I got into a bit of a tiff on a Facebook group over pitching rates with a guy (about whether a brand new brewer really had to worry about overpitching on his first batch) and quickly remembered why I like this forum so much.
Speaking of, I can’t remember where, but somebody mentioned starting a couple of stickies in the “Getting Started” thread for a lot of the “Help- first batch questions” topics. If there’s appetite for that, I’d be happy to take a stab at writing up a few… maybe one for one gallon folks, one for first extract batch, etc?
I had thought about doing this also. There is so much “need to know information” I thought confusion would be the result.
Perhaps a topic called “Getting ready for your first brew??” Come to the forum and ask if the instructions can be followed to a “T” and result in a great beer.
I was thinking there are two main audiences that need pretty similar information. There’s the “I’m getting ready to brew- walk me through it” folks, and the “I just brewed, followed the instructions- is this normal? How do I fix it?” crowd. Both need information like that the instructions aren’t complete, temp control, with specific terms to search for, water source, etc.
I thought also maybe a yes or no thread answering common questions like “is my beer ruined” most all the time the answer is no. Will my beer ever carbonate, yes. Will we ever get over Breiss malt, no.
While I think it’s a good idea to have a FAQ or a couple sticky threads, it always runs the risk of a new brewer asking a question and it turning into a race about who can say “read the sticky” first. Even though the question may have been asked dozens of times, quite often the person is just looking for a conversation about their particular scenario, and this is the easiest way to get it going.
So don’t let me discourage you guys, but as a group I think we should try to keep in mind that it’s a tool for providing information, and not a replacement for discussion.
I just think its best to let, whom ever, ask their question. They may feel good that it was replied/discussed to them, as opposed to reading about"someone else question". Does that make sense? Like to secondary or not? Especially as I mashed Briess in a blue cooler!! Sneezles61
Fair enough… and even though there are similarities, things do change. I’d hate to refer someone to pat answers if, for instance, they might need to warm their fermentation instead of using a swamp cooler, or if they are doing something other than a us-05 ale, etc.
I too thought it a good idea to have a general FAQ. However, seeing as how people don’t search for answers I feel it will likely be ignored. In addition, I think people asking some of the similar questions allows newer Brewers to answer, building and confirming their knowledge.
There are also those that might be searching for the answer to their question and have the answer have nothing to do with their original question, which is what happened with me a few times on here when I started brewing last year.
Why does it always have to be about briefs? Cant the color of a cooler be an important issue too?.. I’ll bet the newbs are looking at this and wonder how entrenched we aren’t! Its all good, and I do enjoy how each has an answer that does help the newer brewers learn! Sneezles61
PS, auto correct changed briess!!!
Well if we didn’t have all the new brewers stop by the forum asking questions what would we do. It’s fun, heck nobody else wants to listen to us talk about brewing.
For all the noobs, here’s the source of the “grainy Breiss” joke. In my years here, this has been the most spiny debate on the forum. I read through it about a year after it happened, and was amazed at how civil it was, in terms of usual Internet tough guy bloviating.
For the record, I don’t know where red vs. blue mash tuns came from.
I remember that exchange when I first started on this forum. Glad there’s no more of that. Funny that people still bring it up. That guy went over to another forum HBA I think
The real question there is whether the discussion was heated, or if the environment in which that discussion existed was conducive to increased heat of the discussion.
OMG, thanks! Spilled my brew laughing! I do wonder where all those peeps went? I think the red vs. blue was a paradigm to the election, sort of… Still OMG, that was great! Sneezles61
Sneezles61
Its all good, and I do enjoy how each has an answer that does help the newer brewers learn! Sneezles61
