Controversial Homebrewing Opinions

Anything easier than using a handcrafted pot over a woodfire with barley you grew and kilned yourself is cheating in some way.

 

Washing/sanitizing bottles is fun (if you consider only the last 5 of them).

 

Base malt matters. Cheapest does not = best.

Also, NEIPA can have just as much nuance as any other style when brewed and dry hopped well. Just because it’s a social media darling and 80% of commercial examples are shit doesn’t mean it’s not a style worth pursuing.

 

Yea, I would say even for starters. I started with a Brooklyn brew shop all grain kit. Not actually judging any extract brewers out there, I am being facetious about the "cheating" but i do think that one of the draws to homebrewing is the "do it yourself" side of it, at least for me. I don't particularly want somebody doing the mash for me. Plus next to actually drinking the beer, the mash is my favorite parts.

 

It's easy to hate on the NEIPAs because they're so hyped, but imo, they just taste damned good and I think they're actually a tough style to brew WELL.

 

Kegging is as big of a pain in the ass as bottling.

 

I soooo disagree with this. I friggin hate bottling. I have a Saison in the basement that I've been avoiding this week. I love having some beers 'packaged', but hate the process.

 

I'll buy in to all that....and my first attempt at a brew was with a Brooklyn Brew Shop kit. But I gotta say now, since I didn't specify before, that I was referring to making a yeast starter.

 

This might be the most controversial opinion in this thread.

I can't think of any way this is true from my experience.

 

Bumping @SFACRKnight ’s comment just because you can’t discount all the stuff that goes into kegging as being a PITA:

• Refreshing seals
  
• Cleaning lines
• Making sure the keg itself and all component parts are clean
• Securing CO2
• Questioning Dale down at the welding shop if he’s really getting you the best price on CO2 like he says he is
• Accidentally draining a 50 lb CO2 tank because of a slightly under tightened valve or connection
• Running out of refurbished cornies and then having to buy a new one on Morebeer.com or OBK (Canada represent) For 120$
  
• Wishing you’d just stuck with the bottling bucket for your last batch of 14% abv Russian imperial stout you only drink 12oz of per week

 

I like this. Let's spread it and maybe the price of new kegs will drop.

 

Hahahahahahahaha, what a excellent thread

Yeah base malt matters, that's why everybody should brew with Simpsons Marris Otter, ONLY! Hahahahah

 

@VikeMan

If u ever get up this way and its in the celler, u got one!

 

Here we go,,,

The reason Homebrewers critisize factory beers so much is the lack of oxygen in the factory brews. Most HB is not, at least with guys I associate with, air tight, the myth. Of oxygen being the big evil is actually FALSE.

 

Controversial opinion: "Mash pH" is not the same thing as "Wort pH".

If you are reading pH at mash temperature you are reading "Mash pH".

If you are reading pH at room temperature (20 degrees C., or 68 degrees F.) you are reading "Wort pH".

For verification, see pages 23 and 24 at this link to a Weyermann dissertation:
http://lowoxygenbrewing.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Weyermann_TKW_Mash-pH_2010.pdf

Notice that in order to achieve a "Mash pH" of 5.41, you must measure a "Wort pH" of 5.64.

This clarifies and amplifies my earlier 'controversial' post to this thread.

 

I have a keg that is such a pain in the ass. It leaks after being under pressure for weeks. Re sealing accurately can be a bitch. I am an ase master certified technician. I seal shit that leaks for a living. Should be a no brainer. Running out of co2, buying more kegs because I want to have more than one option for beer. Buying another manifold for the same reason. I spend more time cleaning, resealing, and j
Kegging in general than I did bottling. I have another saison brew coming up and that shit is going into bottles.

 

I'm brewing a farmhouse ipa...

 

Oh man, I love kegging over bottling, but it’s not for every style, at least for me. I typically only keg pale ales, milds and IPAs. Leave the saisons, bretted stuff and big stouts for extended bottle conditioning. BUT, that’s just me.

20 minutes spent kegging a batch vs 2 hours bottling is without question more convenient, but I still bottle plenty of batches, too