- Joined
- Nov 19, 2017
- Messages
- 250
- Reaction score
- 93
It's been over a year since I brewed a batch of beer. Between the heat from this summer and the anxiety of a 6+ hour brew day, I've lost the interest in brewing.
I started brewing 6 years ago on a propane turkey fryer kit with partial mash kits. I had a ton of fun and was able to knock out batches in a few hours. I upgraded to all grain and my days started to grow. Most recently I was brewing on a custom fabricated HERMS and seeing 6-7 hour brew days from the time I started heating my mash water to the time I finish mopping and hanging all of my equipment to dry.
This past weekend I sold my HERMS for a fair price in an effort to scale down my equipment and simplify. The HERMS was awesome, but dealing with all the kettles and hoses and pumps...it was just too much for me. I took the money and placed a pre-order for a Brewzilla Gen 4. Single vessel, limited hoses, center drain, electric... sounds like a dream. I can't wait for it to get here.
I also sold my counterflow chiller. DAMN that thing was efficient, but I hated having to clean it. Sure it's just pumping PBW through it, but I always lost a little wort in the hoses and CFC. I know the immersion chiller is going to take longer, but I'm looking forward to the simplicity again.
I've been also thinking about not even messing with yeast starters any more. Is it difficult to make a yeast starter? No. But is it really necessary for the beers I'm brewing? Probably not!
I'm trying hard to strip away unnecessary activities or equipment to help me enjoy the process of brewing more. What else have you done to get back to the basics and enjoy the process?
I started brewing 6 years ago on a propane turkey fryer kit with partial mash kits. I had a ton of fun and was able to knock out batches in a few hours. I upgraded to all grain and my days started to grow. Most recently I was brewing on a custom fabricated HERMS and seeing 6-7 hour brew days from the time I started heating my mash water to the time I finish mopping and hanging all of my equipment to dry.
This past weekend I sold my HERMS for a fair price in an effort to scale down my equipment and simplify. The HERMS was awesome, but dealing with all the kettles and hoses and pumps...it was just too much for me. I took the money and placed a pre-order for a Brewzilla Gen 4. Single vessel, limited hoses, center drain, electric... sounds like a dream. I can't wait for it to get here.
I also sold my counterflow chiller. DAMN that thing was efficient, but I hated having to clean it. Sure it's just pumping PBW through it, but I always lost a little wort in the hoses and CFC. I know the immersion chiller is going to take longer, but I'm looking forward to the simplicity again.
I've been also thinking about not even messing with yeast starters any more. Is it difficult to make a yeast starter? No. But is it really necessary for the beers I'm brewing? Probably not!
I'm trying hard to strip away unnecessary activities or equipment to help me enjoy the process of brewing more. What else have you done to get back to the basics and enjoy the process?