Looong Break from Brewing - What to Brew

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BrewKaiser

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Hello Again HBT Members. It's been over a 1-1/2 years since I've last brewed, and this after building what I thought would be the ultimate rig to carry forth my hobby. Life has a funny, and sometimes sad way, of getting in the way.

Anyway, I cleared the calendar for this weekend alerting the family not to schedule me for ANYTHING.

Sooo...what do I brew? I really have grown fond of NEIPAs but there are so many good ones to choose from locally and my beer consumption is just 3-4 a week. Do I brew another solid West Coast IPA or get an ESB ready for fall/winter?

What is everyone else brewing right now that is not a NEIPA?
 
To start your pipeline you could use a Kveik yeast. It can be ready to drink in under a week!

Personally I'm making pumpkin beer and have a lot of cider fermenting (and long-term sours). Gearing up to produce a series of Christmas & fall beers to give to friends and family as variety packs.
Upcoming batches of mead as well. I keep myself busy with brewing.

Cheers

Edit: typo
 
Last edited:
RPh_Guy said:
To start your pipline you could use a Kveik yeast. It can be ready to drink in under a week!

Personally I'm making pumpkin beer and have a lot of cider fermenting (and long-term sours). Gearing up to produce a series of Christmas & fall beers to give to friends and family as variety packs.
Upcoming batches of mead as well. I keep myself busy with brewing.
Cheers
Click to expand...

I thought about making a holiday beer for gifting, but think I need to get my skills back in check before forcing my beers onto others.

My wife has become quite fond of a new local Perry, and there's plenty of fresh apple and pear juice to be had in my vicinity. Just doesn't really qualify as brewing for me. I need to flip the switches on my rig and run it thru it's paces again.

I am interested in a good Perry recipe if you have one!
 
MaxStout said:
Perhaps a SMaSH to sharpen up those rusty skills? Make a nice, easy-drinking brew that's fast, grain-to-glass. Then think about what you're going to brew next...
Click to expand...

You might be right. I also realized that I have about 3 gallons worth of 1 quart mason jars filled with yeast starter in my fridge from a split batch I did almost a little before the last batch I brewed. I'm guessing it's exceeded its shelf life. A simple malt bill would do the trick to partial off a couple of gallons 20 min into the boil. I could do all late/Wp hops with the remainder of the batch for the final beer.

Any recommendations on new hops try?
 
Since we are going into winter a nice ESB or a stout would be good.

I’m on the Mobil app and I can’t see a picture of your rig, and apparently it’s awesome so I think I’m missing out.
 
Transamguy77 said:
Since we are going into winter a nice ESB or a stout would be good.

I’m on the Mobil app and I can’t see a picture of your rig, and apparently it’s awesome so I think I’m missing out.
Click to expand...

ESB is a solid option. I’m just torn wanting to try some of the cryo hops - which were just coming out around the last time I brewed - versus keeping it simple as I try to wrap my head around all the complexities of a brew day on my over engineered rig.

I didn’t post a pick, posters to this thread have followed the link to my build thread in my signature. Been so long that I posted on HBT I forgot it was there.

My first challenge will be clearing the way to the rig. What was once sacred territory has fallen victim to bikes, camping gear, and general crap we can’t seem to get rid of.
 
Wait a minute!!! You have an entire weekend and are torn with which beer to brew? Go BIAB and you can have time to do 4 different batches for a bigger selection. Simply heat the water, mill the grains fine, stir them in and let them sit for 30 to 40 minutes. Lift out the bag and you have wort. Start heating the wort while the bag finishes draining.

Most beers store really well and some improve with age too.
 
You let that sit unused???? I would ignore my wife in the sack before letting that sit without attention for more than 2 weeks my god what a set up compared to my measly BIAB rig I am really jealous my friend. Anyway the Cryo hops are just OK nothing special I find they work nice in SMASH Pale Ales you get a bit more punch out of them but they wont make your beer much different from regular hops if any different at all I just like my beers hoppy. First brew back in the game I would look at a basic brown ale recipe simple, tasty and very forgiving
 
If you can work out the time a simple APA, amber or brown ale to get something going then for the second, something heavier for the cooler months.
 
I remember seeing your build thread last year, and I think there are still pieces of my jaw on the floor when it dropped! Sweet rig man!
 
Thanks for the props, all. Not what I was expecting or intended.

Back to the business at hand...

@RM-MN, indeed BIAB is a great method. If I had to do things over again... but I'm well past the point of no return on my rig. In theory, I designed my rig so that I can start mashing another batch while one is in the BK. Never had the need or time for a multi-brew day.

I think I'm going the ESB route. It's an easy enough recipe and my palate could use a little break from the IPAs. Just resurrected my Olde Speckled Kaiser recipe in Beersmith and modified it to my new set up. After wrapping my head around creating a 7.5 batch recipe to split 2 GAL off for wort starter after 20 min boil and the remainder for a 5.5 GAL "OSK" beer I think I'm ready.

Thanks to Amazon key supplies and a new PH meter are on the way. I'm sure my old PH meter is DOA and I'm sure all my scales will need to batteries. Looks like I'm in for a busy weekend of making way, cleaning, and brewing.

