A Look Back at my 2008 New Beer’s Resolutions

Exactly one year ago I made some Beer-in-the-New-Year resolutions for 2008 (part 1 & part 2). So, how did I do? Let’s just say that I should be ashamed…

Part One was a list of five beers I was hoping to try in 2008. Here’s how I did:

1. St. Bernardus Abt 12 – fail
2. Stone Brewing Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale – success
3. Samuel Adams Utopias – fail (but it was a far-fetched plan anyway)
4. Stone Brewing Double Bastard Ale – fail
5. Alaskan Brewing Co.’s Alaskan Smoked Porter – success (well, it’s on the menu for New Year’s Eve, so as long as I get to it before midnight, this one will be a success)

Two out of five isn’t terrible, especially since Alaskan Brewing’s beers aren’t available in Maine and Stone’s beers weren’t available here either until very recently. I’m 100% sure that I will get to both the Abt 12 and the Double Bastard ale in 2009!

Part Two of my New Year’s Resolution dealt with homebrewing. In fact, I claimed this year would be “the year of the homebrew” for me, and said the following:

Although they were three very fun brews, three simply isn’t enough. I would like to get on a regular brew schedule, as well as expending my horizons (certainly with two-stage fermentation, as well as expending into some new styles I haven’t made yet); I know my dad and I will be starting the year off with the Witbier kit from Northern Brewer and we’ll see where we go from there. Maybe ‘08 will end with some sort of bang, like a kegerator or something; check back in a year.

So, how’d I do? Well, that Witbier kit was, in fact, the only beer I brewed this year. I know, that’s just downright deplorable! But I’m about to purchase the Bourban Barrel Porter extract kit from NorthernBrewer.com and have plans to brew a few other batches with friends during the month of January, so I’m hopeful that 2009 will turn out much better than ’08 did, and I’ll only have to push my resolution back a year.

Here’s to a more successful ’09!