[Saccharomyces]

I still cannot believe it, but I have read more than one posting on the homebrewing subreddit that credits Australians for inventing SNS, only giving me credit for popularizing the technique.  A poster named "chino_brews" appears to pushing that meme. Reading that information was like being caught in a episode of the Twilight Zone.  Does anyone know how SNS morphed from being my invention to me merely getting credit for popularizing it?   The reality is that I invented SNS and Denny popularized it.  I challenge anyone to find an Australian posting that was posted more than six years ago that outlines my starter method.  The Australians have given us BIAB and No-Chill, but SNS is not one of their inventions.

[denny]

I know Chino.  He's a great guy, but unless he has specific evidence I don't believe it.

[BeerfanOz]

I’ve never seen anything on Australian brewing forums about SNS. I didn’t know about it until recently myself, reading about it here. I did have a break from brewing from 2014 to around 2019 though.  Which forums?

There is some evidence that the British were brewing in a bag long before us as well. There’s someone in my brew club from the uk who used a bag in a bucket in the 80’s. He also has a book from the 1950’s with pictures of what is basically brewing in a bag.

[Bob357]

Forums can be a lot like a gossip session. Facts are distorted as they are passed along. I wouldn't be too worried about it. Most people don't really give a rat's behind who invented a process unless it is a total disaster.

I too doubt that Chino would misrepresent something intentionally.

[dmtaylor]

Chino is a great dude. It is possible he got his facts mixed up by mistake.

[Richard]

Who cares, really? There isn't any money involved in patents or trademarks is there?

[fredthecat]

Who cares, really? There isn't any money involved in patents or trademarks is there?

yup. i couldn't imagine giving credit to all the hundreds if not thousands of "big name" posters and other posters whose advice or thoughts i've read and learned from.

i never did a stirred starter anyway, because i was simply too cheap to buy a stirplate and all that. so i'd occasionally agitate the bottle every few hours. no offense but i don't think its rocket science.

[RC]

Who cares, really? There isn't any money involved in patents or trademarks is there?

+1. The Earth will continue to orbit the sun regardless of who came up with it.

[Saccharomyces]

It is not about not receiving credit.  It is more the implication that I lifted someone else's work.  I did not invent shaken starters.  I invented a specific shaken starter process.

[narvin]

The Internet is a stupid place.  I'd just ignore it.

[pete b]

In one of the early draft scripts of Crocodile Dundee Paul Hogan walks into a Big Brew Day event, sees someone decanting from an Erlenmeyer flask, pulls out a gallon glass jug with a liter of wort, starts shaking and says “that’s not a starter, this is a starter”.

[Saccharomyces]

In one of the early draft scripts of Crocodile Dundee Paul Hogan walks into a Big Brew Day event, sees someone decanting from an Erlenmeyer flask, pulls out a gallon glass jug with a liter of wort, starts shaking and says “that’s not a starter, this is a starter”.

Lol!

[Saccharomyces]

The one area where I clearly fell flat when describing the method is that the fermentation vessel needs to be at least four times the volume of the starter medium and bottle-shaped, not conical like an Erlenmeyer flask.   I see people using 2L Erlenmeyer flasks with 1L of starter wort and calling it an SNS starter.  That setup may work, but not as well as a true SNS starter.  The extra volume is part of the secret sauce.   It is difficult to turn wort into foam when a container is not significantly larger than the starter wort.

[RC]

The one area where I clearly fell flat when describing the method is that the fermentation vessel needs to be at least four times the volume of the starter medium and bottle-shaped, not conical like an Erlenmeyer flask.   I see people using 2L Erlenmeyer flasks with 1L of starter wort and calling it an SNS starter.  That setup may work, but not as well as a true SNS starter.  The extra volume is part of the secret sauce.   It is difficult to turn wort into foam when a container is not significantly larger than the starter wort.

It works well. Thank goodness for those Aussies!

[spurviance]

I wish I had found this forum sooner than I did.   Early in my brewing days I bought a stir plate thinking that was the way starters were done.  After it crapped out on me it sat on a shelf for 2 years waiting for me to try and fix it as I was too cheap to fork out for a new one.  In the meantime I thought I could replicate the process by placing my starter on my desk and shake it every time I walked by.  Soon after joining this forum I found out that I had stumbled upon SNS purely by accident and promptly trashed my stir plate.  Thanks to all of you for sharing your knowledge and experience on this and many other subjects!