I need your support - brewing one beer a day for a year!

[matthewmurray]

I am a long time student of this site and have decided to become a supporting member to say thank you for all of the guidance I have received so far.

My name is Matthew Murray and I live just outside of Charlotte, NC in Matthews. I live with my wife and four kids and can't seem to brew enough. When I got to the point that I was brewing three to four days per week, I thought that I might as well make it every day of the week.

On July 5, 2014, I am going to launch the Year of Beer during which I will brew one beer a day for a year. I am excited to try out 365 recipes and hope to use many of them to experiment with different techniques, malts, hops, yeast strains, etc. So, I need your help. What beers do you want to see brewed? What experiments would you like to see played out in the fermenter?

Check out www.breweveryday.com and give me a like on Facebook.com/BrewEveryday if you want to stay up to date.

 

[Cyclman]

Bourbon barrel cherry quad, the best beer I've made to date.

 

[signpost]

I'd say do at least one sour early on that you can save to drink when you complete the full year.

Other than that, you could start with SMaSHes to get a thorough knowledge of hop and base malt profiles. Then do a series of crystal malt comparisons based on one or two of your SMaSH successes. Start with a SMaSH plus crystal-20, then 40L, then 60L, and so on.

Maybe dedicate one or two days of the week to brewing those kinds of brews to systematically work through a bunch of ingredients.

Then dedicate a day of the week to doing weird stuff with fruit, spices, hot peppers, beef jerky, or whatever else seems crazy.

I admire your ambition and I hope you have a lot of fun with this adventure.

 

[brettg20]

You must have a lot of carboys / buckets. When I brew I go 5 days/batches in a row (I have 3 big temp controlled chest freezers) and by day 5 I am so tired from yeast starter, work, brew, repeat. One year would be way too much unless I was getting paid to do it.

 

[markstache]

How big will the batches be?

There was a recent article on how to turn a single brew into multiple beers. Things like different yeasts and different hops were relatively easy. I suggest you target things that would be difficult: mash thickness, water chemistry, bittering hops, base malts, etc.

 

[matthewmurray]

Bourbon barrel cherry quad, the best beer I've made to date.

Sounds like a winner. Can you add a link to the recipe in your profile? Maybe I should culture the yeast for a quad!

 

[matthewmurray]

I'd say do at least one sour early on that you can save to drink when you complete the full year.

Other than that, you could start with SMaSHes to get a thorough knowledge of hop and base malt profiles. Then do a series of crystal malt comparisons based on one or two of your SMaSH successes. Start with a SMaSH plus crystal-20, then 40L, then 60L, and so on.

Maybe dedicate one or two days of the week to brewing those kinds of brews to systematically work through a bunch of ingredients.

Then dedicate a day of the week to doing weird stuff with fruit, spices, hot peppers, beef jerky, or whatever else seems crazy.

I admire your ambition and I hope you have a lot of fun with this adventure.

I hadn't even considered making a sour, but that is a great idea!

The LHBS guys also recommended starting with a series of SMaSH brews, which I had never done before, but I am all about brewing simple. I have my first SMaSH in the fermenter now - Munton's Pale Malt and Cascade hops, fermented with S-04. I think that this will appeal to folks who have never brewed from fear of it being too complicated. My morning oatmeal has more ingredients than a SMaSH brew!

Crystal 60L is my favorite, but I admit that I have only tried a few. I think I might spend a week brewing identical Pale Ales with each "shade" of Crystal, then do the same thing with body malts, etc.

I do plan to have one day for some crazy stuff, maybe Wacky Wednesday or something. I will also reserve one day of each week to dedicate to supporters of my kickstarter campaign (campaign to come). Give some support, have a beer named after you, maybe even entered in a competition!

Thank you for the encouragement!

 

[djevans3]

Hello fellow NC brewer. I'm just up the road in Concord and have 4 kids myself, must be something in the water here. It sounds like your doing all 1 gallon batches. Give us some info on your setup and I'll be glad to drop you a couple of my favorite recipe's.

 

[ColoHox]

Not that there aren't plenty of styles to choose from, I like markstache's idea of making different beers with different brewing parameters. I have always wanted to make a SMaSH series with mash temps ranging from 148-160. Or comparing celler temperature bulk aging to long-term fridge storage.

Sure they wont all be different styles (many of the same, ideally), but probably really different beers.

