Holy crap, where did 2009 go? It feels like the year just began, and now it has come full circle.

Last January we made some brewing resolutions. I resolved to brew new styles, which we definitely accomplished: Dry Irish Stout, dry-hopped Dubbel, Kölsch, hybrid Pale Ale (the Bee Sting!), hybrid Belgian Hefe, Barleywine, IPA, Tripel and Oatmeal Stout. The only overlaps from 2008 would be the tripel (or Ginpel), which uses our original Tripel recipe, but adds classic gin aromatics.

We also kept to a fairly regular brew schedule, and essentially kicked fruit extract to the curb—simply because we didn’t brew with fruit this year, unless you count dried cranberries and raisins. Ray kept to his resolution of being adventurous—his recipe for Hefe the ORC was bold and playful, which came out in the beer’s flavor, aroma, and of course, its name.

In 2009 we went back to the Brandywine Craft Brewers’ Festival, glad to be back after missing it in 2008. We also attended the Philly Beer Fest at the Navy Yard, which was mammoth but good, and a Winterfest at Stoudts in late February. Hopefully in 2010 we’ll make it back to Savor, and possibly GABF for the first time.

Maybe most important, we got married in 2009. In a brewery. Stoudts Brewery to be exact. It’s pretty hard to top that, and we were told by a number of our guests that it was one of the best weddings they had been to. We loved the fact that we had over 11 beers on tap to choose from, including Smooth Hoperator, Stoudts’ Winter Ale (this year it was a hoppy red), Gold (a Munich-style Helles), Pils, Double IPA, Scarlet Lady (an ESB), a robust porter, Stoudt’s Pale Ale, Peppercorn Pumpkin Ale (aka Peppercornhole), Oktoberfest, and for our wedding toast: Old Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout (for me) and Stoudts’ Tripel (for Ray). Then we honeymooned in Denver, one of the other great beer cities in the US.

Also in November, I was selected to be the Philadelphia Homebrewing Examiner for Examiner.com. It’s an exciting experience that’s providing me with the tools and initiative to dig deeper into our local homebrewing community. Next stop: writing for the BA’s publications—someday, hopefully.

2009 has been great, but I’ve got a feeling that 2010 has a lot of great things pushed up its sleeves. Until then, Happy New Year!

Homebrewing, Miscellany 2 Comments »