[redrocker652002]

Um... IMO... skip the YouTube videos. These, as far as I've seen, are useless.

Not being defensive or anything, but if you feel YouTube videos are useless, than what would you suggest?

I joined a homebrew club in the hope of learning more.  They're a great bunch of guys, but it's really more of a bunch of guys who enjoy drinking beer together, rather than a high functioning homebrew club that hosts educational events.

I can read books, and I've collected a number of them, but it's nice to see different techniques and systems in action.  YouTube can provide that, and I'm not sure where else to find something similar.

I have to agree with this.  I use Youtube for a bunch of stuff.  Repair work mostly.  When the Fridge Icemaker went out, I was able to fix it with the help of Youtube.  My stove stopped heating, and with the help of Youtube I was able to get the part for less than 50 bucks and fix it myself.  So, to me, Youtube has some great vids to help repair things that I don't have any clue on.  Also, I have found the brewing vids from some of the pro's (Clawhammer, Apt Brewer, Brulosphy) have been awesome to watch and take info from. 

[denny]

Um... IMO... skip the YouTube videos. These, as far as I've seen, are useless.

Not being defensive or anything, but if you feel YouTube videos are useless, than what would you suggest?

I joined a homebrew club in the hope of learning more.  They're a great bunch of guys, but it's really more of a bunch of guys who enjoy drinking beer together, rather than a high functioning homebrew club that hosts educational events.

I can read books, and I've collected a number of them, but it's nice to see different techniques and systems in action.  YouTube can provide that, and I'm not sure where else to find something similar.

Books. The problem I see with YouTube is that nothing is vetted. Books have editors to double check things.

[Skeeter686]

Books. The problem I see with YouTube is that nothing is vetted. Books have editors to double check things.

I'll agree that books are more likely to be researched and vetted, but there's certainly no guarantee of accuracy.  Especially for something like brewing, which is still a relatively small niche market where a small publisher may not have the expertise on the topic.  My wife's coworker self-published a book on the Civil War.  I don't think an editor was even involved with that.

Yes, you've got the big names who you can reliably count on, but those books typically focus on a specific topic or they tend to be like textbooks for brewing, with a lot of general info and guidelines.  Perhaps you'll see a picture or description of the brewer's own setup, but there are so many different manufacturers out there and even more permutations for putting a system together.  I can see a variety of different equipment and builds posted on forums or on YouTube, which can give me ideas for optimizing my own setup.

Also, books are still static, printed text.  You can't see an actual demonstration of a technique or a brew system in action.  Sometimes, seeing how something is actually used can really help a new concept to "click".

I appreciate the huge amount of bad info that's potentially out there, and you need a critical mind anytime you're on the net.  But again, I feel that YouTube fills a need for me.

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Books. The problem I see with YouTube is that nothing is vetted. Books have editors to double check things.

I'll agree that books are more likely to be researched and vetted, but there's certainly no guarantee of accuracy.  Especially for something like brewing, which is still a relatively small niche market where a small publisher may not have the expertise on the topic.  My wife's coworker self-published a book on the Civil War.  I don't think an editor was even involved with that.

Yes, you've got the big names who you can reliably count on, but those books typically focus on a specific topic or they tend to be like textbooks for brewing, with a lot of general info and guidelines.  Perhaps you'll see a picture or description of the brewer's own setup, but there are so many different manufacturers out there and even more permutations for putting a system together.  I can see a variety of different equipment and builds posted on forums or on YouTube, which can give me ideas for optimizing my own setup.

Also, books are still static, printed text.  You can't see an actual demonstration of a technique or a brew system in action.  Sometimes, seeing how something is actually used can really help a new concept to "click".

I appreciate the huge amount of bad info that's potentially out there, and you need a critical mind anytime you're on the net.  But again, I feel that YouTube fills a need for me.

Perhaps the "best of both words" (print, audio, and video) is following experts where and how they chose to offer their content.   In the early 2020s, many of the book authors from the 2010s are hosting or guests on chats, videos, blogs, podcasts.  Much of this content is advertiser supported, the rest is available on subscription from 'publishers'.

[redrocker652002]

Books. The problem I see with YouTube is that nothing is vetted. Books have editors to double check things.