But really, whew, that is a lot of brewing. Sign me up as a taste tester, you just won't have time.

 

[matthewmurray]

You must have a lot of carboys / buckets. When I brew I go 5 days/batches in a row (I have 3 big temp controlled chest freezers) and by day 5 I am so tired from yeast starter, work, brew, repeat. One year would be way too much unless I was getting paid to do it.

I have a dozen one gallon jugs now, but will need at least 21 since I will most commonly ferment in the primary for three weeks (no secondary or I would have to quit my job just to keep up). I will make exceptions where relevant, like sours, and extended aging with oak, etc. I'm sure in a year's time I will break at least one fermenter, so I will have need extra of everything. While I'm at it, I will have a back up of every piece of equipment, from auto-siphon to caper. I plan to buy all of this, but if anyone would like to donate any unused equipment to support the cause, I will be most grateful!

I won't be getting paid, but hopefully will come out a better brewer and with one or two more friends than when I started. That should be payment enough.

 

[matthewmurray]

How big will the batches be?

There was a recent article on how to turn a single brew into multiple beers. Things like different yeasts and different hops were relatively easy. I suggest you target things that would be difficult: mash thickness, water chemistry, bittering hops, base malts, etc.

I will be brewing one gallon batches as the legal capacity in North Carolina is 200 gallons per household (only 100 gallons for single adult households). I am no expert brewer, so I am creating a calendar now that, in my limited foresight, starts out with relatively simple brews and increases in complexity though out the year. I am so interested to learn about all of the things you mentioned, especially hop profiles (bittering included), water chemistry (fortunately we have incredibly soft water in my area so I can add just about anything), and yeast strains.

I spent an hour today with a Siebel Institute World Brewing Academy graduate talking yeast. I will talk to anyone who had an ear and some advice, so if you are in the Charlotte area, please message me!

 

[Kingbogart]

I will be brewing one gallon batches as the legal capacity in North Carolina is 200 gallons per household (only 100 gallons for single adult households).

Perhaps my mathing is off, but if the reason for brewing 1 gallon batches is to stay under your legal limit, and there are 365 days a year, and the limit is 200.....

Just a thought. Unless capacity isn't how much you can make, but how much you can have at once.

 

[matthewmurray]

Hello fellow NC brewer. I'm just up the road in Concord and have 4 kids myself, must be something in the water here. It sounds like your doing all 1 gallon batches. Give us some info on your setup and I'll be glad to drop you a couple of my favorite recipe's.

Thanks for the comments! It's great to connect with another local brewer. Please plan a day to come brew and taste with me - beer isn't made to be enjoyed alone!

One gallon batches, all BIAB so far. I actually quit brewing about a year ago because I am a perfectionist and bought into the lie that my beer wasn't good enough because I didn't have a cooler-converted mash tun, a hot liquor tank, and a thermostat controlled fermentation fridge. I made a spreadsheet of all of the gear that I needed to brew my next batch, and when I couldn't afford any of it, I waited and waited, and eventually "I haven't brewed in a while" turns into "I don't brew anymore."

I would love to try brewing with a three vessel setup, but right now I have the cheapest pot I could find at W**m***, empty jugs from drinking a ton of apple juice, and a five gallon paint strainer from a hardware store. And I make great beer.

For this project, I will need to offer a little more consistency for my project to be of any use to the brewing community, so I do plan to have a few temp controlled chest freezers, but I don't plan to make any outrageous equipment upgrades. I might upgrade to a set of accurate hydrometers, because reading that cheap triple scale is probably the most time consuming part of my brew day.

If there is a huge interest in comparing equipment setups, I will gladly brew with any setup that I can borrow and return gently and lovingly used and sanitized.

 

[matthewmurray]

Perhaps my mathing is off, but if the reason for brewing 1 gallon batches is to stay under your legal limit, and there are 365 days a year, and the limit is 200.....

Just a thought. Unless capacity isn't how much you can make, but how much you can have at once.

I will be starting on July 5, 2014. From July 5 to December 31 is 180 days, and from January 1 to July 4 is 185 days. Mark your calendar!

 

[Kingbogart]

I will be starting on July 5, 2014. From July 5 to December 31 is 180 days, and from January 1 to July 4 is 185 days. Mark your calendar!

