Focus for 2025?

[hilljack13]

2024 was my year getting back into brewing since 2018, and I only did one extract kit that year so realistically since 2016/17. I learned a lot but still have issues.

1) need to get my system dialed in. Still end up over OG by up to 10 points while post boil has slowly gotten better; ~1-4 points.
2) Figure out my diacetyl issue. I have had ~10 small test batches and chunked ~95% of it all. I am going to take advice received on here and try Lutra and Novalager. I have one plan to do a brew and split using all my lager yeast at once, under the same conditions.
3) Clean out the massive amount of dry yeast and 1lb hops I ordered when I thought I was going to brew all day every day. A bit ambitious.
4) Slow down my actual drinking. Ended 2024 at just over 60g alone. Retirement and this hobby has caught up very quickly!
5) Build or buy a kegerator/keezer. Still using one CO2 tank and swapping the gas line.
6) I also need to scale down equipment. 2 Spike Flex+ and only used them at the same time once. Same with kegs. I have 4 but seem to only have two in use at any given time.
7) I really want to go down the NEIPA route. I like the voodoo rangers and want to see if I can get something similar to their Juice Force or Fruit Force.
8) Just keep learning

 

[rallenhall]

Brew more small batches, especially those styles that I want to bottle and lay away for the future.

 

[Snuffy]

Yeah. I think I'm gonna brew some HG stuff that can be tucked away for awhile. Maybe a Westvleteren clone of some kind. I like it when I am getting kind of bored with what's on tap and I can rummage thru the bottled stash and find something unusual.

 

[lumbergh]

Belgian style beers
Low/lower ABV beers
Hop water

 

[Dgallo]

I’ll be stepping away from hazy IPAs this year, which is pretty big for me as I’ve had them as my focus for the past 8-9 years. I’ll probably still brew 1 or 2 but my focus will be on west coast IPAs, Czech/German Lagers, and my funk projects

 

[Dgallo]

Continue my pursuit of the ultimate best chocolate-y/mocha-y/bourbonic/bittersweet (not too bitter) imperial stout ever made...

I like to blend Carafa special III, Chocolate Rye, and a bit of roasted barley for my dark grains in my big stouts. Gives a nice rounded roast character that’s present but not astringent or bitter, with some strong chocolate and coffee notes. Typically it’s;

6% - Carafa special III
4% - chocolate rye
2% - roasted barley

If you like your stouts less roasty, cut the roasted barley

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

In keeping with my goals, first ever pizzwasser light was brewed last night. It’s kinda tasteless, so I think I nailed it.

 

[elproducto]

The flip side of that, at least for me, is to not be tempted by more hop sales!

I am still working through the hops that I purchased at the 2023 YVH Black Friday sale. Around that time I also got 2 lbs for cheap from a local brewery that was closing, then my club passed me 1.5 lbs bags of Warrior, Centennial and Amarillo that were passed along at 11 lb bags from a brewery. I picked up ~3lb of hops on a vacation to New Zealand in 2024 and I did refresh some core hops from a homebrew shop's clearance sale.

I have been trying to use up those 1.5 lb bags of hops, but looking back on my brews from 2024, I feel like I have made some mediocre beers with them and probably should just dump them in the compost bin. They look and smell fine. I have used old hops before with good luck, but maybe there was a reason the brewery did not use them.

I just did the same thing. I swore I was going to use the mountain of hops in my freezer but despite storing them well the beers I've brewed with the older hops weren't great (from a hop character standpoint).

Life's too short to drink mediocre beer.



My 2025 goals are:
Brew what I want to drink, not necessarily chase different styles.
Really try to nail my favorite styles.
Brew lots of session beer.

 

[Willy]

I just did the same thing. I swore I was going to use the mountain of hops in my freezer but despite storing them well the beers I've brewed with the older hops weren't great (from a hop character standpoint).

Life's too short to drink mediocre beer.



My 2025 goals are:
Brew what I want to drink, not necessarily chase different styles.
Really try to nail my favorite styles.
Brew lots of session beer.

That was my last year. Focus on... Irish Stout, Czech pilsner, and English brown ale. Brewed 5-7 batches of these 3 styles until I nailed it. And could repeat it.

 

[jdauria]

My goals for 2025 relate mostly to being a member in the Master Homebrewer Program:

1. Brew more for me and less to chase styles to rank up in the program. Shooting for 50/50 split this year of beers I love to drink and beers that are new MHP styles to chase. Most of the styles I like (Schwarzbier, Helles, Czech Dark, German Pils, etc), I have already received scores of 43 or higher, so stopped brewing them because they did not help any more with the program.

2. Less competitions - Did way to many last year, this year going to keep it to 25-30 max and only focus on comps east of the Mississippi to save on shipping costs, except for a few of the good large comps.

3. Cut back slightly on brewing - Did 26 batches last year, want to cut it back to around 20 this year. Spraining my ankle last month and not brewing at all in February definitely helped with this goal. Only 3 batches in so far for 2025, this time last year already had 6.

4. Experiment more on 1 gallon batches of cider and mead.

 

[firerat]

I haven't brewed a single batch of anything since early 2023, so for me I'm going to focus on, well just brewing something and trying to make a bit more time to be able to brew.

I also want to revamp my entire process (which i have been doing for the last month or so) and cut out all the excess crap that doesn't actually help me make my beer any better.

 

[Willy]

I just did the tally - I've brewed six batches so far in 2025. (45 gal) Yikes. But in my defense - the 10 g of stout will be ready to drink in April or May, and taste better in June/July. Same for the Czech pilsner, improving with a nice solid lagering period.

That whole, patience thing took me over 10 years of brewing to learn and actually do. Be patient. Yeah, the pilsner and the Irish stout taste better 2-6 months after the brew day. So do a lot of brown ales and porters, but not as noticable.

Patience grasshopper.

 

[firerat]

I just did the tally - I've brewed six batches so far in 2025. (45 gal) Yikes. But in my defense - the 10 g of stout will be ready to drink in April or May, and taste better in June/July. Same for the Czech pilsner, improving with a nice solid lagering period.

That whole, patience thing took me over 10 years of brewing to learn and actually do. Be patient. Yeah, the pilsner and the Irish stout taste better 2-6 months after the brew day. So do a lot of brown ales and porters, but not as noticable.

Patience grasshopper.

I used to make a habit out of brewing something to age and something with a fast turnaround at or around the same time.

 

[Willy]

I used to make a habit out of brewing something to age and something with a fast turnaround at or around the same time.

Yes! That is the way to be patient. Have something else fast on hand. Ha. True!!!