2011 Re-Cap

2011 was a brewing year unlike any other.  Not only am I brewing all-grain now and renting this amazing space with 3 brewing friends, but the sheer volume of beer (previous 3+ years = 125 gallons, but this year = 180 gallons) and styles brewed trumps all my previous years of homebrewing combined and experimented with different techniques, ingredients, treatments, yeasts and fermentation temperatures.  Kind of hard to compare the last 12 months to how I was brewing before in my little kitchen.  A few stats:

• Batches = 18
• Gallons =  180
• Styles = 14
• Lagers = 3
• Saisons = 7 different variations/treatments!
• Yeasts =  20 different strains
• Broken Carboys = 3
• Bum Wine Treatments = 2
• Malt Liquors = 1

Brewing in 2012 is going to keep on rolling and the next 6 months especially are going to be quite busy.  In June the National Homebrewers Conference (NHC) comes to Bellevue and Jerome has already registered the "Waywards Brewers" as an official club, which means that we will have our own table at Club Night, which is basically a big beer fest where we'll have the opportunity to pour a bunch of our beers for fellow homebrewers and conference attendees.  Pretty exciting and I'm starting to plan which beers I want to possibly brew again (cisco malt liquor anyone?!?!) and have ready to share.  I plan on brewing a fresh batch of Squashes Me with Fear, White Rabbit Lavender Wit and a few others.  Part of the NHC is also a huge competition, so I'll hopefully be entering a few beers in that.

And while I'm not super big on competitions in general, there are a few other exciting ones coming up soon.  For the NHC, WAHA is holding a Sasquatch Competition that will essentially be the official homebrew beer of the NHC and the winning beer will be scaled up and brewed professionally.  I have two beers currently aging on oak spirals that I hope to enter - Oak Aged Meatstick Smoked Porter and Rum & Oak Aged Squashes Me with Fear.  Entries are due in a few weeks!!  Also a few months away is my favorite competition and the one I always dream of winning - the Puget Sound Pro-Am.  I hope to have 5-6 beers to enter in that.  Both of these competitions share the most exciting aspect - if you win, you get to brew your beer at a brewery and it will be available to lots of people.  

I need to get working on my brewing calendar!!!  Cheers :)