If you had a time machine, what what you tell your beginner brew-self?

[LowNotes]

Ignoring any potential negative impacts in the space-time continuum and time travel paradox's, what would you tell yourself if you could go back in time to the day before you brewed your first beer or ordered your first kit/equipment?

For me:

1 - Buy the damn autosiphon. Now. Before bottling your first batch. While possible to brew/bottle without one, it is well worth the money.

2 - Wrap a strainer bag around the end of the tube when racking a dry-hopped beer to the bottling bucket, it works great and this way you won't clog your bottling wand with hop-bits, avoiding drippiness and wasted beer.

3 - The first time you use your homemade immersion chiller, don't try and save the runoff water in pots to use in cleaning. You will walk out of the room, forget, and make an enormous watery mess in your kitchen. It just isn't worth it for a couple gallons of hot water.

 

[aiptasia]

1) Fermcap-S. This. Yes.
2) Buy a gazillion cheap hydrometers. Your elbows will break them by the dozen.
3) That stupid tradition of drinkin' while brewin'? Don't. Not if you want good beer.
4) No sexual favors for a brew sculpture. No matter how cute s/he is.
5) The clap is not the new "Brett."

 

[Homercidal]

Start saving up more money!

 

[mtnagel]

Don't forget to add the priming sugar. It sucks uncapping and recapping to prime.

Use the amount of beer you end up with to calculate the amount of priming sugar, not the amount of beer you think you will end up with or you will have lots of overcarbed bottles.

 

[LowNotes]

1) Fermcap-S. This. Yes.
2) Buy a gazillion cheap hydrometers. Your elbows will break them by the dozen.
3) That stupid tradition of drinkin' while brewin'? Don't. Not if you want good beer.
4) No sexual favors for a brew sculpture. No matter how cute s/he is.
5) The clap is not the new "Brett."

Haha, I feel like numbers 3-5 could all be part of the same extremely fun, but regretful, weekend.

 

[kombat]

Temperature control is extremely important. 60-65° F for ales, 40-50° F for lagers.

The quick-disconnect posts on Corny kegs are NOT interchageable. One can only be used for "liquid out", and one can only be used for "gas in." Keep them straight.

 

[brokebucket]

Start 10 years sooner.

 

[AnOldUR]

Start saving up more money!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Except for this, nothing.

It's been a hoot, and I wouldn't want to change anything!



and a lot of thanks to HBT.

 

[chungking]

3) That stupid tradition of drinkin' while brewin'? Don't. Not if you want good beer.

The key is to relax and have "A" homebrew, not a six pack!

 

[DSorenson]

I'd tell me to make a checklist and not worry all the time, because my first brew would be great!

 

[woozy]

Nothing. That arrogant bastard never listens anyway.


Seriously. I'd tell him you learn by experience and things come eventually with time and click and you can't know everything at once. Which he would translate as any I advice I give him would go over his head anyway.

 

[Doomsday]

Keep a better journal..... I get so lazy when it comes to documenting my brew sessions.

Keep a separate propane tank for brewing and grilling.
That way when you have a bunch of friends over and get ready to grill up some burgers........you actually have gas to keep a flame lit :cross:
(almost glad it happened that way around and not run out of gas on brew day)

 

[MagicSmoker]

My beginner brewer self is only about 3 months younger than my current self, but I already know what I would have told that insufferable SOB: use RO water!!!

 

[cluckk]

"Pitch more yeast and get better control of your fermentation temperatures."

 

[cluckk]

Keep a separate propane tank for brewing and grilling.
That way when you have a bunch of friends over and get ready to grill up some burgers........you actually have gas to keep a flame lit :cross:
(almost glad it happened that way around and not run out of gas on brew day)

I grill with charcoal, but discovered one day, too late, that I was out. I slapped a cast iron grill pan on top of my burner and made some beautiful steaks. See, having enough propane can save the evening.

 

[amandabab]

"Phil's is going out of business. Buy more of those metal ball bearing check valve bottle phillers now."

 

[brewinginnc]

Stop trying to make light beers for the wife. When she doesnt like them you must finish them. That pliny clone will be her favorite so go ahead and make it already.

 

[mttfrog13]

I'm still a beginner, but after a year and a half experience I would tell myself...

1. Don't bother with the Mr. beer kit. Go with 1 gallon BIAB batches if you want small batches or just want to dip your toes into brewing.

2. Don't use dark malt extracts if possible. And when brewing with extract, expect your SRM to be a bit darker than what your brewing calculator is saying.

 

[TyTanium]

You will not save money. But it's still worth it.

