You've come a long way, baby

[mashani]

I think Swen also made a few brews with the Asian LME.

The only malt extracts that my LAFS sell that I've found are more like DME (dry powder). I made beers with it too, and it worked OK for me, but wasn't really any cheaper then buying it anywhere else. It did seem to dissolve easier and clump up less, so there is probably something added to it that helps with that (I'm afraid to know what it is). I used it to add some extra malt to the old Mr. Beer Bohemian pilsner extract and I think I tossed in saaz or something, I don't remember. I think I called that beer LAFS@Bohemian. Because I'm funny like that.

But as far as I know the various types of malt extract found in LAFS are used to make sweet malt based beverages or as a sweetener in beverages, and not fermented in either case. It is simply considered to be healthier then sugar I think. Like how "chocolate malts" were better for you then "chocolate shakes" back in the day when I was a kid. I drank a lot of chocolate malts. I'm still skinny, so somehow it worked LOL.

[bpgreen]

I think Swen also made a few brews with the Asian LME.

The only malt extracts that my LAFS sell that I've found are more like DME (dry powder). I made beers with it too, and it worked OK for me, but wasn't really any cheaper then buying it anywhere else. It did seem to dissolve easier and clump up less, so there is probably something added to it that helps with that (I'm afraid to know what it is). I used it to add some extra malt to the old Mr. Beer Bohemian pilsner extract and I think I tossed in saaz or something, I don't remember. I think I called that beer LAFS@Bohemian. Because I'm funny like that.

But as far as I know the various types of malt extract found in LAFS are used to make sweet malt based beverages or as a sweetener in beverages, and not fermented in either case. It is simply considered to be healthier then sugar I think. Like how "chocolate malts" were better for you then "chocolate shakes" back in the day when I was a kid. I drank a lot of chocolate malts. I'm still skinny, so somehow it worked LOL.

I don't usually bother to name my beers. I usually just note the type. One exception I remember is when I made a batch with the High Country Canadian Draft and some LAFS LME. I called that Dundas Street Ale because there are a lot of Asian stores on Dundas Street in Toronto.

[MadBrewer]

It's always nice to read over these kinds of threads. Everyone has had a path of growth in one way or another with the same ideas behind it. I started in 09 with a MB kit from a friend, used that for a while before brewing with DME and steeping grains. Then came all grain and it's pretty much been that way ever since. Near the end of every brewing year, I look back and gather what I have learned, accomplished and what I set out to do in the new year. So with that in mind as we are coming up to that time I l consider things I have planed for next year. I did not brew much in 2017, well I did but not nearly as much as years past. That will probably continue into the new year and my focus will be on quality not so much quantity. Time to take a little step back and refocus on what really makes a difference and impact on my beers for the better. I have had several batches this year that were just meh, time to kick it up a notch for the kind of beers I really want to produce.

[Crazy Climber]

Then various bad things happened (glass carboy explosion, divorce, etc.)

Wow, yeah, those are a couple of very seriously bad things.
One is emotionally scarring, and tragic...and the other involves dissolving a marriage.

I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your bartenders and waitresses.

[Dawg LB Steve]

December of 2013 got Mr Beer kit and refills for Christmas, by March I started doing AG. While doing 2nd AG batch a friend posted on FB he had a kegerator for sale, $225 and an hour later it was delivered and the decision was made, that batch was going into a keg. Two kegerators and a keezer later I am able to keep 8 on tap ( at least till I convert the other single tower to a 3 faucet tower).

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[brewnewb]

^^ Sounds interesting. Let us know how it turns out.

We drank some of the Hunt for Red Oktoberfest this weekend. I'll give it a "C" . For some reason most, if not all, of the MB or BD kits I do seem to have an after taste I do not care for. Not sure how to describe it. I'll choke down the rest of the keg next week or so and move on.

