I don’t think there’s anything wrong with knowledge, understanding and learning. Anybody can go as far down the rabbit hole as they like. : ) More understanding is only going to help you.
I’m just making the point that for the majority of us this is a hobby. As much as we want to compare ourselves to professional brewers - we’re not. I’ve been brewing off and on for almost 30 years. I brew all grain. Occasionally I brew extract. I used to own a homebrew shop and teach brewing classes. And with everything I know I’m never going to be a professional brewer for a working brewery. Not gonna happen.
When one does something for a living it becomes a whole nother matter than when its a hobby for fun. Reminds me of when I used to bowl and how that hobby was completely ruined for me by all the guys who wanted to be pro bowlers and took it WAY too seriously. Everybody averages 210 or more and they hand out a dozen 300 rings now every season. I haven’t bowled now for about 10 years and I don’t miss it.
Agreed, no professional brewers are using extract just like Ace of Cakes is not using a box mix. Absolutely.
But when its a hobby and we’re doing it for ourselves for fun or for our own recreation and to make something for ourselves that we enjoy then we don’t need to be super knowlegable and understand every aspect as deeply as the professionals do. Water chemistry alone is about a bachelor degree course.
If something makes your day easier, quicker, or less stressful and you can still get satisfactory results then there’s nothing wrong with that. If you want to persue it further and learn more and go way deeper then there’s nothing wrong with that either. This hobby can be as complex as you want to go or as simple as you want to make it.
Use extract, don’t use extract - its your choice. But nobody should call anybody else names or look down on anybody else because they choose to brew one method or another. That’s what I was responding to in the original post. : )
I appreciate all fully respect your post. I was more asking about honing one's craft. @Harleybrew32 mentioned their method being the issue. I was likening your comment to what they were saying. Not that it's cheating perse, but a less time-consuming way of getting a desirable result.
I don't think badly of anyone brewing extract. I brew Extract. I just purchased 36 lb of LME because it's convenient and cost effective for my budget.
I just wanted to get an idea of when it is time to advance in this hobby, if at all. I'm happy this board exists. My wife read through a few posts and said she likes this community and therefore, my hobby.
...And I like that because it means more beer!
I more meant that if I understand the chemistry and physics (science) behind a good mashed potato,I might make a boxed mashed potato REALLY well.
i didn't understand alpha acids until I bought my own hops and tried my own recipe. Brew kits didn't explain that to me. Biotransformation is something I've done research on and now I know why to/not to dry hop a high krausen.
I just like to learn and want to advance my knowledge as much as possible.