Was thinking about what I really want to do, related to brewing, beer, etc. so thought I would put together a barrel list…
- Tour Belgium a few times, skip the commercial breweries and head toward the few real monastic breweries. Bonus: spend a week helping.
- Attend Octoberfest. Been to Munich, just never at the right time.
- Brew with a “Real Ale” brewer in Sheffield England. I have a really good shot at this one. Prime a pin or three.
- Start my own brewery, maybe a retirement hobby. Yeah I know everyone wants to do this.
- Win “Best of Show” at an AHA sanctioned competition.
- Meet and have a beer drink with:
- Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo
- Jamil Zainasheff
- John Palmer
- Stan Hieronymous
- Ken Grossman
- Aaron Franklin – BBQ master extraordinaire, but a huge beer fan!
- Peter Jackson and Christopher Tolkien – seriously
- … this list will grow of course…
- Brew styles that are out of my comfort range
- Pilsener
- Dunkleweisen
- “Proper” Belgian Strong Dark and Golden
- Steam Beer / Cali Common
- Bocks/Helles
- True “Real Ale” in a pin on a proper beer engine. No sparkler.
- Crush my own apples and make real cider
- A proper, period representative Mead
- Get a barrel or three – start a wild yeast beer series (props to Michael Tonsmeire)
- Build a decent scale cold room for lagering and aging
So some of this is quite possible, others probably not. It’s good to dream though – yeah?
