Brew Year Resolution - 2012 Brewing Goals

[Piratwolf]

1. Keg beer
2. Make keezer
3. Build ferm chamber to fit 15 gal fermenters
4. Enter several BJCP contests to get "pro" feedback on my beers
5. Make side-by-side test batches to gauge FWH vs. 60-min bittering, 1056 vs. 1272, 3711 vs. Ardennes, etc.
6. Make lots of Belgians
7. Continue making new-to-me beer styles

 

[MPOWELLJR]

1. Progress on my 3 tier setup (unless I hit the lotto and get a single tier).
2. Start brewing 10 gallon batches.
3. Build a fermentation chamber (under work bench).
4. Build a planter box in the backyard and plant some rhizomes.
5. Brew and enjoy beer

 

[frozenfish]

1) Get a small freezer for lagering
2) Spend more time enjoying watching my friends enjoy my homebrew
3) Get my brewing room more organized
4) Enter more competitions

 

[smcmil88]

1. Brew first all-grain batch (just finished making equipment)
2. Brew all of the recipes I have been coming up with over the past 2 years
3. Start brewing more than 1 5 gallon batch per month
4. Experiment with more hop combinations
5. Give out more beer

 

[Reno_eNVy]

1) Upgrade to high pressure burner
2) Start a yeast bank
3) Brew more

 

[MaxSpang]

1. Brew an all-grain giant Imperial Stout
2. Enter a home brew contest
3. Brew a sour beer (nervous about this one!)
4. Learn about water chemistry
5. Brew "The One". The beer that I would spend top dollar on if it were a commercial beer.
6. Brew some high ABV beers (over 12%)
7. Make a mead!


It's gonna be a fun year

 

[Steelers77]

1.Finish my Brutus build
2.Start building my 1.5bbl nano system
3.Use all the hops I want to use but don't have the time to use.
4.Duplicate the Rosemary Rye Saison I brewed last summer.
5.Finally Lock down 6 recipes and brew them on a regular basis.
5.Open my retail loacation in Southern Wisconsin!

 

[chrislehr]

1) Hit 200 gallons in 2012. I didn't make this goal this year.
2) Enter at least 3 competitions. I entered my first this year, and took second place
3) Finish my indoor kegerator build. I was forced to play hurry up to get the outside one ready for the wedding, and the keezer is really just a big fridge for me right now. Time to make better use of that.

 

[Steelers77]

3. Brew a sour beer (nervous about this one!)

Don't be nervous read this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/easy-way-make-sour-beers-1-gal-wort-dregs-189748/

I started doing this with every beer now I have two all Bretts going and one plambic. I've been capping the mash of every other beer for the last 2 months and pulling 4 gallons of wort, Boil then ferment. I've used all pure strains (either an individual or a blend just depends on what I have on hand) with the first three. The outlook is promising

 

[snooky]

1) Build single tier brew system
2) 100+ Gallons
3) Re-roof garage and build a door for it (It gets pretty cold in winter brewing in there)
4) Brew a sour beer

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I started 2011 wanting to become more precise and technical as a brewer. I felt like I didn't do a good job because I ended up with a few infections that I could have prevented. I didn't brew as much as I had hoped to this year because I went on a tear brewing fall 2010 and a bit in Jan/Feb this year and just ended up with too much beer in the house to keep brewing.

For 2012 I want to pick up with trying to be more technical and nail down my processes. I have a lot of beer I hope to brew in 2012 as my supply of 2010/2011 beers goes down. I have a lot of one gallon batches to work on recipes so that's an easy way to scratch the brewing itch without adding several gallons to my supply.

 

[1971hemicuda]

1) Dial in my Pale Ale and Milk Stout (my 2 favorite styles!)
2) Enter at least 1 competition (after 3 years i've never entered one!)
3) Finish my temp controlled fermentation room
4) Get a stout faucet/nitro tap installed in my keezer. Then nitro my IPA!

