Homebrewing New Year's Resolutions

Refine process control, driving repeatability.

1. Fermentation temp control.
Status: presently building an STC-1000 unit. Heating will be via carboy blanket. Cooling down the road will be a Keezer.

2. Take better notes and more measurements.
Status: continuous improvement, WIP

3. Automate HERMS.
Status: not likely to happen next year.

 

1. Get my all grain efficiency where it should be. (3 batches into a.g. and all 3 less than 60%

2. Brew both my first imperial stout and barleywine.

3. Take more accurate measurements during my process.

I've been only brewing about a year so I have a bunch to learn still, but so far all my need have turned out pretty good.

 

1. Purchase more kegs. (I just bought one more, but realistically I need at least 3 more)

2. Attempt my first lager. (Just haven't had the downtime to dedicate to it)

3. Get over my fear of contamination and start brewing sours. (Because I love them...and that shit aint cheap at the commercial level)

4. Purchase a barrel(s).

There are a few more, but I have to be realistic with regard to funding and time constraints.

 

Make more sours, and get them to be...(wait for it)...more sour.

 

1. Enter a few larger contests for better feedback

2. Continue to decrease O2 post fermentation

3. Make a few 3-4 gallon one-off beers for long term bottle aging

4. Fine tune water additions

 

1. Brew more sours... still paranoid about the bacteria and previous attempts have been sour mash/brett. I'm making kombucha and sauerkraut in the pantry upstairs but fear the same bugs in the basement. An irrational phobia, with some minimal precautions. I need to get my carboys dirty.

2. More smaller batches of strong beers for aging.

3. Make my own candi sugar; stop paying big bucks for caramelized/burnt table sugar.

 

You stole my annual "Year End Reflections" post.

 

(1) Organize my homebrew stuff, which has been haphazardly stored on my cellar floor since I moved 10 months ago. I managed to make 10 batches, but I still haven't put up the shelves that I bought for storing fermenters, mash tun, boil pots, etc. Simultaneously, I'll organize my tool boxes, as most of my tool use is related to beer.

(2) Work on my keezer. Minimally, clean it up. I have 3 years of beer drippings in that thing. Looks pretty gross. Maixmally? Add some Perlick taps or similar.

 

1) Brew more batches
2) Attend more HB meetings
3) Brew more batches for HB meetings
4) Setup temp-control on the spare fridge so that I can brew more batches

 

More low ABV beers including: session beers(in general) sours, saisons, brett saisons, and hefe's.

 

1. Plot revenge on GreenKrusty101.

2. Hijack a new thread for The Averagely Perfect Barleywine.

3. Bottle The Averagely Perfect Barleywine.

 

Pay more attention to mashing temps and come up on some 5 gallon barrels.

 

To start kegging! I have been home brewing for 5 years now, and I am growing sick and tired of cleaning bottles...

 

1. Take better notes.
2. Achieve a higher level of constancy and repeatability.
3. Attempt yeast ranching/ banking.

 

I've still got a lot of things to learn, but the next few are definitely:

1. Try kegging for the first time (I have it on good authority that Santa will be bringing me a shiny Corny this year)
2. Try brewing with liquid yeast
3. Get set up with temperature control for fermentation

 

I just got my brewing setup finished from moving into my new house. ( New to me.) I hope to be able to brew soon!

 

1. Patience
2. More Patience
3. Brew some big beers to lay down (see 1 & 2)

 

Started homebrewing in 2005 and haven't brewed a batch this year. So definitely my resolution is to get back in the game and get that corny keg filled!

 

Oh and 5) Finally get around to brewing a barleywine