So it's been a year, I'm going to review my goals and let you (or me, because I'm pretty sure I'm the only reader) know how I did and where I am looking forward. There will definitely be some changes and I hope to put together new goals that will be a little less grand scheme and more tangible this year.
My goals previously:
1) Enlist the help of several friends as partners, co-workers and/or advocates.
This is sort of an ongoing process, I've brewed one beer with my brother and I have several friends that would be interested in brewing with me, but they are probably not ever going to start a brewery with me despite the fact that we would be awesome. That's ok, I've got a new plan.
2) Find a location.
This is still of course up in the air, I am in an apartment that is not conducive to any home brewing beyond kits (not all-grain or barely even partial), but more importantly, my goal here is going to change dramatically.
3) Start home brewing.
Did this, made 2 homebrews, one a kit that was hardly good and another an extract clone recipe from the internet that turned out pretty good until I ran out of time to brew and motivation was sorely deteriorating from lack of all-grain being a "next step" option.
4) Get a job/internship/apprenticeship at a brewery with someone who knows what they are doing.
I didn't make any progress on this front other than find out from a worker at Genesee Brew House that there is a large Home Brewing Association in Rochester.
5) Taste and Study.
I've definitely done the most of this and the posts in this blog reflect that. I've tried 510 distinct beers since last July when I started using Untappd to keep track.
6) Come up with a name.
Shew Brew would be my name.
New Goals:
1) Start a home brewing brewery.
I'm not going pro anymore, it's not an option unfortunately, but I can always make my hobby a reality for myself and my friends/family.
2) Find friends, partners, whom I can collaborate with or who will brew themselves even on their own just so we can learn from each other.
I'm pretty sure I could convince people to join me in home brewing but for many of my friends/family our careers get in the way and time is not always an advantage, this may be a longer term goal. For now, I'll just invite people to brew with me whenever I do.
3) Move out of my apartment to somewhere I can brew outside with propane and a bigger brewpot for all-grain.
This may happen sooner than later as my wife and I have been given the opportunity to move into a house that belonged to a recently deceased family member. Next stop: all-grain and mashing.
4) Continue tasting and studying, especially recipe creating and ingredients.
I started making an excel sheet of different brews and what ingredients they used to see if I could self learn what styles typically use this or that ingredient and how much, but I'm starting to wonder if it's more trial and error than an actual formula? I really wish I could go to brewing school.
5) Learn from more seasoned brewers than myself, take my home brews to a home brewing club.
I need to find someone still who will take me under their wing, maybe ask me to come over when they brew. I could probably find this sort of person if I tried, so I guess I will. My wife will probably not like the idea of me going over to some stranger's house though.
So, you can see, from professional to home brewer this blog will likely remain the same [even in title] but the ultimate goal will be different.
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