How about 1 show for the "novice?"

[Jimbo]

I was wondering what you guys might thing about brewing something like a SNPA? Just one show dedicated to something that is available around the US/World and everyone uses as a baseline (of some sort).

Yeah - there are about 100 versions of SNPA on the internet and I've brewed maybe 5 or 6 of them - but NEVER seem to quite get the SNPA balance & flavor.

I know it's not thrilling, but it might be really, really helpful to those of us learning to try and brew something close to a commercial style as both a learning project and a commercial calibration.

[mattmacleod]

Spooky - I was thinking exactly the same thing. I live in England and about the only US brews I can get regularly are some Stone and Sierra Nevada. Fortunately I can get SNPA often enough for it to be my favourite beer, with Celebration Ale just slightly behind it.

I'd personally love SNPA on CYBI.

[walt3120]

Sounds good to me. As another novice I'd like to hear about the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

I'd been afraid to ask since the whole idea of cloning an SNPA might be "ho-hum" to them.

[jomebrew]

I was talking to some experienced brewers (BJCP Judges and gold medal winners) about brewing for n00bs like me. It is amazing how much they take for granted. They were somewhat amused at the trails of my fist solo brew on my own setup. Even tasty was surprised when I explained some of the challenges of following recipes from Jamil's Brewing Classic Styles.

I have listened to all the brew strong shows and many of the earlier ones. I went to B3 to get grains for a recipe from the brew strong show and was confused as hell. I was able to find just one grain that matched the recipe and there were two of those to pick from (american 2 row). At B3, all the grans have some other name and number. Only a n00b like me would get all confused just getting grains. Luckily the Los Altos folks are great and helped me out, but still... Novices just don't know stuff.

The shows are great. I really enjoy all aspects of the brewing network shows. I do agree that there is a definite tilt (on BS and CYBI) towards folks that know what they are doing rather than n00bs like me. Some simpler episodes leaning the other way would be appreciated.

[Cuda]

I think Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale might be on CYBI some time soon. If this one gets clone anyone can do it...

I do see your point about the Sierra Nevada Pale ale. But if they do decide to brew it do we ask for the bottled version or the draft version... (if you did not know they are two different beers)

[Blowmax10]

I doubt they could ever get a large brewer like Sierra Nevada to give their flagship recipe away

[BDawg]

One book that helped me tremendously when I first started was Homebrewing for Dummies. It was really straight forward, and unlike so many of the "Dummies" books, the content is very respectable. The author, Marty Nachel, has a single digit BJCP id number, and he presents the concepts in that book in a way that is incredibly well done and easy to understand (****with one exception, see below).

Brewer's code -- It is a really great book that gives a great first level coverage of all of the topics of home brewing. Sure, other books go on to cover the details better, but this book really hits the important stuff dead on.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Every one of the "old timers" here was a newbie once too.

HTH-

*** The only section in that book that might give bad advice is the section on saving wort in a jar for doing starters. He doesn't go into the need for pressure cooking the jars, and that is a serious flaw (botulinum spores survive boiling temps and can cause botulism -- pressure cooking reaches temps that are capable of killing them). I know that there is a later edition of the book out (3rd?) where this problem may be fixed, but I'm not sure about that. Bottom line, most newbies won't jump right into yeast farming, and if they do, they will most likely be looking at other materials by then too, so this flaw won't hit most newbs.

[Jimbo]

I doubt they could ever get a large brewer like Sierra Nevada to give their flagship recipe away

/* Start Flame War */
Oh, I guess CYBI has changed into "Ask the brewer for all the detail (malt bill, hops, H2O treatment, fermentation profile) and see how close you get?"

I thought the challenge was to make a clone of whatever the target happened to be - regardless of where the recipe originates...
/* End Flame War */

But if they do decide to brew it do we ask for the bottled version or the draft version... (if you did not know they are two different beers)

Bottled - that way everyone has the same (available in their local shop) baseline to work towards.