When I was a beginner brewer, after I had learned the ingredients, the mash information and learned how to all-grain, after I had done a few all-grain brews and gotten my system down to repetition where each brew day went smoothly and I could churn out beers relatively easily, I thought that beer brewing was simple. Granted, it's easy to make drinkable beer, and not that difficult to make pretty good beer, but I never really admitted to myself that I wasn't making great beer. Sure, my stouts and IPAs were really quite good, but I chalk that up to having such strong flavored ingredients that they cover up many of the flaws of the brew. I still hesitate to say that I make great beer, but I truly think that as many have said before: controlling fermentation temperature brings your beer up by a big notch, and I am that much closer to making great beer.
