With 13 daze left in the year, I’ve been thinking about and going over notes from the past year’s brews. I’ve come upon a trend that simple uncluttered recipes are the best for me. IOW, of the 19 beers I brewed in 2016 to date, the best beers had the fewest ingredients. The recipes where I have a laundry list of malts measured down to the 1/4 oz and two or three hop varieties were just “OK” beers. Nothing special. According to my notes, those beers had no distinct character or style.
This follows Drew Beechum’s Brewing On the One’s talk at AHA and on BeerSmith Podcast a while back. This idea that breweries cannot stock a huge variety of malts due to economics but yet they brew award winning beers from a select few ingredients makes sense to me. I have the ingredients for Seymour’s Citra Gold that may be my last for 2016 which is a very simple recipe of two malts and two hops that I am looking forward to. I may add orange peel but I may let the Citra Hops take care of the citrus effect for me.
Edit: As I re-read my copy of Brewing Classic Styles, I stumbled upon this quote that I overlooked before; “My early recipes, like those of many homebrewers, were overly complex. Overly complex recipes are often overwhelming, and the flavors are muddy. I learned over time to simplify many of my recipes, and they are much better for it.” D. Jamil Zainasheff
So… my Brew Years Resolution is to thoughtfully consider my recipe ingredient choices in 2017 in an effort to make great tasting beer.
I am currently making some well-deserved adjustments (and upgrades) to my equipment and as I loom into the New Year I am looking to try to increase my recipe repeat-ability. I really want to improve on my batch to batch consistency.
My only problem with that is, I rarely brew the same beer (recipe or style) twice in a year and end up waiting a good period before I revisit the same recipe again.
I think mine would be to stop trying experiments so much and just make some beer that I’m not disappointed with. I figured that I’m happy with maybe 10% of what I brew right now. I’m not saying that it is bad, I’m just not happy, something is always wrong in my opinion. Everyone else says it is fine/good…but what do they know.
Maybe I can get my satisfaction rate up to 50%.
I also want to make a really good session hoppy beer that really “pops”. Again, I’m never quite happy with them.
Being more consistent/avoiding mistakes/repeatable. 1. During my last batch, a hose disconnected during the first run off. The beer tastes pretty good in the samples but I need to get some clamps. 2. Use my new fermentation fridge. 3. There will be lots more additional steps - to be determined.
I think I’m tracking with you guys. For the past few months my brewing has been pretty routine and I’m really enjoying that. I’ve got a base recipe for an APA, IPA, and a Stout that are pretty fair. The exploration has been in hop variety.
Mine is to brew a lot. After the holidays I want to start brewing every Wednesday night. I did this during the winter two years ago and it was great. I can brew 2.5 gallons on the stove top biab starting a little after 5:00 when I get home from and be done no later than 9:00. I’ll still do 5 gallon batches on the weekend when I have time, which is hardly ever. I’m getting some 2.5 gallon kegs to make this practical.
I have a longer stage goal that I want to start this year which is building a barn with plumbing and electricity that will be a brewery and commercial kitchen on the first floor and art studio and office on the second floor.
My obsession with Bavarian Helles was re-invigorated after a trip to Bavaria this past summer. I’m going to continue to try and reach Bavarian brew-vana.
I plan to finish all my other projects so I can brew more often. But to do that, I’d need to cancel everything the kids are doing… I’ve reached that point where I have no time. Hopefully monthly brewing. Hopefully.
Hopefully I can brew more in 2017, that’s the big wish. Extra hours at work and increased school activites as the kids get older have cut into my brewing time substantially for a year or two. Part of the deal. As a brewing trend, I’m slowly narrowing down my brewing to the core styles I really like best and working hard to perfect them. Past that, just wanna brew the best beer I can, every time.
I want to nail my house IPA recipe. It is all about the right hop combination/ratio. This one issue is the brass ring just outside my grasp. I think I’ve been too caught up on new varieties - too much experimentation.
That and I want to buy another Rye Whiskey Barrel from Woodinville Whiskey Co. and give that another go. I find that I am really enjoying barrel-aged beers a lot.
Just happy to be back brewing. My winter 16 goal is to build the pipeline. Buying beer, finding it is avg at best, has gotten on my last nerve. Also to put a lot that I’ve learned here in 16, to good use in 17.
I want my brewing to get more in line with my household consumption. Have not brewed since July 30th, and am still sitting on 3 plus cases of home brew. On vacation the 22nd through the 1st and out of town. The following weekend should be brew day and I am planning on continuing the smaller batches I started experimenting with this year and just purchased a smaller kettle to more easily accomplish that. Good luck to all with your plans and have a great holiday season!
I was able to upgrade my equipment this year which is allowing me to brew less. I know that sounds terrible, but I’m enjoying other things a little bit more as well. I only brewed 7 or 8 batches this year, which is down from 22 last year. Though I brewed less batches, I brewed two 16.5 gallon batches while the rest were 11 gallon batches. I would like to continue this more relaxed brewing pace next year especially with a baby on the way in April. I think 10 batches would be a comfortable target. If it ends up being 6, I suppose that’s fine too as long as I’m staying busy with other hobbies.
