2017 Year in Review

[JR_Brewer]

Greetings fellow homebrewers. Today I'm done working for the year and I finished brewing for the year last week. As I sit here sipping a homebrew, I'm reflecting on a pretty good year in terms of brewing. I met an unofficial goal to brew once a month, brewing my 12th batch earlier this month. I tried some new things (first decoction mash, first smoked malt, first time brewing with heather...) and brewed some staples in my repertoire.

I decided to start a thread for those who wanted to discuss their year in brewing. Here's a quick summary of my brews.

1. Amber graf (Jan)
2. Smoked porter (Feb)
3. Marzen (Mar)
4. Kentucky common (Jun)
5. Saison (Jun)
6. IPA (Jul)
7. Norsk Gardshus (Aug)
8. Oak graf (Sep)
9. Belgian singel (Oct)
10. Ginger lemon mead (Oct)
11. Nut brown ale (Nov)
12. Double bock (Dec)

My beer of the year was the Norsk Gardshus. It was a kit from Austin HB. I rarely order kits, and almost never order from Austin, but this was a unique style they had on sale in July. I decided to get one to try the unique yeast and heather herb. It was great. Good work AHB! Planning a derivation next year to make it my own.

Wishing everyone a happy new year. May your brewing this year be even better than the last.

 

[Jtk78]

Nice post.

I managed (18) 5ish gallon batches. I usually do 2 in one day, so I think I brewed a total of 11 days. I also made the switch to all grain, converted a chest freezer for a fermentation chamber. entered my first competition (and 2 others as well), added a chugger pump in my process, and a week and a half ago kegged for the first time. My favorite batch of the year was probably a NEIPA I did last March. I have plans of doing another one rather soon.

Edit - 2018 plans include converting an upright freezer to an eight tap kegerator, brewing around 20 beers again (I'd like to be over 20), studying up some more on water chemistry, and entering a few more competitions to improve my score sheets from this year.

 

[thehaze]

I brewed 23 batches / 5-6 gallons in 2017. My favourites were a NEIPA with 1318 and lots of hops, a 4.3% session beer with kveik Yeast, all the saisons I made and some Black IPAs.

In 2018 I am actually planning on brewing 40 batches or maybe more. I have 5 fermenters, so I usually brew 5 beers in the course of 5-10 days.

 

[CJ-3]

I came back to home brewing after a little iver a year off and brewed 3 batches this year.
5 gallons of American Ale
5 gallons of Oatmeal Stout
5 gallons of Carmel Pilsner (brewing tomorrow)

For next year I would like to enter one competition and also work on brewing stouts and Irish Heavies before summer so they can age before winter.

 

[aprichman]

We added our first kiddo to the family this year so it's kind of a blur. I switched to kegging at the start of last year and have been really happy with almost all of my beers.

Jan - Rye IPA (really good)
Mar - I can't remember the style but it didn't turn out good at all
May - British Pale with Galaxy hops (not bad but not my favorite)
Aug - Mosaic Pale Ale (really good)
Oct - Oatmeal Stout (pretty good)
Dec - Spiced Stout (really good)

This year I'm hoping to expand from 1 keg to 3 and not buy any beer from the store.

 

[Imperator85]

Only got back into brewing at the end of after taking some extended time off (job changes, moving, life stresses, etc.). I did brew a sort of winter wheat - a somewhat spiced American wheat beer - last week. Definitely have plans to do more in the new year!

Also got my winemaking going again, too. Have a bunch of Zinfandel from Lodi, California that is currently almost done with fermentation. Hopefully, I can get it through MLF in a reasonable time and resist touching it for 18 months.

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

34 five gallon batches this year, down from 54 in 2016. Brewed a gold medal winning saison and took the BJCP tasting exam. Awaiting my results now. Been a great year!

 

[Sailingeric]

Shouldn't this thread be called the Beer End Review

 

[JR_Brewer]

Seems like kveik yeast is the new thing this year. I think I'm going to start making one each summer. It ferments hot and produces a very nice beer.

To those brewers who are just returning, just learning, or barely finding enough time to get some brews in, keep fighting the good fight. Keep brewing! Good luck in 2018, hope you find more time to brew the beers you love.

And to those guys who are brewing 20+ times a year... wow! That's awesome. That tells me a few things about you. You love brewing, you have a good process and setup, and you have a bunch of lucky friends/family members who benefit from your efforts. How do you drink all the beer? Big parties? Frequent gifts? Lot of neighbors? Either way, keep up the good work!

