HBD Forum - Brews and Views finished?

streambrewer · January 19, 2017, 3:46am

Just checked over on the old B&V forums, or attempted to, for the first time in a week or two, and it was non-functional.

Does anyone know what is going on? It has obviously been on the decline for several years, but hate to see it go. 10-12 years ago, it was one of the fountains for home brewing knowledge. I have yet to see another board with the same knowledge dynamic.

It makes me feel like a bit of a more experienced brewer, having started a little over 15 years ago and brewed many, many hundreds of gallons, though I still felt like a newbie when asking questions. Always picking up tips from many voices of experience there.

Will miss it if it’s gone.

loopie_beer · January 19, 2017, 10:43am

Yeah it’s been down. I too find it by far the most knowledgeable forum as there are individuals there with many years of experience, even some with commercial experience. I too will miss it if it goes away.

I know Pat has other obligations and it can sometimes take a while to get fixed.

denny · January 19, 2017, 7:09pm

I used to find it a lot more valuable than I do now. While it’s a haven for experienced brewers, one of the downsides of that is that a lot of the people who post there are entrenched in old info and methods and resistant to changing that. I hope to see it come back becasue there are a lot of experienced brewers with useful knowledge, but I find it a lot less useful than it used to be, Looks like the main HBD page is down also.

loopie_beer · January 19, 2017, 10:05pm

Denny I would agree with that. But I also acknowledge that some people, including myself, are as interested in experimenting as much as you. I also find many of use are resistant to change as much as change is more of a hindrance than what there is to gain… whether it be time time, money, process, equipment, etc.

wilcolandzaat · January 20, 2017, 2:32pm

Me not so long brewing about 2 years now. Love to get. Oldschool. Info. From older brewers. But like to experiment. As well. Love to read lots of info

denny · January 20, 2017, 4:51pm

The one problem with Old school info os that so much of it is wrong, or that ingredients have changed so much it’s no longer relevant.

sneezles61 · January 20, 2017, 11:17pm

From my point of view, if old world/school technics were so good, we wouldn’t need to change. Yet, as with so many other hobbies, change is inevitable. Why? Because someone was brave enough to think outside the box and try a few experiments. Proved there is more than one way to peel an orange… Sneezles61

flars · January 20, 2017, 11:38pm

An example of old world techniques/information I read recently. An article in BYO that said you must get the beer off the yeast cake in 4 to 5 days to prevent off flavors. I don’t remember if the article was from 2005 or 2010. It is still out there for brewers to read and take as gospel.

loopie_beer · January 21, 2017, 2:01am

@flars and @sneezles61 I respect you two immensely however you’re not contributing at HBD and I can assure you that no one there is so old school that they are passing very poor advice. I hope that doesn’t come off as defensive. I just wanted to point out that if you haven’t visited and read on the forum it’s hard to comment on the advice being portrayed.

@denny, I would agree with that sentiment too. And, again, I don’t think that the participants there are so obtuse to think that “old school” was the only and best way. Even in your book Denny you labeled that crew as ‘traditionalists.’

What I’m saying is they are a lot like me. I still fly sparge… why? I learned that way. By the time I go and spend money on additional parts to change something that already works, to spend time perfecting a different technique that only produces similar results, perhaps have inferior results on numerous beers to only save 20 mins? Not worth it.

streambrewer · January 21, 2017, 3:21am

Hmm…I think I missed the old school bias. Just small things that I enjoyed, like Marlon Lang’s little tips, or the lessons I learned about how a philosophy of laziness can help make your brewing process more efficient.

Or from Denny–how to batch sparge. Or, water chemistry worksheets.

Of course, it being HBD, came across the old “Cat’s Meow” recipe book. That book is actually very dated.

sneezles61 · January 21, 2017, 6:18pm

I wasn’t really dissing anyone, rather making a compliment/point of where the mother of invention comes from… My apologies… Sneezles61

loopie_beer · January 23, 2017, 1:46am

Just got word from Bill P. Pat is transitioning the forum to an off site host. Should be back, just not sure when.

JSA · February 6, 2017, 7:07pm

HBD Brews and Views is back up and running.

http://www.brewsandviews.com/

In response to some of the comments above: I think that the wisdom available to be accessed on Brews and Views is not really “Old School” at all. The format and feel of the forum was definitely old school. That has been updated now. Many of the folks who have posted regularly on B & V over the years obviously stay abreast of the latest brewing news and technology.
Unfortunately, B&V is starting from scratch. The archives should be back up soon, but for now it is just new discussions. I encourage anyone who posts questions or comments on this (or any other) board to also post on Brews and Views in order to get a broader range of good responses.