Some philosophy for Newby brewers

[Gym_]

Some philosophy for Newby brewers
Ok grab yourself a beer and relax wile i tell you a true story.

Few years ago I got into tropical fish,

Got all the good stuff really expensive spent hrs testing the Acidity, Nitrite, Nitrate, cleaning filters ever few days, making little houses for the fish making sure there’s heaps of oxygen flow, checking water temp every few hrs, buying the best food, water changes ever few days, constantly reading about fish and tanks and new ideas on the hobby and then spent at least 1 hr every week pulling dead fish out of my tanks PS I Have ( 4 x 6 foot tanks )

Then I found something that worked really well its call “STOP STUFFING AROUND WITH THINGS”
You would be really surprised how well something so basic works, I have not cleaned a filter in 6 months, have not checked any water reading in over a year, all I do is feed them and change the water ever few weeks,

And you know what I have had like 2 dead fish in 12 months instead of over one a week.
Now some of you are saying hang on Gyms on the wrong forum here, he’s talking about fish this forum is about beer..

Well let me fill you in,

I have been brewing on and off for over 20yrs and in the beginning I had heater pads and belts, taking hydrometeor readings, taking temp reading every few hrs.. Using brew enhancers, dextrose, LDME, waiting for the perfect day to put beer to bottle.

Then one day I help my grandfather yes still alive aged almost 90 make some beer.

He used a small plastic garbage bin that looked like it was 30yrs old..
Chucked in 1 kg of white sugar a can of coopers,
a kettle of boiled water and gave it a quick stir with a Old flat stick,
Filled it up with the garden hose using the pressure of it to stir it,
Pitched the yeast without checking the temp and covered it with a old tea towel and then walked away.

Grandpa I said that’s going to taste like shit and lol

He then grabbed a long neck out of his old fridge must have been 1970s covered in rust and rather shitty looking on the inside,
Opened the bottle with a rusty old bottle opener that he had nailed the leg of his home made bench and poured the bottle into a old glass jug again looking striate out of 1970s

Then poured it from that into two small non matching glasses .lol
And ya know what .. ???
The bloody beer was as good if not better then I had ever made.

No longer do I take hydrometeor readings or check temps or stuff around, no longer do I weigh ingredients or use fancy ass additives.
Sure I don’t use an old stick to stir it nor do I cover it with a teatowl but I learned something that day..

“STOP STUFFING AROUND WITH THINGS”

So How Do I Make My Beer ?..

I chuck a crap load of sugar in a bucket sometimes using a LDME or DDME sometimes not all depending on how board I am..
Peg in some hot water and a tin of brew and hit it with my with a giant brew spoon on the end of my drill for a few min pour in some water and leave it for 2 weeks to a month depending on when I could be bothered kegging it.. Chill it, Gas it and drink it..
and ya know what .. its bloody good beer too

Moral of the story you can make things as complicated or as simple as you like doesn’t mean its going to be any better..

[Zuma]

Brilliant stuff

[drsmurto]

Hmmmm.

So all the progress made by homebrewers in the last 50 years is pointless......

Kit and kilo IS the pinnacle of brewing. Testify......

I hereby confess my sins and put my mash tun et al on the market in the hope the brewing gods dont strike me down with their mash paddles (oops, i meant plastic coopers spoons and tin openers).

Where is the sarcastic smiley when you need it

Cheers Gym, that put a smile on my face. Enjoy your VB and XXXX clones - i am happy as a pig in shit with my pint of Dunkel in hand.

DrSmurto - AG heretic

[warra48]

Yeah well, obviously it's horses for courses. Whatever floats your boat etc.

All I know is that my All Grain beers are heaps better than any kit beer I ever made, and better than the vast majority of commercial beer.
It's not for nothing that my friends and relatives are more than happy to drink my beer when they visit. They no longer bring beer with them, because they know mine is better.

No way am I going back to do anything other than what I'm doing now. I enjoy the process, it's a fantastic hobby, and I love fiddling with my recipes to get them right. And I can make the beers I want to drink and enjoy.

When I made kit beer, I could put them together in about ½ hour. Now when I'm doing a double decoction brew, it takes me 5 or 6 hours, but I feel like I'm really brewing, and take pleasure in the process and my results.

I even enjoy making starters and splits for my liquid yeasts. I have a WY1469 on the go at present, as I plan to do a Hobgoblin sort of beer this week.

[Gym_]

Ahh please don’t miss the title of the post “NEWBY”

You wouldn’t really recommend for someone that has NEVER EVER brewed a beer before to make their 1st batch a all grain would you?

The Drift of the story is “ That if your just starting out don’t worry about hydrometer reading, adding enhancers, malt special sugars, liquid yeasts, taking temp reading, trying your new batch ever 2 days after bottling, keep it simple … keep it basic”

it will keep you happy till your then ready to play with it.
Perhaps I didn’t tell the story well enough as it trys to say that if your starting out don’t bother making it more complicated then it needs to be,

For the 1st time as you can make a perfectly good beer without all the bull..

When a newbie reads this forum they see posts about all this wild wonderful stuff and can be forgiven when they get the idea that that is how they should be brewing strait off the bat..

This story will hopefully help out new brewers into realizing that yes 1 can, 1 packet yeast , one bucket and some water can make you perfectly fine 1st batch..

Cheers Gym_

[warra48]

[ryan]

God bless you Gim.
Bung another kg. of white sugar in there, and give us another anecdote.

[Clean Brewer]

I think the problem with new brewers is that they do what you are saying Gym??

They need to keep it simple, concentrate on Sanitation, Temp Control, Yeast and using Malt instead of Sugar..

