Homebrewing Experience - Top 10

Two necessities: 1) a grain mill - reinforces point 5 above in terms of consistency of crush 2) a chiller, huge time saver, improves beer stabilty as well. People say temp control during fermentation is necessary too - and I agree with this - but more so with lagers than with ales. With a used fridge and an analog temp controller, there's not much you can't do. For ales, I find a corner of my house that's near the ambient temp I'm going for and usually that will work. Cheers!

 

Good list. I would take exception with this one though...

If by big you mean high gravity, I wouldn't recommend that at all. If by big you mean hugely flavorful (as opposed to 'light ones' like say, an APA for example), I would still disagree (I think a 'nothing to hide behind' beer is the best way to learn), but not as strongly.

 

Last fall I co-brewed a gluten free beer with a friend of my wife; Gary wanted to make a gluten free beer for his son who is gluten intolerant. On the off chance that this brewing experience may motivate Gary to become a homebrewer I typed up on a sheet of paper the Top 3 ‘rules’ to homebrewing:

1. Sanitation, Sanitation, Sanitation
2. Pitch plenty of healthy, viable yeast
3. Maintain proper fermentation temperature for the yeast strain you are using

I also provided an editorial comment of: Oddball says: No negative waves!

Gary and his son were happy with the resulting beer: a Porter made with Sorghum malt extract and Dark Candi Syrup. I was not a fan of this beer; my first time using Sorghum.

Cheers!

 

I'm not prepared to give a top 10 list, but I dispute #3 to a degree and dispute #4 completely.

#3. I bottled about 100 batches and got the program down quickly. I had a few bottle infections in the first 10 or so batches, but really have had no issues since. Washing and sanitizing bottles takes time, and if it is painful for you to spend time cleaning, well, you are not really a brewer . Seriously, I get where bottling haters are coming from, but I just listen to an audiobook, podcast, or playlist for a couple hours and I'm done bottling. If I had a TV, I'd bottle during baseball, basketball, and football games. The best thing about bottling is that it is a brainless activity, so you can multi-task it. I started kegging a year and a half ago and I have not ironed the kinks out of kegging as quickly as I did so with bottling. My most recent batch had a leaky line drain my CO2 tank. 2nd time this has happened. Different leak each time. I've had to replace o-rings and need to replace a poppit. Kegging requires more maintenance than bottling.

#4 I agree with Vikeman on both counts.

If I were to make a top-10 list, JackHorzempa probably nailed my top 3:

 

I would add:

1. When bottling, I think most beers I made were better after 4 to 5 weeks even though they were fully carbed after 2.

2. Learn your system. My kettle is not the ideal 2:1 proportion so I have to start with more liquid which was making me overshoot my target bitterness. I know now I have to add less bittering hops.

 

1) Fermentation temps are the difference between ok beer and great beer.
2) Proper pitching rates are the other difference between ok beer and great beer.
3) PBW is awesome (just learned this one).
4) Propane is a major expense that no one talks about. Very glad I'm able to source natural gas.
5) Be careful when adding your first hops addition.
6) Don't tell your wife you'll be done by x time, because it never happens.
7) It doesn't take much to oxidize a whole batch of beer.
8) When you harvest yeast and are keeping it for awhile before using it, LABEL IT, no matter how sure you are what strain it is.
9) All grain brewing is not nearly as difficult as you make it out to be in your head.
10) Drinking while you brew is fun. Being drunk while cleaning after you brew is not.

 

#6, so true.

 

1. Don't worry about the brew after you're done....You can't do any about it.
2.Mash temp is huge!!!!!
3. Have a checklist...If you're drinking you'll forget.
4. We have decided not to drink until after the first hops.
5. I just what to repeat SANITATION.
6. Not everyone is going to like your beer...Don't take it personal, unless it sucks,of course.
7. Homebrewing is fun, enjoy it!

 

Some really good stuff here. I'd add/reiterate:

It is process -- and not ingredients, recipes, or equipment -- that makes great beer.

 

Seems like you were of a different opinion in the 6-row thread last week...no?

 

Touche!

I'm sure there are some beers made with 6-row that I would consider great; I just don't necessarily consider, say, a German/Czech Pils, a classic Koelsch, or a nice IPA brewed with 6-row to be as good as ones brewed with German/Bohemian Pilsner malt or MO/GP/(and even)2-row.

Still, good point. I'd also add that ingredient freshness can be key.

 

I agree with this point. It would probably make my top 10 list.

 

Take good notes on brew days--volumes, temps, times, and any little bit of data that I can collect. Also, take tasting notes each time I sample/test SG, kegging with temps/psi, etc. It helps me refine my process, reflect on what worked/didn't work in recipes I've formulated, troubleshoot issues with a batch, zero in my system (ie "beersmith says strike with this temp, but it should really be two degrees higher bc I've overshot my mash temp three times now"), etc. Thorough notes have been one of the biggest factors in my learning.

 

1) Pitch the right amount of yeast for the beer you are brewing (Strain, O.G., etc. dependent).
2) Controlling fermentation temperature & oxygenation level is critical (Strain, O.G., etc. dependent; tailor to goal yeast/beer profile)
3) Know your system & take good notes (Calibrate with regard to tendencies e.g. too dry, underattenuated, boil off rates, etc.)
4) Brew what you want to brew, how you want to brew it (e.g. F*ck the too much crystal, moar hops rulez)
5) Multi stage dry hopping adds a great layered effect to flavor and aroma
6) Keep it simple when designing new beers; its easier to add to a recipe to alter the final product than to try and remove 1 of 15 ingredients and guess the end effect(s)
7) When making/designing beers have a goal/flavor profile in mind and work backwards
8) Keep track of which maltsters produce the grain/extract you're using (e.g. Pale malt from Weyermann may be just a little different than Rahr Pale Malt )
9) When going over competition scoresheets, drink the respective beer that was judged. Sometimes judges pick up stuff you don't... other times, it may be palette fatigue, bottle to bottle variation or a bad judge.
10) Purge your carboys and kegs if doing secondaries or kegging. No one likes an oxidized IPA or Pale Ale.

 

How about the top ONE:
If you did it right once, you can do it again!

 

Sweet meme, brah. Obviously, a hypothetical example for the sake of illustrating the value of notes. Thanks for pointing out the fallacy created by my hastily iPad-typed sentiments.

 

Peter, you da man!

Keeping Scott on the 'straight and narrow' is an extremely difficult job because he is so shifty.

Kudos to you, sir!

Cheers!