New Year's Beer Resolutions for 2017

I'm going to make an attempt to buy less beer, and put quality over quantity. I'll sample a year-round beer but don't want to buy it unless it's new, or can at least age since I have way too many beers to drink right now. I wish the beers came in smaller format so I could try more beers and drink them all fresh. I feel like I'm backed up by a few months. Fortunately I can buy singles of most beer I get, with the option of also buying a pack. I would like to get more into the traditional German and Belgian styles too.

 

I'm currently at 553 different breweries and I'd like to eclipse 600 by the end of 2017.

I also plan on taking the Advanced Cicerone exam sometime this year.

 

< consumption of pedestrian store bought beers
> homebrew consumption
= local onsite brewery consumption
= trade beers (2-3 trades a year is all I need)
= beercation consumption/muling home quality beer from distant places

 

Just to keep doing what I'm doing: Have fun. Enjoy new beers when I travel. Relax more when doing it.

Edit:

Forgot to add - visit Lazy Monk Brewery for the first time. Revisit Valkyrie. Try to visit New Garus. Visit more breweries in Minnesota.

 

i would like to get my average beers consumed in one week down a bit from 70 to about 60.

 

Kidding!!!

I would like to go back to Asheville and visit Oskar Blues & SN this time.
I plan to visit some more great breweries as well, such as Westbrook, Creature Comforts, Parish, but in conjunction with already planned trips.

 

My New Years resolution to continue my streak and never waiting in a line to buy beer.

While I have a sense of appreciation of the Extreme Exuberance that contemporary craft beer drinkers sometimes exhibit but this whole thing about waiting in lines (sometimes for hours) is really getting the craft beer scene 'out of whack'.

Cheers!

 

I want to explore into Belgian beers and styles. I've been drinking craft/micro beer for 7-8 years and still haven't really gotten into or tried many Belgians.

Try to hit up more local breweries, including Portland.

 

Will be drinking less when I do drink and drink less often, getting too expensive and too hungover the morning after.

Go to a select couple of festivals, especially in the summer months.

Try a new area in my home state of WA for brewery visits.

Drink up some of my stored beers that are getting too numerous (soooo many boxes!).

Plan a beercation for 2018 and use the money saved from less beer to help pay for most if not all of the trip. Maybe to NC, perhaps the SW, or even Great Lakes areas.

 

Your folding chair does it for you.

 

Personally, I plan to avoid buying any big beers all together, especially BBA stouts. I have a decent amount in the cellar and don't drink them often enough. As delicious as they can be, I am far more into lighter ABV stuff like lagers, pale ales and IPA's (sub 8%) these days. Simplicity sometimes is a beautiful thing. This year, my homebrew focus is also going to be more German inspired, so I will be brewing more pilsners, helles lagers, dunkel's, etc... So that will help. They are styles I love and it's nice that you can easily enjoy a few pints with little effect.

Secondly... Going back to tried and true classics when I buy beer versus just buying every new beer to market. Lately I been picking up Prima Pils and Head Hunter for example and it's been really nice. I want to continue on with it and care less about trying new stuff all the time and just enjoying those beers I already love that you can find practically anywhere.

Lastly, when going to new breweries not feeling like I have to "flight" out the entire menu to try everything they have. Instead, picking a few of the most appealing options and enjoying the entire pint start to finish to really get the full enjoyment out of the beer. This is a bad habit I am determined to break in 17'!

 

Or I suppose I could bring a children's chair like some dude did for a Tired Hands release!?!

 

1) Try to take January and February off from beer purchases. I know I'll make some exceptions, but my wallet needs a rest and my cellar is expanding too fast (I've added almost 40 bottles since November ).

2) Go to a release at Side Project. I visited once and loved it, but I want to bring some home too. I haven't been able to get the timing right for to-go beers. It may be a little easier with the new brewery being open on Sundays.

3) This one is a little tougher depending on work schedule, but I want to go Wednesday-Sunday in Boston/Vermont and hit as many of the vaunted breweries as possible. Sunday would be driving home since I would buy way too much beer to bring it all on the plane.

 

I resolve to drink only higher quality in greater quantity.

 

Crackadvocate - I'm going to stop smoking crack

Cigaretteadvocate - I'm going to stop smoking cigarettes

Beeradvocate - I'm going to stop buying big BA beers and drink through my cellar

 

Wife and I are training for a marathon starting the second week of January. My "Plan" is to cut out booze for the duration of our training so for three months I'll be dry (maybe I'll sneak one or 2) I have 3 weeks to drink down the beer fridge tho so I will enjoy it. On a good note the wife is close to her Boston qualifier time so that is her goal and if she qualifies then that means a Beercation for me to New England! My goals arnt as high, I just hope to finish in one piece.

Cheers BAs

 

Reduce cellar by about 50%

Come up with a realistic drinking reduction plan - like coordinating "cheat days" on a diet with NBS and load up on metabolism speeders before and after drinking (looking to combat that alcohol weight loss sabotage)

Pick at least ten beers reviewed in my first year on BA and re-review them

Do SOMETHING with all the breweriana crap I've stashed over the years.....labels, caps, etched bottles....

 

Buy more directly from local breweries. And visit more local breweries.

Try to make it to Vermont

Drink less, I feel like I'll have been in my fridge that I don't really like but I'll drink it since it's there.

Along with drinking less. Focus more on quality and not quantity.

Try to not wild out and hunt so many limited releases.

 

I've drastically cut my beer intake, I'm down to college freshman basketball weight (differently configured, with small ice cream pooch), I sleep way better than in years, I walk with my wife and dogs 4 miles a day, I read and write voraciously, but I vow to take my wife to England, stay a few days in London, rent a car, then drive all over England, Wales, and Scotland visiting cool pubs, staying in nice places, and trying some damned local beers! I have friends in Canterbury, York, Cardiff, and Edinburgh, and want to see Cornwall and Stonehenge one more time.

