Not that anybody knows me from Didley, but I made a (hopefully) successful return to the hobby this past weekend after a nine-year absence. It was quite a chore trying to find everything and getting the brewery back in working order, but I have something in the fermenter and it will be fun to see what comes of it. I’ve already been spending way too much time sifting through websites to find new things, but that’s what makes the hobby interesting.
Looking forward to relearning everything I’d forgotten, which was quite substantial after this weekend’s run through.
Hey man! Good for you. 9 years is long time to be away. I bet this batch will taste just as good as that first batch you ever brewed (well maybe better with some more expertise under your belt)… ;D
Instead of making something simple and easy, I decided to make my biggest beer ever. I pushed my system to its edges, and that made me learn what I need to do to fix a) my brewery, b) my knowledge base, and c) my ego. I didn’t even bother with a dry run to get everything in order. I just jumped. But it was a good jump since it forced back many memories and also immediately identified the small things I need to relearn. Like remembering to calculate the top-up water needed before the boil, rather than stressing about calculating dilution water in the fermenter when I’m a gallon short and 40 points high on OG.
I based my recipe on Project Dank from a local brewery, La Cumbre. I am now basing the rest of my existence on getting my brewery up to snuff. I did stay fairly current with the knowledge of the hobby - I still read every issue of Zymurgy and I always stay in contact with homebrew shop websites as well. I think I won’t have too much to catch up on.
One big issue I had was Promash, since that was my software. It took some time to get that working again, but I lost all my recipes from the number of computer swaps I’ve gone through in those years.
No kidding! I just returned to brewing in the past year, after my last batch in 2002. I was amazed at all the changes, big and small. Heck, my old tried-and-true airlocks I had held on to didn’t even fit snug in the new fermenter lids. I decided to not look back too much on my old extract brew and bottle days and jumped to all grain brewing and kegging. The wealth of information that is out there compared to when I started in 1999 is phenomenal, not to mention this whole “YouTube” thing. As a visual learner, that made a world of difference.
The Le Cumbre brewer posted the base recipe, with guidelines for hop schedule and IBU. He said that they often use a rotating blend of hops and to use what you like best. I used Columbus to bitter, Galaxy, Citra, Equinox, and Chinook in whirlpool and dry. Good stuff.
Welcome back! I’ve been on a self-imposed break from earlier this year from brewing while I get a major project done. Good for you to come back after such a break! Even since last spring, it seems there are all kinds of new things (LODO, wha…?). You did the right thing, jump back in and brew. Maybe you should call this batch Didley.
Since as of tomorrow I have at least a couple weeks’ off from the project, among other things, I’m planning at least one brew day. I could go in so many directions, but whatever I do will be a joy. I’m calling the first batch Interregnum.
I’m using the same recipe. I also used Columbus, but paired with Centennial for the bittering/flavor, and then Citra and Nelson Sauvin for aroma/dry. So far so good, but I have a ton of hops material in the fermenter I’m trying to get to settle out. Added the dry hops yesterday and I’ll work on bottling next weekend.