I'll agree that books are more likely to be researched and vetted, but there's certainly no guarantee of accuracy.  Especially for something like brewing, which is still a relatively small niche market where a small publisher may not have the expertise on the topic.  My wife's coworker self-published a book on the Civil War.  I don't think an editor was even involved with that.

Yes, you've got the big names who you can reliably count on, but those books typically focus on a specific topic or they tend to be like textbooks for brewing, with a lot of general info and guidelines.  Perhaps you'll see a picture or description of the brewer's own setup, but there are so many different manufacturers out there and even more permutations for putting a system together.  I can see a variety of different equipment and builds posted on forums or on YouTube, which can give me ideas for optimizing my own setup.

Also, books are still static, printed text.  You can't see an actual demonstration of a technique or a brew system in action.  Sometimes, seeing how something is actually used can really help a new concept to "click".

I appreciate the huge amount of bad info that's potentially out there, and you need a critical mind anytime you're on the net.  But again, I feel that YouTube fills a need for me.

I completely agree.   I tend to watch a few vids of what I may be trying to look for.  and then I take the best of each of them and go for it. 

[hopfenundmalz]

You tube is great for DIY around the house. I don't use it for brewing.

I read brewing Forums, magazine articles, and Listen to brewing podcasts on topic of interest.

[BrewBama]

I like a cpl BrewTuber’s channels. I pretty much learned to brew all grain watching the old Northern Brewer guys.  Don Osborn introduced me to batch sparging in a cooler.  It was easy to watch him and do what he did to end up with pretty good beer right out of the gate. (He mentioned learning the technique from some guy named Denny Conn).

These days, Brew Dudes is one I still check in on from time to time.  I see eye to eye with most of their stuff.

I like to check out the British and Aussie brew channels from time to time as well just to get different points of view.

I did join a club which is really just a bunch of guys who bring beer, drink each others beer, hang out, and vote on who’s beer we like best.  Not much learning going on there.

[denny]

I like a cpl BrewTuber’s channels. I pretty much learned to brew all grain watching the old Northern Brewer guys.  Don Osborn introduced me to batch sparging in a cooler.  It was easy to watch him and do what he did to end up with pretty good beer right out of the gate. (He mentioned learning the technique from some guy named Denny Conn).

These days, Brew Dudes is one I still check in on from time to time.  I see eye to eye with most of their stuff.

I like to check out the British and Aussie brew channels from time to time as well just to get different points of view.

I did join a club which is really just a bunch of guys who bring beer, drink each others beer, hang out, and vote on who’s beer we like best.  Not much learning going on there.

Yeah, I recall when Don got into it.

[neuse]

I like a cpl BrewTuber’s channels. I pretty much learned to brew all grain watching the old Northern Brewer guys.  Don Osborn introduced me to batch sparging in a cooler.  It was easy to watch him and do what he did to end up with pretty good beer right out of the gate. (He mentioned learning the technique from some guy named Denny Conn).

These days, Brew Dudes is one I still check in on from time to time.  I see eye to eye with most of their stuff.

I like to check out the British and Aussie brew channels from time to time as well just to get different points of view.

I did join a club which is really just a bunch of guys who bring beer, drink each others beer, hang out, and vote on who’s beer we like best.  Not much learning going on there.

Yeah, I recall when Don got into it.

Some years ago, I set up my mash tun based on your write-up. It was really helpful - thanks.

[Skeeter686]

I did join a club which is really just a bunch of guys who bring beer, drink each others beer, hang out, and vote on who’s beer we like best.  Not much learning going on there.

I don't recall seeing you at the last meeting, but it sounds like pretty much the same club! 

[BrewBama]

I did join a club which is really just a bunch of guys who bring beer, drink each others beer, hang out, and vote on who’s beer we like best.  Not much learning going on there.

I don't recall seeing you at the last meeting, but it sounds like pretty much the same club! 

We did do a colab brew with a local brewpub which was pretty cool.

[brewthru]

Um... IMO... skip the YouTube videos. These, as far as I've seen, are useless.

Not being defensive or anything, but if you feel YouTube videos are useless, than what would you suggest?