Sounds like a plan. Have fun! I knew I must have been missing something

 

[matthewmurray]

Not that there aren't plenty of styles to choose from, I like markstache's idea of making different beers with different brewing parameters. I have always wanted to make a SMaSH series with mash temps ranging from 148-160. Or comparing celler temperature bulk aging to long-term fridge storage.

Sure they wont all be different styles (many of the same, ideally), but probably really different beers.

But really, whew, that is a lot of brewing. Sign me up as a taste tester, you just won't have time.

I drink mostly APAs and IPAs, so I'm sure that most of the variations on a theme will be in these two categories. But I will have to at least one of each style, just out of respect for the history!

I am really interested in different mash temps as I have read in many places that it contributes to dryness/body because of the alpha amylase/beta amylase effect on glycosidic linkage blah blah blah... I want to experience how much of a factor it is, all other factors aside. Maybe it will turn out to be as (un)important as the fly/batch/no spare argument. Look for an update in a few months!

 

[DxS12]

This sounds awesome. I've followed you on Facebook and will check out the blog. Cheers and good luck!

 

[copyright1997]

One thing I've done to better understand hops is to do a simple blonde or cream ale with minimal clean bittering hops (e.g. Magnum), followed up with dry hopping with different hops. I did my experiment with dry hopping in the bottle, but you could do the same kind of thing in your one gallon primary.

 

[SeeMont]

This is a great project. I have to ask, Who is going to drink all this beer? You must have good neighbors and friends. Good luck and have fun.

 

[mtnagel]

Are you starting in 2014 or 2015? Site says 14, first post says 15.

Anyway, that's quite the challenge especially with a wife and kids. I can't even drink 5 gallons of homebrew in a month let alone 30 gallons a month. Good luck!

 

[matthewmurray]

This sounds awesome. I've followed you on Facebook and will check out the blog. Cheers and good luck!

Thank you for the add. I'm haven't been big into social media (I just reopened my Facebook account after a few years of down time) but the likes really do give me encouragement. Thanks again, and send me any ideas or recipes that you think would be a good fit!

 

[MikePote]

Maybe do a HUGE beer a month for the first 4 months so you can let them age 6-8 months and not get impatient. I hope this actually happens. Good luck!

 

[matthewmurray]

One thing I've done to better understand hops is to do a simple blonde or cream ale with minimal clean bittering hops (e.g. Magnum), followed up with dry hopping with different hops. I did my experiment with dry hopping in the bottle, but you could do the same kind of thing in your one gallon primary.

Do you mean to use a single hop addition at the beginning of the boil and only dry hops?

 

[matthewmurray]

This is a great project. I have to ask, Who is going to drink all this beer? You must have good neighbors and friends. Good luck and have fun.

I don't have a lot of beer drinking friends, and no one else in my house drinks, but I recently started attending the local homebrew club (Carolina Brewmasters). I hoping I can find someone there to help me out.

Too bad I can't sell it.

 

[matthewmurray]

Maybe do a HUGE beer a month for the first 4 months so you can let them age 6-8 months and not get impatient. I hope this actually happens. Good luck!

How big is HUGE? (Please don't use this as a setup for a joke...)

 

[WouldBeBrewmaster]

If you're going to do 365 different beers you would want to hit all of the different BJCP styles. I know some brewers have a couple flagship beers they do, but I know I enjoy experimenting with and learning about different styles.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[matthewmurray]

Are you starting in 2014 or 2015? Site says 14, first post says 15.

Anyway, that's quite the challenge especially with a wife and kids. I can't even drink 5 gallons of homebrew in a month let alone 30 gallons a month. Good luck!

2014. Thanks for catching that, I have updated it now. My wife is very supportive, although I know without asking that my equipment can't take over the house (kids would destroy it anyway - as of April they will be 13, 10, 4, and 2). I am working with a very creative friend to build in drop down shelving that will fold up onto the wall and look like artwork when not in use. The kids are happy that I have a hobby, especially Abigail who likes to help mash in. We even say a prayer over the grains each time.

I usually drink two session beers or one high gravity beer per day, so I have no plans to drink more than about 10-20% of what I brew. I guess we know what all of the beer drinkers in my family are getting for Christmas and birthdays!

