This place gives me brewers anxiety...

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Muddler

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Hey gang,

I dusted off my old account but I’m new to the forum and to brewing. Years ago I tried my hand at a few small batches which turned out OK, and I just dusted off my equipment from the garage during quarantine. I picked up a 5 gallon Kölsch-style Pineapple Beer Kit from my local brewing supply store here in Portland, OR, to get back at it. Jumped right into the deep end, eh...

But man - I have to say - there’s so much beer knowledge on this forum I’m not really sure it’s healthy for me. o_O

I was feeling pretty good about my first six days of fermenting until I wandered into this joint. It’s easy to fall into some rabbit holes on this site. Now I’m second guessing every single step I’ve taken so far. Did I steep long enough, did I ferment too warm, was my aeration OK, would the kids wrestling each other in the hallway stress out my yeast...

So far this first batch looks and smells fine - but y’all got me stressed out. We’ll see what happens in a few weeks I guess!

I’ve got a 5 gallon single-hop IPA to cook up this weekend for round 2. And I’ve committed to read absolutely nothing except for the instructions in my recipe kit. Just to keep myself sane!

I’ll share my results and updates shortly...
 
No wrong answers. Just choose.

1589575822516.png
 
Muddler said:
...But man - I have to say - there’s so much beer knowledge on this forum I’m not really sure it’s healthy for me. o_O

I was feeling pretty good about my first six days of fermenting until I wandered into this joint. It’s easy to fall into some rabbit holes on this site. Now I’m second guessing every single step I’ve taken so far. Did I steep long enough, did I ferment too warm, was my aeration OK, would the kids wrestling each other in the hallway stress out my yeast...
Click to expand...

I hear ya brother, right there with ya.
 
"Rabbit Hole" is right.
Just minimal guidance is needed at first so that you get beer and, honestly, it's kind of hard not to get drinkable beer.
+1 to ignoring almost everything at first.
 
You gots to remember just one thing.
The absolute worst that can happen is you make a not as good of a batch of beer as you will be able to later.
Nobody dies, no governments get overthrowed and you can’t be blamed for the dinosaurs getting extinct! (They did that all by themselves!)
Relax, and have a homebrew! And if yours didn’t turn out, get to know somebody who DO make good beer and have one of thiers!
 
There's a lot of things you can worry about -
but my advice is to worry about one thing, one batch at a time.
At this point there's not much you can do about the batch in process - as long as you watch your bottling.
The most important things to keep in mind when brewing are sanitation, yeast health / happiness, sanitation, temperature control - brewing and fermenting, sanitation and sanitation.
Anything else is bonus.
 
Last edited:
Muddler said:
Hey gang,

I dusted off my old account but I’m new to the forum and to brewing. Years ago I tried my hand at a few small batches which turned out OK, and I just dusted off my equipment from the garage during quarantine. I picked up a 5 gallon Kölsch-style Pineapple Beer Kit from my local brewing supply store here in Portland, OR, to get back at it. Jumped right into the deep end, eh...

But man - I have to say - there’s so much beer knowledge on this forum I’m not really sure it’s healthy for me. o_O

I was feeling pretty good about my first six days of fermenting until I wandered into this joint. It’s easy to fall into some rabbit holes on this site. Now I’m second guessing every single step I’ve taken so far. Did I steep long enough, did I ferment too warm, was my aeration OK, would the kids wrestling each other in the hallway stress out my yeast...

So far this first batch looks and smells fine - but y’all got me stressed out. We’ll see what happens in a few weeks I guess!

I’ve got a 5 gallon single-hop IPA to cook up this weekend for round 2. And I’ve committed to read absolutely nothing except for the instructions in my recipe kit. Just to keep myself sane!

I’ll share my results and updates shortly...
Click to expand...
The brew shops in Portland are great and can also be a good resource for questions etc.
if you went to the one that starts with a FH, you’re in good hands. I’ve never gotten bad advice there. The other good one starts with- Homebrew Exchange.
 
It did the same thing to me when I was just starting as well. I figured I was completely doomed since I was flying by the seat of my pants with water chemistry, ph, fermentation control, yeast starters and not kegging. A year and a half later, I still fly by the seat of my pants for the most part, but I bought a few inkbirds and heat mats. The rabbit hole is as deep as you want it to be, but there are several tunnels that all lead to beer at the end.
 
In 1998, I had the amazing opportunity to host the owners of La Chouffe for two weeks. I brewed for a small brewery in Montana and we did a co-branded beer with La Chouffe. I remember grilling Chris and Pierre over and over with process questions. One day over a beer Pierre said to me, you will never become a Brewmaster until you write your own poetry. It wasn't until many years later that I realized he was totally right. You must make the entire brewing process your own experience. Use your gut or (the force) but absorb the knowledge and take in what speaks to you. There are literally no rules if you are the one who is prepared to drink your creation.
 
I'm helping a buddy learn home brewing and other than sanitation, the variable aspects of it have been helping his OCD.

Everything, especially the Little Yeasties, is going to do what it's going to do; at the end of the journey, there is beer.

Take a lot of notes, so the next time, the beer is better.

Cheers!
 
It's true that there is a vast amount of knowledge about brewing here in this forum. You got specialized techniques, electric brewing with complicated (for me anyway) wiring schematics, kegging, water chemistry, low oxygen brewing, etc, etc.

Or you can soak some grains in water, boil some hops and pitch some yeast and call it a day. Stick with what is comfortable. Kits are a great way to start and get your process down. Once you're comfortable with that, you can expand to learn other things. That's one thing I love about this hobby. As long as you follow some guidelines and plan ahead a little bit, making beer is almost fool proof. But there is so much that I haven't done that the hobby never gets boring.
 
Best advice is to not listen to anyone here. Only crazy people do that. LOL! Just listen to the voices in your head! It works for me.

What? Did you say something?

I gotta go. I'd like to stay and chat, but I'm kinda thirsty and a little cranky.

No! No dunkel! I said 'IPA'!, I want the IPA this time! We'll drink the dunkel tomorrow.....

I'm talking out loud again aren't I?
 
I've only been brewing for a short while but the thing I love about these forums is that if you read long enough you can find support for the very thing you were intending to do in the first place and explanations for why it is just one among many options.... oh yeah, and during the trip down the rabbit hole you can get some great ideas to try on the next batch.

I remember somebody famous once saying something about relaxing and having a home brew. Especially good advice when you are reading all the good ideas on this forum. :bigmug:

Cheers
 

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