@Sandy Feet
what is this lagering thing you speak of??? it sounds very foreign...
@Mastoras007
While i am flattered, i am probably not the best inspiration. I dont have a choice on the timeframes, i can assure you a 6 month lager is going to be FAR better then my 10 day lager. Spunding helps a lot, but that requires more then a bucket. Generally speaking time is your friend. I always shoot for repeating gravities before i crash a beer...i also cap the tank and track the pressure build up to just confirm that its not slowly dropping still(building some pressure over my work day)
I have pretty decent fermenters and temp control. This is probably the biggest thing that differentiates homebrewers from commercial. there is also a significant economy of scale.
I have been making beer professionally for ~16 years and i have a degree in this stuff, but I would never claim to be a brewmaster. It takes a long time to figure out your gear and your process(i have 215 batches in this building and probably over 1000 in other places. I am still working on improving my process). In all of those years and batches i have seen and done most of the fuck ups you can picture and learned from them.
--off flavors training is important.
--100% the most important thing is cleaning. i spend 97% of my working day cleaning something.
--Take impeccable notes and write EVERYTHING down for future reference. Tasting notes, color, foam all of it. also take notes as the beer ages and then after it is off draft think about how you could have improved it.
--nail down your temp control.
--work off manufacturer recommendations.
--understand that there is always room for improvement and that you will never know everything, but constantly try to learn more.
--if you dont know something ask.
--double or triple the $$$ you think you need for the business.
--dump beer that isnt to your standard, it is better to run out then lose a customer to shitty product.
All of that said, You can make very very good beer quickly, but you have to know what you are doing.