Lisa Morrison

New Beers Resolutions from The Hop Press

‘Tis the season for New Year’s Resolutions!

Oh, sure, I have my fair share of personal resolutions – such as volunteering more for my favorite causes, working out every day, eating more fiber. But drinking less great beer certainly is not one of them!

And I do have some resolutions for our wonderful craft beer culture. In 2010, I will strive to:

1. Finish the two beer books I am writing. And this time I mean it.
2. Attend more homebrew club meetings. I learn sooo much there.
3. Start on the Cicerone Program and, at the very least, get certified as a Beer Server.
4. Read beer blogs more consistently.
5. Blog more often.
6. Reach out to more women to help them find their own course of beer discovery.
7. Work with the Pink Boots Society to attract more women into the brewing industry.
8. Continue to beat that drum with the message that that beer is as sophisticated a beverage as wine and is just as worthy of being served with respect at the finest restaurants. But can still hang with you on a random Saturday with friends, too.
9. Work with groups across the country, hopefully through the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation, which currently sends Northwest brewers to different brewing courses, to help bring more brewing scholarships to craft brewers so we can all improve the art and science of brewing.
10. Throw an even better FredFest this year. The annual birthday celebration for esteemed octogenarian beer writer Fred Eckhardt is a fundraiser each year for a charity of Fred’s choice. Between the festival for 250 Fred fans, a silent auction and an online auction of rare and vintage beers, my goal is to up our effort to raise at least $17,000 this year.
11. Clean out at least one professional brewer’s mash tun so I can remember how physical the job is.
12. Give my backyard hops a bit more TLC this year and donate them to a local brewer for a fresh hop beer.
13. Offer to be the Designated Driver more often.
14. Continue to remember that beer is fun!

And now, here are Brew Year’s Resolutions from some of my fellow Hop Press peeps:

Joseph McPhee
For me, it’s visiting more breweries. I’ve got a few trips planned this year to places that I’ve never been before.

At the end of January, I’m going to get to scratch two places off of my bucket list… one is the Falling Rock in Denver, CO where I’ll be meeting up with a few ex-pat New Yorkers, apoptosis and notalush to catch up and have a few drinks.

Number two (which is really number one because it’s currently my favourite American brewer) is Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa, CA. I fell in love with their stuff when I first moved to New York and they were still shipping to our state. This will be a great chance to actually see what the place looks like where they’re making some of the finest beer in the United States.

At the end of May, I’ll be in San Diego for a week and I absolutely love visiting that part of the country. The beer scene there is incredible and I’m hopefully going to be able to get myself out to Alesmith and to Lost Abbey to see where the magic happens there.

On the beer front (or actually drinks front) I’m planning to try to do a lot more cider sampling. I’ve started getting into cider in the last six months or so and I’m slowly realizing that there is a lot of stuff out there that isn’t very well known, so I’d like to do something to remedy that situation. That will probably involve a lot more mail order or trading for it, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

Michael Agnew
2010 bucket list – That’s too much like making a new year’s resolution. I tend to stay away from such things.
Breweries – Embrace session beers. Enough with the uber-hopped-bourbon-barrel-doubletripleimperial beers.
Beer Fans – Ditto the above.

Ken Weaver
I resolve to study hard for my BJCP exam, to do more blind tastings, to spread the love of craft beer to as many as possible, and to finally get my AlcoHawk breathalyzer recalibrated.
Brian Cendowski – Untamed Beer
I do have a few beery things I want to do in 2010. Here’s my list:
• Attend the GABF for the first time (and get comped tickets)
• Win a homebrew competition award
• Interview Charlie Papazian
• Visit the Dogfish Head brewpub in Reheboth Beach
• Get legislation passed in South Carolina to allow breweries to sell/give away samples and sell their beer in their own facilities
• Have one random person I’ve never met come up to me and tell me they’ve seen me on Hop Press/Untamed Beer.
That’s about all I have for now. It’s an ambitious list, but I have to keep the dream alive!

Mario Rubio
My first resolution is to visit the Bear Republic brewpub more often. It’s so close and I never seem to go there.

I also want to continue down my path towards being as responsible a drinker as possible. It’s a slippery slope we work on. Access to free, potent, delicious beer. The path to enlightenment is through moderation.

My bucket list? Wow, that’s a tough one. I guess this also falls under resolutions, but I’ve decided to stop chasing beer as much and let life take me where it will. As I mentioned before, we’re offered opportunities to try the best beer in the world all the time. With the constant barrage of new reserve releases, barrel aged one time offerings, collaborations, etc it’s easy to drink one a day and still miss a few. So I’m skipping the headache and letting Jesus take the wheel.

Ashley Routson

THE BEER WENCH’S PERSONAL NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS:

1. Develop an editorial calendar and increase frequency of posts. Write on a consistent and regular basis.

2. Reduce amount of fried and fatty foods in my diet. Attempt to eat vegetarian at least one day a week (meat-free). Really really try to have at least one completely alcohol-free day a week.

3. Call my parents once a week and talk to them for more than a minute.

4. Spend more time outside. Walk and bike more often, drive less.

5. Start exercising again. Rediscover my love for physical activity.

THE BEER WENCH’S RESOLUTIONS FOR THE BEER INDUSTRY:

1. As an industry, we need to convert more corporate beer drinkers to craft beer drinkers.
2. As an industry, we need to increase market share in the entire beverage industry.
3. As an industry, we need to uncover more sources for funding and help open new craft breweries and brewpubs.
4. As an industry, we need to show the world that beer is a sophisticated beverage worthy of being in high-end restaurants and being paired with the most gourmet of cuisine.
5. As an industry, we need to continue collaborating and supporting each other

So, what are your beery New Year’s Resolutions? Share them here!

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