2019: resolutions, predictions and reflections

How much money did you guys raise and how long has Croush had that Ferrari for?

Resolutions:

1) Make it to an FR share (please no Wednesdays)
2) Attend less beer fests, but visit more breweries while traveling
3) Find a consistent quality, cost effective, readily available NEIPA for a fridge beer.
4) Stop buying bottles of stouts of any sort. These things are readily available on draft everywhere these days. It isn't like the old days where you'd find one bar with a Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout on in a city. GI has done a great job of killing FOMA for the BCBS line-up. 1 month out and still easy to find places to try it.
5) Finally clear out the closet by opening The Bruery 12 days of Christmas series.
6)Quit drinking.

 

I'm going beers on weekends only again, I've slowly crept to drinking more weeknights. Even if I only have one or two, i dont sleep as well.

I agree their will either be surprise closings or surprise sell outs in the very near future. But I also think their will be some less surprising closings. I think many of the weaker breweries in more saturated areas will close in the next 3 years.

 

I've started doing this and I definitely feel better about beer consumption during the week. No workout = no beer.

1. Resolution is to pare down my cellar which I think will be possible because I'm moving into a house so I'll be able to see all my beer at once instead of having it stored in three areas throughout the apartment.
2. Prediction is that Prop 2019 will be legendary (I think it might be a double barrel), Pipeworks will finally get credit for their barrel program, and Rev will make a hazy IPA.
3. Reflection is that 2018 is the year I had the best beers of my life. Maybe too many of them.

 

I predict this is the year Quilentro becomes an ultra-marathoner. "100 miles done today, I'm good on beer credits for the next 3 months.."

I like the optimism that having more space will lead to storing less beer!

 

1. Resolutions - to stop buying so much beer. Seriously. Although, I am getting better about passing on things and saving my $ for the things I know I love. There's a lot of room for improvement here.

Second, I need to trade less. It's expensive and time consuming. That's all on that.

Also, to make the FR bottle share again this summer. It's been fun to meet and see different BA's at events throughout the year that I met there. Even if they are opening infected Big Bad Baptist bottles with me in pre-dawn hours. Oh, and this time I resolve to not forget dinner as 2 Amigos at almost midnight was a bandaid on a shotgun wound at that point.

2. Predictions - I will marginally curb my spending and trading.

I will still not work out.

The PW brewpub opens and is glorious. Not to mention a 5 min walk from my friends place. Prediction = pain the next day after my first visit.

Lastly, "parents" will still bring toddlers and new borns to stand hours in a beer line in below freezing conditions. Get a babysitter, one of you stay home, or hit the grandparents up for a few hours. Regardless, just fucking stop. Please?

3. Reflections - try not to take life so seriously. I mean, I don't aspire to be The Dude, but also not being a stick in the mud. Pushing 40 (like weeks away) and having 2 kids makes it hard to balance these things out sometimes.

And yeah. This too. I've had a ton of fun meeting new people, introducing old friends to new friends, and sharing some incredibly well made beer in 2018.

Hope you all enjoy some tasty beverages tonight!

 

It's so quaint isn't it?

Prediction - by next November, with stout "season" in full swing, you'll be doing the math on whether making your own shelving or buying pre-fabbed ones to install is more cost effective.

 

In theory I only drink on those days on which I hit my 10k step goal. In practice, well, I need to hit my goal more often or drink less frequently. Hell, both would be good!

 

I fully realize that I already need to make shelving. I do think it'll help to have everything visible in one area instead of visiting the fridge, then the closet, then the other closet and then the bourbon county boxes

 

Was going to say this, but remembered I'm getting married in a brewery this year...

But also, "You don't need every release! You don't need every release! You don't need...eww Boss Ryeway!" Fuck...

 

Resolution: To stop chasing all these one off hazies and enjoy the beers on the shelves more. I’ve learned that some of these Hazies flavor profiles are now just running together for me, especially Marz and Hubbard’s cave beers. They are starting to lose any nuance for me and I need to give my palate more breaks from them.

Prediction: Some brewery takes and throws a hazie in a bourbon or gin barrel and it’s awful.

Reflection: 2018 has definitely given me the best beers I’ve ever had hands down from BA Expo (1st time I’ve gotten it), HB Blazed Orange, HB Your wish is granted, HB Galaxy Bowl, PW Infinite Galaxy, BCS Vanilla, I could go on but I’ll stop there. I also learned that mosaic hops are not my favorite anymore it’s a tie between Galaxy and Nelson hops.

 

Yeah, Boss Ryeway is the one catching my eye. I was dismayed to see I hadn't missed that release and that my beer budget reset for 2019. Too much pressure.

 

I'm going to the dinner the Wednesday before. I'll let you know whether it's worth going to

 

For a number of different reasons, I am going to be drinking beer only once per month in 2019. It's something I did for a few years and my health was just dramatically better. Sure there are tons of ways of curbing how much you can drink, but this one has always been the most effective for me. It also turns each time I do drink into a real event. For example, November is always FOBAB. August is usually Big North. I generally sprinkle in shares with friends as well.

Vacations are an exception to this policy though.

 

1 - drink more bourbon

2 - I picked my 5 favorite local breweries to follow on IG. I unfollowed about 12 local, average breweries.

 

Yikes, drink a beer 12 days out of 365. No thanks! Way too many family parties, nights out with friends, days on the golf course and relaxing nights with the wife.

 

My only beer related goal for this year...Drink local from the brewery. As a small business owner, I want to support the actual brewery so my $10 4-pack goes to the brewery and doesn't get split with the retailer and distributor. No more trips to Binny's to buy Half Acre, Pollyanna, FFF, etc. when there is now an abundance of good breweries within a short distance.

 

Well I don't normally drink on work nights anyway so it's really not a massive reduction.

Beer is just really bad for my digestive tract, I tend to respond way better to spirits or wine.

 

Understood. I have a friend with the same situation, the good news for him is that he was never really into beer that much.

 

My one beer resolution this year is to drink my beer stash to 0 for the first time in years. I got very close at one point last year when I got down to 5 bottles total, but then I won a couple of beer release lotteries which led down a slippery slope, and the stash blew back up to about 25 bottles currently. This year I'm determined to reset back to 0 and keep it there. Done with the hoarding and 'cellaring'.