My 2012 Homebrewing Year in Review
It’s January, 2013. Hard to believe another year seemed to slip by so quickly. In 2012 I brewed 27 batches of beer, which is roughly 140 gallons of beer. Not bad, but It seemed like it was so much more, then again I didn’t brew anything in November and December (work got in the way). None-the-less it was a very productive brewing year for me. I finally have a single tier RIMMS system which has really made my brew days much better and efficient. One of my first batches on the system was one of my best beers of the year. It was an experimental IPA, a combination of Zythos and Citra hops. I felt this year was a real growth year for me, I started reading much more technical brewing material, really trying to understand the chemistry and biology behind the beers I was brewing. I also think it was the first time I was truly focused on what and where I wanted to go with my beer. The self insight has also been a frustrating aspect of the year as well, knowing what I want to do and seeing people around me doing has had its frustrations. But I just have to remember, “I have a plan and I need to stick with it” and all will be right. While 2012 was a great year, i’m really looking forward to 2013. I have lots of project I want to do since I learned how to weld last year. I’m finally starting to understand my water chemistry, so I hope to brew some even better beers! And finally, I need to make it through all my reading material in preparation for starting brewery school at the American Brewer Guild. What do you want to get out of 2013?
Which books did you read last year?
The one I spent the most time on was Brewing by Michael J. Lewis and Tom W. Young. I also spent some time with Brewing classic styles. This year I have To finish Brewing as well as reading Yeast and Principles of Brewing Science. What did you read last year?
Last year as a phenomenal reading year. I red:
– Yeast – great book
– Brewing better beer – good
– Brewing Science 101 – too basic
– Principles of Brewing Science – great text book
– Radical brewing – only started
– Brew like a monk – very good reading technically and good story telling