While those who have a little thing called will power will no doubt get in shape, direct more income to savings, and learn a new language or three, we mere mortals need to aim just a bit lower.
Fortunately, homebrewing offers ample opportunity to achieve your 2015 resolutions.
Brew your first beer. If you haven’t yet made your first batch, there’s no better time to start. Maybe you got a starter kit for the holidays. Maybe you’ve been sitting on one for a few months. Once you brew that first batch, you’ll be hooked.
Perfect a recipe. Choose your favorite beer style and brew it over and over, making tweaks each time until it’s exactly what you want. Look at the raw ingredients, but also consider process variables such as mash thickness, fermentation temperature, and carbonation level.
Mess with a recipe. Take a beer that you’ve brewed before and enjoy, and tweak it to make something totally different. Add coffee to your Irish stout, dry hop a porter with some chile peppers, or ferment an IPA with a saison strain.
Try a new yeast strain. Chico strains are reliable and predictable standbys, but there are dozens, if not hundreds, of other varieties out there. Next time you brew, switch it up and try something new.
Take the next step. Move up to the next level in one or more aspects of your brewing. If you’ve been all-extract for a while, try steeping some specialty grains. Or maybe this is the year that you give kegging a try or add a nitro tap to your setup. Need some how-to tips and techniques? Check out CB&B's online classes.
Make something that’s not beer. Wine, cider, mead, sake, and kombucha are all worth a try.
Seek out one of your whales. Get your hands on a Westvleteren 12, Pliny the Elder, Heady Topper, or Zwanze. Actually, seek out two, and keep one to compare to a clone recipe. Decide for yourself whether it’s worth the hype.
Get to know a new beer style. Never had a bière de garde? Try one. Maybe you don’t typically care for American wheats. Take a sip of your friend’s and see if you’ve uncovered an exception to the rule. Subscribe to Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine®, and you'll receive 6 issues a year, each with a focus on a particular beer style and more than 40 beer reviews to help you decide on new beers to try.
Attend a homebrew rally. These are great opportunities to meet other homebrewers, talk about beer, and pick up some free brewery swag.
Go to the gym. Hahaha, only kidding. I meant to say, go to the pub or local taproom.
So, what do you want to accomplish in 2015?