 

[ldepaoli]

1) brew at least once a month
2) improve my process and have at least one top 10 beer at the national home brewing competition
3) build my brew rig and add another keggle and pump for the sparge watter
4) build and organize an area at home for by brewing equipment
5) brew at least 3 new styles

 

[JuanKenobi]

1) Brew more beer than 2011 (My 2011 resolution was brew 20 batches. Done!)
2) Dial in the new 10 gallon system
2) Build Fermentation Chamber
3) Get an actual yield from my hop plants

 

[Danbreeze]

1. To brew a batch at least every other week to keep up with demand.

2. As someone posted previously, make more IPA's. Every other batch will be a pale ale in some form.

3. Get back into a learning curve-spent most home brewing time this year on recipes and not on technique.

4. Enter more competitions-constructive criticism is worth it's weight in gold.

5. Attend more brew days on the east coast-you dont know what you dont know (as dumb as that phrase may sound).

 

[EdWort]

1. Brew twice a month
2. Finish the Brewhaus
3. Build Electric Brew System.

 

[Minjin]

Get these kegs fitted up and make my first brew.

 

[RichmonS]

I would like to go all grain and enter at least one competition. Maybe get into the forum swap as well if there is one for 2013.

 

[solbes]

I would like to go all grain and enter at least one competition. Maybe get into the forum swap as well if there is one for 2013.

Good idea on forum swap. But lets not skip a whole year of brewing. It's 2012 next year

 

[bkorver]

1) Set up a 2 keg system and cut out so much bottling

2) Expand my recipe book

3) Have at least 1 of my 3 buckets fermenting at any given time

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

1. finish building and dialing in my new 10 gallon all electric rig (hopefully in January)
2. keep the pipeline full with some to share with family and friends
3. finish building my grain mill (started in July 2011)
4. get at least 2 more people into brewing

 

[SlimeyBooger]

1. Quit making sub par beer.
2. Make a beer that I love.
3. Repeat #2.

 

[BierKoning]

1. Get a mini-fridge for lagering
2. Brew more beer
3. Share more beer
4. Brew new styles (saison! IIPA!)
5. Organize all my brew gear
6. Better mash temperature control

 

[Seven]

• Go electric
• Give more beer to family, friends, neighbors, co-workers
• Go to Belgium for beer "research"

 

[Chuginator]

Cool thread!

• Increase batch size to 10 gallons
• Brew once per month
• Do my first AG lager
• Help a coworker get started in homebrewing
• Hone technique, particularly bottling

Gawd, I love this hobby.

 

[richbrew99]

• Build my brewstand
• start controlling my fermentation temps
• make cheese

 

[stbnj]

Streamline and organize my process a bit better
Experiment with splitting batches amongst 2 different yeasts
Use my new aeration system
Experiment with a swamp cooler
Make a beer my wife likes and dial it in, probably going to try and make a summer shandy clone next week as a first attempt but using extract as my time is limited
Figure out a better chilling method, either prechiller or pond pump and ice water method
Start milling my own grains
Grow my own hops and make a fresh hop ale using all organic malts
Read more brewing books
Visit more breweries
Brew a beer and siphon off one gallon to sour as an experiment

Styles I'd like to try to brew this year: Rye IPA, Saison, Fat Tire Clone, a hoppy wheat beer, golden strong ale, a wheat wine

I know its a long list but after starting in April I've made a ton of progress and I'd like t continue moving forward.

 

[Chaos_Being]

First off...get back to brewing! I didn't brew much at all this past year, mostly because of some unpleasant life changes I was dealing with, and the beers I did produce were sub-par because they got neglected and sat around for way too long before bottling. My most recent two beers, the hefe and the oktoberfest, are MUCH better, so I feel that I am getting back on my game.

Aside from...actually brewing, this year I want to do a few things in terms of recipes (I write my own recipes for probably 90% of my beers)

1) go back and re-visit some of my earlier recipes that made beers that stand out in my mind. I've been brewing since late 2006, and up until now most of my beers have been one-offs. Since then, my technique has also greatly improved. I want to dial in on some of my favorites and take them from "good" to "great." These will be some of my signature, house beers.

2) continue to create new beers for styles I have not tried brewing yet.

3) once it warms up a bit, brew some belgians! I love belgian beer, yet I have only brewed one belgian, ever! It was also one of my best, and the one that got consumed the fastest.

