Your Year In Beer 2023.

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Your Two Hearted, was that a take on Bell's Two Hearted? Could you share that recipe?
 
I brewed 6 batches this year, which is double the amount I did just two years ago and the most I have ever done in my 29+ years of brewing. I took up mashing this year and did a few batches of partial mash and one of all grain. I live in a small apartment and only have the ability to mash up to about 6 lbs of grain in my 3 gallon cooler so I was finally able to go all grain on a low gravity Ordinary Bitter that I just brewed a few weeks ago. I also got into water adjustments and have settled into that pretty well (thank you to Brewers Friend online calculator). I also dry hopped for the first time with a Mac & Jack's African Amber clone. I almost nailed that one too on the first try. Even my wife said that it was almost a perfect match. My clone was actually a little more clear than the commercial beer with a bit lower final gravity. I also used a liquid yeast for the first time in about 6 years. It was by accident. The brewing supply store was out of the dry strain that I wanted but had a liquid equivalent and offered it to me for the same price as the dry - score! I think I'm primed for an even better year next year. I'm going to try my first lager. My favorite beer that I brewed this year was an American Blonde Ale partial mash with 2-row, Vienna, Caramel 10L, White Wheat, Golden Light DME, and Cascades hops.
 
Brewer #366986 said:
I brewed 6 batches this year, which is double the amount I did just two years ago and the most I have ever done in my 29+ years of brewing. I took up mashing this year and did a few batches of partial mash and one of all grain. I live in a small apartment and only have the ability to mash up to about 6 lbs of grain in my 3 gallon cooler so I was finally able to go all grain on a low gravity Ordinary Bitter that I just brewed a few weeks ago. I also got into water adjustments and have settled into that pretty well (thank you to Brewers Friend online calculator). I also dry hopped for the first time with a Mac & Jack's African Amber clone. I almost nailed that one too on the first try. Even my wife said that it was almost a perfect match. My clone was actually a little more clear than the commercial beer with a bit lower final gravity. I also used a liquid yeast for the first time in about 6 years. It was by accident. The brewing supply store was out of the dry strain that I wanted but had a liquid equivalent and offered it to me for the same price as the dry - score! I think I'm primed for an even better year next year. I'm going to try my first lager. My favorite beer that I brewed this year was an American Blonde Ale partial mash with 2-row, Vienna, Caramel 10L, White Wheat, Golden Light DME, and Cascades hops.
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Hell yeah man great to hear you exploring all grain brewing and lager brewing.
Crossing a few barriers there too.
All the best for next year!
 
I brewed 36 times in 2023 (15 ales and 21 lagers). I think five of the batches were test batches for Great Fermentations of Indiana-- where I work one weekend a month. I brewed a Black IPA for the first time (GF's "Devil May Cryo" recipe which is wonderful) and an English Barleywine, American Barleywine and Baltic Porter for the first time in about 10 years. The rest are beers in my normal rotation. I don't use BF's brewing session tool, but all the recipes below are public with 2023 dates in the title.

It was a successful competition year for me. I qualified three beers for NHC Finals (Helles, German Pils, American Amber). Sadly, none of them placed in the finals. I won 5 medals at Indiana Brewers Cup and won HB of the Year and Amateur Grand Champion. That has been a goal of mine for a long time. Also placed 3rd overall in Der Hoosier Braumeister, a two-part German beer competition for Indiana Brewers where both HB and commercial breweries compete against each other.

Thanks to a competition sponsor prize, I was able to upgrade my mash kettle to an electric 20g Blichmann Surface last fall. It is wonderful for direct fire mashing. I'm projecting 15-20 brews for 2024 and stepping back from competitions quite a bit. Mainly brewing new (to me) styles and brews just for gits & shiggles. And probably a lot of yellow fizzy beers...

Here's a pretty orange pivot table :)

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Brady Smith said:
I brewed 36 times in 2023 (15 ales and 21 lagers). I think five of the batches were test batches for Great Fermentations of Indiana-- where I work one weekend a month. I brewed a Black IPA for the first time (GF's "Devil May Cryo" recipe which is wonderful) and an English Barleywine, American Barleywine and Baltic Porter for the first time in about 10 years. The rest are beers in my normal rotation. I don't use BF's brewing session tool, but all the recipes below are public with 2023 dates in the title.

It was a successful competition year for me. I qualified three beers for NHC Finals (Helles, German Pils, American Amber). Sadly, none of them placed in the finals. I won 5 medals at Indiana Brewers Cup and won HB of the Year and Amateur Grand Champion. That has been a goal of mine for a long time. Also placed 3rd overall in Der Hoosier Braumeister, a two-part German beer competition for Indiana Brewers where both HB and commercial breweries compete against each other.

