupid music breaks are the crap that annoy me even more that the sophomoric humor that gets me. As someone that has worked in radio, when I'm wanting brewing info....that's all I really want. I just want the information NOT useless filler from some wannabe radio folks. That's why I prefer Basic Brewing...No interruptions, and just straight brewing info for 45-50 minutes.

But of course my background is in Public radio (though I have produced and co-hosted some commercial radio programs) I tend to lean more towards no commercial interruptions.
 
Revvy said:
Yeah that "playing radio" and playing at it badly, along with taking stupid music breaks are the crap that annoy me even more that the sophomoric humor that gets me. As someone that has worked in radio, when I'm wanting brewing info....that's all I really want. I just want the information NOT useless filler from some wannabe radio folks.
Click to expand...

They rarely take music breaks now. The breaks are what their sponsors pay for - you know, like how "real" radio exists. Since you worked in radio, you should understand this. Justin isn't some "wannabe radio folk" - running TBN is his full time job, so he relies on advertising (even coming from people who also support HBT *coughcough BMW coughcough*) to support himself and his company. Plus, unless listening live, I've never seen a media player that doesn't have a FF button.

I completely understand that some people don't like the banter, but just explaining the situation.
 
+1 on basic brewing. I've never actually listened to the Jamil Show, but I did see him speak at a homebrew festival and he was b o r i n g! He was going on about wits and he sounded like he was reading a text book. Maybe he was having an off day, or hungover, but I didn't feel like looking for his podcast after that... :D
 
I liked the old Jamil Shows, but with Brew Strong and Can You Brew It, these just don't do it for me anymore. Maybe I've just grown up, or grown out of it. Way too much fluff, and, no offense to John Palmer, who I know is a very smart man indeed and I respect him as a pioneer, but I find his segments terribly boring -- might just be his monotone voice, which isn't well suited to radio/podcasts. Now I do have to admit, the BN shows do have several high points, and can be entertaining at times. But there are far too many lulls and I don't want to waste my time sifting through all the garbage anymore.

Lately I've been listening to Basic Brewing, a LOT. He's literally got hundreds of episodes to choose from, and each is a bit different. James' personality is pretty dry, but he is radio-friendly, and unlike Palmer, not monotonous, and the topics are much more informative, I feel, than any of the BN junk these days.

I've also recently downloaded several from BrewCrazy, which is Johnny Max's show. Haven't listened to them yet, but I hear he's got at least a small following, so I want to give him a shot.

I've been meaning to listen to the Aussie show, CraftBrewer, haven't gotten around to that one yet either. Comes highly recommended from my buddy who is almost as technical as I am.

Lots of shows to choose from. Don't just limit yourself to the BN, or you're missing out on a lot of good information, AT LEAST from Basic Brewing, and from what I hear, the Aussie show as well.
 
olllllo said:
I like the musical breaks.
Click to expand...

I *love* Northern Brewer's ads. My wife, who's very much a D&D nerd and *not* into brewing, had me carve out one of their "10th Level Beer Nerd" ads to post on her blog.

I don't think they've had pure music breaks for... oh, probably two or three years, at least on the podcasts that I listen to. I've never bothered with the Sunday Show. I know that JZ's been kind of a ****** at times, but I like that they exist and I hope that they get enough advertising money coming in to keep TBN viable. It's a hellua good resource.
 
I prefer basic brewing. They give good info in a more user friendly manner. TBN seems to have become more about ego and consolidating brew god positions than about brewing.

Having said that, if I need to know something really badly, I will research both.
 
I actually have most of the Basic Brewing, all the Brew Strong and The Jamil Show on my mp3 player and listen to them back and forth to work. Each show serves a purpose for me .... Brew Strong helped me get my crap together and understand why I was making so-so beer. Now I just hit shuffle and listen to Basic Brewing and The Jamil show. I am exploring the different styles, learning tricks and bettering my knowledge of ingredients with the Jamil show while listening to topics and interviews through Basic Brewing that Brew Strong probably will never get to. I really enjoy both.
 
Revvy said:
But of course my background is in Public radio (though I have produced and co-hosted some commercial radio programs) I tend to lean more towards no commercial interruptions.
Click to expand...

One of my clients is NPR... they are great folks... great organization... BUT... they pipe the radio over the sound system into the delivery office during the day (ya know to catch the switch failures) and man... it puts me to sleep. WAY to sleep :)
 
I like TBN. I'll tend to listen to Sunday Session based on the topic and do some fast forwarding. I will listen to CYBI or Brew Strong based on the topic. I don't mind the format of The Sunday Session, I just don't have time to listen to a 5 hour radio show of any quality on any topic.

Their associated home brewing club did finish 5th for club of the year last year, and it is interesting that an online club was able to do so well. None of the "gods" brew for the club either, they all brew for local clubs.
 
When I get in my marathon training mode again (starting today, right?), I'll listen to a ton of TBN podcasts over and over again because you can't retain the info as well as you might think when you're running, so I don't have a problem with the signal to noise ratio.
 