Hopefully I can get all ingredients and yeast in time...

OG-wan Kenobi said:
You let that sit unused???? I would ignore my wife in the sack before letting that sit without attention for more than 2 weeks my god what a set up compared to my measly BIAB rig I am really jealous my friend. Anyway the Cryo hops are just OK nothing special I find they work nice in SMASH Pale Ales you get a bit more punch out of them but they wont make your beer much different from regular hops if any different at all I just like my beers hoppy. First brew back in the game I would look at a basic brown ale recipe simple, tasty and very forgiving
Click to expand...

I've read that the cryo hops are great for dry hopping in that they don't impart any vegetative or grassy flavors. Will give them a go soon. @RPh_Guy got me thinking about holiday beer for gifting. I think my next project will be resurrecting the XocoVeza recipe. Which if you are a fan of Stone Brewing around the holidays you know what I'm talking about...lYUM!
 
Ok I went and looked up your rig and that is sweet! And I’m with RM-MN if you have all weekend it should be more like how many can I brew this weekend!
 
day_trippr said:
BIAB? Did you see the pics of his rig?
I'd be self-obliged to take a swan dive off a tall building if I'd built a rig like that then used just the boil kettle on brew days!

Cheers! ;)
Click to expand...

Since he hadn't brewed for 1 1/2 years I assumed he was out of beer. First order of business is to fill the pipeline. After that he can go back to one brew a weekend. I can push out a batch in 3 1/2 hours with my BIAB. That allows 2 batches per day, more if you want a long day. That is with one vessel but he has 3 in the pictures. Hmm...3 vessels, 2 days, 2 batches per day? That could fill a pipeline (and a lot of fermenters) in a hurry.
 
If you have the do your go to ESB for sure, and pump out the holiday ale if you are still up for the second brew.

Getting the x-mass ale fermenting now should have it in the bottle and hitting its stride right in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

And I love the rig! I am so going to use that finish on my set up(once I get time to get it set up).
 
1.5 years.. shoot, I brewed a batch July 2011. Shortly after we decided we wanted to move out of state, so I didn't brew and just cleared all my kegs. A year later, we moved out of state, lived in apt. for a year while house was being built, then came 2 kids in 15 months..

All that happened in what seemed like an instant, and then some great timing; my uncle was downsizing so he passed on all his equipment to me. Brew stand, conical, grain mill, counterflow chiller.. plus lots of goodies.

This was last summer, and within a week or two I brewed my first batch after not brewing for 6 years, a Belgian Tripel.
 

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BrewKaiser said:
Hello Again HBT Members. It's been over a 1-1/2 years since I've last brewed, and this after building what I thought would be the ultimate rig to carry forth my hobby. Life has a funny, and sometimes sad way, of getting in the way.

Anyway, I cleared the calendar for this weekend alerting the family not to schedule me for ANYTHING.

Sooo...what do I brew? I really have grown fond of NEIPAs but there are so many good ones to choose from locally and my beer consumption is just 3-4 a week. Do I brew another solid West Coast IPA or get an ESB ready for fall/winter?

What is everyone else brewing right now that is not a NEIPA?
Click to expand...
I get to brew when Im not working which is usually overtime for extended periods. BUT I try to choose beers I know I can ferment in my house or basement . I don't have a totally climate controlled fermentation area ( yet)so I have to keep yeast requirements between mid 60 to say 74* F .
I brew what my wife and I like to drink which is NOT IPA's ,just too hoppy for our tastes. But our tastes are evolving so we try new things now and again.
I've come into a dark beer rut , not in a bad way . My wife is sloooowly liking dark beers too, porters mostly.

My AG brews under my belt are -
Hefeweizen. -my rookie brew was outstanding.
A derivative of the same grain bill with different yeasts ,hops and citrus zest added. I have just 1 bottle left, saving it for a special occasion .
An Oatmeal Stout (added 1 lb more rolled oats.)
American Honey Brown Ale ( The honey part ,I added 3/4 lb raw local honey to the boil)that was my first one through my electric rig...turned out great ,dry finish,abv feels like a solid 8%

On deck I have -
A hoppy red ale that I plan on adding more grain for a more intense red color .
A Dunkelweizen .
A bit of a Frankenstein beer recipe to be built/ ran through a recipe builder app at a later date.
 
BrewKaiser said:
Hello Again HBT Members. It's been over a 1-1/2 years since I've last brewed, and this after building what I thought would be the ultimate rig to carry forth my hobby. Life has a funny, and sometimes sad way, of getting in the way.

Anyway, I cleared the calendar for this weekend alerting the family not to schedule me for ANYTHING.

Sooo...what do I brew? I really have grown fond of NEIPAs but there are so many good ones to choose from locally and my beer consumption is just 3-4 a week. Do I brew another solid West Coast IPA or get an ESB ready for fall/winter?

What is everyone else brewing right now that is not a NEIPA?
Click to expand...

Sounds like my experience for the last 1 1/2 yrs. Welcome back.
 

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