Thanks to a competition sponsor prize, I was able to upgrade my mash kettle to an electric 20g Blichmann Surface last fall. It is wonderful for direct fire mashing. I'm projecting 15-20 brews for 2024 and stepping back from competitions quite a bit. Mainly brewing new (to me) styles and brews just for gits & shiggles. And probably a lot of yellow fizzy beers...

Here's a pretty orange pivot table :)

View attachment 27661
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Wow & welcome :)
 
Trialben said:
Gday Brewers this year is drawing towards a close I thought hey how has your brewing year gone?

What's your favourite beer you brewed this year?

Brewed more or less?

New styles Equipment.

My year in beer was one of discovering ways to make HB GF beer also discovering how to malt the rice and buckwheat I used to make the stuff.

19 batches I've kicked out so far over 300lt of beer not one dumper near every drop of nectar down my gullet num nums!View attachment 27542
I DIY malted over 40kg of rice malt and over 5 kg easy of buckwheat.
Perfecting the maltings has been a challenge playing with different kilning temperatures too.

Exploration into different saccrification Enzymes has been interesting too


Equipment has stayed the same nothing new here.

Looking to knock out atleast another batch or two which will take me to par as per previous years on the Homebrewing front.

Cheers how's your year in beer been homebrew or not let me know.
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I brewed about 12 batches of all-grain beers in 2023. My favorite was a juicy, hazy NEIPA which is sadly all gone. It turned out to be the best tasting beer I have ever brewed. I used 14 ozs of hops for 5 gallons. I also did a scottish wee heavy which is still aging and getting better. Mostly ales and a few lagers and two batches of Hard Seltzer (please do not hold that against me, it was for my son who spends too much money on those at the store)
 
Brady Smith said:
I brewed 36 times in 2023 (15 ales and 21 lagers). I think five of the batches were test batches for Great Fermentations of Indiana-- where I work one weekend a month. I brewed a Black IPA for the first time (GF's "Devil May Cryo" recipe which is wonderful) and an English Barleywine, American Barleywine and Baltic Porter for the first time in about 10 years. The rest are beers in my normal rotation. I don't use BF's brewing session tool, but all the recipes below are public with 2023 dates in the title.

It was a successful competition year for me. I qualified three beers for NHC Finals (Helles, German Pils, American Amber). Sadly, none of them placed in the finals. I won 5 medals at Indiana Brewers Cup and won HB of the Year and Amateur Grand Champion. That has been a goal of mine for a long time. Also placed 3rd overall in Der Hoosier Braumeister, a two-part German beer competition for Indiana Brewers where both HB and commercial breweries compete against each other.

Thanks to a competition sponsor prize, I was able to upgrade my mash kettle to an electric 20g Blichmann Surface last fall. It is wonderful for direct fire mashing. I'm projecting 15-20 brews for 2024 and stepping back from competitions quite a bit. Mainly brewing new (to me) styles and brews just for gits & shiggles. And probably a lot of yellow fizzy beers...

Here's a pretty orange pivot table :)

View attachment 27661
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Welcome to the forum, pretty impressive volume of batches, not to mention variety of styles!
 
Ronno said:
I brewed about 12 batches of all-grain beers in 2023. My favorite was a juicy, hazy NEIPA which is sadly all gone. It turned out to be the best tasting beer I have ever brewed. I used 14 ozs of hops for 5 gallons. I also did a scottish wee heavy which is still aging and getting better. Mostly ales and a few lagers and two batches of Hard Seltzer (please do not hold that against me, it was for my son who spends too much money on those at the store)
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Welcome to the forum
What yeast did you use for the Wee Heavy?
 
Ronno said:
I brewed about 12 batches of all-grain beers in 2023. My favorite was a juicy, hazy NEIPA which is sadly all gone. It turned out to be the best tasting beer I have ever brewed. I used 14 ozs of hops for 5 gallons. I also did a scottish wee heavy which is still aging and getting better. Mostly ales and a few lagers and two batches of Hard Seltzer (please do not hold that against me, it was for my son who spends too much money on those at the store)
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Not brewed a seltzer so your 2 up on me in that department.
What hop combo you use in your NEIPA?
Sounds like one to be brewed again!
Thanks for chiming in.
 
Brady Smith said:
I brewed 36 times in 2023 (15 ales and 21 lagers). I think five of the batches were test batches for Great Fermentations of Indiana-- where I work one weekend a month. I brewed a Black IPA for the first time (GF's "Devil May Cryo" recipe which is wonderful) and an English Barleywine, American Barleywine and Baltic Porter for the first time in about 10 years. The rest are beers in my normal rotation. I don't use BF's brewing session tool, but all the recipes below are public with 2023 dates in the title.

