The questions that get beaten to death...

[homebrewdad]

I'm thinking about putting together a homebrewing FAQ on my own website to give another resource for some of those questions that get posted multiple times a week.

Things like:

My airlock isn't bubbling as much/at all. What's wrong?

I have funny white dots/drown foam in my fermenter.

My beer stinks (literally)! Is it ruined?

What should I do if there is krausen in my airlock?

How much yeast should I pitch?

Why aren't my beer bottles showing any carbonation after a week?


Feel free to add your own to this list!

 

[Darwin18]

Should I make a starter?

Why does my beer taste bad? (Input temperature control/yeast pitching answer here)

 

[BBL_Brewer]

An unsanitary incident occured (insert mishap here) is my beer ruined?

 

[djfriesen]

My OG reading is not what the kit calls for.

 

[ByramMike]

A complementary idea would be to write up something about how to search for answers to these questions... I've had all the questions you have on that list, and answered them by searching for answers this an other forums... not to mention in the Papazian and Palmer books!

My contributions...
- what's the difference between dry yeast and liquid yeast?
- when should I use a starter?
- how can I keep my fermentation temps stable?
- what's the best temp for fermentation?

 

[Leggoma]

Three questions I asked during my first brewing experience were:

When is my beer ready to bottle?
Why is my OG high/low?
Is it ok to use tap water?

 

[bigbeergeek]

Why are all my FG readings so high ever since I got this fancy new refractometer?

 

[Sippin37]

Is a secondary really necessary? Still very debated, but lots of people only use secondaries now for dry hopping, bulk aging, or the addition of fruits/oak chips, etc.

 

[IrregularPulse]

There is a homebrewing wiki from this site.

 

[Dan]

Theres a great sticky in the Beginner Brewers section called:

"FAQ - please read BEFORE asking a question Rate Post:" with a lot of great information, maybe if this thread takes off it could be added.

Edit: IrregularPulse beat me to it

 

[homebrewdad]

Thanks for the input, folks. Do note that I'm not trying to replace any info available here - just provide some useful info in another location. I link back to homebrewtalk on every single page of my own site.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Sometimes newbies just want someone to talk to.

 

[homebrewdad]

Sometimes newbies just want someone to talk to.

Agreed. I'd never dream to take that away - again, this is intended to be just another little resource.

 

[GASoline71]

A lot of new cats are also new to forums and "forum etiquette". So a lot of newbs don't read the "stickies". I know when I first found forums... I didn't know squat about reading anything before I posted. I wanted MY question answered because it felt more personal to ME then being referred to a gajillion other posts..

A lot of forums don't have a "newb" section like HBT does. I think it's a cool resource, and have requested a section like it on some other forums I belong to.

Gary

 

[tre9er]

Sometimes newbies just want someone to talk to.

We've all been crouched in the corner of a wet, malty kitchen, riddled with worry and singing "All By Myselllllffff" at the top of our lungs.

 

[homebrewdad]

We've all been crouched in the corner of a wet, malty kitchen, riddled with worry and singing "All By Myselllllffff" at the top of our lungs.

Absolutely. When faced with my first explosive fermentation, did I search for threads on it? Heck, no - I asked about it here (and was swiftly helped by the awesome membership).

That being said, I want to do more than blog on my site; I want to present some useful resources. I think that an FAQ could be useful to some.

 

[Golddiggie]

We've all been crouched in the corner of a wet, malty kitchen, riddled with worry and singing "All By Myselllllffff" at the top of our lungs.

Speak for yourself there Hoss.

"Which [insert equipment item type here] should I get?"
"What size [insert equipment item type here] should I get?"
"Do I really need temperature control to lager?"