Hello from Charlottesville

Hello!

Over the summer, my neighbor and I started talking about getting into brewing. I had been brewing in the past, but have not done so for about15 years so there was much to re-learn (first thing I noticed was that the varity and quality of ingredients available now is amazing)!

About 2 months ago we had our equipment to do an extract brew, just to test the waters...

What a 2 months! We are currently doing extract brews (with specialty grains) and have brewed the following: American Light Ale, Cream Ale, Lakefront Fixed Gear clone, Red Ale, Belgian Ale, Chocolate Milk Stout, and a Brown Ale.

We have created a dedicated brew room in my basement, bought a dedicated fridge, we keg and bottle our beer, and will be ready to move to all grain by the end of the year....we are hooked and excited to start creating our own recipes.

Everything that we have been brewing we have have been using BeerSmith in some fashion, from using it to time our brew sessions, to seeing how changes in different factors effect the outcome...very useful!

Thanks and happy to be part of the forum.

Dan
Buck Branch Brewing (named after the brook in our backyard)

Welcome back to the obsession.  I too had about a 10 year gap in brewing.  I was also amazed.

After only for extract with grain steeping brews in March, I made the jump to all grain.  I haven't regretted it one bit.  After that first 20 gallons of extract with grain steeping, I've now brewed 60 gallons with my all grain system.  Tomorrow (today for you), are club is brewing 60 gallons in my driveway to put into a large bourbon barrell for extended aging.  We have 11 different people brewing two different beers (an RIS and a Belgian Strong).  We'll be blending them together when they go into the bourbon barrell.

I strongly suggest that you find a homebrew club in your area.  It will help your learning curve immensely and you'll have even more fun.

Welcome fm Charlotte, NC.  Go Heels.....

Welcome!  I love all grain and wouldn't go back for anything.  The control and minute tweaking make it so much more fun and interesting!