(Thanks) To All Members

[dae06]

Here's a thanks for everyone here.

Too many other forums (not this one) have members that get so upset for repeat questions. They basically chew a person out for not searching for what they are looking for. I am a big fan of searching:

ALWAYS SEARCH YOUR QUESTION FIRST!!!!

But sometimes you just can't find it or you don't know the correct wording to search for.

I feel the members here really enjoy helping others out and sharing there knowledge. The members that have this passion, show it by answering the question and not saying: do a search, there is information out there. Like I said:

ALWAY DO A SEARCH FIRST!!!!

I'm sure some say that because they know they have seen what was asked, but just don't know the answer off the top of thier head. That's fine.

I'm just happy to be on a forum that I don't feel afraid that I might get chewed out for asking a question.


Thanks to all.

Ok, back to the forums.

 

[homebrewer_99]

That's not to say we haven't done those things before...

If I can speak for many here, I'm glad you're glad. We hope you stay a while and that others will follow your lead and at least try to search for replies to their inquiries.

 

[JesseRC]

Hey, I know just how you feel. I've gotten a bit used the crowd around here. I joined a Northtrail travel Trailer forum with only a few hundred members. My first introductory post was edited even though it didn't violate any rules. Then my account got deleted cuz the mod thought that I didn't really own a Northtrail trailer. I didn't bother to rejoin. THey suck.

The point is this is a good group of folks.

 

[azscoob]

most of us try to keep in mind that we were all noobs at one point. not knowing exactly what to search for makes it difficult indeed. my advice is to look over all the stickys and search first before asking a question that has been asked a million times before, I will not however be rude in answering, or berate the poster about his noobness. I hated when that happened to me on other forums and I am no longer on them.

 

[Revvy]

I wrote this up yesterday in answer to a question.

Look at any of the stickies, at the top of every section of the forum. 99.9% of any new brewers questions have usually already been answered and they are usually stickied somewhere in the forum, usually in the section it is more than likely related to.

In fact THIS ONE probably has every question answered in one place if people would only look. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/faq-please-read-before-asking-question-7909/

This thread has a lot of tips, but sadly some folks can't tell the difference between information and an opinion about something, so some of it has to be tacken with a grain of salt. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/stone-cold-lead-pipe-lockd-n00b-advice-54362/?highlight=stone+cold

But basically just look through the threads there's a ton of info here, usually repeated thousands of times.

In the time I've been here, I've come to realize there is no new questions ever asked, no new situations that we haven't seen 100 times before. I know people hate it when we say it, BUT the answers really are already here, and people really just need to do some digging. This time of year especially, with all the new folks, there's usually 5 different version of the same question in the same section being answered the same time and all in a row. Like right now there are 4-5 "Should I secondary or do long primary?" threads where we're cutting and pasting the same answers in each thread.

 

[mosquitocontrol]

I think great advice is to search the homebrewtalk forums through google. Much more relevant results then the onsite search no matter how many + and " you add. But I think that route isn't peoples first reaction.

I'm pretty sure this is how you do it...

site:homebrewtalk.com <whatever your searching for>

 

[maida7]

I've got no problems with the same noob questions over and over. That does not bother me at all. The same stupid debates like AG vs Extract are annoying but I seam to have an unlimited tolerance for redundant noob questions. Maybe cause I haven't been here that long.

BUT

What does bother me is missing info. Often times the poster leaves out so much info that there is no way to answer the question. Don't be lazy. Give us more info in the first original post.

ANOTHER THING

is when the title of the thread give no information to the content of that thread. Such as "don't you hate when" or "to all posters" or "what do you think about this" Just put some more specific topic info in the title

Thanks!

 

[JesseRC]

ANOTHER THING

is when the title of the thread give no information to the content of that thread. Such as "don't you hate when" or "to all posters" or "what do you think about this" Just put some more specific topic info in the title

Thanks!

I agree, having a vague subject sometimes help attract first time readers, but after its been read, I sometimes forget what was in there and have to go in again to check.

 

[homebrewer_99]

...In the time I've been here, I've come to realize there is no new questions ever asked...

Just for you Mike: What color does a Smurf turn when you cut off its breathing?

 

[bam]

I have to say, as a newb, that I appreciate the help that the vets give out. The post Revvy reposted above about using the stickies, and searching was very very helpful. He actually posted it in one of my questions. He has also provided me with several links to specific threads that are extremely valuable to the new brewer. IMHO, if us newbs would actually READ what these experienced brewers say in threads like this one or when they answer our questions AND actually go read the threads they tell us to read then the questions us newbs would then begin to ask would be more in depth, have more information about the batch/brew and/or problem we might be facing. As a new brewer and new to this forum, I am very pleased with how I've been accepted and treated and the advice I've been given! Cheers to all!!

