I just attempted to go to the MoreBeer forum to see if there were any posts over the past couple weeks, only to find… the link is dead. I couldn’t find any link on the main site either. They weren’t getting any traffic anymore for the past couple years, so I guess they finally pulled the plug. About 10 years ago it was a pretty hip forum. Wonder who’s next.
That was the first forum I went to. Found it when I bought my first kit from them. I remember getting treated a wee bit unfriendly. Mr Conn was great to me and suggested the AHA forum and it was much much better.
Flash backs… I didn’t know nothing about nothing back then. I know a little more now, but darn near everything I know was told to me here, or from a podcast. Of course it’s all MY knowledge now, ya know. I pretty much invented beer, just ask me.
Who’s next? Not us I hope. And I am planning on doing something about it.
New brewer questions get polite answers
There’s no ugly in brewing! I’m learning to ignore ugly.
Experience based… I’m not blurting stuff unless I’ve tried it. If I haven’t tried it, I’ll make it clear I haven’t.
You got me to look around and see what’s left. What I noticed is, of everything out there, this really is top of the heap here.
The knowledge being shared here seems more in-depth, and trustworthy, and people care enough to correct and elaborate. Activity level is higher. Members seem more engaged. And despite the occasional acrimony around here, this forum is pretty fun (some have all the personality of a phone book.) On that acrimony, and the occasional other sorts of annoyance (trolls etc), I spotted many identical posts and topics out there – some people will just go and poke every eyeball they can find. The fact that other forums don’t get in a dither over inappropriateness seems to be partly that they don’t seem discerning enough to recognize it or care.
For all the criticism the forum and the AHA may arouse, it is a community, and a rewarding one. Glad I’m here.
MoreBeer (B3 for the real old timers) was the first forum I ever participated in unless you count the old HomebrewDigest. Believe it or not I was in contact with Gary last October.
At the risk of coming off high and mighty, (Not my role here, I prefer being the class clown) we are adults. Any ugliness is owned by all of us, not just the leadership. Leadership is voluntary here… it don’t pay enough to shoulder responsibility for foolishment.
Having said that, its way past time to quit looking backwards. Suck it up buttercup! Own your part, change, and let’s get back to what made it great.
I wasn’t here when Jim was apparently gone, but I’ve really enjoyed his being around. His threads around New Year’s about finding your happy brewing place really were something I needed. Stick around, Jim. You’ve got the attitude that’s the antidote.
There are many people gone from when I started here in 2014. It’s a shame for sure. Especially because they were advanced brewers.
I wish people like AmandaK, Wort H.O.G., etc. would come back to the forum. There are so many topics to discuss and it seems kind of a bummer that personal differences between certain people would have forced helpful people away from a place that they liked to frequent.
I certainly can’t absolve myself totally from some of the guilt but at the same time it’s water under the bridge.
WortH.O.G. has been a great contributor, he returned briefly but haven’t seen him a lot. Pretty certain Ken Lenard is Village Taphouse. Still posts his gorgeous lagers regularly, usually four or so at a time!
“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
This is the only forum on which I participate. I used to check out NB forum, but I haven’t gone there in a few years. I don’t really get the time to post as much as previously, so I may be an example of a reduced participant.
I listen to Denny and Drew’s podcasts while brewing. My brewing has definitely gone more “hobby” and less lifestyle, but I am brewing as much as ever - just doing what I want when I want, based on nothing in particular, while also maintaining some regular tap beers that my guests expect.
I am now a HERMS BIAB hybrid system user and adjust my water per Brunwater, take light German lagers through LODO methods, but don’t stress it for my English or American ales.
I think we are witnessing the aging of the hobby - we need to be intentional about getting younger adults into the hobby and letting them provide a new enthusiasm to become contagious.
Perhaps not so much aging as maturing. When the hobby was new, folks had to focus more on just getting gear and brewing. Now with excellent equipment available from a variety of vendors, folks have more time to get into the science and engineering aspect of brewing.
The recent (needless) squabbles are very reminiscent of the new engineer trying to convince the old technicians why they need to care about X when they haven’t had to before. All depends on what the goal is.
Now if craft beer would only mature…Sadly I grow more irritated with what’s available every day. I need to get brewing again!
I migrated over here from the homebrew digest and at first was pretty grumpy about it, but as I learned the names and the people I became very comfortable here. I am not familiar with any other forums, beer or otherwise.
I miss Amanda, Tom Schmidlin, Carl (punatic), even though he needed to tell us about his perfect life in Hawaii, and that guy who taught us all about shaken not stirred starters.
I’m happy to have made some friends here in real life as well - Denny, Keith, Jeff R., Mike. Nice people.
I am brewing less lately and not sharing as much with other non-brewing folks. I say, let them make their own beer.
I am enjoying learning about the staling effects of oxidation lately. I must admit that when I first became a judge in the mid 90’s I knew German Lagers as stage B oxidized products and did not judge well the ones that were bright and hoppy. It took a while to relearn that.