[narcout]

After 14.5 years of pretty much continuous homebrewing, I took a break starting in the summer of 2019.  Ironically, we bought a house a few months later, and I now have the brew space I always dreamed of. 

Anyway, I recently purchased ingredients for the first time in 18 months and have a Saison planned as soon as my hand feels ready (I broke it last month).

I'm not sure if I'm going to enjoy brewing again or not, but I'm looking forward to giving it a shot.  I sold my fancy RIMS system (I never really liked brewing on it), so I'm back to simple hochkurz mashing in an insulated, stainless tun.  Fortunately, I kept the kegerator and fermentation freezer.

Looks like Wyeast changed their packaging from a manufactured date to a best by date.  That confused me for a bit...

[ynotbrusum]

Welcome back.  All in one systems have grown in popularity, which you probably know, but the old style methods still work as good as ever.  New malts are coming in regularly, so there are plenty of avenues to explore on your restart!  Cheers!

[majorvices]

welcome back! Two things that got me back into homebrewing was the All-in one system like ynotbrewsum mentioned and brewing 1 gallon batches on my kitchen stove and keeping it really simple.

The all in one systems are nice because you aren't dragging out a ton of equipment, they are easy to clean and fast to brew on. I went with the BrewZilla 35L because it is 110V and simply plugs into any home outlet.

The one gallon batches I use my sous vide for strike water temps and bottle everything with priming tabs in bottles directly off the spigot on the bottom of the Primary fermenter. Super fast and simple.

Back when I was in my homebrew heyday it was always quite a production (and a mess) with multiple chest freezers, fermenters, 12 gallon batches, etc. I've simplified that and I'm having a lot more fun now.

[Kevin]

Try using Imperial brand yeast. Its advertised as 200 billion cells which means just open the package and pitch for many low to average gravity beers.

[erockrph]

I just got back into brewing steadily last year after a few years of only brewing once or twice a year. I got a Foundry, and the added simplification has made a big difference. I've also tried to keep my goals more manageable than back when I was going full bore. I generally have 3 kegs on tap and only one batch fermenting at a given time. When it's time to keg a batch I dump the rest of whatever keg I am least interested in, and refill it with the new brew. No matter how many brews I have on my want list, taking it in manageable chunks is keeping me from getting burnt out again, and I'm enjoying my beer more because of it.

[brewsumore]

I very recently brewed two 10-gallon batches after taking a full year off from brewing.  A big reason for the hiatus was because my kegerator chest freezer died in February 2020, and with the pandemic it has been very hard to source small chest freezers.  I recently got one with similar dimensions to the old one, and just finished refitting it as a kegerator, and was able to use the previous wood collar.  I just had to replace the wood splash plate/drip tray mount on the front, and a wood drip tray mount on the side.

But honestly, I'm not drinking as much beer as I used to, so the idea of a self-contained 5-gallon electric system is very appealing, or maybe even a 3-gallon system.  But I haven't pulled the trigger yet because honestly I enjoy the big enterprise, hand-crafted feel of batch sparging 10-gallon batches outside.  But I doubt I'll enjoy having 10 gallons of one beer very often going forward.

Roll with life's changes I suppose.

[Saccharomyces]

My last brew house was a 3-gallon brew house, but that was because I needed to maintain a yeast bank of more than dozen cultures on slant. Brewing smaller batches more often allowed me to piggyback sub-culturing on top a starter propagation event.  Right now, 5-gallons kegged is the right size batch.

[wesbrew]

I've been slowly adding to my setup over the years. converted to indoor electric last winter, now 3 vessels. too late now but i would have gotten an AIO electric system just for simplicity and less cleaning.  I have a pretty convenient setup for a 3v though. can't complain

[ttash]

For me, keeping things versatile is the key. I  have two systems, one for brewing in the kitchen during winter, and one for brewing in the garage during the warmer months. The big rig is a 3 vessel 1/2 bbl propane fired system with 2 pumps that can turn out 12 gallons post boil of all but the highest gravity worts efficiently with good repeatability. The inside rig is a basic single infusion system that can turn out 3 gallons post boil of average strength worts quickly and easily. During the warmer months I'm very busy and can't brew very often, so being able to produce 10 gallons of kegged beer is essential. Once winter rolls around I have more time to brew more often so smaller batches are plenty. The big rig takes more time to set up and is more complex and I enjoy that, but I love going back to the basic mini system in the winter. It keeps things fresh, interesting, and versatile. I think that if I were locked into brewing just one way on one system I wouldn't brew as much and lose interest.