 

[Baldy_Beer_Brewery]

The fact that there always seems to be people willing to help on this forum has been brought up before. You have known that had you searched first.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Did you do a seaRCH BEFORE YOU POSTED THIS???
dAMN noob.

 

[GANGGREEN]

I'm new here on the forum but I'm not new to web forums in general. I'm a member of hunting forums, fishing forums, mushroom gathering forums, college football forums, youth wrestling forums, flintlock building forums and on and on. I'll say one thing after hanging around a lot of forums over the years, the more activity that you have on a forum, the nicer it is for everyone, newbie and expert alike. If everyone ONLY did a search, read some old threads and then nodded their head, there wouldn't be much activity on the beginner's forum and it simply wouldn't be much fun or nearly as informative as this forum is now.

That said, I do have sympathy for the very experienced guys on this forum that are always happy to help with very specific and detailed information and I can imagine that it gets old answering and re-answering the same questions.

Just my two cents.

 

[bob1852]

Someone posted this a year or so ago...

that's why they call this site HomebrewTALK, not homebrewSEARCH

 

[mparmer]

There's obviously a kinship amongst homebrewers. I'm still a noobie and have posted several questions that had already been answered countless times but the guy's that helped me through those early times were great even though I was no doubt kind of irritating. Now, I've learned to search before posting, but I still post sometimes and I always say at the end, Thanks. Thanks to all the guy's out there who are experienced brewers, have the knowledge and are kind enough to share it with those who are just starting out. Thanks again.

 

[BigB]

The thing I most appreciate about this site is that in the rare occasion a member is rude or demeaning, the mods are quick to shut that offending member down. The mods are very good at monitoring the site.

 

[Synovia]

This is a beginner's brewing FORUM, not a search tool. If you have a question, feel free to ask. Thats what this section is for.

 

[annasdadhockey]

Someone posted this a year or so ago...

that's why they call this site HomebrewTALK, not homebrewSEARCH

HomebrewTYPE???

 

[mitch171]

Now here is my paradox.

I do the search thing before I post and many times I find related information. But I sometimes still have questions.

What is more annoying, bringing back a 2 year old thread from the grave, or reposting the question in a new thread?

I am happy to say I have never been harrased for doing either, but I was just wondering which is the lesser of two "evils."

 

[KevinW]

Well, I have to admit. Being a "noob" I actually apprectiate the time and effort all of you awesome "non-noobs" take in answering our(noobs) questions or steering us in the most appropriate direction for us to learn what we are seeking!
It is kind of like buying stuff from the internet or buying from a human being in a shop(especially local). Yes I can and have read and searched the net for information but when someone responds to a question I have I feel kind of special and in return I want to do the same for someone else! Pay it forward!

 

[Tripod]

...when someone responds to a question I have I feel kind of special and in return I want to do the same for someone else! Pay it forward!

I get this, too...the pay-it-forward feeling.

I think it is important to note that noobie brewers are also going to be noobie HBT-ers and may not be as familiar with the searching features. I know when i first started hanging here I did not have a handle on all of the forum etiquette and did not even know where the search features were located! Now that I know where they are and how to properly use them to get results I use them all the time but new folks are not going to automatically be as efficient so they do what new people do...they ask questions.

Noobness doesn't bother me at all and I get the feeling it doesn't bother most of us. For those who are bothered by it, just don't respond. It's not like you alone have the sole responsibility of dealing with a new member. I promise someone patient will eventially come along and answer their question...

-Tripod

 

[mitch171]

Another question is when am I not a newb. I see people with less posts than myself feeling non-newb and then there are people with over 16,000 posts. Is it post count, time, brewing time, brewing experience, posts read, experience with brweing falure/success, or confidence, that determends non-neubness?

 

[Baldy_Beer_Brewery]

Post count or time on a forum is not an indicator of anything other than how much time one has to spend on the Internet. I think one has to take into consideration what they know works and what a poster is suggesting to decide if it is advice worth following or avoiding.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

What is more annoying, bringing back a 2 year old thread from the grave, or reposting the question in a new thread?

If the old thread has some good info but doesn't quite answer your question, there's absolutely nothing wrong with resurrecting it. It's mildly annoying to dredge up an old thread that has little useful content, and it's actually amusing to see people answer a question that was asked years ago by a member who is no longer active.

 

[mitch171]

...and it's actually amusing to see people answer a question that was asked years ago by a member who is no longer active.

This is when you know someone is reading the forum for way to long and has dug way to deep just reading.

 

[Revvy]

What is more annoying, bringing back a 2 year old thread from the grave, or reposting the question in a new thread?

