The Great One Speaks

Charlie Papazian^{[wikipeida, blog]} is one of home brewing greats.  His books The Complete Joy of Home Brewing and The Home Brewers Companion were, for over 20 years, the go-to source for home brewers.  It was his books that first got me into home brewing, led me through my first tentative brews, led me to all grain brewing, and even gave me the guts to start designing my own recipes.  If it wasn't for Charlie, I don't think I, or may others, would ever have started home brewing.

Even more importantly, he coined the phrase most of us home brewers live by - Relax, Don't Worry, Have A Home Brew (RDWHAHB).

Despite his iconic stature, Mr. Papazian is not the public figure you would expect.  He hasn't written any new books, he doesn't maintain a high profile in any of the homebrewing message boards which seem to be the new way homebrewers share advice, recipes and methods.  Its not that he is no longer involved in homebrewing - indeed, he is the president of the Brewers Association and maintains a brewing blog - but we don't see as much of him as we used to.

So imagine my delight when, through one of those new-fangled homebrewing discussion boards someone posted a link to an old (1990's) Canadian broadcast of Charlie going over the basics of homebrewing.  Great to see him in action - and the advice he gives is as valid today as it was back then:

Soma TV's Homebrewing with Charlie Papazian