[MadBrewer]

We should do a spin off of this topic, we all kind of mentioned where we started and where we are now but how about we talk a little about what we have actually learned in that time. I don't mean how we learned about different hops, malts, yeast or how to go from extract to all grain...etc. I mean what have you come to get out of home brewing?

In my 7 yrs of brewing I have come to learn that brewing your own beer is extremely forgiving. In the end, you will still have beer. No matter what, in some shape or form you will have a finished beer. It may not be your best, it may not be exactly what you imagined, but none the less.

I have also learned to go back to the basics. I have come full circle with my brewing, started off basic, then made upgrades, get some fancy equipment, some automation and while that is all cool, the basics are what make beer better, not a shiny kettle or a fancy conical, it's the basics that are important and I'm returning to that.

I have also learned I do not care for Belgian anything, I have brewed a Witbier a time or two but that is it, never brewed or cared for anything Belgian, and that's ok. Some don't like the English Ales that I love to brew.

I have also come to learn (for the beers I brew) and my experiences I don't really feel a need for liquid yeasts, there is a dry yeast available for most of the beers I brew (it's cheap and mostly just easy and reliable) and using liquid yeast has not made those beers any better. This is also ok, your results may vary.

So...?

[BlackDuck]

I agree with a number of your points MadBrewer, particularly the dry yeast point. I primarily use dry yeast. I have used liquid, and I really can't tell much of a difference between the two.

One thing that I've learned is that so many times home brewers go overboard on many parts of the brewing. And it's just not something to fret over. From temp control, to grain weight, to hops, to volumes, to...well, there is a list of them. Take temp control for instance. We've all read that you HAVE to mash at 152 for a particular recipe or it just won't be right. Come on man!!! I've brewed the same recipe multiple times, one time the mash was at 153, the next it was at 150. Other than the alcohol being different by maybe .2% (and who really cares that I got 5.5% ABV and not 5.7%), I could tell absolutely no difference between the two batches. I've also transferred different volumes from batch to batch. And again, I don't see a difference. I guess this all goes back to MadBrewers comment on how brewing can be forgiving. You can err quite often from what the recipe stats say and still have great beer. I guess what I'm trying to say is that home brewers as a whole tend to pay too close attention to the fine details and believe that if you get the smallest of things wrong the final product is going to be crap. It's not, it's gonna be beer, and most of the time it's gonna be a good beer. Don't sweat the small stuff, brewing is not that hard. And so what if your OG came in a touch high or low, or your FG didn't finish exactly where BeerSmith said it would, or your clone recipe came out nothing like what you were trying to clone (See the Slutty Queen topic for example) in the end, your probably drinking a damn fine beer. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

[Beer-lord]

I definitely agree as well but I personally like the nerdy, science stuff of yeast starters, ph testing and the like. Not needed for great beer but I plan my brew days so that I CAN do these things. There are times when easy takes over and then you realize, KISS works too!

[berryman]

We should do a spin off of this topic,

In my 7 yrs of brewing I have come to learn that brewing your own beer is extremely forgiving. In the end, you will still have beer. No matter what, in some shape or form you will have a finished beer. It may not be your best, it may not be exactly what you imagined, but none the less.

So...?

Good idea MB, start a thread so we all can jump in.
I agree with that statement, I've made some really great beers and some So So beers, but so far not one I couldn't drink and had to dump out. Yes home brewing is very forgiving, look back on how beer was made for many years and they made beer, not sure if we would like it nowadays but they did.

[swenocha]

Re:mashani... indeed it was me that you tied with on the Mr. B contest. That was a crap-ton of ingredients...

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[MadBrewer]

I definitely agree as well but I personally like the nerdy, science stuff of yeast starters, ph testing and the like. Not needed for great beer but I plan my brew days so that I CAN do these things. There are times when easy takes over and then you realize, KISS works too!

I geek out on the science of brewing as well. It is part of why I brew in the first place. I feel recipe formulation and selection of ingredients etc is the art of brewing but the rest is science.