New Forum Member

[Hop Head]

Greetings Folks!
I am a new member, but not a home-brew newbie. I just found this website, and it seems cool. I have not brewed in LONG time, but I am thinking about resuming my brewing. My first batch was January 1994, and my last was February 2002. I brewed 98 batches. I documented each batch in a brewing journal, with the recipes, etc., and tasting comments. Most were malt extract batches, many were with some specialty grains(Crystal Malt, etc), a few partial mash batches, and only 1 all-grain mash batch. My most commonly made style was Pale Ale, American or IPA. Some of the batches were 10 gallons, usually split into 2-5 gallon fermenters, with a different yeast in each of the 5 gallons, to make a yeast comparison. After my first few batches using dried yeasts, I started using liquid yeasts. I even tried re-pitching yeast several times from one batch into the next batch, which works well and saves money. I would do that when brewing batches within a of couple weeks of each other.
To change things up, in 1997 made a 5 gallon batch of Mead, with a touch of ginger(Not enough ginger in my opinion, but it is good). I still have some of the mead left, since I do not drink much alcohol other than beer, but occasionally have a glass. It still tastes pretty good, after 10 years.
I have a few questions for anyone who may be able to answer.
1) How long is too long to keep cans of Malt Extract? I have several cans from 2001/2002, and they should be safe to use, but I would like to know if my beer flavor quality will suffer by using something that old.
2) Is re-pitching yeast very common in the home-brew world? As I wrote above, I tried it, with much success several times.
3) How long has this website been on the web?
4) How common is home-brewing these days? I do not know anyone who brews, and the few local brew supply shops near me are long gone.

Hope to be part of the home-brewing craze again soon!
Hop Head
Pete

[spkrtoy]

Well I'd ask what part of the world your're from, then what temp's you have the goodies stored at.
I'm in So. Calif. and have freezer and home room's set for fermentation.

I'd ask you to check out www.brewcommune.com for another board that is reaallyy cool......Great to seeyou here
Lyn

[Hop Head]

Well I'd ask what part of the world your're from, then what temp's you have the goodies stored at.
I'm in So. Calif. and have freezer and home room's set for fermentation.

I am in S.E. PA. I have my cans of malt extract at room temperature of 68 degrees F. My basement stays at about 68 F constantly. Makes for great Ale fermentation.[/i]

[bobthehabsfan]

Welcome to the boards!!!

Things seem to be a bit slow here right now, but I'm thinking it might just be that time of year. I really don't know enough about Liquid Malt to answer your question about storage. With the exception of my first couple of kits, I've always used DME.

That being said, as soon as I can make time, I finally have all my equipment for my first AG batch.

I've been homebrewing for about 2 1/2 years, but have only gotten fairly "serious" about it in the last 7 months or so. In my area (western michigan, Grand Rapids to be exact), there seems to be a relatively strong base. I guess how strong it is depends on what you're looking for...some brew for competitions, some brew for fun...I brew because I love beer...pretty much everything about it. from the product to the history. You might want to go to beertown.org and see if there are any clubs/organizations in your area.

As far as repitching yeast, I've started doing this recently with pretty good results.

I would definately agree with Lyn about checking out the brewcommune boards. There are some really talented and helpful brewers there. If you have the time, just reading a lot of the old posts will give you a wealth of information.

Anywho...great to have you here on the boards, and I know we all look to hearing some of your stories, recipes, and adventures in homebrewing.

Bob