What would you say are definitive things every brewers needs to do to be better?
1: RDWHAHB
2: manage Ferment Temps (wort temp during fermentation)
3: pitching appropriate amount of yeast
4: simplify ingredients
5: RDWHAHB (that should be on there twice)
RDWHAHB means what?
Charlie’s mantra - Relax, Don’t Worry, Have a Homebrew
6: Have fun.
- Cleanliness
- Sanitation
These should be the first 2 ALWAYS (after RDWHAHB)! - Join a homebrew community
don’t suck
… and (along with what’s been said) craft your beer with the final product in mind.
Beer is surprisingly resilient, don’t worry about little things that go wrong, hell, don’t worry about some of the big things that go wrong.
I brewed a Dark Mild as a demo at a very large event, while cooling someone walked by and inadvertently kicked some dirt/mud into the wort. It was one of the best beers I’ve ever brewed, not what I intended, but an awesome beer with some bret character.
RDWHAHB
I thought about that, but these were so basic I skipped them. :o
Use quality ingredients
Master the mashing process
Yeast management/keep it healthy and clean
Fermentation control
did I say fermentation control
Sound beer transfer (watch out for oxidation)
have fun
enjoy the hobby
RDWHAHB
OH…and fermentation control! ;D
Sometimes the basic stuff gets overlooked and needs to be reinforced. You would be surprised how many brewers I speak to that overlook the most simple, yet important steps…
THIS^^^^
I thought that was the definition of RDWHAHB
i see a lot of people that take cleaning and sanitation too far. my fav steps are - proper yeast pitching/care, learning the effects of fermentation temp and “learn all your ingredients first, then start brewing.”
i really like the last step, there’s a multitude of ingredients out there that few people use. tons of grain, hops, sugars, syrups, yeast, spices, herbs, water additions, etc.
1.) Clean
2.) Sanitize
3.) Use quality ingredients
4.) Attempt to understand the mash
5.) Cool the wort as quickly as possible, after boiling
6.) Use proper pitch rates
7.) Use proper fermentation temperatures
8.) Be patient
9.) Be patient
10.) Enjoy, with pride
+1 ;D
Enter competitions and try to understand the judges’ feedback. Learn from their comments instead of scoffing at them for dissing your beer.
Fermentation temperature control and brewing software (Beersmith) have improved my brewing the most, thus far. Fermentation control for the obvious and Beersmith has really helped me better understand recipe formulation.
-J.K.L.
The ones listed are the priority, but to throw some other ones out there that haven’t been listed:
- Never have more than 1 beer during brewing sessions
- Have more than 1 beer AFTER brewing
- RDWHA Another HB