2016: Year End Reflection

2016 has been a great year for my homebrewing. I finished my keezer build just after New Year's weekend and kegged for the first time - a Dark Mild 2 weeks later. That same month I lagered my first Pilsner and figured out how to do closed transfers for my hoppy beers. I never dialed in a process for dry-hopping (either in the fermenter or in the keg) and one of my biggest setbacks was a pair of clogged diptubes from leaky bags during keg-hopping - enough to push me back to primary DH for now.
Other firsts: I built up dregs from a few SN Kellerweis bottles and brewed a great hefe this summer, brewed my first "slow" sour, using fruit in secondary for the first time, and brewed a very satisfying Oktoberfest. 15 brews in all, and I'm excited for 2017. Hoping to dial in a consistent DH and closed transfer process this year. Thanks to all for the great advice along the way.

 

2016 Reflection.

Didn't brew as much as I would have liked(not hard to believe for all of us) My biggest problem is I like to brew and develop recipes more than I like to drink. This year was a balance of trying to maintain/lose a little weight while still enjoying craft beer and homebrew. My weight can fluctuate more than 30 pounds in a year. This year I have been able to stay within the low end of the 10 pound range, but still haven't really lost weight despite working out 1-2 times per week.

Best beer of the year was a split batch Imperial Stout brewed with a buddy. Other notable beers include a Brett B Saison, Altbier, German Pilsner and a Sour Belgian Dubbel aged on MI tart Cherries.

Notable Meh beers include a NE Session IPA that ended up just too bitter after a too warm of a hopstand. Also My 2nd attempt at the NE style clogged my dip tube and ended up more trouble than it was worth.

In 2017 im looking to redeem myself on the NE style IPA. Keep my sour beer pipeline alive and well and brew many session beers in order to keep calorie intake under control. Also want to brew a few more Lagers with 34/70 in the high 50 degree range.

House session beers im looking to dial include, Brett Saison, Dark Mild, Session IPA/Hoppy Pale ale, Oatmeal Stout and maybe a Bitter.

Cheers!

 

Actually was a pretty active brewing year at SevenBeech. Finally bought a propane cooker and 8 gallon brewpot, taught a newbie the process for both all-grain and extract batches, brewed seven or eight batches of beer.

 

Cool topic! I enjoy reading stuff like this.

For me, it was quite a year! Started out last Christmas/New Year’s when I completed my keezer build and started kegging all my brew. Have 4 beers on tap at all times, which is really awesome to say the least. Love being able to pour 4oz, 8oz, 16oz or more if I so desire. Beer quality has improved as well, as I assume the minimizing of oxygen with transfers to bottle buckets and such is reduced. Plus so much less time cleaning a keg vs. 50 some bottles is huge! It was a fun project to build my “taproom” nook in the house.

Aside from that, I brewed some amazing beers this year! I will pick just the top 5 I am most proud of… (is a bit long, but work is slow and I have time!…)

A 12.1% Bourbon Vanilla Rye Imperial Stout… My biggest beer to date, with 8% being the largest before it. This beer had an OG of 1.116 and FG of 1.031… However, bourbon additions increased the ABV the remainder of the way. The rye comes from chocolate rye malt and flaked rye in the grist. Once primary fermentation was complete, I added tinctures of fresh Madagascan vanilla beans (so soft, pliable and juicy… intensely aromatic!) and charred Hungarian oak cubes… Both of which soaked in 10-yr Eagle Rare bourbon for two weeks or so. Added this into the primary before kegging (with some additional bourbon directly added) and conditioned the beer for another few months. Tapped it on Halloween night, with the beer being called “Waking the Fallen”. The final result was beyond anything I had expected… Rich, viscous mouthfeel… Big notes of milk chocolate, light roast and undertones of oak/bourbon and vanilla of course to finish. The 75 IBU’s balance the sweetness perfectly, it’s not too sweet or cloying at all even with the 1.031 FG. Very complex beer, really proud of it! I plan to rebrew this beer for next fall, without the additions of vanilla/bourbon/oak as the base beer was so awesome… It will simply be called “The Fallen”!

