While brewing beer isn't any more difficult than other challenging skills we master in life, like cooking or driving, I have found that there is quite a learning curve. First, there's all this new equipment and terminology. I felt like I was learning a new language, having to constantly refer to a book or the Internet when coming across terms like "the hot break," "racking cane," and "sparging." Not to mention the words whose pronunciations are not what you'd expect, like "wort" (pronounced "wert") and "trub" (pronounced "troob"). And as I progress toward my first "all-grain" batch (a more advanced process that starts with mashing grains rather than using already prepared malt extracts), I'm finding that for every term or technique I successfully learn about or understand, a new one awaits.Granted, someone can continue to purchase prepared ingredient kits at the local homebrew store, simply follow the included directions, and end up with decent to good beer. But I'm the kind of person who wants to understand why I'm doing something. Why are certain hops added with 10 minutes left in the boil while others boil for the full 60 minutes? Why is it preferable for the boiling beer to be lowered to below 70 degrees quickly and in a certain manner? This is where the learning curve really becomes noticeable.
Frankly, it's all pretty overwhelming. But I keep coming back for more. A few of my friends had brewed beer before and introduced me to the process in a low-key manner. After our second batch—roughly five months ago—I had been bitten by the bug and wanted to learn more, more, more. I had tons of questions. For example, why did one brewer friend prefer to ferment with liquid yeast in a test tube versus the so-called "smack-pack" liquid yeast or dry yeast? As it turns out, he had had little success with the smack packs and said dry yeast was generally a bad idea. Yet I had read on Internet brewing forums of people making good bear using all three. No offense to my brewing friends, but much like the aforementioned ingredient kit instructions, I was just following orders on brew day. For reasons like these, I had to understand the process for myself. And while self-educating about homebrewing has deepened both my passion for brewing and my appreciation for beer in general, my head has been spinning a bit. Yours probably will too if you try to absorb the same amount of information in a five-month span.
In an effort to get other fledgling brewers off on the right foot, here's a list of things I have found to be the most helpful:
- Read brewing books! There are some great texts already available that essentially give you the keys to the kingdom. I would recommend The Complete Joy of Homebrewing
by Charlie Papazian as well as How to Brew
by John Palmer (graciously offered online for free in its first edition at www.howtobrew.com). I started with Papazian's book, which is often referred to as the "Homebrew Bible," and I feel it gave me a great launching off point and instilled the right attitude in me. Palmer's book has filled in a lot of key gaps in my understanding, so I definitely recommend reading both.- Relax, be patient, and don't take the process too seriously. If you read The Complete Joy of Homebrewing mentioned above, you will become very familiar with author Charlie Papazian's mantra: "Relax. Don't worry. Have a homebrew." Not only are they words to live by for easily stressed people like me, but it's a great point to reinforce that you are pursuing this hobby for fun. The worst thing you'll do is waste some money on ingredients if you mess up a batch.
- Take pride in your cleanliness. You hear this advice everywhere so I won't belabor the point, but learning how to properly clean and sanitize your equipment is probably the simplest way to ensure you brew good beer. Personally, I have had good success with PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash) for soaking/cleaning equipment and Star San for sanitizing.
- Use the Web to your advantage. Clearly anyone reading this has already caught on to this advice, but I have been amazed by just how many homebrewers there are out in the world. On sites like www.homebrewtalk.com, you can interact with brewers of various experience levels. Fortunately fellow homebrewers seem to be a friendly lot who will usually help out a newcomer rather than mock his or her lack of expertise. So feel free to ask questions or simply lurk and gain wisdom. But be prepared to encounter plenty of new brewing lingo and acronyms (which are deciphered by a quick Google search or a question to the forum). There are also some really helpful videos (of varying production quality) on YouTube.
- Purchase brewing software. I recently purchased BeerSmith (available for 21-day free trial at www.beersmith.com), though there are other programs available. I wish I had downloaded this months ago. While the software handles a lot of mathematical calculations inherent in more advanced homebrewing, it is totally appropriate to use for the most basic of recipes. There is a learning curve with this software as well, but I believe it goes hand-in-hand with the learning curve for brewing in general. At first you can stick with many of the default settings but you will familiarize yourself with factors that will become extremely important in your quest to improve your brewing process and results. For novices, I find the biggest advantage of such software is the ability for it to prepare a brew day instruction sheet (customized to your recipe) that you can print out and follow.
- Brew a batch on your own! If you typically brew with friends, go pick out your favorite ingredient kit, borrow some equipment, get some advice from your friends or homebrew store, and brew at least one batch by yourself. You will learn more about the entire process than you can by assisting others. And learn to take good notes. That habit will be crucial as you progress and want to repeat favorite recipes or reverse engineer what you did wrong. I poured out all five gallons of the first solo batch I brewed, but it was a great learning experience nonetheless. My second solo batch was a nightmare brew day (everything seemed to go wrong) but turned out to be the best homebrew I've made, alone or with a group.
A closing piece of advice, which will be well-received by most yet already accomplished by many, is to sample a lot of different styles and brands of beer. I for one had very little exposure to beers beyond the pale ale style, and have been forcing myself over the past several months to buy beers outside of my comfort zone. I've discovered that I like porters, for example, and that has me learning about a whole new range of brewing ingredients as a result.
Thanks for reading and feel free to post comments or questions. I'm far from an expert in homebrewing but hope to share my experiences to encourage and possibly educate others whose passions lead them down this path as a fledgling brewer.
and am now making a concerted effort to distinguish the roles various ingredients play in the taste of beers. This part is quite challenging for me. I've also read that you should taste your ingredients before brewing, which makes perfect sense. I'll make a point to do that with future brews.
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