A Year of Beer

Good morning. Learn to Homebrew Day is returning once again for it’s 25th year as an officially unofficial holiday put on by the AHA. Brew up a beer this Saturday and invite over that neighbor that likes drinking your beer but has never put in the sweat equity required to really appreciate it.

-Brandon Copeland

A Year of Beer

This article marks the 52nd continuous week of the Brew Great Beer newsletter, meaning every single Sunday for the last year, there has been an article hitting inboxes at 6:30 AM EST covering a homebrewing related topic. Hopefully these newsletters have been instructive, motivational, or entertaining - at least that is the goal. Just a little external motivation to keep brewing, giving some ideas for your next recipe, and to know there are many others that share the same passion.

Doing anything on a weekly basis for an entire year is a massive journey, and one that I would highly recommend to embark on. The most famous example in the homebrewing space of this sort of dedication comes from The Homebrew Challenge, which was actually closer to 2 years. Martin Keen took on the challenge of brewing 99 different beer styles over 99 weeks from 2019 to 2021. If you haven’t watched his videos, give them a watch - they will almost certainly inspire you to brew some beer.

Beyond the the newsletter, I try to create focused goals based on consistency for all areas of my life. For instance, for 2025 one of my goals is to brew 12 beers in 12 months. I also have goals to take a Spanish lesson at least once a week, practice piano at least twice a week, take a yoga class once a month, run twice a week and visit the gym 3 times a week.

Whether it’s brewing focused or just goals for life in general, consistency is key. Don’t bite off too much up front - the most important part is getting started, and as long as you continue coming back, you’re guaranteed to improve due to the “compounding interest” of your skills. I can say with absolute certainty that I am a much better brewer now than I was 10 years ago, and I’m sure 10 years from now I’ll be much better than I am today.

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Beer Trivia Question

🍺 Why was the Guinness Book of World Records started?

Read to the end to find out if you're right!

Brewgr Recipe of the Week

Hoppiness Cold IPA

I’ve always wanted to delve into the Cold IPA category - these beers are made by fermenting an IPA with lager yeast, but generally at higher temperatures than a traditional lager. This is a solid pilsner malt based beer with only Citra hops, which honestly sounds refreshing and crisp as a Cold IPA. Might clone this one for later.

Credit: Brewcolage

Poll Results: Have You Ever Brewed a Drain Beer?

Thank you to everyone who wrote in and shared their brewing horror stories - for most brewers, at one point or another, a batch has gone sour (not intentionally) and it’s been too bad to drink. Some of the reasons quoted for this are: old ingredients, oxygen introduced into the fermenter, scorched material on heating elements, temperature control issues, and my favorite - drank too much while brewing and the finished product suffered.

These are few and far between - one brewer mentioned it’s only happened twice in 40 years, and another mentioned twice in 12 years. At this point for me, it’s only happened once (knock on wood) but there is nothing more disappointing than the feeling of trying your beer and realizing it’s unpalatable.

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And the Answer Is...

🍺 The managing director of Guinness Brewery, Sir Hugh Beaver, noticed that Guinness beer sales were down in the early 1950’s and was brainstorming ways to strengthen the brand. He decided to create a book to settle arguments among bar patrons about outlandish trivia questions, intended to be given away for free in pubs to promote the brand. Within four months, the original book that featured 4,000 entries became a best seller in England and was followed by many subsequent editions in other countries.