Restarting after 20+ years

[flamenco]

Hello all. I was happily brewing kits more than 20 years ago, with some success and some failures. I ended up packing it in as the failure rate was higher than I liked.

I now have more time and thought I'd look at the current state of homebrewing. Wow what a difference 20 odd years makes!

Back then, I don't think the internet had got going to the extent we see it today so it took a while to find the right advice etc. Looking back now, I think the failures I had (a sharp twangy tasting beer) was due to using water from the upstairs bathroom tap (it seemed easier to sterilise and rinse using the bath) and I'm not sure that supply was as good as the downstairs kitchen tap (I'm sure the bath cold tap was fed from a large tank in the roof rather than directly from the mains).

Anyhoo, I have rekitted myself (having got rid of everything, including a warming band, hydrometer, thermometer, barrels, FVs etc etc) and have just started up a Brewferm ABDIJ 9L strong trappist type beer. I think I'm going to go down the Belgian types route and I don't mind leaving them alone for months on end to mature properly. I have the notion that these types will produce better results for me anyway.

Time will tell.

 

[BrotherMalice]

Welcome to the forums and welcome back to brewing :)

:

 

[pittsy]

hi welcome to the forum , yes things have moved on in a good way for info and internet buying but sadly bad for local brew shops . I like my belgian beers too :thumb:

 

[joe1002]

Welcome to the forum :

 

[eggman]

Welcome to the forum :

 

[dennisking]

Hi and welcome.

 

[fermentall]

Hello F & Welcome to you. :

 

[flamenco]

Well thank you, people, for your warm welcome.

I am getting quite enthusiastic about my newly rediscovered hobby. To the extent I spent a couple of hours today designing labels for when the bottles are ready...

And whilst my Abdij is doing its thing, I'm going to start my other kit (Muntons English Ale) so am going to investing a third FV - so I can have two FVs full and still have one for sterilising bottles, tops, siphon etc. I don't have a tap on any of my FVs. Would you advise to have one? Or is the siphon tube ok?

Can't remember what I did all those years ago...

Cheers

 

[pittsy]

not sure how "far" brewing you got many years ago with adjusting kits but apart from the expensive 2 can kits you can add dried malt extract instead of sugar , you could do a hop tea to add aroma , getting some good yeast easily available (kits yeast tends to be better for shelf life and not so great for beer) and temperature control is key to good beer while brewing , easily solved place fv in a larger container plus water and a aquarium heater in container all cheap ish :thumb:

 

[flamenco]

Ah that temperature control idea is interesting. What sort of container do you use big enough to hold a FV?

The warming band I had was just a plug in type - no thermostat as far as I recall so am currently wrapping FV in a sleeping bag with a folded fleece blanket on top, with a thermometer between FV and sleeping bag, and sitting it near a radiator. Getting temps between 21C - 25C. Is that a bit too high?

And is it the temperature itself or it being constant which is more important?

 

[Wendy1971]

Hi and welcome to a great forum :thumb:

 

[pittsy]

you want to brew between 18 and 22c depending on yeast used so 20c is often ideal , and constant is important , if too warm off flavours (and hangover beer if brewed warm) can be produced and if too cold a sluggish fermentation will happen , the better the yeast is treated the better the beer .

 

[LeedsBrewer]

welcome to the forum :thumb:

 

[Brewbob]

Its good to be back ain't it, I've just got going again after a 20yr hiatus, I'm starting simple, with one of the old kits I used to make, as a benchmark, then I'll try the 2 can types, like your Woodfordes, and maybe try some variations with them, different sugars, yeasts etc. Then when I've got a few kits under my belt I'll gather the kit for a BIAB and try some recipes out. Its a very engaging and rewarding hobby to get back into, especially now we're a bit more mature and willing to wait for a better brew :)