AHB, The Home brew Forum UK, Homebrew Talk.

[Reg Holt]

Here we have 3 forums, all sister forums. I was once a keen follower of AHB, now I am on the two other forums, and others more than on here. Something has gone drastically wrong on AHB, nothing to do with the split. The posts per day on AHB is abysmal compered to the sister sites. A handful of posts compared to the others mentioned. This was a good forum once now it is in decline. And it isn't hard to see why. Posts deleted, no right of reply unless one is a paying sponsor! I was a paying member and got posts deleted for criticising a sponsor. A forum is about members not about sponsors. A paying sponsor in dollar value is far less than 30 or 40 even more members paying membership fees. I think Angie has to take a close look at what is going wrong on this forum. Half expecting this to be deleted but just want to have a say no matter how short.

 

[malt and barley blues]

Here we have 3 forums, all sister forums. I was once a keen follower of AHB, now I am on the two other forums, and others more than on here. Something has gone drastically wrong on AHB, nothing to do with the split. The posts per day on AHB is abysmal compered to the sister sites. A handful of posts compared to the others mentioned. This was a good forum once now it is in decline. And it isn't hard to see why. Posts deleted, no right of reply unless one is a paying sponsor! I was a paying member and got posts deleted for criticising a sponsor. A forum is about members not about sponsors. A paying sponsor in dollar value is far less than 30 or 40 even more members paying membership fees. I think Angie has to take a close look at what is going wrong on this forum. Half expecting this to be deleted but just want to have a say no matter how short.

Funny you should mention that, here is a post copied off another forum which was posted today

.G'day all, a quick Intro. My names John, I used to brew AG back in the mid 2000's and was fairly active on AHB. I've just returned to brewing after a decade away to discover that that particular forums is a ghost-town, and I believe many of the members are now here.

Seeing as the other sister forums are getting more posts in 30 minutes than for the whole day on AHB I would be looking at AHB admin. Definitely seems to have lost its direction in the past 12 to 18 months.

 

[terminal2k]

I've gotta say, being fairly new to the home brew game, I came here wanting to see some home brew discussion in measurements that actually made sense (wtf is a gallon) but I'm doing most of my beer discussion elsewhere. The main reason I pop back in here from time to time is hoping that someone has posted some cheap homebrew gear nearby

 

[MHB]

I've been here for 15 years or so, in that time there have been ups and downs in AHB.
Admittedly this isn’t a high point and I have some thoughts on why, but maybe later.
Things will get better, its cyclic, just remember that in the time I've been here there have been several other fora come and go, but AHB survives.
Stick with it
Mark

 

[Nullnvoid]

I think forums in general are loosing momentum. I can't speak for overseas forums. But here and the other place are relatively quiet without the knowledge that there once was.

I've tried asking questions at both, but don't really receive anything, so go to my messenger group with people with the knowledge that used to be here and there and get what I need. It's quicker, easier and without the ******** that goes with these forums and also facebook groups.

 

[scomet]

Whats the point of posting here? Only one person knows what they're talking about.....

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Whats the point of posting here? Only one person knows what they're talking about.....

You mean there is more than one person? I agree with Mark forums do ebb and flow, BUT during the lock downs a lot of us have bee through, it should have been a boom period for forums, which it has on others, not this one. I was watching Home Brew Forum UK membership increased dramatically, (you would have noticed that scomet) also looking at all the subscribing members they have just about every other member signed up.
A forum should be run like a business, (well it is a business) it's the membership that counts, get the members on board and happily posting sponsors will sign up. As mentioned above a handful of posts a day is all that seems to be happening doesn't encourage sponsor to part with their money. So I agree the buck stops with admin.

 

[TheWiggman]

This forum is a treasure trove of information and recipes. There is so much good info and old hilarious threads that it's almost like there is too much. When I began, BIAB in an urn was the done thing. Some went HERMS with active sponsors. Otherwise you wanted a Braumeister if you could afford one (or WillamsWarn - ha!). Then along came the fancier systems with wifi and all-in-ones that could do what a BM could at a fraction of the cost and quality. My old colleague here started on all grain with a Grainfather. Pre-packed recipes, he could just look them up, and he's making decent cheap beer.
That wasn't around 15 years ago.
The journey for the perfect beer will never end but I feel that most of the hard work in getting all grain out there has been done, and there's less reliance on forums to make decent beer. Or just look up what you want, and it's probably been discussed. Or I'm wrong. I still want the case swaps to happen, that's something that can only be enabled through these public forums. And who doesn't like pics of stuff-ups on 1000 systems with a mix of hacks and guns while enjoying and critiquing one-another's beers?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

What I found best about a forum, any forum is the diverse answers to questions asked. That more than anything encouraged me to read more and do my own research. As the saying goes there is no such thing as a stupid question, but there is a hell of a lot of stupid answers.