New Year’s resolutions are often based on unrealistic aspirations. Sure, I ought to go to the gym regularly and eat more vegetables, but those are hard, even though being healthier is a good idea. In contrast, I offer you the following Brew Year’s resolutions. What’s the difference? These are all about taking the hobby I love and making it even better. Your specific list might vary, but here are five things I plan to improve in the coming months.
1. Tackle Some New Styles
Like many of us, I sometimes get in the rut of repeatedly making the same set of beers. I could easily loop through my time-tested recipes for rauchbier, Scottish Wee Heavy, Kölsch, Saison, and IPA. I’d always have something great on tap, but I could just about brew those on auto-pilot. By contrast, I recently brewed my first Schwarzbier, which turned out very drinkable, but not quite what I was aiming for. The thought of fine-tuning that recipe has rejuvenated my excitement about brewing.
In the next year, I plan to put my favorite beers on hold and tackle some new styles—not just as one-offs, but to dial them in until I get them right. Right now, my list includes German Dunkel and New England IPA, plus perfecting my Schwarzbier. I don’t expect to nail all of these, but I will step away from my standard rotation.