user39: It seems to me that if this site is going to succeed that we're going to have to get down to the nitty gritty. 
Most of the questions I've seen so far are asking about the general case of "beer." It seems to me that this is a very poor way of attracting experts to this topic.

user26: Edit: After discussion I realize that in my answer here I was really thinking more about the future state of the site, rather than the specific requirements of private beta.  I no longer hold this opinion precisely.
Original post:
One reason to have some of these more general questions is to provide potential canonical answers to future questions from many newcomers.  Another reason is it provides a base of general knowledge over time.  Anyone who has spent time on sister sites like Stack Overflow can see how over time, questions become more and more specific as the general cases gain answers that are widely accepted by the community.
That's not to say we shouldn't have very specific questions: ask away!  Rather, in my opinion it's very helpful, especially at first, to "seed" the site with some as long as they are solid, commonly-asked questions, both to provide examples of strong questions and answers and to provide someplace for newcomers to start.
Note that I'm not talking about questions that are too generic or opinion-based and thus off-topic, e.g. "Is beer good for you?" or "What is the best kind of beer?", or filling the site with junk questions just to make it appear active.  
Unless the audience of the site is "only experts may apply", which I didn't think it was, there is nothing wrong with a well-written, direct, non-expert question.

user8: In general? Yes, we should push for more specificity.
That said, a lot of the more wide-ranging and general questions we've had so far - especially those on storage, freshness, preservation, etc. don't require any sort of narrowing. The same rules pretty much apply across the board for these subjects, and getting them out of the way, so to speak, is an inevitable part of the beta process.
If, after a few days, people still haven't managed to more finely calibrate their questions, it'd be worth looking at what sort of guidelines are worth implementing to try to get to that point. 

39: <p>It seems to me that if this site is going to succeed that we're going to have to get down to the nitty gritty. </p>

<p>Most of the questions I've seen so far are asking about the general case of "beer." It seems to me that this is a very poor way of attracting experts to this topic.</p>
 26: <p><strong>Edit</strong>: After discussion I realize that in my answer here I was really thinking more about the future state of the site, rather than the specific requirements of private beta.  I no longer hold this opinion precisely.</p>

<p>Original post:</p>

<p>One reason to have some of these more general questions is to provide potential canonical answers to future questions from many newcomers.  Another reason is it provides a base of general knowledge over time.  Anyone who has spent time on sister sites like Stack Overflow can see how over time, questions become more and more specific as the general cases gain answers that are widely accepted by the community.</p>

<p>That's not to say we shouldn't have very specific questions: ask away!  Rather, in my opinion it's very helpful, especially at first, <strike>to "seed" the site with some</strike> as long as they are solid, commonly-asked questions, both to provide examples of strong questions and answers and to provide someplace for newcomers to start.</p>

<p>Note that I'm <em>not</em> talking about questions that are too generic or opinion-based and thus off-topic, e.g. "Is beer good for you?" or "What is the best kind of beer?", or filling the site with junk questions just to make it appear active.  </p>

<p>Unless the audience of the site is "only experts may apply", which I didn't think it was, there is nothing wrong with a well-written, direct, non-expert question.</p>
 8: <p>In general? Yes, we should push for more specificity.</p>

<p>That said, a lot of the more wide-ranging and general questions we've had so far - especially those on storage, freshness, preservation, etc. don't <em>require</em> any sort of narrowing. The same rules pretty much apply across the board for these subjects, and getting them out of the way, so to speak, is an inevitable part of the beta process.</p>

<p>If, after a few days, people still haven't managed to more finely calibrate their questions, it'd be worth looking at what sort of guidelines are worth implementing to try to get to that point. </p>