 

[seatazzz]

I lost count of how many batches I did this year. Several were great, a couple meh, and a few dumpers. One of the great ones went to my daughter's wedding, where several strangers (to me) absolutely raved over it, and not just because I was the mother of the bride. Learned some valuable lessons on pitching yeast and fermentation temperatures. Now trying to work out why my darker beers are souring. I always try to learn something new with each brewday.

 

[MaxStout]

Yooper's oatmeal stout (a perennial favorite)
SMaSH with Idaho 7 hops
Honey wheat
EdWort's Apfelwein
21st Amendment Bitter American clone

 

[jalc6927]

I started brewing again after a 17 year hiatus.

Started with bottling partial mash/ extract ended with kegging AG

Purchased a new 20 gallon BIAB brew boss system getting it ready to start my 2018 year

Brewed 20 batches this year

 

[Jmarsh544]

Came back after three years off moving and having a kid. Got a 20 gallon EBIAG system and have already knocked out 50 gallons this year. Still need to fine tune some things, but the new system has made brewing faster and easier than ever.

 

[Sailingeric]

I don't think I brewed as much this year but what I have done has been some of my best beers yet. I started AG in late 2016 and have been refining my process and can just about hit my numbers every time.

 

[shellsbells]

It's funny - I feel like I haven't really brewed much this year. Until I came across this thread and reviewed my efforts over the past 12 months. Can't believe I managed to brew 20 batches! (I only brew 2 gallons at a time, so perhaps not that impressive) Looking back, I'd say one of my brewing highlights was being able to brew a batch with my own homegrown hops. And some of my IPAs turned out much better than previous attempts. Looking forward to next year, I plan to improve my brew game by switching from bottling to kegging. I figure those IPAs will go from great to fan-freaken-tastic. Happy Brew Years, everyone!!!

1) Butler Dust
2) Tangerine Saison
3) Sierra Nevada Clone
4) Cream of 3 Crops (w/ kolsch yeast & Kazbec hops)
5) Mosaic Honey Wheat
6) Edelweiss
7)Crazy Canuck Clone
8) Columbus IPA
9) Sorachi Lager SMASH
10)Citra/Columbus/Simcoe IPA
11) Centennial/Columbus IPA
12) C3C (W/ cascade hops)
13) Zythos/2 Row SMASH
14) Mosaic/Citra IPA
15) Sorachi Saison
16) C3C (w/ kazbec & lager yeast)
17) Sierra Nevada Clone (w/ homegrown cascade)
18) Slightly Stupid Belgian IPA
19) Tiny Beautiful Pale Ale
20) Kolsch

 

[Zimm9]

I brewed for the very first time in June this year. Managed to get in 13 batches of various beers plus 3 batches of "other" (apfelwein and hard lemonade).

My goals for 2018 are to build a brew room, switch to BIAB, and continue working on improving my process. I'll get water tested and iron out fermentation temps, etc. I like the idea @aprichman mentioned of not buying beer as a goal, too.

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

And to those guys who are brewing 20+ times a year... wow! That's awesome. That tells me a few things about you. You love brewing, you have a good process and setup, and you have a bunch of lucky friends/family members who benefit from your efforts. How do you drink all the beer? Big parties? Frequent gifts? Lot of neighbors? Either way, keep up the good work!

I share lots of my beer with coworkers and friends. I also drink quite a bit too. I mostly brew 1.060 and lower beers so the kegs empty quicker. I also love brewing the beer itself so I find ways to brew as often as possible.

 

[brewcat]

Was able to brew 16 batches (80 gals) this year. Most ever! I also hit my goal of brewery expansion. I added a couple kegs, grain mill, stir plate and bulk ingredients/storage. Still working on a long term yeast bank. But now should have everything to brew consistently.

A few highlights:
I think I finally figured my recipe for an Irish Red. We will see once I brew it again.
Brewed a couple lagers.
Wrote a recipe for a Scottish 80 I think is good.
Brewed a pale ale with homegrown Vojvodina hops. The flavor is good. Very interesting. My improvement would be to change the yeast used. Possibly combine with Cascade hops.

Hoping I can brew a couple times a month in 2018. Still haven't made any overall goals for 2018. First brew is looking like next weekend...Christmas Stout.

 

[mrmcdowe]

I did not brew last year. Received a grainfather for Christmas. Have brewed already brewed 2, 5gl batches. An oatmeal stout and an ordinary bitter.

I would like to brew more and keep the kegerator full of home brew and not Store bought kegs this year. Also really figure out and understand water chemistry in 2018.