A NIGHT WITH THE HOPS

As fond as I am of reading beer related lists from other places I should really create a few of my own now and again. The one for today is not going to be a collection of my top beers or anything like that, but rather a rundown of some beery things that I need to get moving on in the near future. Considering that last year at this time I was still basking in the glory of leaving office life and likely trying to decide what video game to play, getting an action list into writing is a must for me to be productive with my time.

Now in no particular order I will go with a few items to start off year . . .

1. Build some sort of storage rack for larger bottles of beer (22s and 750s) and possibly even some 12oz ones as well. After building more of a utility style rack for work (job number 1) I have the basis for designing something smaller and more furniture-like for the house. Since I will be moving all bottles from the bathtub soon anyway it would be nice not to put them back there. With a go ahead already given by The Wife I hope to get started soon.


Now to shrink this version

2. Brew a Maple Porter that has been requested via a combination of input from some family and friends that will be visiting in the coming months. Since I pretty much always brew in pairs I need to get working on that recipe and one other as well.
3. Work on this site and lots of it. I have tons of maintenance to do here that should begin with updating my beer review pages and also my cellar page. Beyond that I have lists of things from previous posts that I have thought of doing here (such as describing all of the beer styles) that I need to work on plans of attack for.
4. Read, read, study, and read some more. I have so many beer books that I really want to get to reading. Also, though the practical application of my beer knowledge has grown considerably in the last few months I need to get back to working on my base of knowledge as I did before. Fortunately reading will take care of both.
5. Enter a beer competition somewhere here in Florida. This may be something that will be part of the plan for that second beer recipe that I have yet to decide on from number 2. I have no delusions of doing well in the competition but it would be nice to get that kind of formal feedback to help in going forward.
6. Reviewing beers. For much of last year I had the luxury of having a significant backlog of beer reviews to pull from and did not really have to evaluate beers unless I felt like doing so. Now the backlog is gone and I must get working on building it up at least a little bit. Since I plan on adjusting my methods as well, I have to get started sooner than later.

Time to get organized

That is where I will start with a beer to do list for the beginning of this year. I am sure I have forgotten a few things and I know that I have at least that many more things to take care of with my professional life (job number 2) that are much less interesting to me (and likely for you). Why all renewals and such have to be at the beginning of the year I do not know as I would much rather have them spread out just a bit. Fortunately for me, at this point in my life I would much rather be too busy than not busy enough.

Onward to tackle list items. Stay tuned . . .