Homebrewing is a pastime which some merely dip their toes into while others jump right in. There is so much you can learn to turn your craft into a real skill.
Luckily, homebrewers are one of the most accepting and sharing communities you’ll find. A short conversation with a more experienced homebrewer can leave you with the knowledge you might have spent years researching, it’s truly amazing!
After having a conversation with a homebrewer now turned professional, I ask him how he picked all this stuff up and he told me “forums”.
So, today I’m going to share with you the best places to go when you have a question about your current batch!
New to homebrewing? Please feel free to read my ultimate guide to brewing beer at home and where to start.
Best Homebrewing Forums
American Homebrewers Association
Activity: High
Sign up: Easy
Background
The American Homebrewers Association was established back in the late 70s and is based in Colorado. It has nearly 50,000 members and is a pillar of the American homebrewing community. They publish a magazine called Zymurgy and hold various beer competitions each year. They know their stuff!
The Forum
This is an extremely active community and the forum is well organized so that you will be sure to post your question where you’ll get the fastest reply.
The various categories cover all aspects of brewing from kegging & bottling to equipment and software. I also really like the category “pimp my system” which can help you get ideas for how to improve your own home brewery.
The Homebrew Forum (UK)
Activity: Medium-high
Sign up: Easy
Background
Unlike some other forums on this list, the homebrew forum is just that, a pure forum. There isn’t any accompanying blog or shop, which isn’t at all a bad thing.
The forum itself is well organized and has a wealth of information (80,000 threads plus), so well worth checking in and doing a search for any questions you have.
Beer Advocate
Activity: High
Sign up: Easy
Background
Beer Advocate is a forum with a bit of a difference. You really get a sense of community here because of a few extra features and functions which most other forums don’t have.
A nice touch is that once you sign up and log in to the forum you aren’t bombarded with all the banner ads which you get on some of the other sites.
You can also really get involved in the online community by rating each other’s beers and also trading beer and equipment. It’s really a great way to expand your knowledge and brewing prowess.
The Brewing Network
Activity: Low
Sign up: Easy
Background
The brewing network is a good resource, especially for their podcast and other audio services, but for the forum, I’d treat it more like an archive.
Activity seems low, so I’m not sure if you would get a lot of interaction on new questions, but there is still a lot of useful stuff that has already been discussed. I really included them as they are a very good brand for other homebrewing resources.
Jim’s Beer Kit
Activity: High
Sign up: Easy
Background
Jim’s Brew kits seems to be a real passion project for Jim Dunleavy who is a more traditional homebrewer. Although the site was more extensive in the past, it’s now been turned over purely to a forum.
There are all the common categories you’d expect to see, all-grain, ingredients, etc as well as entire sections dedicated to other forms of brewing, such as wine and mead.
There is an incredible amount of activity on this particular forum with over 74,000 posts and a lot of members logged on each and every day. You get really insightful and rapid replies to most queries here, so well worth signing up.
Northern Brewers
Activity: Medium
Sign up: Easy
Background
Northern Brewer, whether you care for its current owner or not, is a great source of brewing equipment for beginners. They also have a fairly active community, but not as prolific as some other forums listed here.
Still, you are likely to get enough replies and quickly enough to help you solve most brewing dilemmas. This being said, you may just find more use for the previously answered posts, so it’s a great learning resource.
Beer Smith
Activity: Medium-high
Sign up: Easy
Background
Beersmith is an excellent resource for any homebrewer. They are most famous for their software which helps you perfect your home-brewed beer. They also have a blog and podcast where they talk about the most important topics in homebrewing.
Their forum is also an excellent source of information, especially for homebrewers just starting out. There are thousands of questions already answered in the forum and the search function helps you to quickly find answers you may need.
In addition to the archived information, you’ll find that there are lots of active members on the forum and you’ll often get a response to your questions within a couple or hours.
Brewer’s Friend
Activity: Low – Medium
Sign up: Easy
Background
Brewer’s Friend is a website that gives you access to several brewing services and tools if you become a member. However, their forum is totally free to join.
The forum isn’t as extensive as some others listed here and you won’t see as wide a range of categories, nonetheless, there is a pretty active community behind it. Again, you can certainly treat this as a learning resource as you can easily search through the previously asked questions and posts to find a whole heap of useful information.
Ratebeer
Activity: Low – medium
Sign up: Easy
Background
Ratebeer is a site which helps its users pick out the best beer to enjoy. Although it’s not 100% dedicated to homebrewing, it is a great resource to give you inspiration for your next brew.
In fact, the homebrewing category of the forum isn’t very active. It makes the list purely because of its pursuit of the best beers, which you can then figure out how to brew yourself.
Find the forum here
Best Homebrewing Facebook groups
If you aren’t really into your forums and prefer to connect through Facebook, I can recommend the following Facebook groups.
Best Homebrewing YouTube channels
Basic Brewing
This channel has been going for 11 years, with James Spencer and Steve Wilkes. Although the two hosts have obviously seen a few extra kegs over the years, the channel is a great source of brewing information for beginners and experts alike.
Fast Hombrew
This is a really fun channel where the host tries to make home brewing tutorial videos more interesting. The shooting style is fairly unique and I personally love the Aussie accent, so a great channel to subscribe to!
ChopAndBrew
Chip Walton, of Brewing TV fame, started his own channel nearly a decade ago and talks about the ins and outs of home brewing. If you like your guest brewers and leaving about brewing from a real professional, you’ll really like this channel.
NorthernBrewerTV
If you like more of your product reviews and How-to videos, then this could be the channel for you. Although video production seems to have slowed down, there’s still a great bunch of videos you can binge-watch.
Brew Dudes
John and Mike are two quirky homebrewing masters who love to chat to their viewers about making the perfect brews. They have a lot of experience when it comes to homebrewing and have a lot to share.
HomeBrew 4 life
If you want a lot of energy from your homebrew viewing, check out CH and Maurey (with their crew) who like to show you the edgy side of the homebrew and craft scene. There are plenty of challenges, gags and great beers to learn about on this channel.
The Homebrew Challenge
This channel is about trying to brew all 99 beer styles on the BJCP’s list with each weekly video being about another beer. Not only is it really cool to see someone undertake such a challenge, but the photography and final cut edits are also really professional and will get you geared up to brew your next batch.
