2019 review/2020 preview

[FedoraDave]

I didn't experiment too much with new recipes or techniques this year. I had hoped to work on lager styles, but somehow, that sort of slipped by.

But it was a good year nonetheless. I won a second-place ribbon in February for my smoked amber ale. I got my knee fixed in October (torn meniscus), and now I'm working on not wasting the money I spent on a gym membership/strengthening the support for my knee/toning up/losing weight.

Joined a vocal group here in the county, so I'm enjoying both that and my experience with the county concert band. It's nice to have the time to make music again.

Looking ahead, I'm going to revamp a couple of beer recipes, and I'm going to start off the year with a IPL recipe I just created. Yes, I still want to do more lagers, and this is a style that intrigues me. Rather than just take one of my IPA recipes and substituting lager yeast and lager protocols, I decided to make a whole new recipe, because why not?

And I think I'll make more lagers. I've already got three or so lagers that are tried and true, so why not stick with them? I have the fridge and the space, and lagers are great any time.

What about you? How did 2019 treat you? And what are you looking forward to in 2020?

[bpgreen]

I was going to post that I made the switch to all grain in 2019, but I checked my notes and that actually happened in 2018.

I did try to work on my water ph in an attempt to improve my efficiency, but it hasn't really helped that much. I think I'm trying to use grain bills that are too big for normal mash and boil use, so I either need to brew smaller beers or change my mash approach.

I actually didn't brew much in 2019 (7 batches so far, but I may try to get another in this weekend).

I hope to carve out more time to brew in 2020. I mostly work from home, so I should be able to come up with an approach where I step away from the computer long enough to add hops, check on the boil, etc.

I guess my biggest change for 2019 is the reason I didn't brew much. I went from an overweight complete couch potato several years ago to getting into better shape. I started by walking to the end of the block and back, then slowly increasing the distance and walking faster. Then I started swimming, using the same approach of gradually increasing the distance. Then I started biking and lifting weights (not hard core, but better than nothing). This summer a couple of coworkers were talking about triathlons, so I figured that since I was doing 2 of the three, adding another wouldn't be a big deal. I was wrong, but I was able to get my running to the point where I did a sprint triathlon on labor day. I hurt one of my feet shortly after that so I was back to the beginning for running. I got an app to help me go couch to 10k. I'm on week 10 (went from alternating 60 second runs and 90 second walks to 15 minute runs and 1 minute walks)

Next year, I want to participate in the same sprint triathlon that I did this year, then do an Olympic distance triathlon a week later. I may try a half iron man the next year.

[berryman]

After a year of kegging and a homebuilt keezer, I think I have the bugs worked out now. Put a fan in that comes on during the cooling cycle, it runs a touch longer when cooling but still the same time in between or maybe longer and keeps the temp. more consistent. Have all 4 taps going now. kegging has been my favorite improvements so far in 10 years. I didn't do any experimenting much this year and made mostly beers that I like and use to. As far as next year, I want to do some more wine to have on tap and try to make some more things easier when brewing. I keep thinking I would like a second SS fermenter but don't want to spend the money on something that might not get used much, I have a 2 week turn around time now and is working.