Jaro Pils (Spring Pilsner)… This was a Bohemian Pilsner that was my first attempt at doing a (double) decoction. This pilsner was strictly all Pils malt of course with acid malt for pH control. Hopped exclusively with Saaz hops, the end result was just wonderful. Fantastic clarity, amazing Saaz hop flavor/aroma and a crisp (FG of 1.008!) finish. Had rave reviews at the homebrew meeting I took this beer to, had quite a few people asking questions for how I pulled off this beer with “commercial quality”. Actually brewing another pilsner this coming weekend, but going without the decotion to see how the end result is. Given that Victory Brewing is one of my favorites, this time I am going whole-flower hops exclusively. Just had 4-lbs of 2016 harvest Mittelfruh, Tradition, Saaz and Tettnanger delivered two weeks ago to be used! I will be curious if I can get the end result as dry without the decotion, but I will be mashing low at 148F for this next pilsner… 2017 will be a huge focus on German lagers, excited!

Alpha Omega, my 8% ABV NE-DIPA. Grist mostly just 2-row, Golden Promise, Oats and a touch of Crystal 10L and Honey Malt. 18oz of hops used for this 5-gal batch! Featured Columbus, Nugget, Citra, Simcoe and Mosaic… Conan yeast (Omega DIPA). When finished, this beer was off the hook. I have had dozens of different Tree House, Trillium and all those other NE-breweries (visited some 20 breweries in the area this summer) and I would put this beer up against any of them. Incredible, pungent hop aroma and flavor. While I prefer my IPA’s to have more bitterness and not just “juice bomb’s”, this beer had 80 IBU’s theoretical… But it balanced this one out so well. Think more Trillium than Tree House, there is just more complexity and “completeness” when you have the proper bittering behind it. Friends who are huge beer fanatics and also have had dozens and dozens of the similar style told me that it was as good as any of them, so I guess you can’t get a better compliment than that!

International Bitter… This beer was quite a fun one to work on. It was actually a “collaboration” with a friend (looking at you @JohnnyMc)… We were after something low ABV but complex and interesting to drink. We both settled on doing a bitter-type, and it was his idea that we try to use ingredients from all over the world… So the end result was a beer that featured a grist of Golden Promise (UK), Pilsner (Germany), Red Wheat (US), Carapils (US), Vienna (Germany), Midnight Wheat (US) and Patagonia Perla Negra (Chile). Hopped with Columbus (US), Galaxy (Australia) and Hallertauer Mittelfrueh (Germany). Yeast was English Ale. This beer finished at 3.5% ABV and really turned out unlike any beer I have had… The beer has this bready, faintly roasted note with a surprisingly medium bodied mouth feel. Dry hopped with Galaxy, you get this finish pop of almost grape/berry like alongside some of that Hallertaur spice note. It’s really refreshing and bold for the ABV. Turned out really awesome, especially after a few weeks of conditioning when it really came into it’s own. Really fresh it wasn’t as developed, but now I am loving it!

Zor (Vienna Lager)… This lager was made with Vienna and Victory malt… Extremely simplistic and ended up being a highlight for me this year. While I plan to make tweaks the next time around (different yeast for more attenuation and adding pils malt into the mix), I just loved drinking this beer. The bready/nutty notes from the malt is the standout feature of course, especially when drinking a bunch of hoppy IPA’s… It was refreshing to have a clean, malty lager to fall back on. A variant of this beer will def be back in 17’!


Aside from the standout beers and my transition into kegging, I would say the last “reflection” would be my hopeful transition to opening a brewery in the nearish-future (shocker! Right?). The business plan is in process and nearly complete, have met with brewery equipment suppliers and really hoping to wrap the plan up within the next few months if time allows. Once that is complete, it will just be a holding pattern until I find a perfect location, finalize my investors and ensure the market is headed in the right direction before pulling the trigger. But time will tell! Either way, it’s been an eye opening exercise doing the plan, detailing out every little aspect of the business. I am excited to possibly do this, but the time has to be right under the “best” circumstances.