I joined a homebrew club in the hope of learning more.  They're a great bunch of guys, but it's really more of a bunch of guys who enjoy drinking beer together, rather than a high functioning homebrew club that hosts educational events.

I can read books, and I've collected a number of them, but it's nice to see different techniques and systems in action.  YouTube can provide that, and I'm not sure where else to find something similar.

Can't begin to describe how much time I've wasted to YouTube videos in regards to brewing and for what I do professionally. For the most part the videos are WRONG, amateurish and, IMO, an absolute waste of time.

As an example. I'm interested in a pH meter and how to use for mashing/brewing. I search at YouTube. I find a video. This idiot drops his pH meter in the driveway and then puts the pH meter directly into the hot wort!

Other videos, the camera is showing something, but not what is being said. In other words, video editing goes a LONG way. 30 minute video, with, maybe, maybe 2 minutes of useful content.

Apparently, any idiot can post a video to YouTube.

For decent videos check out the How To videos at MoreBeer. https://www.morebeer.com/videos

[fredthecat]

Um... IMO... skip the YouTube videos. These, as far as I've seen, are useless.

Not being defensive or anything, but if you feel YouTube videos are useless, than what would you suggest?

I joined a homebrew club in the hope of learning more.  They're a great bunch of guys, but it's really more of a bunch of guys who enjoy drinking beer together, rather than a high functioning homebrew club that hosts educational events.

I can read books, and I've collected a number of them, but it's nice to see different techniques and systems in action.  YouTube can provide that, and I'm not sure where else to find something similar.

Can't begin to describe how much time I've wasted to YouTube videos in regards to brewing and for what I do professionally. For the most part the videos are WRONG, amateurish and, IMO, an absolute waste of time.

As an example. I'm interested in a pH meter and how to use for mashing/brewing. I search at YouTube. I find a video. This idiot drops his pH meter in the driveway and then puts the pH meter directly into the hot wort!

Other videos, the camera is showing something, but not what is being said. In other words, video editing goes a LOT way. 30 minute video, with, maybe, maybe 2 minutes of useful content.

Apparently, any idiot can post a video to YouTube.

For decent videos check out the How To videos at MoreBeer. https://www.morebeer.com/videos

i actually enjoy a bunch of youtube videos on brewing, and definitely a bunch of podcasts - but one that stands out in the 2020s is "apartment brewer" a lot of cringe BS where he is absolutely talking out of his ass and using idiotic clickbaity titles. horrible stuff

30 mins of video - 2 min of actual content is the key with youtube i find. its all about watch time/view count and algorithms if they are doing it for monetization purposes

edit: musing even further on this after browsing his 30 minute videos on ex. how to brew one beer style.

im probably of the last generation who had a time on the internet where .txt files were used as a common way to send large amounts of text. i remember reading long txt files in courier font for fan-fiction stories or instructions or just books. there is definitely a certain patience required in that - but also the expectation by the author and demand by the reader of cutting out use-less information and making the data transmitted either super valuable, at least entertaining or ideally both. i feel like this conciseness and care for information is a subtle thing that has really been lost on the internet since web 3.0(?) or whatever version we are on. i also really miss flash.

[Drewch]

Ignoring for a moment the questions of quality, accuracy, etc, I get a lot more content from podcasts than YouTube for the simple reason that I can have them running while I do other things. I can't watch a YouTube video while jogging or driving or cooking dinner.

[joe_meadmaker]

I like this topic!

I do enjoy watching (certain) brewing videos.  I don't disagree with the notion that there's a lot of garbage out there.  Any information should definitely be confirmed by another source (if not several other sources).

On the topic of expensive brewing setups vs. ones that are not so expensive, I was reminded of a video on the Basic Brewing channel.  James and Steve weren't brewing, but they were trying out a beer that was sent to them.  There was a clip that showed the brewing process of that beer on a very impressive system.  After the clip there were some good hearted comments regarding jealousy of expensive brewing systems.  Steve came out with the line "I'm a pot and a bucket brewer".  I was rolling on the floor laughing!  Video is here: https://youtu.be/mQUCDrm_3i0.

In general I agree with a lot of what has been said.  I think the brewer is the most important thing, and great beers can be made on very basic setups.  That said, more expensive gear can save time, make certain processes easier, etc.