I find it amusing when someone tries to qualify their statements by counting the number of batches they do… “I have X number of batches and I have never experienced Y.”
Good for you?
[quote=“powerball”]I find it amusing when someone tries to qualify their statements by counting the number of batches they do… “I have X number of batches and I have never experienced Y.”
Good for you?[/quote]
I have about 30 batches, and have never experienced a need to troll more experienced brewers.
I would concur. Often I find myself listening to Denny and others with 400+ brews. I call it experience. Powerball must just call it narcissism.
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After brewing thousands of gallons of beer, I can easily tell when a poster is just bragging versus stating experience to give weight to an argument.
Yep, there’s a big difference between bragging and stating experience. But if I told you I’m an expert at brewing mediocre beer, you might be somewhat amused. LOL
[quote=“powerball”]I find it amusing when someone tries to qualify their statements by counting the number of batches they do… “I have X number of batches and I have never experienced Y.”
Good for you?[/quote]
How else are we determine the relative strength of a statement?
Post count?
I would think that several hundred batches and/or several thousand gallons of beer brewed would imply very significant experience. I would also think that any such brewer would have either gotten pretty damn good at it, or probably would have quit the hobby quite a while ago…
That said, I tend to pay close attention to these sort of credentials. These guys definitely know more about brewing than I do, and their knowledge is much appreciated…
I haven’t been keeping track of how many I have brewed but figure if someone is trying to be helpful we can take the bragging with a grain of salt.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone in this forum ‘brag’ about anything frankly. Most are very genuinely cool guys from what I’ve seen. Very helpful and approachable. Stating one’s experience level adds credibility IMHO.
All a matter of perspective I guess.
I’ve poured more beer into my septic tank than anyone else on this here forum! How 'bout that for some expertise? :mrgreen:
If you learned the why of your successes and failures then it doesn’t matter how much you’ve dumped or made.
Too much hearsay in brewing. Too much “where did that come from” or “how did that ever get started”. Too many generalities. Too much “it’s worked for me for X number of batches it’ll also work for you…” with no explanation as to why it works.
If you can’t explain why and just say “it’s worked for the last X number of batches” then you’re bragging or at the very least ignorant of why it works for you.
[quote=“powerball”]
If you can’t explain why and just say “it’s worked for the last X number of batches” then you’re bragging or at the very least ignorant of why it works for you.[/quote]
Simply choosing not to give a detailed explanation doesn’t imply either bragging or ignorance. It only means the poster chose not to explain. It’s their choice. That said, if someone’s explanation (or lack thereof) fails to pass muster with you, you could probably ask them to enlighten you. I’m guessing that most, if not all, would be glad to help you out.
Or maybe he/she don’t know. For example, I get better efficiency on my lagers with a hockhurz mash. I’m not a scientist and don’t know why, I just do. Guess I’m just ignorant…
I think some aspects of brewing are not known by anyone, but experience can guide you immensely, despite not knowing why it works.
I approach every designed beer like a well organized science experiment. I use that plus experience plus what I’ve read to create beer. Helping others and learning here on the forum are just fun to me. Maybe it’s my inner science teacher speaking!
Yep. For instance, the early brewers made beer without even knowing that yeast existed. If I remember correctly, the original German (or Bavarian, whatever) purity law specified only water, malt and hops in beer, as they did not yet know yeast existed. Yet they still brewed beer, and I’m betting it was pretty good even back then.
I would argue that there’s very few items if any, outside of perhaps some of the minutiae of the chemical reactions taking place, that cannot be reasonably explained in the brewing process.
That’s the nature of communication, though, not everyone can explain everything.
[quote=“powerball”]I find it amusing when someone tries to qualify their statements by counting the number of batches they do… “I have X number of batches and I have never experienced Y.”
Good for you?[/quote]
What brought this on?
Of course batch count doesn’t mean the brewer makes good beer, but it is a metric that can be used to indicate the relative experience of a brewer and could be said to lend some credibility to what they’re saying. I’ve got friends who have brewed longer than I have, but they have brewed far fewer batches. I generally make better beer than they do, because I’ve practiced the craft more and have worked very hard to improve my processes, tools, etc. to improve my beer.
[quote=“kcbeersnob”][quote=“powerball”]I find it amusing when someone tries to qualify their statements by counting the number of batches they do… “I have X number of batches and I have never experienced Y.”
Good for you?[/quote]
What brought this on?
Of course batch count doesn’t mean the brewer makes good beer, but it is a metric that can be used to indicate the relative experience of a brewer and could be said to lend some credibility to what they’re saying. I’ve got friends who have brewed longer than I have, but they have brewed far fewer batches. I generally make better beer than they do, because I’ve practiced the craft more and have worked very hard to improve my processes, tools, etc. to improve my beer.[/quote]
Great! But can you explain things in terms of what’s actually occurring in your process or when answering a question do you mostly find yourself saying “Well I’ve done it this way for the last X number of batches and it’s worked…”
Finding a method that works is great, knowing why it works is what will set you apart.
[quote=“powerball”][quote=“kcbeersnob”][quote=“powerball”]I find it amusing when someone tries to qualify their statements by counting the number of batches they do… “I have X number of batches and I have never experienced Y.”
Good for you?[/quote]
What brought this on?
Of course batch count doesn’t mean the brewer makes good beer, but it is a metric that can be used to indicate the relative experience of a brewer and could be said to lend some credibility to what they’re saying. I’ve got friends who have brewed longer than I have, but they have brewed far fewer batches. I generally make better beer than they do, because I’ve practiced the craft more and have worked very hard to improve my processes, tools, etc. to improve my beer.[/quote]
Great! But can you explain things in terms of what’s actually occurring in your process or when answering a question do you mostly find yourself saying “Well I’ve done it this way for the last X number of batches and it’s worked…”
Finding a method that works is great, knowing why it works is what will set you apart.[/quote]
Yeah, you already said that. However, I disagree, at least in part. Being able to do something consistently well, regardless of the path trod, is what sets one apart (re: my previous post regarding the purity law.
Anyway, I’m done here. Seems to me that maybe you’re arguing just for the sake of argument.