4) try re-creating some historical, extinct beer styles. I love some of the descriptions of beers like this in the book "Radical Brewing," and I think creating some of these dead beers would be fun. Probably in smaller batches though, since some of the old brews are weird compared to modern beer.

5) build a kegerator and start kegging my more session-style beers. I have a spot for the kegerator already picked out, and this goes along with another goal of mine for 2012: convert my basement into a proper man cave

6) do more all-grain. I have done a few all-grain beers using the "brew in a bag" method. They were also some of my best beers. I have already gotten away from extract beers, all of my beers now are partial mash, and they are much better for it.

7) participate in the homebrew community more. That means posting here again, sharing and critiquing recipes, maybe looking into a homebrew club or doing homebrew swaps, etc.

8) grow hops!

 

[bricks]

I just recently got back into brewing after a 12 year hiatus. I have done one extract batch and one all grain batch in the last 3 weeks. After just finishing bottling the extract batch, the FIRST thing I would like to do is start kegging! I already have a mini fridge that I keep beer in that I could use.

I also want to work on fermentation temperature control. I have a buddy that has an old fridge setup for kegging that he is going to turn loose of cheaply. I think it has co2 bottle and maybe a keg in it. If the keg is in it, I would like to turn it into a keggle.

Other than these two things, I would like to make decent tasting beer, and share it with friends and be able to say "I made that" when they say how good it tastes!

 

[rsklhm10]

1. Re-build my fermentation chamber to make it bigger.
2. Add a vent hood to my e-build.
3. Brew >150 gallons for 2012.
4. Enter at least 1 beer into a competition.

 

[Scruffy1207]

1. Hit 80% efficiency.
2. Build a new mash tun
3. Enter my first competition.
4. Be more active in my club.
5. Brew 200g

Big goals!

 

[kman6234]

1. Brew at least once per month
2. Move from a swamp cooler to temp controlled fermentation set-up
3. Join local HB club (Any clubs in bergen county nj / rockland county ny?)
4. Develop a house pale ale to always have on tap
5. Post more on HBT!

 

[brewfish]

Instead of buying more brew equip, this year I want to focus on the brew space. After seeing a brew shed on this forum recently, I realized thats what I need now. A dedicated space for brewing. Then I can work on a better system. Switching to all grain in 2010 makes it that much more important, and my wife would like me out of the kitchen.

 

[CoalCracker]

1. Wash yeast and create a bank.
2. Take better notes and keep a neater log.
3. Limit my spending a bit more on brew supplies.

 

[acuenca]

1. Improve my efficiency with ag
2. Streamline brewing process to less than 4 hours
3. Get the mini fridge and kegging system set up.
4. brew 2 new styles.
5. Try to lose 50 lbs while doing all of this! Ha ha ha!!!!

 

[joety]

1. Wash yeast and create a bank.
2. Take better notes and keep a neater log.
3. Limit my spending a bit more on brew supplies.

I like your list. I probably won't get a yeast bank going; I'm already overwhelmed with base grain, specialty grain and hops, but I'd like to try reusing some yeast at some point.

On #3, you mentioned supplies but not equipment. I concur. Saving money on supplies means you are brewing smarter but we all need new toys from time to time.

 

[Revlus]

Great lists... have given me ideas for my own goals, but I need to keep to basics for awhile I think.

1. Keep learning
2. I'm making yeast starters, but want to learn to pitch the "correct" amount... not too much, not too little.
3. Start kegging and build a 4 tap keezer.
4. Start keeping track of my brew sessions, recipes, gravities, etc.
5. Perfect (to my taste at least) the Troeg's Mad Elf extract clone recipe.

 

[nrock74]

1) Start kegging my brew.
2) Brew over 100 gal.
3) Perfect my Hopslam clone.
4) Brew 10 gal batches.
5) Enter a homebrew competition.

 

[pelipen]

1. Brew 50 gallons
2. Build a gravity sculpture to replace my saw horses, plywood & stool.
3. Brew a barley wine
4. always have one keg full in queue
5. take two hours off my brew day.

 

[brants77]

1. Grow my own hops
2. start kegging
3. join a club (any clubs in Northern Michigan? [T.C. is to far])
4. Brew appropriate seasonals in time for their seasons (eg, saison in the spring, marzen in fall, big ass stout in winter, etc.)