 

[matthewmurray]

If you're going to do 365 different beers you would want to hit all of the different BJCP styles. I know some brewers have a couple flagship beers they do, but I know I enjoy experimenting with and learning about different styles.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

I like this a lot.

 

[Colorowdy]

Good luck. Life throws a lot of curve balls. I hope you meet your goal. I would be impressed If you only brew half of what you want.

 

[Facinerous]

I fully support your idea. I would recommend joining any brewing clubs you have in your area to gather local support. There is no liver in the world that could take the punishment of such an aggressive brewing schedule. So local support would help in removing extra volume. Also on this line you may find that a lot of the people would be willing to donate bottles, ingredients, and ideas as well. Along this line you may be surprised with special guests being interested. If you do commit, remember you don't need to brew every day at home. Remote locations also count.

I like the idea of doing big beers. Doing one a month would surly suffice to keep the big beer coffers full. I would also recommend picking your favorite that you have done, maybe that you consider a session beer, and do that once a week throughout the year. This would help you in repeatability, and making minor changes would be very observable.

All I can say is good luck. I will be following your blog.

 

[tripplehazzard]

I have had the same idea . 365 days of the beer!! I wish I had yhe money and time fir something like this! Good luck buddy. I fully support this

 

[matthewmurray]

I fully support your idea. I would recommend joining any brewing clubs you have in your area to gather local support. There is no liver in the world that could take the punishment of such an aggressive brewing schedule. So local support would help in removing extra volume. Also on this line you may find that a lot of the people would be willing to donate bottles, ingredients, and ideas as well. Along this line you may be surprised with special guests being interested. If you do commit, remember you don't need to brew every day at home. Remote locations also count.

I like the idea of doing big beers. Doing one a month would surly suffice to keep the big beer coffers full. I would also recommend picking your favorite that you have done, maybe that you consider a session beer, and do that once a week throughout the year. This would help you in repeatability, and making minor changes would be very observable.

All I can say is good luck. I will be following your blog.

Thank you for a very encouraging post. There seems to be a great homebrewing community in Charlotte and I am looking forward to learning from some more experienced brewers.

Off site would be fun. I've already planned how I can go camping with my sons and brew over a camp fire. In theory. That one might require some video footage.

 

[matthewmurray]

I have had the same idea . 365 days of the beer!! I wish I had yhe money and time fir something like this! Good luck buddy. I fully support this

I will make the time, but, if anything, money will be the limiting factor. I have already reached out to some local businesses who are saving food grade buckets for me to store a couple thousand pounds of grain (LHBS also offered to hold my overflow in a grain bank). Any other ideas for bootstrapping are greatly appreciated!

 

[Hopinista]

Do you not have a job? I have a hard enough time trying to brew once a month between family, work etc. Good luck all the same...

 

[matthewmurray]

Do you not have a job? I have a hard enough time trying to brew once a month between family, work etc. Good luck all the same...

Full time job managing one small store of a Fortune 500 Company. And I am a freelance musician. But I cook dinner every night. Brewing beer is not so much more difficult than a side dish.

Thank you for the encouragement!

 

[matthewmurray]

I have had the same idea . 365 days of the beer!! I wish I had yhe money and time fir something like this! Good luck buddy. I fully support this

Do you know if anyone has done it? Or even attempted? I would love to get advice from someone who has walked this path before.

 

[Facinerous]

Watch the movie Julie and Julia

 

[JayDubWill]

Thank you for a very encouraging post. There seems to be a great homebrewing community in Charlotte and I am looking forward to learning from some more experienced brewers.

Off site would be fun. I've already planned how I can go camping with my sons and brew over a camp fire. In theory. That one might require some video footage.

A smoked porter, ale, or rauchbier would be a great one to do over a campfire. You probably wouldn't even need any smoked malt!

 

[lotusworker]

If you are ever in Raleigh, you can guest brew at my place. This will be a good learning experience doing this every day.

 

[matthewmurray]

If you are ever in Raleigh, you can guest brew at my place. This will be a good learning experience doing this every day.

That's a great offer. Thank you. I hope that I can take you up on that! Maybe a tour of the Carolinas if there is enough hospitality offered!

I know that I can fit a one gallon jug inside of a 5 gallon bucket with several inches of water and some ice packs to keep fermentation at a reasonable temperature for a few days, so travel is possible. But I think either way Raleigh could be a day trip. I will get in contact as the time comes near.