I love learning new things.

 

Not at first when its all alien, difficult and frustrating - who likes that bit? 

 

But when you realise that its a process you know from experience that if you persevere you’ll get there 

 

And that soon you’ll be able to do another new thing  and then be good at it 

 

Learning becomes a passion 

 

Lot’s studies more or less prove that embracing lifelong learning is the best way to prevent you developing dementia in later life.

 

So even though I live what most would describe as a semi retired lifestyle I’m constantly looking for new things to learn.

 

Internet marketing is a great example - it’s constantly evolving - which is why I’m so glad I discovered SFM 6 years ago and learned how to build the life I want with the internet.

 

On a completely different level I’ve just embarked on a new learning curve - making beer.

 

I’ve learned a few early lessons the hard way ! 

 

So I got my 40 pint kit 2 weeks ago. It supposedly contained everything I needed for my first brew.

 

Except common sense! 

 

I usually pride myself on having a good level of that but sometimes enthusiasm takes over. 

 

I went through all the initial steps carefully: 

 

I sterilised the brewing tub, hydrometer, syphon tubes and all 24 half litre bottles (tedious but crucial)

 

Then I rinsed everything and poured the gloopy beer syrup, brewing sugar and correct amount of hot and cold water into the tub, mixed it thoroughly and sealed it off. 

 

So far so good - all I had to do know was leave it in a warm place for 5 days.

 

On Saturday it was time to syphon it off into the bottles - which is where things went wrong! 

 

Rookie mistake A. Not enough bottles. 

 

If I had stopped for a second to do some basic maths I’d have realised that 24 500ml bottles will not hold 30 litres of liquid. 

 

But of course I’d started syphoning by then.

 

Rookie mistake B. No tap.

 

Ever tried syphoning? if you have you’ll know that once started it’s difficult to stop and that beer - even at an early stage - is pretty foamy.

 

I should have remembered from my dad’s wine making attempts that its much easier if you buy a little plastic tap and stick it in the pouring end of the tube.

 

Otherwise, like me on Saturday, you’ll waste quite a bit of beer (and possibly turn your kitchen into a beer swimming pool) as you desperately try to lift the tube over your head or block it with your thumb as you try to get the next bottle ready. 

 

40 pints of anything is a lot of liquid! 

 

Anyway i finally rediscovered my common sense and worked out a solution. 

 

I remembered I had two 5 litre containers from last years cider experiment. I sterilised those and an empty soda bottle that was lying around. This gave me enough storage space at least.

 

I syphoned the beer into the 5 litre containers and filled the bottles from those. What was left filled one of the big containers and the soda bottle. 

 

Finally I added the correct amount of sugar pellets to the bottles and the whole lot is busy carbonating for another 4 days. After that 10 days cold storage and we’ll see what we have. 

 

So not quite the disaster it could have been and next time I’ll be better prepared. 

 

You’ll probably gather from this that people who run internet businesses are by no means geniuses : ) 

 

The moral of the story: 

 

If I’d had a “mentor” helping me - even a remote Youtube mentor - on Saturday they’d have quickly prevented my rookie mistakes.

 

“Where’s your syphon tap?” they might have said 

 

Or “Where’s the rest of your bottles?” 

(for some reason my imaginary beer mentor is quite sarcastic)

 

Instead I fumbled my way through with a lot of mess and waste.

(I also swallowed quite a lot of unfinished beer and had a bit of a dicky tummy on Sunday)

 

On the plus side I now have a small degree of brewing expertise I could pass on to a first time home brewer. 

 

Building an internet business that gives you an enviable lifestyle is vastly more complicated than making beer at home (although as I’ve demonstrated you don’t need to be a genius!) 

 

You can fumble your way through it of course but you’ll waste a hell of a lot of time and money  in the process 

 

Much better to leverage the experience and mistakes of mentors in all learning curves. 

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

Dave