diff --git a/server/googleActions.js b/server/googleActions.js
index 3b2c360b3..e5fa9cc89 100644
--- a/server/googleActions.js
+++ b/server/googleActions.js
@@ -253,7 +253,6 @@ const GoogleActions = {
 				text    : file.data,
 
 				description : obj.data.description,
-				tags        : obj.data.properties.tags ? obj.data.properties.tags : '',
 				systems     : obj.data.properties.systems ? obj.data.properties.systems.split(',') : [],
 				authors     : [],
 				published   : obj.data.properties.published ? obj.data.properties.published == 'true' : false,
diff --git a/server/homebrew.api.js b/server/homebrew.api.js
index 293e8f873..57b009b8c 100644
--- a/server/homebrew.api.js
+++ b/server/homebrew.api.js
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ const getId = (req)=>{
 	return { id, googleId };
 };
 
-const getBrew = (accessType)=>{
+const getBrew = (accessType, stubOnly = false)=>{
 	// Create middleware with the accessType passed in as part of the scope
 	return async (req, res, next)=>{
 		// Get relevant IDs for the brew
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ const getBrew = (accessType)=>{
 		stub = stub?.toObject();
 
 		// If there is a google id, try to find the google brew
-		if(googleId || stub?.googleId) {
+		if(!stubOnly && (googleId || stub?.googleId)) {
 			let googleError;
 			const googleBrew = await GoogleActions.getGoogleBrew(googleId || stub?.googleId, id, accessType)
 				.catch((err)=>{
@@ -59,14 +59,14 @@ const getBrew = (accessType)=>{
 		}
 
 		// If after all of that we still don't have a brew, throw an exception
-		if(!stub) {
+		if(!stub && !stubOnly) {
 			throw 'Brew not found in Homebrewery database or Google Drive';
 		}
 
-		if(typeof stub.tags === 'string') {
+		if(typeof stub?.tags === 'string') {
 			stub.tags = [];
 		}
-		req.brew = stub;
+		req.brew = stub || {};
 
 		next();
 	};
@@ -235,23 +235,22 @@ const updateBrew = async (req, res)=>{
 		brew.authors = _.uniq(_.concat(brew.authors, req.account.username));
 	}
 
-	// Fetch the brew from the database again (if it existed there to begin with), and assign the existing brew to it
-	brew = _.assign(await HomebrewModel.findOne({ _id: brew._id }), brew);
-
-	if(!brew.markModified) {
-		// If it wasn't in the database, create a new db brew
-		brew = new HomebrewModel(brew);
+	// define a function to catch our save errors
+	const saveError = (err)=>{
+		console.error(err);
+		res.status(err.status || 500).send(err.message || 'Unable to save brew to Homebrewery database');
+	};
+	let saved;
+	if(!brew._id) {
+		// if the brew does not have a stub id, create and save it, then write the new value back to the brew.
+		saved = await new HomebrewModel(brew).save().catch(saveError);
+		brew = saved?.toObject();
+	} else {
+		// if the brew does have a stub id, update it using the stub id as the key.
+		saved = await HomebrewModel.findOneAndUpdate({ _id: brew._id }, brew, {
+			returnOriginal : false
+		}).catch(saveError);
 	}
-
-	brew.markModified('authors');
-	brew.markModified('systems');
-
-	// Save the database brew
-	const saved = await brew.save()
-		.catch((err)=>{
-			console.error(err);
-			res.status(err.status || 500).send(err.message || 'Unable to save brew to Homebrewery database');
-		});
 	if(!saved) return;
 	// Call and wait for afterSave to complete
 	const after = await afterSave();
@@ -327,8 +326,8 @@ const deleteBrew = async (req, res, next)=>{
 };
 
 router.post('/api', asyncHandler(newBrew));
-router.put('/api/:id', asyncHandler(getBrew('edit')), asyncHandler(updateBrew));
-router.put('/api/update/:id', asyncHandler(getBrew('edit')), asyncHandler(updateBrew));
+router.put('/api/:id', asyncHandler(getBrew('edit', true)), asyncHandler(updateBrew));
+router.put('/api/update/:id', asyncHandler(getBrew('edit', true)), asyncHandler(updateBrew));
 router.delete('/api/:id', asyncHandler(deleteBrew));
 router.get('/api/remove/:id', asyncHandler(deleteBrew));