StewMakesBrew
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2016
- Messages
- 105
- Reaction score
- 33
So, i'm NOT a beginning brewer - been doing this for nearly 20 years, and about at batch 125 now.
That said, I have several friends that have gotten into this recently and I continually get people who have just started asking me for "well, what advice would you give me?"
So therefore, my young Jedi brewers, old Stew-Yoda gives you some of my advice from years of hard-fought brewing:
1) What Would The Trappist Monks do? So monks in monasteries have been making beer for at least 1000 years - probably more. Yes of course now they use lots of science as it has become a business, not a hobby (thanks Chimay!), but more than a hundred years ago, they winged it. So therefore, when you forget to measure the gravity, your numbers are off somewhere, you miss a hop addition during the boil, you forget to rack your beer to secondary, etc. etc. Don't sweat it - ask yourself, what would the Trappist Monks do? Well, they'd just let things take their course and hope for the best. You're making beer not saving babies. Don't worry about it! Learn from it, of course, but quoting Charlie Papazian: "Relax, have a homebrew!"
2) Sweating the numbers: Yes, all good brewers should be smart and familiar with starting and ending gravities, and making the right volume calculations will result in better, more consistent beer, knowing your Alpha Acids in your hops will help you predict better what it tastes like in the end, but it stuns me the number of folks that get their underwear in a twist because they missed the FG by .002, or missed their mash-in temp by 2 degrees, or only have 45 ibus when they wanted 48 or whatever. Here's what I do - I log my numbers, I do celebrate a bit (hey, drink a beer) when I hit the numbers, but I NEVER wig out if I miss them a bit. Because while there's plenty of science in it, the enjoyment is in the art.
See above about making beer, not saving babies.
3) Taste, taste, TASTE! Every good cook tastes EVERY ingredient and every dish - and you should taste things too. Before making an all-grain batch, I take a small handful of the grain prior to matching and munch on it - it gives me a good sense of where it's going to be tasting. I have actually tasted pellet hops before. You don't have to do that but definitely smell the every time. You'd be surprised how after a while you can smell if something is off, not as strong, etc. While the yeast tastes like ass, try tasting a starter sometime - doesn't take much - a drop on a finger tip does the trip but it's amazing the nuances of flavor you pick up. While in process, taste the wort at every step. If you're extract brewing, taste the wort after you've mixed in the malt extract. If you're an all-grain brewer, taste the mash, then as you run off during the sparge, keep tasting periodically - you'll be amazed at how you can tell when the sugar is all washed out of the wort. One time as a test, after I ran off my sparge, I put another quart of so of hot water into the mash to see if I could force some tannins out (this didn't go into my batch) and could taste them. Sure could! Taste your beer anytime you take a gravity reading (drink that sample, don't toss it!) and as you're packaging. I can say there's nothing more thrilling than drinking a sample tube full of warm flat beer that is totally delicious that you're packaging. That means that when it's cold crashed, carbed, and served, it's going to be awesome. If you use "set it and forget it" carbonation for your keg, pull a sample every few days - it'll amaze you to learn how the carbonation builds up. You can also taste test bottled beer by doing a test bottle every few days.
4) Journal your beer making. I have kept journal notes for nearly every batch that I've made since 1998. I do have some holes in my journaling when I got lazy, but generally, I have kept notes the entire time. My entries are basic - date I brewed, weather notes, recipe, quick procedure description, and then tasting notes - I keep updating the journal as the beer gets consumed to note how it ages etc. It's a great way to make sure you know what you've done and what worked great and what did not.
5) Make what you like. I can't tell you the number of people that I know that have made beers they don't like even though there is not a thing wrong with the beer. Get to asking them and they say "yeah, I don't like super hoppy beers" ... hmm then why did you just brew a hop-monster IPA? "Well, it's what everyone is making these days" ... screw that. While I'm all about learning about new flavors and tastes, save your efforts and expense to that what you really love. And skip the things you don't.
6) Get REALLY good at just a few beers. Now, don't misconstrue #5 and this one as "he doesn't like to experiment" - I do. In fact, I love it. But I also have found that being consistent and delivering the same thing twice or 10 times is much harder than making a new recipe each time. Your friends will come to appreciate it ("ooh, Stew, got any more of that wheat ale I love so much?" Yup, just tapped a fresh keg, let's head to the basement bar and get a draft), and you'll look forward to it too.
