What level are you?

[jgln]

Quality, consistency, and variety of the beer. That's all there is to it. It's all about the product and one's ability to produce it.

You don't judge a craftsman by the quality of his tools, the number of books on his wall, the number of years he's practiced the craft, the amount he's produced, the extent of his knowledge of the craft, or even the trophies on his mantle. Sure, all those may give you some hints as to his ability. However, when it comes down to it, the only standards that truly reflect one's skill are:

1. Quality of the product.

2. Consistency of that quality from product to product.

3. Variety of product with that consistent quality.


TL

I kind of agree with this thought the most. Although it is nice to know the whys and all of your craft, that is not really required if you are taught the hows and can make good beer. An expert baker does not need to understand how yeast makes bread rise any more than an expert race car driver NEEDS to know how his car's transmission works internally, he just needs to know how to operate it. Now to be an expert on the topic of brewing and the science of brewing you not only need to understand the science but making good beer as well.

Now, to create your own recipes you will need some knowledge of why this and why that but not necessarily to the level of science.

I am a beginner with enough knowledge to produce a good all grain beer, probably consistently but I have yet to brew all styles so I am not even close to saying more. Perhaps if I had more free time I would be more interested in the whys than just making good beer.

 

[Prime]

I am definitely a novice. I've got a couple batches under my belt and I have become consumed with learning all I can. It seems everytime I learn something there are 2 more things I want/need to know because of it.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I am a novice hobbyist. When the beer I brew is as good as commercial beer on a consistent basis and I am in full control of my process, then I will be advanced. I expect to be a novice for quite a while because I am limited IMO by my equipment and the constant flux of my brewery. I understand the theory but do not have all the tools to enact it thoroughly.

:EDIT: After reading through here more I have to disagree with one notion. I do not think a homebrewer should be measured by repeated batches. I have never exactly rebrewed a batch, and I don't have any plans to. I always change something. Either I have a new piece of equipment, or I have a crazy idea for how to change it. I have brewed some very close things (my smoked porter is the only really close one) but even that I used a starter the second time I brewed it and not the first time.

I think a better measure is how well you can predict your recipes and your process. I may not rebrew a bunch of times, but I can very closely predict how my system will work and adequately make the adaptations to get the results I intended.

 

[SteveM]

This is an interesting read - even if you dislike the categorization of skill levels, it's hard to pull away from it. So I call this an advanced level thread!

As for me, I've been brewing for seven years or so, plus or minus. I've made more styles than I can count, I have a house IPA that I can make in my sleep, I can tweak the recipe and know in advance how it will come out, and have yet to produce a bad batch in all these years. So from that standpoint, I'm reasonably accomplished.

I've grown my own hops and learned the art of preserving them, if that counts for anything.

But I am a 100% extract brewer and probably always will be. And I am just not a gear head - I'm "bare bones" for equipment. I get rid of any equipment that doesn't get used in a year or two, and have never bought anything just to have it. So from that standpoint, I am no more than intermediate at best.

And I am not at all scientific about the process. My basic processes are repeatable and consistent but I don't even use a hydrometer. I manage my brewing more as a craft than a science. So in this regard, I'm a noob by some standards (though not by my own).

I guess I come out as no higher, at most, than a low-intermediate.

 

[patpend3]

It's all about the ritualized initiations and secret hand shakes.

 

[DrJekyll-HomeBrew]

i have two dedicated beer fridges(one which is a tap/ageing), a kegging system, have read several brew books, and i have been brewing for 3 years now. I have not attempted all grain brewing i just dont have the money i want for the setup. I still consider myself a novice brewer.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Was that a Northern Brewer shirt? I picked up the tenth level beer nerd sticker at the NB table at NHC.

Yep

I wanted to get a 10th level beer nerd shirt for a brewday, but I would have felt awkward wearing it. Still not at that level yet.

I got it for Cristmas, know I'm not an expert brewer, but have no problem wearing a t-shirt. I don't think all those guys wearing Female Body inspector shirt are actually Female Body Inspectors either

 

[kkocher13]

I compare myself to number 5 starter on a professional baseball team. In most cases you get a decent drinkable beer, but every so often I will brew up a gem. So, definitely a novice.

 

[mattmcl]

I'm a level 60 night elf hunter.

