Mashing course

[simmyb]

I’m off on a mashing course at The Home Brew Shop today, I’m like a kid at christmas. Awake at 5.30 staring at the clock until its a reasonable hour to get up.
I stuck it out til 6.30, then I got up and made a yeast starter for the inevitable brew tomorrow. Just finished compiling a shopping list, I’ve got a list of 5 or 6 different brews i want to try, but I want to do them all NOW!
Anyone else done this course?
Cheers, Simon

[Andy]

Ohh, you'll be about a mile from my house! Have fun

[Matt12398]

I have. It was a really good day and I enjoyed it a lot. Definitely value for money.

I particularly liked the intro to Beersmith because it takes a bit of getting your head around. The main thing was just seeing someone do it so I knew what I should be doing without guesswork.

There were a couple things that they didn't seem very knowledgeable on but everything else you will learn from here.

[DeGarre]

My friend did. He like it and got into BIAB.

[simmyb]

I have. It was a really good day and I enjoyed it a lot. Definitely value for money.

I particularly liked the intro to Beersmith because it takes a bit of getting your head around. The main thing was just seeing someone do it so I knew what I should be doing without guesswork.

There were a couple things that they didn't seem very knowledgeable on but everything else you will learn from here.

Yeah, the beersmith guide will be very useful. This forum is the font of all knowledge, but I think a good grounding in the basics will be invaluable.

I will let you know how I get on!
Simon

[The Home Brew Shop]

There were a couple things that they didn't seem very knowledgeable on but everything else you will learn from here.

Please let us know what these things was please and we be glad to help.

We been doing these courses for over 2 years, we try our best to cover all the basics, we are always on the end of a phone or email.

But unless we have feedback we can't improve

We have thought about a survey to see where we can improve what do you think ?

But then perfection may cost more

[barney]

There were a couple things that they didn't seem very knowledgeable on but everything else you will learn from here.

Please let us know what these things was please and we be glad to help.

We been doing these courses for over 2 years, we try our best to cover all the basics, we are always on the end of a phone or email.

But unless we have feedback we can't improve

We have thought about a survey to see where we can improve what do you think ?

But then perfection may cost more

A refreshing attitude, Good Luck.

[Matt12398]

As a basics course I was very impressed and I remember we fitted an awful lot into the day. Perhaps a seperate more advanced course could be the answer if there was a demand for one? I know I came away very excited though after the course and it helped no end seeing someone that knew the process doing it in front of me. I also liked seeing the two seperate setups and it helped me make the choice on what equipment I wanted. The handout was also really good.

I'll send you a PM with my thoughts but a survey might be a good idea. I didn't mean for it to sound like a criticism of your course just some things I've learnt since that I wish I'd have known. Hats of to you though for looking for ways to improve the course.

On a side note I'd like to praise the buffet lunch you provided when I was there. Excellent food considering the cost of the course.

[simmyb]

Well, I have to say I thought the course was excellent in as much as it is a course for people who have got some experience with kits etc but are thinking about trying all-grain for the first time and need some basic tuition and advice.

In between booking the course and the course itself (about 6 weeks as they were booked up!) I had gotten impatient and dived straight in. So, by the time the course came round, I had done three AG batches and had got a reasonable idea of the process. Even so, it was great to see that what I had been doing was OK.

The course was really informative with everything explained in plain terms. The guys running it weren't scientists, they were home brewers which meant they gave a good sense of what was important and what wasn't and how they personally make their brews.They each had a different set up, one with coolboxes and electric heating (who then fly sparged), and the other with stainless steel pots and a gas burner who batch sparged. During the mash and boil periods they went through the Beersmith software (very useful). They also explained in very simple terms how to test your water using the Salifert kit, and using CRS and DLS to correct your hardness and calcium content. Having read up a bit about water treatments and getting a bit confused about what I should be doing, I found this particularly useful. Sanitising was also talked about with Star San being discussed and recommended to shorten the bottling process (which I put to the test that evening to bottle my Landlord wannabe). The over-riding impression was 'this is easy, you can do it and get some really good results'.

With all the above being as useful as it was, the best bit was the keg of beer that had been brewed on the previous course sitting on the table for us to help ourselves to! This underlined the sheer quality of the beer that it is possible to produce using the methods that we were being shown.

I would highly recommend this course to anyone thinking of moving to AG and wanting a clear, hands on and confidence building explanation of how to go about brewing some excellent beer. Well done to the guys running it and CAN I HAVE YOUR RECIPE FOR THE BEER WE TASTED, PLEASE???

Cheers, Simon