How To Brew

[GuingesRock]

Any tips for brewing good beer? We all have our ideas on this. I wanted to see if people would pool their ideas about how to make the good stuff.
I’d start with the agreed basics to get them out of the way.
• Sanitation
• Fermantation Temperature Control
I’d add one of my own that isn’t often mentioned and that is; use quality ingredients (no old hops that smell like feet).

[jtmwhyte]

Taste the ingredients. I always taste anything I'm going to put in my beer "raw". If it tastes like shit, the beer will taste like shit. If it tastes awesome, the beer might.

[Jimmy]

1)Repeat a recipe and make changes to tweak it. The IPA I've been brewing has been my biggest learning experience since I started homebrewing. With Nash's help, we've been adjusting the recipe slightly each brew, trying different yeasts, etc. Changing one variable on a recipe that you know and are familiar with will really show you how it affects it.

We've changed the hop types, hop amounts, water profiles, yeast, and tomorrow the hops are being upped again and some extra "malt balls" and color are being added to the beer. The guidance really helps you make the right changes; tasting the beer after making those changes really helps you learn what those changes did. That brings me to tip #2..

2) Get someone who's better at brewing and better at tasting to taste your beers, pick out the issues, suggest tweaks, critique your process, etc. You can read all you want on the internet, and send your beers to competitions for feedback, but having someone you can talk to about the ingredients, process, what you were aiming for, etc., is a hell of a lot better when it comes to gaining useful feedback.

[GuingesRock]

There’s a lot of buggering around you can do in brewing that doesn’t make a difference and can detract from your beer … Racking to secondaries. Bagging hops to reduce trub. Skimming hot break. First wort hopping, mash hopping, overnight mashing etc etc. If you are like me you will have to try most things and figure them out for yourself. All those things are entirely optional. I decided eventually that I don’t like the taste of FWH and stopped doing it, but that’s a personal thing.

I think that it’s important to sanitize well, watch your fermentation temperature and treat the yeast well, and use high quality ingredients. Be neurotic about that stuff, but for everything else, relax, don’t worry and have a home brew and enjoy creating, modifying and drinking your beers. As you get into it more, at least take an interest in your water. It’s something else to tinker with.

[Comforteagle]

I'm a new brewer and there is a lot of advice on brewing that is based on saving money vs making good beer. Sifting for where that advice is coming from may be helpful.

[GuingesRock]

Exactly!

[RossBee]

Don't be afraid to try new things, wacky things, once the basics are down - sanitation, fermentation, racking, kegging/bottling, consistency, etc.. Brewing to style is one thing, a challenge onto itself, however, those styles were developed based on local conditions and tastes. Do not be afraid to produce what you like, thinking outside the box adds a bit of fun and satisfaction. I really do believe brewers are artists.