I share a similar story. Instead of Brad Smith describing Batch Sparging, for me it was Don Osborn.
When I first began brewing again, I researched various ways to brew. I found some guys doing videos on You Tube: first the guys from Northern Brewer who ‘introduced’ me to Don Osborn (http://www.donosborn.com/) who said he used a Cheap and Easy method called batch sparging and cited some guy named Denny Conn. I needed low entry cost so I checked it out.
I gravitated towards batch sparging fairly quickly because I figured I could do what I saw Don O doing on YouTube (which he learned from Denny). It wasn’t long until I had a blue picnic cooler, a pot and turkey fryer, and a bucket fermenter setup.
Though I’ve added a pump with flow control and distribution, first RIMS now HERMS, induction cooktop and indoor brewery, etc. — the underlying system is still a MLT, kettle, and fermenter based on what I saw on YouTube.
Cheers to this thread! Where would so many of us be today without Denny? A looooong time ago, I began mashing in a cooler at Denny’s suggestion, and loved the “cheap ‘n’ easy” concept, which has stuck with me throughout my homebrewing “career” – even moreso than Denny I’m sure. I still boil on my stovetop, still don’t own and have never used a stirplate or a chiller or countless other needless things. It helps of course also that I brew smaller batches. Later on I begin mashing and brewing in a bag (BIAB), but still love to use my old cooler for the occasional bigger batch about once a year.
Denny ranks up there with Charlie P as an inspiration to join the hobby. Northern Brewer’s forum and this one got me into the conversation. Now we have so many sources of information, that the average homebrewer can get whatever question he or she may have quickly answered with reliability. Thanks to all skill levels for keeping this going! But special thanks to Denny. Once the podcast hit and I could hear his voice, I now impute that voice to each post he makes. Cool, man!
same with me in the mid 2000’s. His championing of batch sparging made homebrewing so much easier for me. Not sure I would have kept going if it wasnt for him.
The first book I read when beginning my home brewing journey was Experimental Brewing. I thought it was going to be some weird and wild stuff. Maybe it was for the times, but I still gleaned a lot of useful information which helped me along the path. So not only does Denny get a should out, but Drew as well. Thanks to both of you.
Denny… I don’t believe many of the forums would be the same if you did not have a presence on them.
When I started home brewing around 2003, I was doing full boil extract batches on a turkey fryer. I learned about Denny and his website from the Tasty Brew forum. I remember thinking, wow I don’t have to go out and buy some fancy equipment because I had a cooler and braided supply line at home. I still use that cooler today and I’ve made some minor improvements on other equipment over the years, but basically the same set up. Cheers to Denny!
+1 on the shout out to Denny, to whom I’d say I also owe a debt of gratitude. I have MANY times referred to Denny as a source of inspiration and information when talking with fellow brewers about techniques and approaches they might consider adopting, and Denny’s embrace of the simple has fit well with my own journey into brewing. Cheers to you Mr. Conn!
that I started writing and submitting articles to Zymurgy ( and BYO).