 

1. Stop drinking beer anywhere from a month to a week before my races. It would just depend on my goals for that race. I'll plan on going sober the month leading up to a triathlon in May and again in July if I don't qualify for nationals. I'll probably do two weeks leading up to my first half marathon (which also the first race on my calendar this year). I have about 5 races on my calendar right now, with an additional 2 pending on my performances. Fortunately, no races during stout season

2. Try more amber and brown ales. Still don't have many of these under my belt.

3. Continue slimming down my cellar and being much more picky with what goes in there. After all, I'll be moving sometime in 2017 or 2018.

4. Form a beer budget. I'm buying my first real car here soon, and accruing some more expenses. I'll have to actually maintain a budget with much slimmer wiggle room now.

Bonus: Build my liquor cabinet. Right now it's all bourbons. I just bought my first rye. I'd like to add a vodka or two and some gin, as well as, some more whiskeys for a better selection. I need to pick up more mixer items as well.

 

My beer resolution is to remain true to the styles I love. Recently got away from my usual keg of Schlenkerla Marzen and bottles of Spaten for a two month bender of NE IPAs. While I enjoyed many, the ABV and "juice" characteristics eventually overwhelmed.

 

Once I'm done drinking down my current stock in late Jan/Early Feb, my goal is focus on beers <8% ABV. I'm always drawn to the higher octane stuff, but I find overall I enjoy the lighter stuff a little more. Occasional exceptions (Bourbon County) but that's about it.

 

I've always been a 'quality over quantity' guy, but it's become 'quality AND quantity' lately. Time to pull back a little bit for the sake of my health and wallet.

I'd also like to continue exploring new styles. 2016 has been great for finding a love for wild ales, various Belgian styles, Gose, Berliner, etc.

 

In 2017 I am looking forward to exploring a lot of new beers and also attempting to age a few to see how I like them over time. I also want to try some new styles, etc. In the mean time I need to do 2016 justice and drink it out correctly, lol.
Cheers.

 

Only one, do not become an alcoholic...

 

Enjoy some beers from my cellar, can't wait forever to try them.

 

Work through some of the basement collection,
continous improvement of home brewing.
Cheers all

 

In 2017 I need to save money, so am going back to the well priced basics. A sixer of the new sierra Nevada tropical torpedo and a sixer of whatever is in season with lagunitas per week should keep me under $25 a week. Then throw in a few interesting singles per month and I'll be right around where I want to be.

 

I'm going to stop buying big stouts/quads for the sole purpose of cellaring them

I'm going to get my hand on some Tree House/Trillium and other celebrated NE IPAs

I'm going to hit 750 beers rated/reviewed on this site

 

For 2017 I want to hit more Michigan breweries(Transient, Tapestry) do a New Holland tour and a few that are closer to Michigan like Three Floyds.

More home brewing and some experimental brews. Possibly get to where we (brother/stepfather) produce something worthy to enter some compitions this year. We developed a few last year that have some major promise.

I'm pretty satisfied with weekly/monthy expenditures on beer from the bottle shop. Although, I have as 2016 has been winding down I have passed on more then, I have bought as far as new beers...Expect that trend to continue for 2017.

The first 2 points are the biggest for me for 2017....

 

Explore more styles (i.e. less IPA/IIPA). It is too easy to wind up with a refrigerator full of IPAs when you live in New England. Not that I am complaining.

 

Try to keep it to a 12 pack a week. I've been adding too many cellar beers which never seem to get drank. Cellar is at 125 in two years and while I do enjoy the big beers, they are getting dusty. Enjoy more of the classics like SNPA, Two Hearted..., don't need to get every release.

 

Like a lot of people already in this thread, I am going to cut back but jack up the quality. Trying to go through January + with no beer M-Th and only a "few" on weekend days. Mostly this is just part of a broader plan to lose some weight.
Planning our beercation to be either Portland OR, or Austin next year.
Also plan to try to visit breweries within an hour of my house that I have not been to yet as well as revisit the best ones that I have been to.

 

I already instituted this change, but I stopped drinking beer Mon-Thursday.

I plan on seeing my Giants play in Wrigley this year so I want to visit 3 Floyd's. I also want to visit Tired Hands this year.

Other than that, no plans. I will continue to buy what I want and drink quality beer. It's flipping beer...it is supposed to be fun.

 

I like where OP is thinking.

-Stop the chase. Stop the reading of FB posts on releases, and UT checkins. UNPLUG. If I read release news ASAP, I need to stop, sleep on it for a day or two. Then in a couple days time, if there is no craving for it, I obviously didnt need it or feel I really HAD to have it.
-Drink more shelf beer
-Stop thinking and do more drinking. Not every beer has to be critiqued or analyzed.
-Along the lines of points 2 and 3,I want to stop giving par or mediocre breweries business. $5 pints @ 2-3 a trip are definitely fun times, as I'm doing more drinking than thinking. But there needs to be a cost analysis. Would I have been better spending that $16 on two six packs of established beers that I should re try (SABL for example).
-I've done good this year about buying less bombers than ever before, but the re connection with shelf beer needs to be established this year

 

I have two main resolutions.

- Focus on supporting my local breweries. My area is doing quite well for its size with local beer. There's some very solid to excellent beer being brewed here and at generally very reasonable prices. I need to do more of my part to help keep this up.

- In my own brewing, going back to basics with simple recipes and becoming more familiar with various and new ingredients. I plan to mostly brew SMaSHes in the vein of various styles I like. The experimental aspect of homebrewing is the part of the hobby I most love besides drinking the end product, so it only makes sense for me to do this.