What did you learn in 2016...

[nflamedrash]

What is your biggest brewing takeaway from 2016 and what do you plan to do differently concerning next year's brewing?

In 2016 I was very focused on brewery equipment and supplies and neglected the brewing process. In 2017 I am going to focus on solid process and documentation, no new equipment for one year.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

well thats a hard one, I guess its the year I stopped changing things, I built three large brewing set ups all with control panels and tested all for several months at least and finally decided the one I'm going to keep, now I have a tun of parts left over lol

 

[jmcnamara]

Can't really say what my takeaway from this year is, but for 2017 I'd really like to focus on a handful of recipes and trying to improve and perfect those. Which goes hand in hand with getting better at taking notes (right now it's next to no notes, so anything should be an improvement)

As a sort of corollary, I'd like to do more small batches, to either accomplish the above goal or to try out a bigger variety of ingredients

 

[jeffpn]

For me, 2016 was a learning year. I hope to do brewing as usual. One thing I'd like to be able to do is to time my wife's keg better. She told me I could do a 6 tap keezer if she always had 1 tap of her request. I haven't done so well making sure her next one is ready when her last one is gone.

 

[MrBIP]

Water: It's not as scary or complicated as I thought it would be.

 

[Mark D Pirate]

I learned that friends are always willing to drink my beer but never help me clean bottles or brew it !

Equipment hasn't changed but processes have become more consistent and water chemistry has improved quality and efficiency

 

[jeffpn]

Water: It's not as scary or complicated as I thought it would be.

It's not until you add the barley, hops, and yeast that it gets tough!!

 

[GFHomebrew]

2016 has been a real challenge in and without brewing looking forward to brewing some new styles next year and of course increasing my knowledge of all things brewing.