2011 Brewing Goals

[jtakacs]

oh, and find a place to put everything...

 

[emjay]

1) Begin a lambic pipeline for making geuze, fruit lambic, and even straight lambic. I plan to make the first batch on or around my birthday in just under a month (and then 2 on my next birthday, and 3 on every birthday after that), partially to make it easy to remember that it's lambic time
2) Make myself a keezer and leave the hassle of bottling to the occasional beer that clearly benefits from it
3) Put together a temperature-controlled fermentation chamber including - or in addition to - a lagering setup that can remain adequately cold (32°), and ideally even be useful for freeze distillation
4) Extend my current all-grain equipment into a semi-permanent HERMS brewstand
5) Get the last few bits I of equipment I need to bank yeast with a tiny but quality lab setup as described in Chris White's book (just yeast propagation and banking for now... being able to do most of the analysis will be next year's goal)
6) Kill the BJCP exam here in November

So basically, not a whole lot on my plate for the next 9 months

 

[emjay]

4. Build my brew room up to the point I can keg or bottle.
5. Brew something my girlfriend can enjoy. She's not a beer drinker.

For #4... if you're not kegging or bottling, what the heck ARE you doing?

As for SWMBO... try some sort of fruit-focused beer.

 

[Wig]

I am determined to 'finalize' my scottish ale recipe. Tired of tinkering with it. I fianlly got some temp control for fermentation, so pretty excited.

Oh, and I want to make a thermowell which will fit my thermostat sensor.

 

[nickydballs]

WOW - glad I found this site! My goals are to get better at brewing starting with my first batch I bottled last night. Next beer is a watermelon beer - If I can figure out how to do it! Great job to all on your goals...

 

[Ace_Club]

1. Start All-Grain brewing - DONE
2. Build a 3-Tier Sculpture - DONE
3. Build a fermentation chamber - DONE
4. Brew a Barleywine
5. Brew at least 100 gallons - IN PROGRESS

Another update on my 2011 goals (finished #3). As it stands, I don't think I'll be meeting the last two goals. #4 is not interesting me right now, and #5, while I might get close, is probably not realistic this year.

 

[TheDom]

1. Keep my pipeline full. Two of three taps on homebrew at all times. *So far, so good!*
2. Expand keezer to full 5 tap potential.
3. Find a cheap CO2 cylinder on craigslist to have a backup.
4. Convince SWMBO to let me build an electric brew system. *probably not happening this year*

Updating, and adding a new one:

5. Convince SWMBO to let me put together a yeast lab. DONE, just got to wait for Christmas to roll around!

 

[bernerbrau]

1. Refine my process and cut my all-grain brew days down to 3 hours.
2. Finish my bottle filler and send bottles as belated Christmas gifts.
3. Use up all my old grains and hops in a "surprise" beer.
4. Buy a mill and go bulk.
5. Upgrade to 10-gallon brews.
6. Enter a beer competition and take 1st in at least one category.
7. Brew one brett beer and one oaked beer.
8. Add 2 more kegs to my system.*

*1 Keg

With 11 weeks left in the year (!!) 2 1/2 out of 8 ain't bad, I guess...

 

[azscoob]

1) Build a single tier system
2) Get that yeast bank going this year
3) Build up a better hops stash, more varieties
4) Enter more competitions, more specifically, brew for competitions.
5) Step up to more 10 gallon batches, maybe this is a subset of #1

Here are some updates so far:

1) Still havent built that single tier stand but I do have pumps and multiple keggles/burners.

2) have several different yeasts in the fridge now, a couple harvested from bottles.

3) I have a wide range of hops now, but not in the quantities I want.

4) entered a few more comps this year, but planning is what kills entering more.

5) I brew mostly 10 gallon batches now, I love it!!