 

[HoppyDaze]

I'm still stuck on the Cradle on 007...I always fall off at the end damnit

 

[seanybubbles]

I am for sure a novice. I know fore sure as I have never even tried to make the same beer twice. In my opinion it's all about trying new things. I think about making beer the same way I think about cooking. You might as well try something new. Anyone can make kraft dinner............

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

I suppose I could classify myself as being on the cusp of Intermediate, but I feel like such a beginner. I guess that makes me a Novice. There is so much Knowledge out there, and as I've said before the learning curve is quite long.(for me anyway)

I will disagree with one thing. I don't feel that brewing as many styles as possible matters. For example, I'm not a fan of Belgians, chances are I'll never brew one. I don't think that makes me any less qualified as a brewer.

 

[user 22118]

I think that consistency is key, but not when you are still developing a recipe. I am about to try and duplicate my stout from before because it was so good. My Belgian Dubbel is still getting worked out though, so no two batches have been the same. I think that my Black IPA is effing bangtastic, but could different hops make it better?

All that said, I am still a beginner. I am still working out what all the hops taste like individually.

 

[petep1980]

I'm intermediate. A couple things keep me from being advanced.

1. I haven't gotten really into the chemistry of brewing
2. My pallete is still unsophisticated

I don't think going all grain makes someone advanced. It's pretty easy, you just spend more time and money on it. Perfecting your system and a recipe in AG and being able to repeat the same successful batches over time makes you advanced.

I guess my idea of advanced would combine someone who is a code welder, a mechanical and chemical engineer and a microbiologist with a heated garage and was directly from Germany & Belgium at the same time.

 

[optimatored]

consistency i think ranks on top... and that means consistent tasty beer!! like in chemistry there is precision and accuracy... we all want to be precisely accurate to the style we brew.

With that said… I rank myself as a advanced novice. Been at the brew thing for a awhile now and can brew a good ‘kit’ but my own recipes need some work.

 

[olllllo]

 

[Desert_Sky]

Almost a professional here

so freaking close......

 

[josiahcox]

I'm a 17th level black belt with........wait............wait!?! Oh F......

This isn't the Ninjutsu forum is it? :cross:

I'd say that I am above a novice brewer but I need to get more into the chemistry side of it, something which I am kind of loathe to do. My gear is one step above a noob but nowhere near pro.
I am however an expert taster.

 

[Synovia]

I think these factors are the most important (to me):

1. Number of years actively brewing.
2. Number of batches brewed.
3. Number of different styles of beer brewed.
4. Quality of the end product. (last but NOT least)
5. Consistency and Repeatability

[/quote]

I would think that 4 and 5 are the only ones relevant. I guarantee there are people on here who've brewed 10 batches and just get it.

And at the same time, there are people here who have brewed 100, and still don't make excellent beer.

 

[springer]

I really don't care to label where I am in regards to brewing. I have several beers that I can make with no variance in taste or quality does that make me advanced I think not. I still f up sometimes on brews. I like to brew and I love what I brew .I don't enter comps with my brews I just like to share it with friends and family . In the past year I have been asked to supply beer for a friends engagement party then the wedding two other weddings for family and the neighborhood block party.

I have been down the road making hobbies a living and I tell you what it sucks ... I used to turn out 2 or 3 motorcycle paint jobs a year mostly friends and my own loved to hit the shop and work the hammers and paint guns .... once I started doing it for a living I hated that two years of my life and I was making money , it took years to go back to it as a hobby.

So if anything all I will ever be is a hobbyist brewer

 

[rico567]

I am a tenth level neutral paladin.

Well done, Sir. You are the owner of this thread.

It's been more fun reading this thread from the standpoint of deconstructing how people define what a homebrewer is, what is included & what is left out, than any definition laid down in the OP.

A better method, I think, is to make up a "list" based on my own expectations. Have I mastered the basic "cookbookery" of brewing? I think so. Are my errors NON-repeating? Yes. Am I currently satisfied with the beer I'm producing? Yes. Is there enough I'm doing of an "experimental" or "progressive" nature to keep me interested in the process? So far (and this last one is very important to me- but may mean nothing to others).

OTOH, there are things on some people's lists that are meaningless to me, e.g., competitions. It can't mean anything to me, because I am non-competitive. I don't compete, because I can't feel what one author described as that particular "fire in the belly." It was left out of my makeup, somehow; I can see it and define it, but have no feeling for what it is, just as I can memorize the orders of insects, but will never have any idea of what it is to be a grasshopper.