JVD_X said:
One of my clients is NPR... they are great folks... great organization... BUT... they pipe the radio over the sound system into the delivery office during the day (ya know to catch the switch failures) and man... it puts me to sleep. WAY to sleep :)
Click to expand...

Hey, we're all different, but NPR puts you to sleep? Hmm. I am the opposite. I love NPR. They're a little over the top liberal in many cases, but their news reporting it spot on in other areas. NPR preaches mostly to the 'educated' crowd, and it seems like cable news, local news, and newspapers are all closer to a 6th grade level.

I feel this is a lots of the difference with The Brewing Network versus Basic Brewing. TBN seems to shoot for a more 'entertainment' aspect, whereas basic brewing is about 90% brewing.
 
cford1 said:
They're a little over the top liberal in many cases, but their news reporting it spot on in other areas.
Click to expand...

You know the funny thing about this is, NPR and it's affiliates have (or did when I worked there) strived to be balanced in their coverage, within the same story they would always have a dissenting voice. And we would get complaint letters on BOTH sides, liberals accusing us of being conservative, and conservatives accusing us of Liberal bias....I've come to realize that people just hear what they want to hear. If they are looking for ANY bias, they can find it.

It was fun to read the same complaints on each side...on the same story. The news department knew they did good that way.
 
cford1 said:
They're a little over the top liberal in many cases, but their news reporting it spot on in other areas. NPR preaches mostly to the 'educated' crowd, and it seems like cable news, local news, and newspapers are all closer to a 6th grade level.
Click to expand...

It's not just the talk radio - it's the warmth and hum from the servers.

Yes - it IS liberal. I was forced to listen to an episode one time where the commentator was ranting about how white people should all feel guilty about slavery and how we are such bad people if we were "over it". Whatever.
 
Revvy said:
....I've come to realize that people just hear what they want to hear. If they are looking for ANY bias, they can find it.
Click to expand...

JVD_X said:
Yes - it IS liberal. I was forced to listen to an episode one time where the commentator was ranting about how white people should all feel guilty about slavery and how we are such bad people if we were "over it". Whatever.
Click to expand...

What a perfect example of proving you point Revvy! :D


Back on topic...
chefmike said:
If only NPR had a dedicated brewing show... The Splendid Mug. We need to get Kaiser on that. Kaiser and Revvy... German accent and radio voice... Orfy, we need an audio sample... you could be the third man!
Click to expand...

Speaking of this, I've been watching a bunch of cooking shows on PBS on Saturdays. Eric Ripert, Hubert Keller, etc. and was thinking how cool it would be if there was a brewing show in the same vein. Eric Ripert went to a sparkling wine vineyard last week that made me think about it. Good episode.

I like Basic Brewing, though I've only watched their videos. I haven't listened to their radio shows yet. The thing that annoyed me about the Can you brew it shows is it seems like their just yapping about stupid stuff for a good 20 minutes before they even start on the topic. I have learned a couple things from them though.
 
I will say that I love brewstrong. I have been brewing for a little over a year and have gleened a great amount of information from the shows on water and yeast. Basic brewing radio really does not do it for me even though I have tried a number of times. Oh also fast forward is a neccesity for Brewstrong the commercials will kill you. I will listen while I run and cannot fast forward through the breaks and they are so loud it hurts.
 
Revvy said:
Yeah that "playing radio" and playing at it badly, along with taking stupid music breaks are the crap that annoy me even more that the sophomoric humor that gets me. As someone that has worked in radio, when I'm wanting brewing info....that's all I really want. I just want the information NOT useless filler from some wannabe radio folks. That's why I prefer Basic Brewing...No interruptions, and just straight brewing info for 45-50 minutes.

But of course my background is in Public radio (though I have produced and co-hosted some commercial radio programs) I tend to lean more towards no commercial interruptions.
Click to expand...


You'll find me with the same feelings. TBN is great when they stay on topic.
The last Sunday Session with Mufasa from BJ's being a great example. Off topic, it was grating to listen to.

I think there is a niche for a new 'on topic' brewing program.
There would need to be some levity and humor... but non-boobie and fart jokes.

Maybe it's time to power up the gear and produce a pilot episode.
I've got a week of vacation coming... hmmm.
 
I really like all the podcasts mentioned here.

BBR & BBV, I like the relaxed banter and gentle humour in it. Have I learnt anything useful from it? I don't think so to be honest. But I've still listened to every episode and stick them on in the car. It's well produced and concise.

Sunday Session, I used to hate this but I've grown to like it somewhat. I don't automatically download it but if it's a subject i'm interested in, i'll listen to it in entirety. Often when they have pro-brewers on, theres some very useful nuggets of information in it. I've probably learnt a good few things from the show.

Jamil Show, I've definately picked up a thing or two and i've brewed quite a lot of the recipes. He knows his stuff. It does get repetitive but what do you expect after what seems like over a hundred shows. It's usually pretty concise too.

Brew Strong, I don't think this really lived up to its billing. Most episodes just give a broad overview of the subject and some anecdotal experience. The only episodes where it's really scratched beneath the surface is the episodes where Charlie Bamforth has been on. That guy really knows his stuff.
 

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