Why does there appear to be so much anxiety about brewing?

[Tupperwolf]

Before I brewed my first batch I literally had nightmares. Almost every night for a week. And I knew what RDWHAHB meant and had taken it to heart! For a newbie (especially going all grain on the first batch) there is just a lot to think about. There are a lot of steps and one doesn't want to go through all that work and wait weeks and weeks only to end up with something that gets poured out.

Good thread.

 

[Effingb]

I think of it like photography before the digital cameras. You set a goal and have an idea in your head of how you want it all to turn out. Done all the reading set up your scene and *click*, it's perfect. Then you don't have time in the darkroom for another week and your starting to think that you should have taken better notes on your lighting.
I've done a few batches. I have 3 going at the moment. Brewday Sunday is my favorite day but going to work on Monday morning is nerve wracking. I never know if I'll get home and have to repaint the ceiling.
Luckily, I have beer in the refrigerator to calm my nerves.

 

[BigRedHopHead]

From my perspective all these anxious posts are from people who did not bother to do their homework, or read previous threads that would have answered their questions. I lurked on HBT for almost a year. Reading many posts, doing my homework. Whenever I had a question it was most definitely discussed before, usually in several threads. Never had a reason to post a question that had been answered several times over before. It wasn't until I had 30 batches all grain under my belt that I even felt confident enough to contribute to discussions and threads.

Even now if I have a question or concern I usually search the forum first before posting. I think people are generally lazy, and don't want to take the time or effort to search. They want a quick fix, and to be reassured.

 

[Ridire]

I'm a totally green brewer and have had zero anxieties about my very few brews. But when I realize something I have done may not have been correct, I'll come here and ask a question. That question is usually met with a bunch of "settle down...don't worry..." responses. I'm not worried, just looking to learn whether it should have been done differently. I'm not offended by the "don't worry" responses but I think maybe there is a misinterpretation that questions = panic and anxiety.

 

[Komodo]

More than a few people have others watching when they get started brewing (thirsty buddies, skeptical wives/girlfriends/boyfriends), and they'd hate to have anything to tell their observers besides a happy ending.

Also, how well do you remember what the process sounded like to you as a newbie? For people who might or might not ever have cooked anything more complicated than grill steak or ramen noodles, it can sound like rocket surgery. Add in all the jargon (mash, gravity, lauter, hydrometer, sparge, kraeusen, siphon, etc., etc.) and the admonitions to BY GOD SANITIZE EVERYTHING and I can easily see how paranoia would take hold.

-Rich

Lot of great points Rich.

 

[Idrum6969]

I don't stress when it comes to brewing. I enjoy doing it...... If I F**k a batch up it sucks. I have had my share of mistakes. I made a Graff that............well the jury is still out on that one 6 months later.If it works out great! If it sucks...... oh well try something else. Either way brewing beer is one of the best things I ever got into.

 

[Echoloc8]

From my perspective all these anxious posts are from people who did not bother to do their homework, or read previous threads that would have answered their questions. I lurked on HBT for almost a year. Reading many posts, doing my homework. Whenever I had a question it was most definitely discussed before, usually in several threads. Never had a reason to post a question that had been answered several times over before. It wasn't until I had 30 batches all grain under my belt that I even felt confident enough to contribute to discussions and threads.

Even now if I have a question or concern I usually search the forum first before posting. I think people are generally lazy, and don't want to take the time or effort to search. They want a quick fix, and to be reassured.

Spoken like someone who's reassured by the fact that there's nothing important different between theory and practice... In theory.

-Rich

 

[mikescooling]

When you change gear or try something new their are lots of ways for it to go bad. How many of us have ever had a stuck drain on a full MLT? One guy said he put two full 6.5gal glass carboys on a table and the table broke. Our beer is like making a great dinner that took hours to cook, it's our good name as cooks. But yes after a few years and some high tech crap, their is little to mess up.

 

[mcangeli]

I think a lot of it has to do with all the warnings that abound about sanitizing this and making sure that is right and on and on and on....

My first brew wasn't perfect. When I bottled, I realized half way through racking from my carboy to the bottling bucket that the priming sugar/water was still cooling on the stove and not in the bottom of the bucket so I just dumped it in.

One thing that needs to be stressed to homebrewers is the whole RDWHAHB philosophy. Two months after my first boil, I've realized that as long as the ingredients were boiled and the wort is ok, there's not a lot that could get screwed up...

 

[Lost_Arkitekt]

I've been brewing on and off since 1991...and used LME. After reading the CJOHB, I looked at the all-grain section, two bucket lauter tun, and igloo and said to myself, "This can't be all that hard." It wasn't. Been all-grain brewing since.

I remember one extract brew flocculated like MAD, and I got a stuck airlock/stopper and it blew the rig across the bathroom. I called it, "Exploding Bathroom Porter." I picked the airlock/stopper up, sanitized it, and wiped the inside of the carboy neck with sanitized rag and reinserted. Everything was fine and was one of the best brews to date.

Just after that, my brew partner and I went to a "Homebrew Club" and watched a bunch of overly critical guys talk about beers that really didn't taste all that good. We brought a couple bottles of our "beginner beer", and everyone loved it. However, they got pissed at us because we didn't take notes. We finally said we took them...just didn't bring them with us. Since then, I haven't been back to a homebrew club since.

This is all a way for me to enjoy cooking, beer and my inner MacGyver skills without worrying too much about it.

 

[DrunkleJon]

My opinion is that teh anxiety is due to the sanitation retentitiveness as well as the time investment. If you could tell if it is good/bad the same day as your boil you wouldnt stress it so much. The fact that you need to wait days/week(s) to even get an uncarbed sample makes you stress over it. The same reason that when smoking foods you really want to open the lid and look at it/poke it/check the temps even though it has only been on for 15 minutes out of a several hour smoke. Not to mention you wouldn't be brewing if you didn't at least enjoy what you are brewing and really want it to taste good.