Tuesday, December 29, 2009

My 2010 Brew Year’s Resolutions

It’s that time of year again. The time where people make a bunch of promises to eat better, lose weight, save money, and so on… promises few – if any – really end up keeping. It gets old after a while, actually. Every year, the same people making the same resolutions they never keep. I am guilty of it myself.

I have a few things I want to work on this coming year. Certain personal health, family, and professional changes I want to make. But those are for me and me alone to mull over and work on. For Beer for the Daddy, however, I have some concrete goals and plans for the new year.

Resolutions should not only be attainable, but something one actually wants to do. If you don’t want to quit smoking or really change your diet, don’t plan to quit or lose weight. You’ll just be disappointed and frustrated. I have tried to list ten resolutions that I think are absolutely possible as well as things I KNOW I want.

  1. Attend GABF in Denver for the first time. This one is the biggy, and the one that will take the most work, I think. But it’s an important one.
  2. Visit more breweries. This is one I took from Joe McPhee at Malted Musings, but it’s a good one. I travel from time to time and there is almost always a brewery near wherever I am visiting. There is no reason I should not at least pop in and try their offerings.
  3. Start rating beers. Since I write for RateBeer.com as part of the Hop Press Gang, it only makes sense. I actually got this idea from Mark Dredge at Pencil & Spoon. For me it is more about learning to rate and keeping track than anything else.
  4. More homebrewing. I have the equipment. I have the access to quality ingredients and homebrew pals. And I still only manage 3 or 4 batches a year. That’s just not enough.
  5. More writing. The Beer Wench summed it up perfectly (and unknowingly hit my particular issue on the head) when she said “Develop an editorial calendar and increase frequency of posts. Write on a consistent and regular basis.”
  6. More drinking. And by this I do not me quantity, but variety. It is very easy to fall into a pattern of reaching for the beer you know you like and is readily available time and time again. I’ll admit my go-to in the latter half of 2009 has been Sierra Nevada Torpedo, which I still swear by. But I need to experience more and learn more. So I need more variety and need to take some risks.
  7. More reading. I am already a voracious reader, but I have been exposed in the last few months to so many great beer writers, I need to take advantage of this new-found fountain of knowledge. Maybe someday someone will say the same of me.
  8. Certification and study, part 1. Cicerone program. I want to at least get the first stage done: Certified Beer Server.
  9. Certification and study, part 2. Beer Judge Certification Program. What better way to know beer than to know how to judge it? I may be limited by locale and access, but I can at least start learning.
  10. Continue to be a vocal craft beer advocate. Beer can and should compete with wine at every level, and people need to know it. Craft beer is better tasting and better for American business than large macrobrews, and people need to know it. And craft beer lovers need to know that their voices need to be heard in the halls of Congress when legislation comes that affects our beer and the brewers that make it for us.

2010 should prove to be an interesting and exciting year. I am looking forward to it with beer in hand and plans in my head.

Happy New Year to all…

- Beer for the Daddy