Too many mediocre breweries out there started by brewers that are in it just because it’s a “cool job” or to “make money” first and foremost, not for the passion of the beer and being able to offer the highest quality product each and every time. Sure, I know it’s a business (the purpose of which is to make money), but passion will take you far more places than more cans on the shelf, which is a big issue I see with so many new breweries. Having been to over 100 breweries (so far), you can *easily* tell the passionate brewers from the ones who jumped in too early or for the wrong reasons. I aim to be one of those breweries that people can respect the care put into the product, even if styles they don’t particularly love. That’s one of my biggest reasons for wanting to open up a smaller taproom, with no distro, is being able to produce a wide variety of styles in smaller batches… You won’t find a tap list of 12 IPA’s and 4 stouts, but a variety of session-strength lagers/ales, both west coast and NE style IPA’s, lower ABV porters and stouts, pilsners and other German-inspired lagers, etc… Variety, but within reason of course.

For those who like following this type of stuff, I have a facebook page for my (now) homebrewery... Typically post recipe info, process stuff and whatnot: https://www.facebook.com/gravebrewing

Anyway, enough rambling…

Cheers to 2017!

 

Wow, definitely a great brewing year for you and I hope things come together for your brewery in 2017. I'm lucky enough to live in a really small town that has an interest in and support of craft beer (Selinsgrove, PA, home of the nationally recognized Selin's Grove Brewing Company and, if they get off the ground in 2017 after missing their 2016 target, Que Brew Crew Brewing Co.).
If you follow the example set by Steve/Heather at Selin's Grove Brewing Co., you'll focus on the quality and not the quantity of the beer, develop a loyal following, and keep yourself and your public happy without giving in to the temptation to sell out to the highest bidder. Operating a tavern/brewhouse was once one of the most respected professions, and there's no reason that you can't commit yourself to doing the same. Even though I've brewed for 20 years now, I can't say that I see myself taking the step to being a brewer myself, although once my sons are done with college in a few years I might be agreeable to being an assistant somewhere to supplement my retirement income.
I genuinely wish the best for your venture and will follow your progress here and on Facebook.

 

2016 was the year for me. Brewed two extract beers in 2014 that came out ok but really was the catalyst for me wanting to brew all grain. 2015 was a busy year with moving to a different city and switching jobs. 2016 started all grain:
1. Hefeweizen - from Brewing Classic Styles
2. Hoppy Things IPA - Nate Lanier's (Treehouse) recipe
3. Averagely Perfect NE IPA - Vikeman
4. Finkel&Garf's Oatmeal Milk Stout - from Zymurgy
5. Golden Delight English PA - 2016 gold medal winner Tom Thorpe
6. Boone's Farmhouse Saison (carbing now) - JohnSnowNW

It's been fun but, as all of you know, once you start getting into all grain and the beer tastes good, it's almost inevitable that you'll drop down that rabbit hole in search of every method out there to make the next batch better. I predict an intense 2017 for me, ha!

 

@invertalon - just checked out the FB page. Excellent stuff! Thanks for sharing.

 

Well, I told myself 2016 was going to be the year for wilds, sours and brett beers. It sure was. We had a little girl back in May, but I still managed to crank out 8 beers this year. (If you're dedicated enough, you'll find the time, or just get up extra early on a Saturday to brew)

- Did my first brett beer this past February – a 100% brett saison that turned out fantastic. I still have about 1/2 case left.
- Dabbled in a few other Belgian-style beers with various yeast strains that I've never used, as well as another Berliner
- Did my first wild yeast capture and used it to ferment a blonde ale.
- Brewed my first sour using a mixed fermentation of sacch, brett, and pedio; the 9-month secondary was my first true test of patience.
- Used fruit for the first time in secondary, a few times this year actually.
- Built my own stir plate

@inchrisin bottle bombs are very scary. I had about 6 bottles of pale ale blow a few years back. Now that I'm bottle conditioning a lot of wilds I'm being extra careful on gravity readings/priming sugar. Trying to stock up on the heavy glass bottles as best I can!

