New Again Member

[velosim]

Hello Everyone,
I am returning to my favorite at-home hobby after about 12 years off with raising kids, working, [insert other lame excuse here], misc...
I've dusted off the old equipment and started to clean everything up in anticipation of my first-in-a-while IPA all-grain batch.

I was just curious if anything has changed in the last decade plus regarding equipment, techniques, ingredients, or anything else that I should be aware of? I'm happy to search the forums and youtubes on my own but thought I would ask the question first in case anyone wanted to point me in the right direction. I know the science is still the same and I imagine the brewing day is very similar if not identical but wondering what has changed while I have been on hiatus?

Thanks in advance and it's good to be back!

Ryan

 

[VikeMan]

A few things off the top of my head...

- "Secondaries" have mostly fallen out of favor, replaced by additional time in the primary fermenter. This was already starting to happen back in your day, but it's more entrenched now.

- There's more of an emphasis on controlling exposure to oxygen. Lots of threads about that. It's especially important for New England IPAs.

- Conical fermenters have really gained in popularity, as have "all in one" mash/boil systems like Grainfather, etc.

- There are more yeast strains (from more manufacturers) than there used to be. This includes strains available as dry yeast, which I think have probably increased percentage-wise more than liquid strains have. (A lot of the "new" liquid strains are basically just older strains being sold by new manufacturers.)

- Everything is more expensive. Apply inflation. Then be prepared for more sticker shock on top of that.

- There's a website that will more or less tell you that most ingredient and process variables don't affect your beer. I'd suggest not believing them, or at least understanding what their triangle taste test statistics are really telling you.

 

[Kent88]

Welcome back!

 

[wallyLOZ]

Welcome from Missouri!

What @VikeMan said. Not sure, but BIAB may have evolved since you went on hiatus.

Enjoy the ride.

 

[velosim]

A few things off the top of my head...

- "Secondaries" have mostly fallen out of favor, replaced by additional time in the primary fermenter. This was already starting to happen back in your day, but it's more entrenched now.

- There's more of an emphasis on controlling exposure to oxygen. Lots of threads about that. It's especially important for New England IPAs.

- Conical fermenters have really gained in popularity, as have "all in one" mash/boil systems like Grainfather, etc.

- There are more yeast strains (from more manufacturers) than there used to be. This includes strains available as dry yeast, which I think have probably increased percentage-wise more than liquid strains have. (A lot of the "new" liquid strains are basically just older strains being sold by new manufacturers.)

- Everything is more expensive. Apply inflation. Then be prepared for more sticker shock on top of that.

- There's a website that will more or less tell you that most ingredient and process variables don't affect your beer. I'd suggest not believing them, or at least understanding what their triangle taste test statistics are really telling you.

Thanks for the info. Gives me a starting place for some new info and gear.

I decided to repeat a classic IPA recipe I made a handful of times today to just check everything out and ease back into the saddle. I'm just into the mash and it feels good to be brewing again!