I reckon alot of brewers give up brewing because they Use sugar, use packet yeast, brew at too high temperature, dont ferment out properly, and probably poor sanitation.. The end result is Beer that more likely is worse than the Commercial stuff they buy, they then give brewing the flick and go back to buying Commercial..

Its better to give the new brewers advice about keeping it simple(temp control, yeast, malt, sanitation) and get them to try make a decent brew from the start and they then can make up their own mind about where they want to go from there..

Gym, Im still really concerned about your brewing and whether it relates to your Avatar.. And Sodium Met..

GAME OVER....

[Gym_]

Yer that stuff is deadly .. another lung full of that shit and it would have been game over.. permintly

[drsmurto]

Ahh please don’t miss the title of the post “NEWBY”

You wouldn’t really recommend for someone that has NEVER EVER brewed a beer before to make their 1st batch a all grain would you?

The Drift of the story is “ That if your just starting out don’t worry about hydrometer reading, adding enhancers, malt special sugars, liquid yeasts, taking temp reading, trying your new batch ever 2 days after bottling, keep it simple … keep it basic”

it will keep you happy till your then ready to play with it.
Perhaps I didn’t tell the story well enough as it trys to say that if your starting out don’t bother making it more complicated then it needs to be,

For the 1st time as you can make a perfectly good beer without all the bull..

When a newbie reads this forum they see posts about all this wild wonderful stuff and can be forgiven when they get the idea that that is how they should be brewing strait off the bat..

This story will hopefully help out new brewers into realizing that yes 1 can, 1 packet yeast , one bucket and some water can make you perfectly fine 1st batch..

Cheers Gym_

*Looks out window and notices a pig flying by*

[Gym_]

As Pauline Hanson would say " please explain ?"
You don’t agree with one or more points ?

[gregb]

Following a few simple points (quality kit* & adjucnts, sanitation and keep the temps in a sensible** range) kits will make very drinkable beers for a minimum of effort.

If you want complete control of the process, are looking to get the best beer possible and are prepared to spend the time/make the effort go all grain. The Doc's got the bling to prove it.

One of the great things about homebrewing is beer the way you like it.

Cheers,
Greg

* Wal's, ESB, Morgans, Coopers etc
** Most widely accepted as 18 to 23C for ales, 10 to 15C for lagers. Stable temps are also important.

[Tourist]

My message to newby brewers is to be careful about who you get advice from.

[drsmurto]

As Pauline Hanson would say " please explain ?"
You don’t agree with one or more points ?

Not. One. Single. Word.

The reason homebrewing still has a tainted image is people brewing using even 1 of your ideas let alone them all.

[Gym_]

Double Post Sorry

[Gym_]

Well that’s your opinion and i think it’s the other way around that newbie’s get the impression they need to be drinking there 1st ever brew out of a crystal glass wearing a dinner jacket and talking to the premier about the temped nuances of the freshly picked hop imported from Scandinavia… instead of just getting the basics right for the 1st few brews and then moving on..

This I believe is because some people look down upon you for using a canned kit instead of encouraging people to take their hobby further once basic skills are gained ..

Making a newbie feel they need to have a PHD in science and spend 6hrs making their 1st batch is what stops people from getting into brewing (in my thoughts).

Following a few simple points (quality kit* & adjucnts, sanitation and keep the temps in a sensible** range) kits will make very drinkable beers for a minimum of effort.

And yes Greg i could not agree with you more you are 100% correct well said ..

[ryan]

I could pull on the gloves, get on the stool in the blue corner and wait for the bell to come out and box on with this one.........

[ryan]

....but I won`t be

[drsmurto]

Well that’s your opinion and i think it’s the other way around that newbie’s get the impression they need to be drinking there 1st ever brew out of a crystal glass wearing a dinner jacket and talking to the premier about the temped nuances of the freshly picked hop imported from Scandinavia… instead of just getting the basics right for the 1st few brews and then moving on..

This I believe is because some people look down upon you for using a canned kit instead of encouraging people to take their hobby further once basic skills are gained ..

Making a newbie feel they need to have a PHD in science and spend 6hrs making their 1st batch is what stops people from getting into brewing (in my thoughts).

Following a few simple points (quality kit* & adjucnts, sanitation and keep the temps in a sensible** range) kits will make very drinkable beers for a minimum of effort.

And yes Greg i could not agree with you more you are 100% correct well said ..

Funnily enough Gym i do have a PhD in a scientific discipline.

Neither the premier or I see the point of drinking beer out of crystal glasses, nor do we discuss the prices of imported agricultural produce. We see the fate of the lower lakes as far more pressing.

There is nothing wrong with dinner jackets, I look quite fetching in more formal attire. I am told green really brings out my eyes.

I know of 1 person whose first ever brew was all grain.

As for kit brewing, i won awards with my kit beers but only when i followed a set of basic instructions as listed in some of the stickies on this site. The minute i ditched sugar, brew enhancers and stale kit yeast i noticed a huge improvement in my beers and the awards flowed. Fresh hops, a quality yeast and some steeped specialty grain and voila - Beer of Show trophies. It was the sage advice from the old hands on this very site that helped me and will continue to do so for the new brewers with some help from me from time to time.

I openly admit i haven't looked back since my first all grain beer but i still support the all levels of the craft. I have several mates who are kit brewers and encourage them with advice from the stickies rather than trying to beat them to death with my mash paddle. I helped a mate with a full extract beer yesterday and happily donated some specialty liquid yeast. Its a step up and one he enjoyed as it didnt take the full 6 hours.

Making a good kit beer isnt rocket science...... all a new brewer needs to do is ignore everything in the original post and they will be on their way to quality home brewed beer.

[Gym_]

I will happily agree to disagree, each to their own as they say.
Bottoms up