Friday, December 21, 2012

2012 In Review

Each year I like to do a little review of some of the data we keep about our brewing. This year, surprisingly, was pretty similar to previous years in the amount of beer we brewed, but our costs were higher overall as we bought the kegerator and all the parts that go along with that. This was the first year in which we have had to dump a beer. Because I didn’t clean the new kegs well enough, we had to dump a Schwarzbier and a Brown Ale. I counted those beer’s volumes, but not as separate batches of beer.

2012:
Beers Brewed: 19
Gallons: 94.25 gallons
Cost/bottle: $1.61
Cost/bottle (ingredients only): $0.62

Last year’s cost/bottle: $0.97 (ingredient only: $0.60)

Overall, not a bad price for good beer, when you consider that a decent 6-pack of beer is running about $9/six pack.

For 2013, I don’t think we have any specific brewing goals in mind. Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with our beers right now. I think that several of them could use a tiny bit of tweaking to take them from good to outstanding, but time’s not really on our side right now. Our friends and family enjoy our brews and that is what’s most important. Hopefully in the Spring we’ll be able to add a little variety to the lineup with something malty (like a Dubbel) and something refreshing for the Summer (like a Saison).

#teamDietrich

Last brew of 2012

It’s December, and the residency will be calm for the next week and a half, so I had some time to make a quick post and update everyone (if anyone is still reading after the hiatus) on what’s been going on at Rowdy Reptile. Over the past 3 months I have completed rotations in the Surgical/Trauma ICU, Emergency Department, and the Cardiac ICU; needless to say, I haven’t had any time to think about beer. The family has been so busy we haven’t brewed a beer in over 4 months! We knew not brewing for that long would eventually catch up to us, and it finally did last week. Previously, we had the Porter, BPA, and Gatorbait Pale Ale on tap and everything was fine. Then the Pale Ale kicked. A few days later the porter was empty, and 1 day after that the BPA kicked.

No beer on tap? At the Dietrich’s? Maybe the Mayans were right…..

Anyway, we’ve got a few bottles of the Saison left and plenty of the RIS and First Snow to last for a while. However, all 3 of those are big beers (7.3, 8.9, and 8.9% alcohol) and none of them are hoppy. And you always need at least 1 hoppy beer, right? Right. #America.

With family coming into town, and the relative “break” in the residency, we will have time to squeeze in a brew day on the 23rd. We are planning to make our Double Pale Ale (now for the 4th time) with the only modification being in one of the hops. Amarillo hops are now $3.80/oz (normally they are about $2), so I subbed those out for Falconer’s Flight. We’ll still keep the same timing on the hop schedule, and then dry hop with an ounce of Falconer’s Flight. Hopefully this one will be ready to drink by mid-February.

#teamDietrich