Things I have learned

[burntchef]

Well I am coming up on 1 year of home brewing. I am the guy that went all grain right from the starting gate. I try and learn more every brew, and 100+ gallons on I am still learning. Thought I would share some insights from my young perspective.
1. Mill your own grain even if you have to hand crank.
2. Make a starter even if you shake it by hand when in the kitchen.
3. Buy a good thermometer and hydrometer
4. Making a raging Irish Red, with a Raging Irish Flu is problematic.
5. Relax, have another beer.

Anyone else want to add to the list?
Eric

 

[seatazzz]

6. Trust your instincts and your palate. Your BFF may not like your beer, but if you do, don't get discouraged. Who are you brewing for, if not yourself?
7. Keep on learning even if you're currently making great beer.
8. Don't brew (or post on HBT) drunk (except for that one thread). Hilarity may ensue but also stupid avoidable accidents. Wait until chilling is done, then it's on like Donkey Kong.

 

[mongoose33]

Recipes are fine, but process, baby, process.

 

[RM-MN]

Adding a refractometer to your equipment list lets you see how good or poorly your mash conversion went in time to adjust for a poor conversion by extending the mash or compensating by adding DME.

Dry yeast can be kept on hand for those times when a brewing opportunity arises and the LHBS is closed. Refrigerated it will keep for a year or more if unopened. There are several varieties available now. No starter required so you can decide to brew at 6AM and brew that day.

With a conventional mash tun, conditioning the grain by wetting it slightly will preserve the grain husks better so you can mill a bit finer. Since the milling of the grain is the biggest factor in mash effeciency, this makes it a worthwhile option that only takes a few minutes. This conditioning is not needed for BIAB as the bag is the filter and can accommodate a very fine crush.

 

[Punjom]

Brewing is 80% cleaning, 15% sanitation and 5% making sugar water. (Others have said something similar)

Three biggest game changers for me was 1) chill plate post boil, 2) fermentation temp control and 3) spray bottle for sanitizer.

You do not need fancy expensive equipment to brew award winning beer. I have fancy equipment today (after 20 years of brewing) and the beer may be fractionally better. However, I do like the way it looks and it is much easier to clean and sanitize.

It’s hard to find good friends who enjoy the “labor of love” brewing process and will come over to help on brew day for 8-9 hours. When you have a friend like this, charrish them and add their name(s) as co-brewer during competitions. They will appreciate it and continue to help. Mentor them so they can be the brewer of their own vessels one day.

Also, there is nothing wrong with putting a new batch of beer on top of a freshly racked yeast cake. I normally do this for higher gravity beers. (Not dry yeast)

 

[JohnSand]

Don't be too quick to give up on a beer that isn't right. Time often improves them, and you can always dump it later if necessary.

 

[Soulshine2]

Dry yeast can be kept on hand for those times when a brewing opportunity arises and the LHBS is closed. Refrigerated it will keep for a year or more if unopened.

Yeah , like I found 9 yrs ...still viable. I wouldnt recommend it on purpose. lets just say I had an emergency that I dont plan on allowing to repeat again.

 

[Soulshine2]

Don't be too quick to give up on a beer that isn't right. Time often improves them, and you can always dump it later if necessary.

From time to time my wife and I do beer runs that include stuff we've never had but "look good " on the shelf. Turns out they arent what we would drink again. Instead of giving them away or dumping them, I save them for marinating meat. I have yet to marinate with a beer we found not to our quaffing preference and give the meat any kind of off taste.

 

[Kharnynb]

- recipies are useful guidelines, not written in stone.

-you're better of spending your money on a kettle and a decent fermentation temperature control than on fancy gadgets.

-never brew in a hurry, it can wait until another day.

 

[couchsending]

Buy a pH meter. Learn how to use and take care of it.

Learn about water.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

- Create a checklist of essentials that make a brewing session successful (I guess it's a habit from my old USAF days - always a checklist handy). This will help to prevent scrounging around or having to leave your brewing area looking for misplaced tools, equipment, and ingredients.

- Plan ahead and split up the tasks that can be done prior to brew day.

- Build a permanent station to store your equipment and use during brew day.

- Make temperature control a priority.

- Invite someone to come to your brewsession that has/hasn't brewed before. In my case over the years I designed my brewing system to accommodate up to two other people so that everyone leaves with a batch of beer (whether they use one of my extra fermenters/kegs or not). I get them to pay for their share of the ingredients/supplies (usually making it less expensive per batch when bought in bulk) & help cleanup, making it a little easier and less expensive for myself. Usually after the first batch or two they at least buy a fermenter and keg because they are hooked & I have a new friend.

