How did you veterans "practice" brewing?

I tried whatever came to mind. And I asked the guy at the homebrew shop how to brew it . He always came up with a recipe.
I'm still brewing a lot of them today, 5 years later, most of which are Belgian clones.

 

I read a lot of books(before the internet was everywhere) and just kept brewing. I had 3 or 4 styles I focused on, but since I started from the very bottom up was the only way to go. I started with pre-hopped cans of extract for a couple of batches, then found a place to buy real hops, then real extract. After maybe a year I built a ZapPap and started partial mashes and soon afterwards all grain. But I never quit analyzing what I was doing and how I could do it better. And then after brewing for 15 years I found internet forums and discovered everything I learned was completely wrong

 

I'm certainly not one of the veterans around here, my 5th batch is fermenting now, but I think making (well mostly drinking) the same thing over and over would get old. For me variety is key. That being said I made some major upgrades to my system and process and rebrewed the first beer I did as batch 4 to see what kind of difference it made. My plan is to experiment with a lot of different styles and ingredients and occasionally circle back to my favorites.

 

Redmaw, I'm certainly as new as you are. But I'm curious as to how your re-brewed beer changed, please elaborate!

 

I read every book I could get my hands on, read loads of forum posts, then started all grain out of the gate and brewed whatever the hell I wanted when I wanted...... Still do......

 

This exactly... But I seem to learn something I didn't know every brew. My big thing is I write down every little detail when brewing so I can repeat it or tweak it when I come back to it. I'd get too damn tired of drinking the same style over and over if I was trying to perfect a style. I like to rotate my favorite styles and come back to it later.

 

As do I amigo!

 

Been brewing off and on for 20 years or so. Read a couple of books and tried a bunch of kits at first, then I started brewing mainly 1 style over and over before switching to another style and doing the same for a while. Now I tend to keep a citrusy IPA (our house IPA and everyday drinking beer) on tap at all times and then brew something different for a second tap, like a Rye Pale Ale on now, before that was a coffee chocolate oatmeal imperial milk stout, before that it was a light wheat, and before that was a peachy DIPA. So I guess now I stick to one style for one keg and do what I want for the other keg nowadays.

 

A different beer every time is probably the best fit for me. I'm not sure I have ever done something exactly the same. I usually can't source all of the ingredients to make it so, my process probably is not easy replicate, so some of the finer points will shift from batch to batch, and I usually don't want to replicate exactly the same thing anyhow.

 

I brew what I want, but I almost force myself to brew somewhat for the season. I like to have a rotating keezer where people know at Christmas, there's a chocolate porter, and a stout on tap, and in the spring, there is always a good pilsner or kolsch. Summer there will be berliners, and nice and light beers.

I still brew what I want, and have odd things, like a BA stout on tap in the middle of summer, and a tart saison for thanksgiving, but it's enough to keep me brewing outside of my comfort zone. I think that allows one to grow as a brewer.

Sure, you've be a great brewer if you only brewed IPAs and stuck to it, but I find branching out to things I like to drink, makes me a little more well rounded.

I tend to take recipes I like, and others liked and tweak and perfect them. I've got an IPA, Blonde, and Porter, and now stout recipe, I will tweak each year/brew to dial it in. Allows me to focus on improving on something and not just taking a new recipe and running with it.

I'm building a sour pipeline this year and next year, and will venture into more belgians shortly after.

 

My first beer was an extract kit with specialty grains to seep. I read one book about the brewing process, but after that first beer didn't really impress me with its flavor, I started reading more about the brewing process and paying closer attention to details.

 

brew brew brew brew and then brew again. I started with kits as well. Over time you learn how certain yeast strains behave and which flavors are made with different ingredients. it is not something that you start out the first time being perfect. it is like cooking, the more you learn the more you want to learn more.

 

I learned by doing. I went to a few open houses at LHBS, watched and asked.
I read a lot - the usual books, plus internet - here and a couple other forums, plus some blogs.
then bought the stuff and started doing. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary for several brews, even though they were different styles, the procedures were the same - steep grains, bring to boil, add extract, hops, dinish boil, cool, ferment.
Later I started learning more and doing yeast starters, then all grain, and so forth.
Only relatively lately, 20ish brews in, have I gotten into doing more stuff, like bourbon/ oak aging, sours and so forth.

 

research, brewing styles I liked and understood really well, the occasional clone attempt. Usually did the Brewing Classic Styles recipe first if I didn't really "get" a style.

 

Not a veteran YET, but I would surely take the approach of brewing what you like. It's a handful of styles that you're going to know from drinking experience if your homebrew is on the right track. For my 2nd (Stone IPA) and 4th batches (Lakefront Fixed Gear Red Ale, carbing and dry hopping at the moment) I've brewed "clones" of beers. For the Stone clone, I did a side-by-side "taste test" . Drink one then the other, and just do a coarse mental comparison. The Stone IPA holds up. Not an exact copy as I'm sure mine has some things wrong with it, whatever they are, but it is way more than just drinkable and I've very happy with it. I actually don't want to drink it because I don't want to run out. Stupid, I know. I'm really looking forward to the Lakefront side-by-side. :-)

Anyway, I don't have the great patience for reading that others do, so in the age of the Internet you have youTube, forums like this, etc. That's where I've gotten most of my information. youTube is a God-send, IMO. You can get good information, and yes, occasionally some misinformation, but you also get the benefit of observation. Craigtube is a good youTube channel, as is Northern Brewer's.

 

I could vote for all of the options. I did a bunch of research before starting. I try to brew twice a month. One batch is almost always an ipa but I switch up the hops each time to keep it interesting. The second batch is a seasonal or what ever I feel like. I only brew 3 seasonals so the remaining 9 beers are something that I like to drink regularly. I've brewed 52 batches. 28 ipas and the 24 others came from 11 different styles. Anytime I try a new style I read as many sources as I can find before coming up with my own recipe.

 

If you really want to learn, try to brew at least once a month if not more and read the principle books on the subject before browsing the forums. The internet is a great source for confusion due to the many methods for brewing and the dozens of styles. Start with John Palmer, graduate to books on specific styles/methods, and then get into books on ingredients while practicing their advice. It has to take time and can't be rushed. Think of it like learning a new language. Above all, focus on fermentation before switching to all grain or advanced techniques. You will get similar results with extract and all grain if you don't understand the yeast that make the beer.