Thunderbird wrote:
As a new comer to this hobby I have found this to be the friendliest and most informative forum around. People here don't talk down to someone without experience or make them feel like they're stupid for asking questions. They are patient and well grounded and it generally seems to take a lot to wind them up. Forums are great places for expressing opinions on how to do something but often, it seems, there are many different ways and approaches to achieve basically the same results.

I would like to be able to 'craft' some decent alcohol and my aim is to be able to make some really nice gins. I don't have a science or maths degree, I am an artist/craftsman so my approach is try it and see. Provided I don't blow myself up, if something doesn't work what have I lost? A few quid in ingredients and some time - it's not the end of the world. I fully expect to make mistakes as I learn and if my spirit turns out at 38% or 42% abv instead of the standard 40% abv who really cares? If it tastes good, that's what counts in my book.

If some online calculator is slightly out and you find slightly too much water has been added to your neutral does it really matter? No, you learn and move on and next time make the adjustment accordingly; that's what 'crafting' does and often it gives serendipitous results, whereas sometimes religiously following a formula can result in something characterless and sterile. If maths and science are your thing and you get good results, great! But if someone works by "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" and also gets great results then more power to their elbow.

It takes all sorts in this world and there are already too many people who want to ram their opinions down the throats of others (either religiously or politically) and I'd rather my new hobby didn't become another place for antagonism or conflict. That said, if someone finds a new way to do something and they want to share, great. But, if the way it's put across appears dogmatic then it can risk looking disrespectful to those who have spent many years perfecting what they do. Just look at some of the You Tube moonshiner vids to see that they can see exactly what proof a distillation is just by looking at the way the bubbles bead - no hydrometer in sight - experience counts for a lot!

I do have one last observation though and it so often happens on forums; the written word is so easy to misinterpret and get all hot under the collar over. Context often isn't there so, something we'd discuss or argue about down the pub together generally doesn't result in a falling out because other factors like intonation and body language come into play. On a forum we don't have that advantage so we have to be very careful how we express our thoughts or there can be unnecessary falling outs. Just my opinion, for what it's worth (and I know, that ain't a lot, lol!)

Either you think I'm wrong - I may be, who knows, but we can certainly check. Or you think the permanent inbuilt error (of 5% in this case) is unimportant. I can think of no third option.