Whether you are new to brewing or more seasoned we all make mistakes. But there are some things that we can be aware of from the start that will make our homebrewing process run smoothly and reward us with a great-tasting beer. So we have compiled a couple of great-sounding pieces of advice that not only beginners but also professionals need to remind themself of from time to time.

Recipe is too complicated

You can find so many different recipes online. Some of them use 12 kinds of grain, 3 kinds of hops, and all kinds of weird stuff thrown in. You may think all those ingredients make a great IPA. And you probably don’t know the purpose of each ingredient or why you are adding them. And in the end, it will be a muddled mess of flavors.

Yes, those recipes might work but when you’re getting started it’s a good idea, to begin with, simple recipes with few ingredients. Using fewer ingredients allows you to learn the flavor profile and impact of each ingredient. If you’re adding a million things it will be difficult to know what adds what flavor. Nail a simple recipe and that way you can learn the ingredients better.

Being careless about oxidation

We all know the taste of an oxidized beer. It’s stale and it can taste like cardboard. Oxidation is extremely important in certain styles of beer. Especially in the popular New England IPAs where hop character can drastically be impacted by oxidation.

Oxygen is extremely important at the beginning of the fermentation to help the yeast do its job. But once fermentation is in full swing it’s vital to limit oxygen exposure to reduce the off flavors that ruin your beer. As much as you can keep your beer in a closed vessel through fermentation to packaging and minimize air contact and vigorous agitation to reduce oxidation. In recent years pressure fermentation and closed transfer techniques have grown in popularity for this very reason. Leave the beer alone and let it do its thing. Be careful not to risk exposing oxygen to your beer whenever possible.

Caring too much about equipment

It’s very easy to scroll through Instagram and see all the fancy equipment online. And sometimes you might think there’s no way that I can make a really good beer without this expensive stuff. I’ve heard stories of people buying into expensive systems only to be disappointed by wasting up to sometimes thousands of dollars and equipment they never use. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Equipment doesn’t make a good beer, the brewer does. And really you can make delicious beer on very inexpensive equipment. Start out basic and if you really find yourself dedicated to the hobby you can slowly build your dream system upgrading a little at a time all while perfecting your skills.

Not taking temperature seriously

The reason temperature is so important during fermentation is that it greatly impacts the health of the yeast and the flavor that it will produce. This is dependent on the yeast strains but if you ferment too hot you risk getting off flavors that can negatively impact the flavor of your beer. While fermenting too cold can slow yeast growth down and potentially risk a stuck fermentation which means you won’t ferment all the available sugars you could have. Most yeast packets have a range of temperatures written on their label for a reason.

Not taking notes

The only way to remember all the details is to take notes. And write them down the moment they happen so you don’t forget. There are several ways you can do this. It could be as simple as a notepad that you have dedicated to homebrewing or even using a program on your computer to take notes.

Whatever it is as long as it’s easily accessible and somewhere you will remember to do I guarantee it will help you become a better brewer. One of the biggest benefits is of being able to perfect a recipe and tweak it until you are happy. And then replicate it year after year.