So, veteran brewers, what advice would you give to our beginner friends?
That said, I have several friends that have gotten into this recently and I continually get people who have just started asking me for "well, what advice would you give me?"
So therefore, my young Jedi brewers, old Stew-Yoda gives you some of my advice from years of hard-fought brewing:
1) What Would The Trappist Monks do? So monks in monasteries have been making beer for at least 1000 years - probably more. Yes of course now they use lots of science as it has become a business, not a hobby (thanks Chimay!), but more than a hundred years ago, they winged it. So therefore, when you forget to measure the gravity, your numbers are off somewhere, you miss a hop addition during the boil, you forget to rack your beer to secondary, etc. etc. Don't sweat it - ask yourself, what would the Trappist Monks do? Well, they'd just let things take their course and hope for the best. You're making beer not saving babies. Don't worry about it! Learn from it, of course, but quoting Charlie Papazian: "Relax, have a homebrew!"
2) Sweating the numbers: Yes, all good brewers should be smart and familiar with starting and ending gravities, and making the right volume calculations will result in better, more consistent beer, knowing your Alpha Acids in your hops will help you predict better what it tastes like in the end, but it stuns me the number of folks that get their underwear in a twist because they missed the FG by .002, or missed their mash-in temp by 2 degrees, or only have 45 ibus when they wanted 48 or whatever. Here's what I do - I log my numbers, I do celebrate a bit (hey, drink a beer) when I hit the numbers, but I NEVER wig out if I miss them a bit. Because while there's plenty of science in it, the enjoyment is in the art.
See above about making beer, not saving babies.
3) Taste, taste, TASTE! Every good cook tastes EVERY ingredient and every dish - and you should taste things too. Before making an all-grain batch, I take a small handful of the grain prior to matching and munch on it - it gives me a good sense of where it's going to be tasting. I have actually tasted pellet hops before. You don't have to do that but definitely smell the every time. You'd be surprised how after a while you can smell if something is off, not as strong, etc. While the yeast tastes like ass, try tasting a starter sometime - doesn't take much - a drop on a finger tip does the trip but it's amazing the nuances of flavor you pick up. While in process, taste the wort at every step. If you're extract brewing, taste the wort after you've mixed in the malt extract. If you're an all-grain brewer, taste the mash, then as you run off during the sparge, keep tasting periodically - you'll be amazed at how you can tell when the sugar is all washed out of the wort. One time as a test, after I ran off my sparge, I put another quart of so of hot water into the mash to see if I could force some tannins out (this didn't go into my batch) and could taste them. Sure could! Taste your beer anytime you take a gravity reading (drink that sample, don't toss it!) and as you're packaging. I can say there's nothing more thrilling than drinking a sample tube full of warm flat beer that is totally delicious that you're packaging. That means that when it's cold crashed, carbed, and served, it's going to be awesome. If you use "set it and forget it" carbonation for your keg, pull a sample every few days - it'll amaze you to learn how the carbonation builds up. You can also taste test bottled beer by doing a test bottle every few days.
4) Journal your beer making. I have kept journal notes for nearly every batch that I've made since 1998. I do have some holes in my journaling when I got lazy, but generally, I have kept notes the entire time. My entries are basic - date I brewed, weather notes, recipe, quick procedure description, and then tasting notes - I keep updating the journal as the beer gets consumed to note how it ages etc. It's a great way to make sure you know what you've done and what worked great and what did not.
5) Make what you like. I can't tell you the number of people that I know that have made beers they don't like even though there is not a thing wrong with the beer. Get to asking them and they say "yeah, I don't like super hoppy beers" ... hmm then why did you just brew a hop-monster IPA? "Well, it's what everyone is making these days" ... screw that. While I'm all about learning about new flavors and tastes, save your efforts and expense to that what you really love. And skip the things you don't.
6) Get REALLY good at just a few beers. Now, don't misconstrue #5 and this one as "he doesn't like to experiment" - I do. In fact, I love it. But I also have found that being consistent and delivering the same thing twice or 10 times is much harder than making a new recipe each time. Your friends will come to appreciate it ("ooh, Stew, got any more of that wheat ale I love so much?" Yup, just tapped a fresh keg, let's head to the basement bar and get a draft), and you'll look forward to it too.
So, veteran brewers, what advice would you give to our beginner friends?