rippajak
Well-Known Member
First, a bit of background on me:
I started homebrewing in 2012. A friend of mine had started doing extract batches on his stovetop, and I had sampled his beers on a few occasions. It blew my naive mind to realize that beer was a product that could be made at home. He and I ended up being roommates for a time in Ohio, and we brewed a handful of batches together. When I moved back to Indiana, I immediately cobbled together my own kit, making the leap into all-grain brewing, and thus began an obsession.
As 2016, my 4th year of brewing, came to a close, I started to look toward 2017. How would I advance in this hobby in the coming year? What would I do differently than I had in the past? Part of this pondering led me to take inventory of my previous batches. As best as I could account for, considering my poor (non-existent) note-taking in the early days, I came to a total of 50 batches.
Somehow I had expected more. It was a reality check for my estimation of my own homebrewing experience. A realization that I am still a novice of this craft. And that realization led to my resolution.
100 batches. I believe that to be the point at which I can call myself an experienced homebrewer. Not a master, by any means. Nor even an expert. But at least a journeyman who has fully cut his teeth.
And I will hit that goal this year. 50 batches in 2017. :rockin: As a kicker, I am challenging myself not to buy any new brewing equipment until that goal is met. I feel that I should put aside my gadget fever and focus on skill, knowledge, and technique. I don't believe that you can buy your way to better beer, and I don't want to try anymore.
I am starting this thread in the hopes of recruiting some accountabili-buddies from the HBT community. For those who choose to follow this endeavor, I will try to make regular updates with my progress. And maybe some of you can talk smack to me about 50 batches in a year being child's play. I'm sure there are people here who have knocked that out of the park.
So far I have (3/50) in. Two weeks ago I did my first ever BIAB batch, a peat-smoked porter. I'm really looking forward to sampling it another few weeks. This week I did a double brew day (another first) with an American Strong Ale on the BIAB setup and a London Brown Ale as a no-sparge batch in my cooler MLT. Efficiency on the brown ale came out atrocious. I actually added 12 oz of DME to the fermenter to try to bring the gravity back in line. 2017 has already been full of firsts.
I started homebrewing in 2012. A friend of mine had started doing extract batches on his stovetop, and I had sampled his beers on a few occasions. It blew my naive mind to realize that beer was a product that could be made at home. He and I ended up being roommates for a time in Ohio, and we brewed a handful of batches together. When I moved back to Indiana, I immediately cobbled together my own kit, making the leap into all-grain brewing, and thus began an obsession.
As 2016, my 4th year of brewing, came to a close, I started to look toward 2017. How would I advance in this hobby in the coming year? What would I do differently than I had in the past? Part of this pondering led me to take inventory of my previous batches. As best as I could account for, considering my poor (non-existent) note-taking in the early days, I came to a total of 50 batches.
Somehow I had expected more. It was a reality check for my estimation of my own homebrewing experience. A realization that I am still a novice of this craft. And that realization led to my resolution.
100 batches. I believe that to be the point at which I can call myself an experienced homebrewer. Not a master, by any means. Nor even an expert. But at least a journeyman who has fully cut his teeth.
And I will hit that goal this year. 50 batches in 2017. :rockin: As a kicker, I am challenging myself not to buy any new brewing equipment until that goal is met. I feel that I should put aside my gadget fever and focus on skill, knowledge, and technique. I don't believe that you can buy your way to better beer, and I don't want to try anymore.
I am starting this thread in the hopes of recruiting some accountabili-buddies from the HBT community. For those who choose to follow this endeavor, I will try to make regular updates with my progress. And maybe some of you can talk smack to me about 50 batches in a year being child's play. I'm sure there are people here who have knocked that out of the park.
So far I have (3/50) in. Two weeks ago I did my first ever BIAB batch, a peat-smoked porter. I'm really looking forward to sampling it another few weeks. This week I did a double brew day (another first) with an American Strong Ale on the BIAB setup and a London Brown Ale as a no-sparge batch in my cooler MLT. Efficiency on the brown ale came out atrocious. I actually added 12 oz of DME to the fermenter to try to bring the gravity back in line. 2017 has already been full of firsts.