It’s running a little late for New Year’s resolutions, but here are my goals for Beantown Brews over the remainder of this year.
More Homebrewing, Less Commercial Beer:
I’ve decided that I will be minimizing the amount of commercial beer I buy for my personal home consumption in 2011. Instead, I am going to make as much of the beer I drink at home brewed on premises. I’ve thought about this a great deal. It isn’t that I don’t want to support the craft beer scene or local business, but I have been looking for a way to become a better brewer. This is the best I can think of to increase my brewing frequency. And I am not saying that the occasional beer isn’t going to slip in to my fridge, but these will most likely be for reviews. I’ll be adding more recipes, and a What’s Brewing tab to the site for anyone interested in seeing what I am working on.
Concepualize, Develop, and Perfect a House Beer:
In the spirit of my year of homebrewing, I want to create a regular house beer; something that reflects my taste in beer. As a homebrewer, I tend to make unique batches of beer and seldom revisit recipes. Creating a house beer will allow me to review the uniformity of my brewing process, make me better acquainted with the interaction between ingredients, and hopefully help me become a better brewer.
Enter a Homebrewing Competition:
Hopefully, toward the end of 2011, I will use what I’ve learned over the year to enter a homebrewing competition. This will help me access my level of skill and give me something to shoot for. I’ll be looking for competitions and posting my progress here.
Start a Homebrewing Club:
I’d love to start a brewing club, or possibly join an existing one. I feel like I have a lot to learn, and a lot to share. This will help me do both.
Local Establishment Reviews:
Whether they are local breweries, brew pubs, or wateringholes – I want to post reviews of the local beer establishments in the area. I’ll probably start ultra-local and hit most of the Waltham-area first.
No more Review Ratings:
I am doing away with my beer rating system. No more letter grades. No crazy numerical scale. There are plenty of blogs that dole out these ratings, but I find that them a bit limiting. Most commercial beer is going to fall somewhere in to the B to C+ range anyhow, provided that the brewer knows his craft. I don’t want to limit myself by having to fit my reviews to a grade. If I like the beer, I will tell you so. I’ll tell you what it is I enjoy, and whether or not I think it is worth trying. But please remember that tastes are subjective, and you may have different preferences. I typically rate the beer I sample on Beer Advocates, so anyone who really needs to see a letter grade can check my listings via my profile, CavePainter.