How many batches before I'm not a beginner anymore...

[timgman]

How many batches need I brew before I'm not a beginner anymore...

I know .... not an objective metric ... but food for thought...

 

[RC0032]

This thread needs a poll

 

[BeernuT100]

When you stop learning new things.

 

[Revvy]

When you live the sacred Rdwhahb through the entire process, then you are no longer a padwan...

......Then you are a jedi-brewer.

 

[snailsongs]

WHen you don't need to look at any type of instructions whatsoever to brew a good beer......

When you have a solid understanding of each and every step of your brewing process, why each step is there/important and how you can manipulate the steps to achieve the results you want.

just the $0.02 of a noob who is outgrowing his own brewing toddler-time....

 

[Revvy]

When you stop learning new things.

Then we're all beginners, because I learn something new on here everyday.

 

[IrregularPulse]

When you don't have to ask if you're still a beginner.

 

[timgman]

Poll is being added now....

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

At the point where two parallel lines meet.

 

[shecky]

At the point where two parallel lines meet.

Oooh, thought provoking and correct.
I'd venture to say everybody is a beginner with only varying degrees of experience.

 

[RC0032]

Poll is being added now....

good humor there!

For me...its when you give more info that you absorb

 

[timgman]

good humor there!

For me...its when you give more info that you absorb

Ahh that's a nice one....

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

when your brew day is filled with gypsum and pony rides

 

[defenestrate]

when you write a book

 

[shecky]

when you write a book

Cool. I've written two books, neither published and they have nothing to do with beer, but apparently I meet the criteria.

 

[defenestrate]

sounds like your not a beginner with something then!

 

[IrregularPulse]

Based off the Poll, None of the Above. We'll let you know.

(btw, I am still a beginner)

 

[chumprock]

When you go through the entire process from firing the burner to drinking the beer without one single worry.

 

[Bopper]

I don't think "noobness" should be measured by # of batches brewed but by understanding of the brewing process. Here are a few indicators that come to my mind:

- When you are able to produce (relatively) consistent beers over multiple batches using the same recipe.
- When you understand how different ingredients affect the final product (e.g. color, flavor, mouthfeel, head retention, carbonation, etc).
- When you realize that, even though you are producing good beers that you enjoy time after time, you still have a lot to learn about brewing beer (the more you know, the more you realize how much you don't know).
- When you find yourself answering "is my beer ruined" threads rather than asking "is my beer ruined."

 

[MBrusky]

Depends who's opinion it is. To some guys on here I'm just a "lowly greenhorn" for good reason, they are experts! But, to my family and friends I'm the "guru of brew", they have no clue how to turn grain into beer that actually tastes good.....so to them, I'm the expert. Plus it doesn't hurt to BS them a little, at least until you find the right answer on here!!!

 

[Coastarine]

As long as you've only just begun, and I like to think that I have:rockin:

 

[user 22118]

I just talked with a brewer friend of mine and he liked the beers I served him. That was a good start. I still picked his mind for the next hour though, so I think of myself as still learning. I also just talked with a bunch of brewer folk and they all told me something new, so I call myself a beginner.

 

[Hegh]

...
- When you find yourself answering "is my beer ruined" threads rather than asking "is my beer ruined."

You stole mine!

And, to sound a bit more wise: when you realize that it's not the quantity that you've brewed, but the quality.

One more: when you can teach others about brewing you've moved on from beginner to at least some intermediate level.

You'll never stop learning, though.

 

[Yooper]

I didn't answer the poll, as I feel like I'm so much a beginner in so many different ways. I just start to understand saccrificcation rests, and then I learn more about the beta and alpha amylse rests. I batch sparge, so now I'm trying fly sparging. I need to learn more about water chemistry. There are some beer styles I've never made. I'm still a beginner.

 

[Hegh]

Forgot to mention, I'm a beginner too, but I like to think I sound wise anyway

 

[ftlstrings]

When are you not a beginner anymore? It has to be after you know nothing and after you know a little and think you know a lot. Surely beginning is over when you know enough that you know you don't know very much and you try to use what you know to learn more.