 

[jmh286]

Just go AG. It isn't as intimidating as it's made out to be and having control over the beer makes for some interesting experiments.

 

[Echoloc8]

Brewing will be more rewarding than you even begin to imagine, so:

1. Suck it up and buy a bigger pot for full-volume boils.
2. Suck it up and go all-grain.
3. Suck it up and make starters.
4. Suck it up and get temperature control, even a swamp cooler.

Also, much as you enjoy brewing for yourself, make a brewing-buddy friend ASAP. You will brew more, and better, than you ever expected to. :rockin:

-Rich

 

[BetterSense]

Get a chest freezer first and skip all the swamp coolers/ice baths/SOFC fiddling.

 

[seigex]

Start homebrewing before marriage so that way she marries in to the hobby, less headache trying to justify the hobby.

 

[LegitBrew]

Skip extract and just start out with all-grain. Also, you will not get as much out of festivals if you are already tipsy before lunch.

 

[Echoloc8]

Start homebrewing before marriage so that way she marries in to the hobby, less headache trying to justify the hobby.

Truth. Wife #2 loves the fact that I homebrew, and that's because I already did when I met her. Wife #1 (ex) wouldn't even allow "mold" (i.e., brewing yeast) in the home for fear of some nebulous moldmageddon.

-Rich

 

[DromJohn]

In the early 90's I walked into a LHBS intending to buy beginning equipment. I loaded some into my cart, then saw the large import and craft brews selection, and put up the equipment and left with three cases of good beer.

Walking out of the TARDIS, I'd whisper, "You can do both."

 

[hunter_le five]

"Finding a way to control fermentation temperature should be your FIRST major upgrade, not your eighth. It will make way more of a difference in your beer quality than upgrading to AG, the new brew pot, the new burner, the plate filter, the kegerator, the conical fermenter, the single-tier stand...." <--- Yeah, I'm an idiot...

+1 to the autosiphon. I never thought it was worth the money until I actually bought one.

 

[MGBBob80]

1) Stop worrying. It'll be fine.
2) Change only one thing in a recipe at a time. Makes it easier to understand what's happening in your beer.
3) +2 on the auto-siphon.
4) Ditto on much of what has already been said!

 

[justkev52]

Ignoring any potential negative impacts in the space-time continuum and time travel paradox's, what would you tell yourself if you could go back in time to the day before you brewed your first beer or ordered your first kit/equipment?

For me:

1 - Buy the damn autosiphon. Now. Before bottling your first batch. While possible to brew/bottle without one, it is well worth the money.

2 - Wrap a strainer bag around the end of the tube when racking a dry-hopped beer to the bottling bucket, it works great and this way you won't clog your bottling wand with hop-bits, avoiding drippiness and wasted beer.

3 - The first time you use your homemade immersion chiller, don't try and save the runoff water in pots to use in cleaning. You will walk out of the room, forget, and make an enormous watery mess in your kitchen. It just isn't worth it for a couple gallons of hot water.

When the LHBS asked if I wanted to "upgrade" to liquid yeast without telling me I could reuse it. I would have said hell no.

 

[kapbrew13]

Buy big and buy quality.

 

[CA_Mouse]

Don't waste time on extract only kits and learn not to fear the foam!

Mouse

 

[TriageStat]

Go straight for kegs and skip the bottles.

 

[JohnGonk]

To sell my Mr. Beer kit at a garage sale lol

 

[Bernie3761]

Purchase a wort chiller ASAP

 

[Jipper]

Buy a kettle with a spigot. Quick disconnects are your new best friend. Clean, sanitize, clean, sanitize. Temperature controlled fermentation is NECESSARY. The best brew can be the worst beer with poor fermentation temperatures or pitch rates.

Cheers!

 

[Mcbobs]

Go straight for kegs and skip the bottles.

This.

Skip the damn bottling and go straight to kegging. Makes brewing much more enjoyable. I can brew more often, drink more often and try new things more often.

Plus, bottling just sucks.

 

[DAlexander]

"Clean" doesn't mean sanitized.
Listen to the elder brewers
Start buying kegs now!

 

[MrNickVT]

To stop breaking hydrometers

 

[JeffD1]

1) Fermcap-S. This. Yes.
2) Buy a gazillion cheap hydrometers. Your elbows will break them by the dozen.
3) That stupid tradition of drinkin' while brewin'? Don't. Not if you want good beer.
4) No sexual favors for a brew sculpture. No matter how cute s/he is.
5) The clap is not the new "Brett."

Number 3 is very true. I learned that my first time brewing.

 

[mike_in_ak]

I would use my time machine to give the guys at the Alamo some bigger and better guns.