 

[brettwasbtd]

1) Figure out my mash temp (thermometers) inconsistencies so I can hit my numbers!
2) Enter a competition
3) Fine tune a recipe (thinking my brown right now, but maybe a blonde or pale ale)
4) Relocate to area that will allow for brewing! I am getting married on September 10, 2011 and will be moving out of the parents house sometime between now and then. I will probably have to live in a small apartment, but I want to try and be able to live somewhere that will accommodate my AG brewing setup.

1) Within a degree every time using my thermapen
2) Entered 3, and placed 2nd Best of Show in the Delaware State Fair Battle of the Brews Competition!
3) Kinda turned away from this, using Jamil's recipes to fine tune processes and system
4) CHECK! Got married last month. The wife and I moved to a 2 bedroom that has a GARAGE to accommodate my brewing

Additionally, I got a keg system! Maybe I need some stronger goals for 2012!

 

[motobrewer]

1. Get a 10 gal kettle
2. Brew a barleywine
3. Brew a Goose Island Sofie clone
4. Buy more kegs
5. Make some mead

1. Done, keggle
2. Not done
3. Not done
4. Done
5. Done

 

[FromZwolle]

1. finish what i started (not limited to brewing)
2. spend less money on brewing.
3. learn more
4. apply what i learn

1. nope.
2. HA!
3. yep
4. yep.

 

[passedpawn]

1. Flanders Red, extra sour please
2. kegging.
3. Homebrew party, where I brew and they drink.

1: Yes! (made 2 in fact, and the first one was too sour:rockin
2: Yes! Just started, and I'm loving it
3: Up to the wife. I've been working on it.

 

[Gregscsu]

Win best of show at a competition.

Completed In July, Best Of Show at The Beer Dabbler

 

[dedhedjed]

1. Add another Keggle to my single tier AG rig
2. Yeast Harvesting/Banking
3. Some level of automation with AG rig
4. Win a first place in a competition (two thirds and two HM in my first year brewing)

Keggle- Done
Yeast Harvesting- Done
Automation- Not Done- Decided to keep it simple
First Place- Done

Not imagined as a goal a year ago...Took a job as a professional brewer at a 100,000 bbl a year craft brewery...

 

[mikeysab]

1. Brew more often, at least once a month
2. Get my kegging setup going.
3. Build a stand.
4. Focus more on technique rather than getting as much beer in the fermenter as possible.
5. Brew more often, at least twice a month.
6. Enter a competition or get involved in homebrew swaps for feedback.

 

[ArcaneXor]

1.) Master the fine art of brewing Koelsch... Five batches in, I am still not quite "there".
2.) Brew at least two batches of lagers during the January/early February timeframe (to facilitate temp control).
3.) More consistently save my yeast for repitching in future batches
4.) Work on my "ClusterFuggle" beer experiments (beers with uncommon ingredients, or at least uncommon combinations of ingredients)
5.) Not breaking any more Better Bottles!!!
6.) Not lose another $50 worth of grain to weevil infestation!!!
7.) Get a sour beer pipeline going

Results thus far:

1.) I did manage to brew a great Koelsch back in May, but haven't revisited the style since then.
2.) I didn't brew any lagers in January/February, but I got a fermentation/lagering fridge this fall, and have made two lagers in it.
3.) Didn't make any headway here...
4.) I did a fair bit of experimenting, but nothing too crazy. My weevilweizen that I brewed back in April probably takes the crown.
5.) Achieved that thanks to no longer using Brewvint cleanitizer. I usually use Oxyclean now, and it works great.
6.) Did come across some weevils this year, but no major outbreak like the one I experienced last year.
7.) I did manage to get this started, and am very happy about it. I started with a Brett Berliner Weisse in the spring and followed up with a Flanders Red in September. I am in the process of growing up the bacteria for my first attempt at a lambic as I write this.

Overall, 2011 was a very successful brew year for me. I still have a batch or two to go before the new year, but thus far I totaled 21 batches of beer, a batch of wine and a batch of cider.