Information For All Brewers!

[Effect]

I was hoping if everyone would be able to post a small little piece of advice that would be benefitical for brewers - kit and kilo all the way through to all grain. Something that they have learned from brewing beer or from other brewers.

Please keep it short and sweet (as less is more), and more importantly on topic!

For example, here is my tidbit.


Crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run! Don't jump into the deap end (AG) until you know what you are capable of! In saying that HTFU and do AG!



Another example,

"Don't be afraid of Hot Side Airation - it's the boogie man!"

or

"Don't worry about your Wyeast smack pack not inflating - if it's only been 12 hours - it will puff up soon and will still work even if it doesn't"




Bring em on!

 

[Jez]

triple check to make sure that tap REALLY IS closed.

trust me

Jez

 

[muckey]

after you check the tap, go back and check it again.

and

experiment a little to find out what you like

and clean everything


then go back and check the tap

Edit: yes I've had tap issues too!!

 

[goatherder]

It's all about the yeast.

 

[jonocarroll]

Well, it's not quite from personal experience (give it a month and I'll get back to you) but it seems to be a biggie based on what I've heard;


FERMENTATION TEMPERATURE CONTROL MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE.


I'm working on getting a fridge/freezer and a FridgeMate soon, and I trust the above to be accurate.

Also, I know I'm a newbie here, and nothing against the forum members...


READ THE FORUMS, THE ARCHIVES, EVERYTHING. THEN TAKE ALL OF IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT (AND A HOMEBREW); 10 'EXPERTS' TELLING YOU THAT SOMETHING ALWAYS DOES "A" IS USELESS WHEN YOU WATCH IT DO "B."


Most of all, brew for the fun of it, and make beer the way YOU like it.


Cheers! :icon_cheers:

 

[Bribie G]

Dubbels and Trippels and Kolshs and Hefes are all very well but If you are happy with achieving your Melbourne Bitter clone for 80c a litre then you are in beer paradise. :beerbang:

 

[buttersd70]

Check the tap again, in case Muckey didn't.

Brew at least one single malt single hop beer.

Low OG does not necessarily = low flavour

Low OG does not necessarily = low flavour (I know that I just said this...but it's worth saying twice)

Balance is everything.

Always ask yourself "what specific purpose does this ingredient perform in this beer? What does it contribute? Is there a better option?" - and if you can't answer the first part of that question, don't use it.

Dark beer does not have to be 'heavy'....some is, but some certainly isn't.

(deliberately) low carbonated beers are not flat - they are low carbonated.

Coke should be fizzy....Best Bitter is not coke.

Targets are important...but so is the fluidity to change plans, and adust the sights.

Edit: AG is way better than kits or extract - but theres no need to rub it in. We all started somewhere once, and there are differant strokes for different folks.

 

[wakkatoo]

if it tastes good to you, then it IS good beer.

oh, and become a clean freak!

 

[browndog]

Use the search function or you will cop ****.

Ag is easy, the pedantics make it sound hard.

cheers

Browndog

 

[Doc]

You can make award winning beer using the No Chill method and Dried Yeast.

Doc

 

[monkale]

You can make award winning beer using the No Chill method and Dried Yeast.

Doc

Cheers to that Doc thats the way I roll nice and easy :icon_cheers:

 

[dr K]

If you think "megaswill" tastes crap and your beer doesn't, maybe think about entering it in a BJCP sanctioned comp.

K

 

[enoch]

Wearing thongs while working with boiling liquids is dangerous!

 

[Cocko]

Brew as often as you can!

Too much beer is better than not enough....

 

[jonocarroll]

Get one of those inflatable women. But make sure it's a woman, though, because one time I... heh. Oh, wrong forum.

My point is; there's a time to be serious (sanitising) and a time for jokes (brew in the fermenter, tap off).
Know which is which. There's no point ruining a potentially great batch 'coz you weren't paying attention.

Surely the best tip of all - read J. J. Palmer's "How to Brew". Buy it, borrow it, read it online. Just read it, then read it again.

 

[Carbonator]

Filling or transferring liquids between vessels and walking away will almost always end-up in a smelly, soggy mess!

DON'T WALK AWAY, EVER!

 

[clean brewer]

1. Do an Equipment check before you do your first AG beer(alot of research has gone into this), do a test run with boiling water and your Mash Tun(you are not mashing/sparging with cold water are you???) double check for leaks, do a boil in your kettle to ensure it boils(30ltrs of liquid for a single batch) and check that your fittings on your kettle are not leaking..
2. Have everything ready to go, MISE EN PLACE(everything in its place)
3. No beer until the 1st Hop addition..
4. GET KEGS(from ross, no affiliation)..

My $0.02 worth..

 

[Crunched]

If you're worried about AG sounding like too much effort - try BIAB (brew in a bag) first. You'll soon find out how easy an AG brew really is.

 

[tangent]

Don't be such *******, just make some fu(&ing drinkable (AG) beer!

If some I.T. nerd tells you how to do something but has never actually done it, remind self to ignore everything.

 

[Gavo]

Hydrometers break easily, always have a spare on hand even if it is a brigalow brand. Better still, handle it very carefully and tape up the bung on the bottom of the tube (if using the tube it came in) when checking SG so the bung and Hydrometer don't fall out.

Cheers
Gavo