What's new in homebrew (4 years away)

[Xygorn]

I was an avid home brewer up until 4 years ago, when personal circumstances made me go on hiatus. I am finally back to brewing, and 4 years of forums threads are a little daunting.

So what is new in the last 4 years? New equipment? New forum-favourite recipes? New home-brewing science? New homebrew styles? Newly available yeast or hops?

I'd love to hear your recollections.

Ziggy

 

[Duxuk]

A lot more of my fellow homebrewers are using automated brewing systems like the Grainfather. I, meanwhile, continue to brew AG with a 32l pan and 2 sheets of net curtain.

 

[Gerryjo]

A lot more of my fellow homebrewers are using automated brewing systems like the Grainfather. I, meanwhile, continue to brew AG with a 32l pan and 2 sheets of net curtain.

Sounds a bit like myself with a bit of voil net curtain if I mash in the fermenter,though I do have a Burco boiler and a mashtun and if course a 32l pot which gives a more vigorous boil on the [emoji618]....

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[Toredan]

I'd probably say the following are from the last 4 years, in no particular order;

NEIPAs
NZ hops have got bigger and more popular
Hop stands have got extremely popular, and actually changed the way I write my recipes.
Pressure transfer is getting bigger, new fermentasaurus is pretty good.
Citra is still the number 1 hop according to CML brewery, followed by the usual mosaic, simcoe and amarillo.
CML itself (Crossmyloof brewery), they sell a fairly good us-04/5 alternative for 1.95 a sachet and sell hops quite cheap. Rather popular now.
Lupulin powder; the powder from inside the hop which is meant to be the flavor bit. Expensive and to be frank I don't really like using it, it didn't give me the results I expected for the price.
New GF alternatives


I'm sure there is more, but that is a start

 

[Leon103]

more people thinking they are experts

 

[Oneflewover]

more people thinking they are experts

You think so? I'm not sure, there are ' experts' on every subject on every forum I've ever been on. You quickly figure out who really knows their onions.

Re the OP, I haven't got a clue since I've only been brewing for 2 years :beer6:

 

[chesters-mild]

more people thinking they are experts

Nowt new there then.
But there are many very experienced brewers on the forum.
However the kit may have changed, beer is still water, malt, hops, yeast, time and enthusiasm - welcome to the forum, and back to brewing!

 

[Bigcol49]

more people thinking they are experts

Delusions of adequacy

 

[Simonh82]

For brewing science, I really enjoy reading the Brulosophy blog. They've tested out lots of the strongly held brewing conventions and found that for may of them people can't tell the difference between beers brewed correctly and those which 'cut corners'.

 

[Sadfield]

Started brewing around the time the OP stopped, but have noticed a big increase in range and quality of equipment. More hop varieties, more malts, more yeasts being made available to homebrewers. More genuine recipes being released by breweries, and a proliferation of knowledge and information from reliable source. More homebrew clubs. Homebrewing appears to be growing with the craft beer scene.

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[Litmus]

30 mins boil is now a real thing, as long as its a good strong boil?

 

[Xygorn]

Sounds like I have a lot of reading ahead. NEIPAs sound right up my alley, but the first NEIPA thread I saw has 164 pages.

I like the look of the fermentasaurus. Are people generally serving out of it, or just fermenting and transferring over to kegs for serving? I'll need to read up on pressure transfer I guess.