jims brewer techniques

[torchwood brewery]

jim i beleive your techniques show as a photo tutorial is one of the best i have ever seen it easy to follow and takes the fear of all grain brewing out of the equasion. i have seen many others and they are technical to say the least even an all grain impeared person as me culd do it and now i am almost ready to do my first one .your ease of producing an ale seems too good to be true but i think i have been posioned over the years with all the techheads teling me that its hard and your gear needs to s/s and you need complex software and all the gadets god and you can muster and brew days are long and laborous well that just ait so and i would like to thank you for the heads up and showing me the sensable english way rather than the high tech space shuttle approach of many other sites.

thanks so much richard

[prodigal2]

Tourchwood
I have recently just done my first AG batch:
viewtopic.php?t=4771

I did it with the absolute basic amount of kit. FV, 16l stockpot, grainbag, unmodified cool box, sive, stiring impliment, 5l jug, gas stove and a couple of extra pots and pans, and a set of scales that broke before weighing my hops.

It is easy to get caught up in the gear fixation, but you can make great beer with what you have around. OH and I will go shinny with my kit, but my circumstances dictated what I could do. And I broke my duck and also it was because of Jims no nonsense advice on his pages and on the forum.

Just do it,then look to getting what kit will make it easier for you

[ColinKeb]

good luck torchwood, I used Jims pages for my first few brews as well, I didnt realise there was a forum until I sent him an email saying similar things as you . since then ive had the odd foray into the more in depth approaches to certain aspects but always found myself brewing better beer with the basic "Jim method ". this forum is a godsend though when youre starting out , everyone is really helpfull and happy to guide you as well as offer alternative points of view on things.

[ColinKeb]

oops ! double post due to boss suddenly entering the room

[PGSteamer]

even before you start to calculate aa%, extraction rates and efficiencys, just do a couple of recipes completely blind following a simple process, soak the grains, rinse the grains,bring to boil, add the hops, boil the wort then chill the wort. The more you read now without doing, the more confused you'll get, you'll learn all you need to know by getting stuck in and having ago.

This really is the best advice possible. I was put off all grain brewing for a long time after reading about it in home brewing books. They all make what is a very simple process sound immensely complex by explaining every last detail about what is going on in the mash and sparge.

It wasn't until I read Dave Line's book and internet forums that I realised all you need to do is soak the grains for an hour or two at the right temperature and rinse them off. That's it. It's easy for anyone to do.

[Calum]

another good thing about the forum is that if you need a bit of advice during your brew there is always someone online who can offer a bit of advice along the way. You will probably get an answer within minutes.

[ColinKeb]

and if you get really stuck dave lines ghost appears and helps you out ...well he does for me anyway ...maybe thats just the medication

[prodigal2]

and if you get really stuck dave lines ghost appears and helps you out ...well he does for me anyway ...maybe thats just the medication

I thought you were'nt able to self medicate these days

[ColinKeb]

not since the court case no i read that dave line died at 37 ! im 37 in july scary ! although im no dave line

[Jim]

Richard, thanks for the kind comments on my site. I've always been a believer in keeping it simple, and I wanted to get across just how easy it can be to make great beer. You can suss out the technical aspects once you've got the techniques under your belt, if you feel the need.

I'm a David Line fan as well - he was the first author I came across who could put the process across plainly and simply.

[delboy]

not since the court case no i read that dave line died at 37 ! im 37 in july scary ! although im no dave line

I take it wheeler is still moving amongst the mortals, if he isn't i might have to give this homebrew lark up, too damn dangerous

[ColinKeb]

ahh wheeler ! i wouldnt know, thats a different religion entirely

[andypettitt62]

I started brewing in the 80s, and Dave Lines book was my bible.I think I did every recipe in his book, and all the beer was "like those you buy", sometimes better.When I got back into it recently, the two books I bought were Dave Lines ( my old copy got lost along the way), and the Camra book Brewing classic European beers.Looking back through the Dave Line book I notice now he uses a lot of sugar in his his recipes, so I'll be using the Graham Wheeler book more.I do agree though that Dave Lines easy explanations of getting into home brewing has probably got more people into the hobby than any other book. A warning though, its an addictive hobby, which when you get it right (hopefully a the time) gives you pleasure in the preperation and the finished product.

[jonnybeer]

Hi, i've been a.g. brewing since I picked up Dave Lines book in the local Oxfam book store about 9 months ago and agree the simple way he explained the process of home brewing encouraged me to have a go. I've made many of the recipes and some 3 or 4 times all with very satisfy results. Having recently bought Marc Ollossons book I immediately noticed that his grain bill was larger than D.L's and have since taken on board Daabs suggestion to increase the grain in the recipes by 10/20% my first with the increased grain being a London Pride which is just about to go into secondary. I've still got some of the previous brew (bottled) so it will interesting to compare both. I just need to learn how to post the pics. i've taken. There doesn't seem to be a link to upload them.

[roger the dog]

Picture posting know-how can be found here jonny