Rather than revisit the past, despite a rather disappointing and very annoyed viewing of The Hobbit 2 (if you have to ask, you will never understand), I thought this space is better spent looking forward to 2014. Seriously, what was Peter Jackson thinking?
I do have some goals, but not really resolutions. I would like to brew a couple of BJCP compliant beers and do well in competitions. I would like to brew to celebrate some specific events, that are perhaps not on anyone’s calendar (like JRR Tolkien’s birthday, Jan 3 or the anniversary release of Everquest). I would like to finally brewery-crawl all of the Austin/Houston/College Station breweries and get to know more of the community. I would like to actually get labels onto some bottles and stop using arcane codes on the crowns.
I plan to release more information on water management in brewing, as I experiment, and hope the information is more useful in application than arcane, and have usable data that I collect and analyze.
Finally, I would like to see this blog grow in readership and see more reader feedback. I would like the information to be more approachable and allow brewers of all levels have a better practical understanding of things that may improve their brewing experience.
Most of all – I wish everyone out there a truly prosperous and happy year – and great success in brewing!
Bottle labeling can really make a great impression for friends and family, but its is quite a bit of work (at least if you dont have your own laser printer). If you get bogged down with time, keep the coded caps for yourself and give the labeled beers to friends and family. Looking forward to the water information you come up with!
Hi Brett… I enjoy your site!
Yeah, understand on the labeling, but feel a bit guilty that I have a graphic design degree and have not taken the time yet to really design a label. You use milk as glue?
Yup! I was skeptical at first but it works great! I usually put a little in a small plate or bowl and just dip/glide the back of the label on the top of the milk so it picks up a nice coating. Then place it on the bottle and push all the milk out so the label is tight and flat. Wipe with a (paper) towel to get the excess off the bottle. It works best with thicker paper, but if you use thinner and it looks like its bled through just wait a day and it will dry and look fine