~M~

 

[joety]

When you stop learning new things.

Anyone who claims that status here is either clueless or lying, and there are some amazingly sharp people here.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

All of them!

 

[JMSetzler]

The poll needs an option like this:

When you take a hydrometer reading before the yeast is pitched and at bottling time and none inbetween.

 

[ottobrew]

When you can taste a beer from a brewery and say to yourself, "I can make this, but better." Then you go home and make it, and you and all your friends think your beer is better than that of the "professionals".

 

[z987k]

I don't think "noobness" should be measured by # of batches brewed but by understanding of the brewing process. Here are a few indicators that come to my mind:

- When you are able to produce (relatively) consistent beers over multiple batches using the same recipe.
- When you understand how different ingredients affect the final product (e.g. color, flavor, mouthfeel, head retention, carbonation, etc).
- When you realize that, even though you are producing good beers that you enjoy time after time, you still have a lot to learn about brewing beer (the more you know, the more you realize how much you don't know).
- When you find yourself answering "is my beer ruined" threads rather than asking "is my beer ruined."

I like those

to add to it:
-When you can calculate the amount of water, and amount of mash to pull for a triple decoction with a piece of paper and not referencing anything.
-When you give beer to people to try it is NOT cloudy for any reason and you don't filter (if it's not a hefe/wit.)
-When you understand how mash pH and temperature, and the mineral content of your water effects the outcome of your beer.

That should give some people some goals to reach for.

 

[jgardner6]

WHen you don't need to look at any type of instructions whatsoever to brew a good beer......

When you have a solid understanding of each and every step of your brewing process, why each step is there/important and how you can manipulate the steps to achieve the results you want.

just the $0.02 of a noob who is outgrowing his own brewing toddler-time....

I agree with snailsongs.

 

[dagamore]

when your brew day is filled with gypsum and pony rides

I am soo looking forward to the ponyrides when i brew, but they seem to get skiddish around the open flames.

 

[Bopper]

I am soo looking forward to the ponyrides when i brew, but they seem to get skiddish around the open flames.

I've found that if you give the pony's a little gypsum it calms their fears of the flame

 

[ChickenSoop]

...... when your neighbors are lined up at your front door, at least 20 at a time during your Friday night happy hour.

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

If you can still remember how many batches you've brewed, you haven't brewed any.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I've brewed almost 100 batches, but I'm still closer to a beginner than an expert. Spend some time with guys that do it for a living and it will really humble you.

It's a Cheyco sighting!

I don't rememeber *exactly*how many I've brewed, but I keep records... so I *could* find out and tell you exactly how many.

 

[TexLaw]

If you can still remember how many batches you've brewed, you haven't brewed any.

That's about right.

Really, and I hate to keep this thread sounding like the I Ching, but there is no objective measure. Likewise, it's also not about becoming some advanced brewer with a whole bunch of knowledge knocking around in your head and leading you to all sorts of weird and wonderful places. There is a middle ground.

At some point, you just get it. The fog clears, the trumpets sound, you relax, and you know what you're doing. You are not a master, by any stretch of the imagination, but you have cleared the threshhold and see the process for what it is. You understand why some basic things are good (like cleanliness, proper sanitation, measuring, monitoring, and thinking about what you are doing), and you understand why some basic things are bad (like shortcuts and getting blasted while brewing). You just get it.

If you really need some sort of milestone, I say you are no longer a beginner when you can formulate your own recipes or, at least, tweak existing recipes and have some idea what to expect. You don't have to be dead on (who is?), but you have some idea.


TL

 

[missing link]

relating expertise to number of batches brewed is like asking your boss for a promotion because you've been at the company for 5 years. Nobody is entitled to advancement. It is earned.

I'm sure there are folks that brew great beer on the first try. I was not one of them. Though in 18 months of brewing, I went from being the only one willing to drink my beer to impressing some friends with my brews.

Who knows, maybe someday I'll earn a promotion.

Linc

 

[PhlyanPan]

How about:

When you begin a brewing cycle with a specific goal in mind, and you are able to come up with the things that you need to do to achieve that goal. And you come pretty close to what you were aiming at.