Paranoid Home Brewing

[terrym]

I thought it would be interesting to start a list of all the things home brewers worry about unnecessarily, since we come across them often on this forum, in fact much too often.
Home brewing should be a a simple predictable activity, and provided you keep things clean, check equipment over before you use it, use fresh ingredients, and try to avoid contact with your product as much as you sensibly can before you eventually drink it, it's fun to do and things rarely go wrong in my opinion, and you should definitely not be losing sleep over it.
So, at the top of the list, and possibly fuelled by urban legend
- infection/contamination; follow the basic cleanliness/sanitisation rules and you have to be extremely unlucky for a brew to go bad, unless you are hit by a plague of fruit flies
- oxidation; often talked about, but apart from rare occasions how many have actually experienced it; try not to splash when you move your beer about but it's not the end of the world if it does get the odd bubble of air in it
Then and in 'no particular order' we have
- clear bottles; a new word 'skunking' arose in my vocabulary this week, and I only thought skunks made a smell, or you smoked it
- my air lock isn't bubbling; the lids on FVs leak, and CO2 bypasses the lock, so don't rely on your airlock
- I have scratched the inside of my FV; provided you keep your FV clean and thoroughly sanitise it before use, as you should, no problem imo
- fermenting temperatures too high/too low; basically follow the instructions on the yeast packet or kit instructions for optimum temperature unless by experience you know better
- my PB is leaking; check all the cap seals before you start, and then lightly smear vaseline on the rubber ring and don't overtighten cap

There will be others.....

But my favourite of recent weeks, which to be fair was only a one-off question, was "Can I use old creosote tubs for brewing?"...priceless

 

[IainM]

- racking the wort/wine off the trub/lees; unless you are storing for ages, it won't ruin your batch. Some wines like Chardonnay or Muscadet are aged on the lees precisely because of the flavour it imparts, and the same is true of some beers.

 

[Sadfield]

It's never really an issue when using the correct formula and accounting for temperature etc. But, over carbonation of bottles is my paranoia.

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[brumbrew]

It's never really an issue when using the correct formula and accounting for temperature etc. But, over carbonation of bottles is my paranoia.

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When a friend hands me a bottle of their own homebrew this what I worry about. It's like having a time bomb. Many times I've cleaned glass out of my shed because of this.

 

[Robin54]

I think you will find all the forums of all sorts in all the world are the same.
Consisting of...
Those who know nothing
Those who can't read instructions
Those who can't be bothered to search a forum
Those who keep asking the same questions
Those who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a kitchen or sharp object
Those who know everything and more
Those who complicate something simply, to look clever.
Some of these people frequent multiple forums, because nobody would talk to them in a Public House.

 

[Sadfield]

When a friend hands me a bottle of their own homebrew this what I worry about. It's like having a time bomb. Many times I've cleaned glass out of my shed because of this.

Ha! More paranoid about beers coming out a bit fizzy for the style, than gushers taking my face off.

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[Pope]

My biggest paranoia is the beer being flat...my first AG was completely flat, my second was fizzy but no head at all...

 

[dublin12]

Air gap at top of FV; Nothing to worry about unless you are leaving it there like that for longer than it takes to clear with finings. A worse sin is to top up with water.

 

[geetee]

Lots of paranoia about leaving hops in or taking hops out and supposed grassy taste or astringency/ overbitter.
Not sure there is a right answer to this one as some people like their beers with a dank bitterness and others don't!

 

[Jakeyboi]

was she faking it?

Oops wrong forum

 

[terrym]

I thought I would bump this thread from some time back, since I have been seeing folks posting with worries about 'infections' and it still seems relevant.
And my favourite post is #5

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I found your first post informative and number 5 is my least favourite.

infection/contamination; follow the basic cleanliness/sanitisation rules and you have to be extremely unlucky for a brew to go bad, unless you are hit by a plague of fruit flies

The above quote is of course spot on but if a new brewer finds something odd looking on the surface of their first brew 5 days in reading the above quote is not going to convince them its not ruined and they haven't wasted their time and money whereas a picture of their brew and a posts asking what members think will have the desired effect (peace of mind) even if the answer is "it looks OK to me", this is the whole point of having a forum and as i have said many times without new members asking questions (however often they may have been asked before) the forum would die a slow death, the owners would make no money and eventually they would have to pull the plug, we could simply answer every question with "Why not search google" as most questions have probably been answered over the years but is that the way we want the forum to go?

.

 

[Sadfield]

If original post is true, only if you see things in binary, good or ruined, drinkable or drain pour. Reality is different, and as we sanitise and not sterilise, it is impossible not to have contamination. I see lots of posts that point towards contamination issues (or oxidation, light strike etc) however potential problems get overlook/rejected because the beer hasn't turned to vinegar, despite Acetobacter spoilage only being one of many differing contaminants.

