Brewer Interview Guide — Needs Validation

Primary-research instrument for the marketing needs study (epic #1075, sub-issue #1076). Built on a Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) frame: understand the job a homebrewer is trying to get done, not whether they like our idea. Bilingual — run in EN on r/Homebrewing, in FR on brassageamateur.

Golden rules (read before every interview)

• Never pitch. The interviewee must not know what we're building until the very end (optional). The moment they sense an app, they answer to be polite — useless data.
• Ask about the past, not the future. "Tell me about the last time you…" beats "Would you use…". Memories are facts; predictions are fiction.
• Dig into stories, not opinions. When they make a claim, ask for the specific episode behind it.
• Embrace silence. Let them fill it. The best signal comes after the pause.
• Capture verbatim. Record exact words (with consent) — the language is gold for copy later.

Target & recruitment

• Segment: regular / intermediate homebrewers (brew several times a year; not first-batch beginners, not all-grain pros wedded to a tool). Screen for it (Q0).
• Recruit from: r/Homebrewing (EN), brassageamateur.com (FR). Aim 10-15 total, mixed EN/FR.
• Format: 25-35 min, voice if possible. Ask consent to record + to quote anonymously.

What we're trying to learn (the 3 risky beliefs)

#	Belief under test	If FALSE, then…
B1	They want to clone specific beers and would value versioned, community-refined clones	The "hero" loses its emotional pull
B2	Sharers care about author credit / attribution (strong EN, unproven FR)	The credit/attribution mechanic is wasted effort
B3	They'd switch from their current tool, and auto-rescale of shared recipes is a real need	The wedge isn't enough to overcome inertia

The questions below are sequenced to surface these without naming them.

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Section 0 — Screen & warm-up (3 min)

• EN: How long have you been brewing, and roughly how many batches a year? What's your setup?
• FR: Tu brasses depuis combien de temps, et à peu près combien de brassins par an ? Quel est ton matériel ?

(Keep if: brews regularly, beyond first batches, not a hardcore single-tool pro. Otherwise thank & end.)

Section 1 — The job & current workflow (8 min) — JTBD / pains

• EN: Walk me through your last brew, from choosing what to brew to drinking it. Where did the recipe come from?

• FR: Raconte-moi ton dernier brassin, du choix de la recette jusqu'à la dégustation. D'où venait la recette ?

• EN: Where do your recipes live today? Show me / describe it. What's annoying about that?

• FR: Où sont stockées tes recettes aujourd'hui ? Montre-moi / décris. Qu'est-ce qui t'agace là-dedans ?

• EN: Tell me about the last time you couldn't find or organize a recipe the way you wanted.

• FR: Parle-moi de la dernière fois où tu n'as pas réussi à retrouver ou organiser une recette comme tu voulais.

Tags: pain, current-alternative, vocabulary, foundation-need (organize/track).

Section 2 — Cloning a specific beer (7 min) — probes B1

• EN: Have you ever tried to recreate a specific commercial beer you love? Tell me about that — start to finish.

• FR: As-tu déjà essayé de reproduire une bière commerciale précise que tu aimes ? Raconte — du début à la fin.

• EN: Where did you get the clone recipe? Did it come out like the original? What did you do next?

• FR: Où as-tu trouvé la recette de clone ? Le résultat ressemblait-il à l'originale ? Qu'as-tu fait ensuite ?

• EN: (If they adapted it) How did you know what to change? Did you write your version down anywhere?

• FR: (S'ils l'ont adaptée) Comment savais-tu quoi changer ? As-tu noté ta version quelque part ?

Tags: B1 clone-desire, B1 versioning-need (do they iterate?), trigger, desired-outcome.

Section 3 — Sharing & community (7 min) — probes B2

• EN: Have you ever shared one of your recipes with another brewer? What happened? How did you share it?

• FR: As-tu déjà partagé une de tes recettes avec un autre brasseur ? Comment ? Que s'est-il passé ?

• EN: When you see a recipe online, do you care who created it? Why / why not?

• FR: Quand tu vois une recette en ligne, est-ce que ça compte pour toi de savoir qui l'a créée ? Pourquoi ?

• EN: (If they shared) How did you feel about others using or changing your recipe? Did you want credit?

• FR: (S'ils ont partagé) Qu'as-tu ressenti à l'idée que d'autres utilisent ou modifient ta recette ? Voulais-tu être crédité ?

Tags: B2 attribution-sensitivity (note EN vs FR!), sharing-willingness, social-job.

Section 4 — Tools & switching (6 min) — probes B3

• EN: What apps or tools do you use for brewing today? What made you pick that one?

• FR: Quels logiciels ou outils utilises-tu pour brasser aujourd'hui ? Pourquoi celui-là ?

• EN: What would have to be true for you to move your recipes to a different tool? What's stopped you before?

• FR: Qu'est-ce qui devrait être vrai pour que tu déplaces tes recettes vers un autre outil ? Qu'est-ce qui t'en a empêché jusqu'ici ?

• EN: When you take someone else's recipe, how do you adjust it to your own equipment? Walk me through it.

• FR: Quand tu prends la recette de quelqu'un d'autre, comment l'adaptes-tu à ton propre matériel ? Décris-moi.

Tags: B3 switching-barrier, B3 rescale-need, current-alternative, objection.

Section 5 — Wrap (3 min)

• EN: If you had a magic wand for the recipe side of brewing, what would you change? Anything I didn't ask about?

• FR: Si tu avais une baguette magique pour la partie recettes du brassage, que changerais-tu ? Un sujet que j'ai oublié ?

• EN: Who else like you should I talk to? (referral)

• FR: Qui d'autre, dans ton genre, devrais-je interviewer ? (recommandation)

(Optional, only at the very end: briefly describe the concept and watch the honest reaction — but data above is what counts.)

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After each interview — capture sheet

Fill within 1 hour, per customer-research extraction fields:

• Source / language / date / profile (years brewing, batches/yr, setup, EN or FR).
• JTBD (functional / emotional / social).
• Top pains (verbatim, mark unprompted + emotional ones).
• Trigger events.
• Desired outcomes (exact quotes = money quotes).
• Alternatives considered (tools, forums, doing nothing).
• Per-belief verdict: B1 / B2 / B3 → supports / refutes / unclear, with the quote that decides it.

Synthesis (after ~10 interviews)

• Cluster pains by theme; score frequency × intensity; confidence label (High = 3+ independent sources, unprompted, consistent; Medium = 2 sources or prompted; Low = single source).
• Compare EN vs FR explicitly on B2 (attribution) — this is the known divergence to resolve.
• Feed verdicts + money quotes into the final report (06-report.md).
• Sample-bias caveat: r/Homebrewing skews technical/opinionated; forum posters skew "stuck" — weight accordingly.