an idea to develop

[ms67]

i often wonder what advice i would give to a new brewer so i thought a thread along those lines might work well. apart from the obvious sanitation, sanitation, sanitation, patience, patience, which is so important an undeniable, what else would we recommend? can i start the ball rolling, with the hope that someone will condense the wisdom gleaned at a a later date?

1: variety is the spice of life, and brewing
experiment

• try brewing from kits (there's kits to suit all budgets and they are hassle free)
• try brewing from cartons, the tips in WaH mean that you can brew uber stuff, ready to drink fast, on a budget. its almost as hassle free as a kit and gives you much more scope to experiment with fruits etc
• try brewing from fresh produce in the market/supermarket, you may like the process of extraction etc
• try brewing from foraged fruits, roots, veg, flowers, leaves .... just because others dont rate them doesn't mean it wont be right up your street, and it'scheap as chips, and you get another reason to be out and about enjoying the seasons
• never ever forget that you are an individual, so just because your taste are unusual it doesnt mean that they are invalid. in short brew what gives you joy, be it in the process, the budget, or the flavour

2: be organised

• brew what you know and love, to keep stocks up.
• brew something that is ready to drink quick (like wine number 1) so that your other brews get a chance to age properly
• keep doing the experimental stuff (see number 1 - ooops beware confusion with wine number one), cos you never know what surprises are out there for you
• keep records, yeast variety, OG, FG, back sweetening, where you found that good supply of foraged starting material

3: never give up on a brew, leave it for a year in a dark cool place, if its no good then consider it for blending unless it tastes gross, then leave it for another year.

4: consider that others have done the same, or similar, and look up their thoughts on improvement or alternatives. you may find a simple difference makes all the difference (i know that makes sense even if it doesnt sound like it does!)

okies, over to the rest of you to develop, modify, add to, change, improve, clarify etc etc

[Cellar_Rat]

Nice one. Heres my tuppence!

1. keep stocks up - never underestimate this:

a) you always drink more than you intent to...
b) you need to have stuff to enjoy, to spur you on to greater things ...


2. Don't be scared of bigger batches - they are often easier.

3. There is ALWAYS something new to learn.

Thats the fluffy stuff out of the way.. now my mostist bestist discovery.....

Washing up

If you seem to spend hours washing up you are doing it wrong. Simples. [This process for me was a breakthrough]. Don't let it get dirty, then it only needs a rinse and then seal it up with a splash of cheap Vodka. After all when was the last time you saw a bottle of spirits with a blue crush eh!!
Vodka has little taste or smell. Sooo when you want the vessel - sniff it (to check) tip it out and use it.

...and please think of the planet - recycle the vodka please!!


Brian

[ms67]

nice one Brian

especially like the washing up tip, which would fit into the sanitation bit.
The always something new to learn bit would go well in the experiment section, and is great way to express why experimentation is important.
And the large batch thoughts are great too, especially as large can mean 5 gallons (to the small scale brewers like me) or very much more for those who want to jump right in on a large scale where 5 gallons might be their idea of small scale.

i'm glad you like the idea of this thread and i'm looking forward to more contributions ...come on you lot, you know you have great tips for newbies, and you are just itching to share your wisdom!

[wisp]

My quick tip would be when you are reading all the advice on what equipment to buy ... make sure you have a corkscrew!

[ms67]

My quick tip would be when you are reading all the advice on what equipment to buy ... make sure you have a corkscrew!

hmmm, thats something i never tried, next time i read something i'll have a corkscrew in my hand and see how it helps

[wisp]

You know what I mean. You read these different books and they say you need buckets, a flogger, DJs, tubing and so forth. Yet the most vital piece of equipment, a corkscrew, is often omitted. Imagine having to sit there and chew the top off a bottle?

[wisp]

Don't be afraid to ask.

[Cellar_Rat]

............... a flogger, ...........

?? are you sure?
This is the winemaking forum you know - you didn't think you where somewhere else on the internet did you.

Seriously - what is, and what do you use a flogger for?

Brian

[wisp]

?? are you sure?
This is the winemaking forum you know - you didn't think you where somewhere else on the internet did you.

Seriously - what is, and what do you use a flogger for?

Brian

It's a wooden/plastic tool for putting corks into bottles. You put the cork inside the flogger, place the flogger on top of the bottle and hit it with a mallet.

What type of clubs do you go to?

[wisp]

Watch these videos about educating your palate:

Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=181fE...eature=related

Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrQW5...eature=related

These have been put together by WaH

[ms67]

nice to see more ideas here. i'm thinking tho that some of the tips may be better for a little further along the line than complete beginners? i'll wait til some more ideas come in and then i'll make a first attempt at consolidating what we have got. at that point my aim will hopefully become clearer and perhaps some sort of timeline will also appear.

[lockwood1956]

while this "develops" I have moved it to general winemaking

[lockwood1956]

and who knows....it may become the WAH guide to good wine

[ms67]

cheers Bob, really good to see you drop in here and don't mind the move at all. i'm aiming for something like a non-technical start up guide. it'll say nothing of specifics and plenty about how to approach brewing as a novice. so general stuff about nurturing your nature, for example do you like to experiment, or do you like to follow very prescriptive recipes and methods, then take path 'a' for the first option or path "b" for the second. if there is a bit of both in you then you decide which way to swing for which (eg ingredients or method).

But more generally than that it'll be about how to maintain an interest and enthusiasm to see you through the early days. Making wine number one is an enormous help to beat the wine aging lag, but i think that as a unit we can offer more than that. and more than that i believe we can do it concisely and in a fun way. so this is not about detail, its about generalities that make the whole thing much MUCH more pleasurable for the novice. So great results straight off are not everything, but enjoying what you do, always having something to look forward too (whether an imminently ready brew, or something new to forage, or taking the chore out of chores, or clear and easy to see progress etc etc etc).

further to that it will be the sort of thing that makes a wannabe homebrewer stop wondering, and start brewing. i haven't scoured the forum to see if such a thing exists already, but i don't think it does. lots of reassurance, few rules (sanitation and patience aside) and simple talk/tips that accounts for different tastes/methods should accomplish this easily. My inspiration, by the way, comes from how wine number 1 is presented with all its simplicity and flexibility and results. so i'm on the path to expanding that to winemaking in general.

[Cellar_Rat]

Aahaa. A flogger is a corker - got it. Makes me glad I don't get involved with that particular abominable practice [bottling]

There was me getting all sorts of ideas