It was a successful competition year for me. I qualified three beers for NHC Finals (Helles, German Pils, American Amber). Sadly, none of them placed in the finals. I won 5 medals at Indiana Brewers Cup and won HB of the Year and Amateur Grand Champion. That has been a goal of mine for a long time. Also placed 3rd overall in Der Hoosier Braumeister, a two-part German beer competition for Indiana Brewers where both HB and commercial breweries compete against each other.

Thanks to a competition sponsor prize, I was able to upgrade my mash kettle to an electric 20g Blichmann Surface last fall. It is wonderful for direct fire mashing. I'm projecting 15-20 brews for 2024 and stepping back from competitions quite a bit. Mainly brewing new (to me) styles and brews just for gits & shiggles. And probably a lot of yellow fizzy beers...

Here's a pretty orange pivot table :)

View attachment 27661
Click to expand...
Wow that's one busy year man!
Sounds like you brewed some quality beers too.

Will be hard to beat that next year!
 
I brewed 19 batches in 2023 a few less than previous year. One was a dumper due to not rinsing out sterilising solution for the first time in 40 years of brewing so 18 totalling 68 (English) gallons.

Cider 3
Stout 2
Bitter 2
Porter 1
Dubbel 1
Dark Mild 1
Brown Ale 1
Old Ale 1
Ruby Ale 1
Golden Ale 1
Amber Ale 1
Scottish Export 1
Wheat Beer 1
Lager 1

Of these I would have to say my first attempt at Suffolk Old Ale has been my favourite although I haven't yet tried my first attempt at Dubbel. Bonfire Toffee Stout was also a new style for me in 2023 - went half way with the oak chips which was still overdoing it as I should have known from my winemaking experience and taste. Will have to watch out for that repetition=insanity factor in 2024.

My main line of progress this year has been in priming. This is both with specific amounts as per style using the calculator and new types of sugar to prime with. Special thanks go to @Herm brews for introducing me to the idea of priming with honey which has been a major success. I also used Golden Syrup and Maple Syrup for the first time towards the end of the year after developing a little more confidence in this area.

2023 has to go down as a good beermaking and drinking year for me.

Areas for improvement: photography department.

Cheers!
 
CelticTwilight said:
I brewed 19 batches in 2023 a few less than previous year. One was a dumper due to not rinsing out sterilising solution for the first time in 40 years of brewing so 18 totalling 68 (English) gallons.

Cider 3
Stout 2
Bitter 2
Porter 1
Dubbel 1
Dark Mild 1
Brown Ale 1
Old Ale 1
Ruby Ale 1
Golden Ale 1
Amber Ale 1
Scottish Export 1
Wheat Beer 1
Lager 1

Of these I would have to say my first attempt at Suffolk Old Ale has been my favourite although I haven't yet tried my first attempt at Dubbel. Bonfire Toffee Stout was also a new style for me in 2023 - went half way with the oak chips which was still overdoing it as I should have known from my winemaking experience and taste. Will have to watch out for that repetition=insanity factor in 2024.

My main line of progress this year has been in priming. This is both with specific amounts as per style using the calculator and new types of sugar to prime with. Special thanks go to @Herm brews for introducing me to the idea of priming with honey which has been a major success. I also used Golden Syrup and Maple Syrup for the first time towards the end of the year after developing a little more confidence in this area.

2023 has to go down as a good beermaking and drinking year for me.

Areas for improvement: photography department.

Cheers!
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Thanks for the recognition, I am glad to have offered inspiration. Keep at it in the new year. Cheers!
 
Before the start of 2023, I made a mental note that I hoped to brew 18 batches. I came close, brewing 17 all grain batches totaling 44 gallons. Only March and June lacked brew days. There were also several batches of cider. This past year broadened my horizons, with several new styles, some process improvements and some new equipment. I made some new friends in the Eugene brewing community, and shared more of my homebrew than ever before. I look forward to brewing more in 2024, and because of leap year will have one more day to get it done!
 
Herm brews said:
Before the start of 2023, I made a mental note that I hoped to brew 18 batches. I came close, brewing 17 all grain batches totaling 44 gallons. Only March and June lacked brew days. There were also several batches of cider. This past year broadened my horizons, with several new styles, some process improvements and some new equipment. I made some new friends in the Eugene brewing community, and shared more of my homebrew than ever before. I look forward to brewing more in 2024, and because of leap year will have one more day to get it done!
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I snuck that English Porter in yesterday and it gave me 17 batches and 42.5gal for 2023. I’ll get you next year! :D
 
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