 

[terrym]

First, there's nowt wrong with asking questions. Most of us on here do our best to answer them if we feel qualified enough, including repeat questions/answers about airlocks not bubbling, PBs leaking, and, yes, stuff floating on the top of a new brew etc etc
However, as part of post 5 suggests, some questions, but clearly not all, could be answered by folks using the forum search engine. Isn't that's what it's there for? Are folks really beginning to lose the knack of finding things out for themselves, and always take the easy option of getting someone else to do their thinking for them?
And the rest of the items in post 5 are, sadly true, some comically so.
The original intent of this post over 2 years ago was to highlight the things some homebrewers get unduly concerned about when they really needn't. I revived it since it seemed relevant. And yet even today I read about some who was 'paranoid' about infecting his beer. Clearly the misconceptions will continue.
Your final point about the owner not making any money and the forum folding as a result due to new members being reluctant to ask simple questions seems, in my view, to be stretching a point too far. There are enough interesting and detailed subjects raised and discussed on this forum at regular intervals, let alone ongoing ones, which hopefully new members will read and maybe even join in and learn about their hobby, which must far outweigh the simple 'my air lock isn't bubbling' type of question. And it is from the former that the owner will derive most of his his advertising revenue, and which must also include revenue attracted by using the forum search engine, however small that may be.

 

[chthon]

F
However, as part of post 5 suggests, some questions, but clearly not all, could be answered by folks using the forum search engine. Isn't that's what it's there for? Are folks really beginning to lose the knack of finding things out for themselves, and always take the easy option of getting someone else to do their thinking for them?

Hm, as I have already remarked to the forum administrators of the Dutch and Flemish fora, the search engines of any forum software (doesn't matter what brand) don't do a good job of presenting the relevant info. If you are lucky, then you might find what you need. If not, you get a whole lot of topics which contain any of the search terms, but in a completely different context.

Since I find more relevant results by Google in different fora, it would maybe be better to use Google as the backend of the forum search software, and present these results.

As for the second part of the question, homebrewers are a diverse bunch, and I sometimes get the impression that a majority is rather autodidactic. However, other people are not, and I know from experience in different jobs that sometimes you have people that need a little bit help to find their path (I once had a colleague who didn't want to do something new unless he had gotten a course first from our company). To quote Robert Sheckley: "to be able to pose a question you already need to know a part of the answer".

 

[terrym]

If original post is true, only if you see things in binary, good or ruined, drinkable or drain pour. Reality is different, and as we sanitise and not sterilise, it is impossible not to have contamination. I see lots of posts that point towards contamination issues (or oxidation, light strike etc) however potential problems get overlook/rejected because the beer hasn't turned to vinegar, despite Acetobacter spoilage only being one of many differing contaminants.

You may well be right in your comments. However I suspect that for most, small imperfections go unnoticed and do not affect the enjoyment of their finished product. What the OP was all about was try to highlight, in general terms, things some homebrewers worry about unnecessarily and some misconceptions that many homebrewers have, especially new ones, which they pick up from others who know little better. If things genuinely can go wrong then that is of course a valid point for knowledgeable and informed discussion, not the stuff of myth and legend.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

as part of post 5 suggests, some questions, but clearly not all, could be answered by folks using the forum search engine. Isn't that's what it's there for? Are folks really beginning to lose the knack of finding things out for themselves, and always take the easy option of getting someone else to do their thinking for them?

I agree the forum search tool is easy to use and can give good results but I guess some just prefer to get an answer from a logged in curent member and also it's a means of breaking the ice especially if you are not a regular forum user, I don't have a problem with members asking the same question others have asked as members can choose to answer or not, few questions go unanswered.

 

[F00b4r]

It's never really an issue when using the correct formula and accounting for temperature etc. But, over carbonation of bottles is my paranoia.

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It should be simple but it does seem to get a little more complex if you don't drink beer quickly as some yeasts do have a habit of slowly munching through some of last gravity points. I much prefer kegging and the counter pressure filling nowadays because of this.... Oh that and bottle cleaning!

Lots of paranoia about leaving hops in or taking hops out and supposed grassy taste or astringency/ overbitter.
Not sure there is a right answer to this one as some people like their beers with a dank bitterness and others don't!

I am pretty sure I once saw someone quote a professional brewer that in his/her experience grassyness only occurred if you dry hopped above a certain temperature (15C?). I might have to see if I can dig out further information on this.

If original post is true, only if you see things in binary, good or ruined, drinkable or drain pour. Reality is different, and as we sanitise and not sterilise, it is impossible not to have contamination. I see lots of posts that point towards contamination issues (or oxidation, light strike etc) however potential problems get overlook/rejected because the beer hasn't turned to vinegar, despite Acetobacter spoilage only being one of many differing contaminants.

I think there are also a lot of brewers who do not see the gaps in their process because they drink their beer within a few weeks.

 

[Bigcol49]

Since I find more relevant results by Google in different fora,

Hi @chthon
I admire your grammar; however fora is inappropriate as a plural for online forums.

 

[Sadfield]

@F00b4r I keg and then bottle, now too. For those reasons and also to reduce oxygen pickup. Far more reliable, especially as I use wild yeasts alot these days.

Also agree with your point about not seeing the gaps in process. I drink alot of others brewers homebrew between going to two different clubs, and also think that the gaps can be small, where you get beers that aren't bad, but the flaws are on the border of flavour threshold and just lack the quality or refinement of others. Homebrew should be as good, if not better than commercial beers.