I agree with Yuri, I think it is cool to see an older thread bumped up, for one thing, it really feels like we're not doing all the work for you, that you are actually poking around and looking for answers, not just waiting for one of us to wipe your butt for you.

I also have found, as someone that answers a lot of questions everyday, that if a person reads a thread on their "basic question" first and maybe bumps that thread up, that their question has a lot more depth than it might have been...because maybe they zeroed in on an issue from one or more of the posts in a thread...and then rather than,

"What's that fuzzy stuff on top of my beer?" To "Oh I thought my beer was infected, now I know it's a krauzen, it's normal, and it has proteins and other things in it, so what kinda proteins are there, do they come from the yeasts, the wort or both, and should I skim it or not?"

Which is more fun for me to answer because it may lead me to search, or to google or to recall some fuzzy bit of info I heard on a podcast and go search for it for you...and for me.

 

[Revvy]

This is a beginner's brewing FORUM, not a search tool. If you have a question, feel free to ask. Thats what this section is for.

BUT.....

The thing to me about searching is two fold, and I really hate coming off as a search nazi, BUT

1) There is a huuuge amount of state of the art brewing info on here...info that is even more current than palmer (only becasue it takes 2-3 years to get a book out.) Some of us have spent hours writing stuff up, like blogs or long answers to basic questions, including searching for links like audio and video casts to answer those basic questions...And we want you to know it exists, and we want you to utilize it to be the best damn brewer's you can be.

SO when I say it's been covered before, I'm not saying "hey a$$hat, use the search."

I'm saying "Hey, there's some kick ass info on that very topic, put together from some amazing brewers, and it's free, right here, you don't need to buy a book....all you need to do is click "search" and maybe play with the words a couple times...


2) A lot of the "kick ass brewers" who are here, and were here before I got here have stopped answering the same questions over and over. Most of those people get tired of it after a couple months, and just ignore these threads...From what people tell me, for doing it constantly for so long, I'm an anomoly....maybe because of my 'calling" (yes I am a minister for the 10,000th time ) I have an almost pathological need to help people...whether it's in a church or in a brewery.

Which means that the people who might be best able to answer your basic question are NOT going to because they did it 6 months ago, and feel that that's enough. Or they are no longer here...but their info is still here and still valuable...

So that really means that if you just start a thread, especially if you are asking about "Stainless vs Aluminum" or Plastic waterbottles or "is my beer ruined," or "what;s your opinion on...?" You may not GET THE BEST INFORMATION YOU COULD BE GETTING You could be getting the same outdated "party line" out of Palmer or Papazian, (which are actually several years of in the case of Charlie over a decade old) when there was some new discovery a few weeks back that we all talked to death and learned from...and we want you to know about it too...

I've really seen it the last couple days...there has literally 10-12 "when do I secondary" or "should I secondary" threads up in this section, and where there would be 6 or more "regulars" posting their answers, today there has been only a couple besides me...because a lot of folks feel like they have already given their info. SO if noone answers, or only a couple answer with their viewpoints, then that questioner isn't necessarily getting the best bang for their buck. but if looked at a "similar thread" like those in the box below, looked at the threads in their own section, or searched, they could have 2-3 more threads with 30 or 40 folks giving their perspectives, and experiences, and THEN, be best able to figure out what they need to do.

When I have a question or am trying to learn something new, I WANT to pull a bunch of sources to me, and look at various takes on things. I may grab a magazine, do a google search outside of here, and look at a bunch of threads on the topic on here, and THEN I will come up with a possible solution of course of action.

And then I will ask for feedback on my solution, and tweak it some more before acting.

That's how I come up with recipes in new styles I am not familiar with. I will google, look for articles on that style, listen to podcasts, look at all the recipes in the recipe section on that style to see the similiarities and differences.

Then I will formulate a recipe, and then usually create a thread and ask for feedback on it....and then take the suggestions and tweak it some more, get more feedback and then come up with a final recipe and brew it...


That's how I went from THIS thread; https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/pimp-my-brown-ale-please-56013/

To this...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/old-bog-road-brown-ale-pm-extract-w-grain-61591/

Or this which was literally me learning about partigyling from searching to formulating my recipe in "real time" with help.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/lets-partyyyy-gyle-pumpkin-porter-ale-one-mash-74927/

I think this is an amazing resources, but a lot of the best info is ALREADY on here, and it's like a goldmine if you do some digging.

 

[dae06]

Did you do a seaRCH BEFORE YOU POSTED THIS???
dAMN noob.

No, because this was my way of thanking all of you.

I too am a member is at least 12 other forums and this one seem the friendliest, which makes it a bit more fun to be a part of.