2012 Homebrewing Year in Review - Tom

As Jeff posted recently, it seemed a good idea to continue the annual tradition of posting a homebrewing year in review, even though the later part of the year took me away from blogging.  It is both rather fun and cathartic to look at what I brewed or fermented over the year, and compare it to past years to find emerging trends. You can find the posts for previous years here: 2010 and 2011.

Here are the numbers for 2012.

• Number of Batches Made - 22
• Number of Gallons Made - 141
• First Brew Day - 1/2/2012
• Last Brew Day - 12/22/2012
• Number of Beer Batches - 18
• Number of Wine Batches - 1
• Number of Cider Batches - 2
• Number of Mead Batches - 1
• Batch with Highest Alcohol - 14.8% - Splitting Hairs - split batch of mead with 5 gallons on 12 lbs of strawberries and 1 gallon on 2 oz of cacoa nibs
• Batch with Lowest Alcohol - 3.0% - Amarillo Mild
• Average Alcohol Across Batches (accounting for batch size) - 6.4%
• Number of "Cloned" Commercial Beer Batches - 3
• Favorite Brew - Waltzing Through Vienna (first attempt at a Vienna lager and the easy and smooth flavor went wonderful with the hot days of summer)
• Honorable Mention Brew - Old Smoked Hafermalz (club Iron Brewer contest that had me conceive of a beer inspired by both of my grandfathers - which made for a great back story)
• Worst Brew - Fiery Irish Red Head (beer soured in the keg after brewing, which resulted in a thin, watery, and slightly tart beer that had none of the malt character demanded by the style)
• Favorite Name -Math Challenged (I brewed this beer with a friend who loved 90 Minute IPA.  We enjoyed a few pints during the first part of the boil, before realizing we majorly miscalculated the early hop additions, which resulted in a less bitter beer we both loved.)
• Approximate Amount of Grain used in 2012 - 319.5 pounds (average of 17.75 lbs/brew)
• Approximate Amount of Hops used in 2012 - 55 ounces (average of 3.01 oz/brew)
• Most Rewarding Aspect of Brewing - Continuing to be involved in this great hobby with my brother and watching a good friend open a small brewery close to my house.

Happy New Year!

TW