 

[kh54s10]

Buy a pH meter. Learn how to use and take care of it.

Learn about water.

After 7 3/4 years and dozens of great beers and a 102 good beers and 2 failed experiments, I might try this in the near future. To make my very good beers even better.

IMO, this is too often quoted as a necessary step. If you are experiencing problems then yes, definitely, go that route. But otherwise I would have it pretty far down on the list of importance.

 

[couchsending]

After 7 3/4 years and dozens of great beers and a 102 good beers and 2 failed experiments, I might try this in the near future. To make my very good beers even better.

IMO, this is too often quoted as a necessary step. If you are experiencing problems then yes, definitely, go that route. But otherwise I would have it pretty far down on the list of importance.

I think it all depends on your expectations and what you’re trying to accomplish.

Everyone fixates on mash pH but there are so many more times that pH should be measured (and potentially adjusted) throughout the process. Mash ph is actually a little ways down the list in important pH measurements throughout the hotside process in my mind.

Water profiles are important but I think people put maybe too much weight into them. However, understanding water and how to use it correctly to make sure your beer feels/tastes/smells exactly as you want is rather important.

 

[Kent88]

Making your own recipes for the sake of making your own recipes (and without an understanding of what ingredients bring to the brew) is silly. There are dozens of books out there like Joy of Homebrewing, The Homebrewers Companion, Brewing Classic Styles, The Mashmaker, etc, etc. Plenty of recipes to keep a brewer busy for at least a few months. After that, there are lots of online recipe databases. Not that I'm trying to stifle creativity.

Three gallon batches are a good amount for someone who doesn't have a large network of people to share beer with, but still makes something he likes and will probably end up sharing a 6-pack here and there. One gallon batches are fine, too, but once you get to a point where you're sharing it just doesn't leave enough for the brewer.

 

[mongoose33]

Water profiles are important but I think people put maybe too much weight into them. However, understanding water and how to use it correctly to make sure your beer feels/tastes/smells exactly as you want is rather important.

What I think happens is some people luck out and happen to have good water for the style they're brewing, and they conclude water doesn't matter much.

Others (like me) have water that's very hard, and really isn't very good for anything other than stouts. If you're not brewing a stout, then it matters what the water is.

The things that I believe have had the greatest impact on my own beer:

1. Fermentation temperature control
2. Water/Mash pH (and understanding how to adjust water based on the recipe)
3. Mash temp control/maintenance
4. Low oxygen/no oxygen transfers
5. Starters (I don't decant, I oxygenate the starter wort, I dump the whole thing in).

 

[mongoose33]

Making your own recipes for the sake of making your own recipes (and without an understanding of what ingredients bring to the brew) is silly. There are dozens of books out there like Joy of Homebrewing, The Homebrewers Companion, Brewing Classic Styles, The Mashmaker, etc, etc. Plenty of recipes to keep a brewer busy for at least a few months. After that, there are lots of online recipe databases. Not that I'm trying to stifle creativity.

I think people should enjoy the hobby however they want to enjoy it.

Two of my best beers are original recipes that emerged after reading some things. One of them is an original in the truest sense of the word. I thought hard about what I wanted in a dark lager, and put some things together. Only later did I discover there is actually a style for that (Schwarzbier).

I would never have discovered either my Funky Rye or my Darth Lager had I decided I only should brew already-established recipes.

One recipe I use for a California Common I got from @catdaddy66 and it's pretty close to what he gave me. So I'm not averse to using others' recipes.

More power to people like you who would only want to brew tried-and-true recipes. Your choice, your beer. And more power to people who want to try new things or variants. Their choice, their beer.

 

[bleme]

Join a brew club. HBT is a great resource, but nothing can replace having a network of experts who can actually taste your beer.
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/community/clubs/find-a-homebrew-club/

 

[bleme]

Making your own recipes for the sake of making your own recipes (and without an understanding of what ingredients bring to the brew) is silly.

I understand the idea behind this, but I think there are more opportunities to learn than this provides. For instance, my first kit was a cream ale. When it was done, I bottled half of it then added a vanilla bourbon extract to the other half. My second kit was a wheat beer that I racked half onto blueberries. I did a recipe once, then pulled off a gallon and pitched the dregs from a commercial brett beer. There are thousands of ways to make small changes so the brewer learns more from the process.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I think people should enjoy the hobby however they want to enjoy it.

Agreed.

FWIW, I find Radical Brewing and Mastering Homebrew to be thought provoking books on understanding and creating recipes.

I often sense that phrases like "... is silly ..." or "... you are at the mercy of ..." don't seem to advance the discussion in a positive way. But I could be wrong.