 

Good stuff on the FB page, and good luck with the brewery! Mine is based in Cincinnati If I'm ever up that way I'll be sure to stop in.

 

I threw out more beer in 2016 than any other year, and I'm not done yet.

 

Dam good year it was.
First I only dumped 2 batches of infected beer vs 7 the year before.
Next made almost 40 batches 5 gallon per, and 3 batches 15 barrels each that were for sale. Commercial batches were well recieved and that was cool. Working on on
Other recipes that a local brewery might use in the future.
Increased the number of brews wood was added to and improved the beer. Well ok, they weren't all improved, but most were and I'll continue researching different woods added to beers and how they play.
Helped plant another small hop yard, mostly for artistic purposes but also mare for me if I like. Clearly toooo many on some varieties but still more fun which is why I started this hobby.
Finally I met more great Brewers on this site who continue to help me and anybody else willing to read posts. Thanks to all who PMed me answering questions.

All the best for next year to all.

 

2016 was the year I finally solved oxidation issues with my IPAs. Since I almost exclusively brew IPAs it was a frequent and frustrating problem. I made numerous process changes (pretty much everything possible without access to CO2) and replaced all my plastic, but didn't make a lot of headway until I started keeping entire batches of bottles in the fridge. That led to interesting side-by-side comparisons of fridge vs non-fridge bottles. Unexpected discovery: the color change from oxidation comes weeks before a significant change in taste or aroma.

The wife was less than pleased with how much fridge space my beer was occupying, that led to purchasing a chest freezer this fall. Of course, the next step was obvious: kegging! I bought myself a couple kegs, CO2 tank, and pictic tap setup for xmas and was pleased to find that the kegs fit in the freezer without a collar.

If all goes as planned, I'll be kegging a batch of the AP NE IPA on New Year's Eve.

 

Had a good year this year. Did a yeast experiment regarding neipa and made some new friends in the process. I brewed my first lager, it came out well. Oktoberfest, maibock, and pilsner are all on deck for next year. Lastly, I figured out that I can brew an extract batch of beer while my all grain batch mashes in. Doubled production, BOOM...

 

Pretty productive year:
Brewed 21 batches, a personal best!
Made my first lager, and many more to come.
Also, acquired my first bourbon barrel. Have a Quad sitting in it right now.

 

Reflect on this! ... 2017 will be amazingly recreational
"Recreational Lager" brewed 1/1/17 (or earlier as weather permits)

 

Brewed 12 batches in 2016 and hope to squeeze in one more on Saturday Dec 31. Have learned
-- to love Golden Promise in APAs
-- some new permutations of robust porter brewing
-- need to work at lagers some more to get cleaner results
-- finally enjoying fruits of kegging
Thanks to all for their generosity in sharing information and answering questions!

 

2016 was a slow homebrewing year for me (only a handful of my own recipes brewed) but a great year for my pro brewing! I must have brewed 20+ 1/2bbl pilot batches and 80x 15bbl batches by myself for my company. I must have had a cellerman role in nearly 300x 15bbl batches for my company this year as well. Got to work with barrels a bit more this year, did lots of kettle souring, and used plenty of funky ingredients (truffles, saffron, pickled japanese cherry blossoms, etc). Looking forward to an exciting 2017!

 

2016 was all about equipment for me. The end of last year I got a pump for Christmas, best thing ever, much less lifting!

We won a spike pot. We won a hop back (raffles). We bought some nice stuff (edelmetal elevated burner).

I got certified as a bjcp mead judge!!

We brewed a lot this year.