Author: Marshall Schott
I’ve been told I’m a tad sentimental. I don’t necessarily disagree or think that’s such a bad thing. So what if Mufasa’s death at the hand of his dickhead brother made my eyes well? What’s so wrong with the fact 
that the closing scene in Lucas, where all the jocks slow-clap the return of Corey Haim’s character from the hospital, creates a knot in my throat the size of a cantaloupe? Besides being a cinematic wuss, I also enjoy taking a step back to look at where things have been and where they may be heading, which is the purpose of this post.
| REFLECTIONS |
I started Brulosophy earlier this year with a main goal of creating a place to share and discuss the results of the homebrew experiments I often perform, in addition to talking about the simplification of process and reviewing what I think are cool products. I wasn’t interested in writing about my regular brew days, there were plenty of fantastic blogs out there that already did that; rather, my interest was in providing content that provoked conversation, made people go “huh.” I thought maybe a few folks would enjoy my articles, perhaps some would hate them, but I never expected this silly idea of mine to become such a source of fun for me. While certainly still small and relatively unknown, I regularly receive emails from brewers thanking me for the contributions I’m making to the hobby, messages encouraging me to keep doing what I’m doing, I’ve even been contacted by some of my homebrewing idols! All because of my annoying tendency to question convention? It’s been an interesting adventure so far, one that I look forward to continuing.
I feel like the last year has been one of settling into a spot where I feel comfortable, testing things out, tossing some to the curb, and adapting others to fit. A few months back I started doing video tastings of homebrew sent to me by readers and soon realized it just wasn’t for me, I felt like a pretentious dork sitting in front of a camera talking about another person’s beer from my subjective perspective. Other people are way better at that than I am, so I dropped it. Likewise, data collection for my xBmts originally consisted of asking people to critique 2 beers that had a single variable manipulated, which was way more difficult than I expected! I eventually decided to adapt my method for collecting data by utilizing an online survey tool and a triangle test, both of which have given the results more power and made analysis much easier.
Another weird thing that occurred this last year was the monetization of Brülosophy. This was something I was very apprehensive about, not only because I didn’t want to send readers the wrong message, but because I wasn’t even sure it’d be worth my trouble. The amount of support I’ve received has surprised the hell out of me. Your contributions have helped immensely, allowing me to perform many more exBEERiments than I ever would have been able to otherwise. I often get asked how I’m capable of providing content so often, and the simple truth is because of all you rad people who continue using my affiliate links and visiting the site on a regular basis. Believe me, I still feel very awkward about generating even a small amount of income off of my website, even if it does all get reinvested. This has been an incredibly humbling experience. I know I don’t say it enough, perhaps it goes without saying, but thank you so much!
| RESOLUTIONS |
I’ve never been one to make resolutions, for me they’re sort of like rules– much less likely to be broken when left unspoken. However, I do have some ideas planned for the coming year.
First and foremost, exBEERiments! I have a loose goal to post results at least twice per month, meaning to keep up I’ll be brewing a minimum of 2 exBEERiment batches per month. I’ve already begun organizing a brew calendar, that ought to help keep me on track, and while I certainly plan to test many new things, I’m also excited to start retesting others in order to increase the data pool.
Over the last few months, I’ve heard from quite a few homebrewers who share a philosophy similar to mine, particularly a skeptical perspective of and desire to test convention. A few of these folks have expressed interest in contributing to Brulosophy in one way or another, potentially even writing articles for the site. This is something I hadn’t considered until recently. After giving it some thought, I’ve decided this could be a really cool way to share even more rad ideas and exBEERiment results. I will maintain editorial sway, of course, and promise not to publish anything I think is shit. The purpose in doing this is to continue providing quality content that homebrewers find helpful and interesting. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work and we’ll put the kibosh on it.
It’s been pointed out to me by more than a couple buddies that, since much of my energy goes toward brewing for exBEERiments of late, my focus on brewing super high quality beer has dwindled a bit. They’re right. When I design an exBEERiment recipe, I try to keep it relatively simple so that any potential differences might be more easily noticed. While the beers I make are definitely drinkable and, dare I say, even quite good at times, my days of diving into a particular style and trying to hone in on an award winning recipe are all but over. Not anymore! For 2015, I plan to work on recipes for a few of my favorite styles and maybe even submit them into a few competitions, something I’ve only done haphazardly in the past.
While on the subject of competitions, I am scheduled to take the BJCP tasting exam later this month, I passed the online portion a couple months back. I’ve not discussed this much because, frankly, I still maintain some reservations about it. It’s not that I’ve got anything against competitions or judges, per se, it’s just never been something I’ve had much interest in, for myriad reasons including my conviction that sensory experience is totally subjective, the time commitment, and my own insecurities– do I really think I have the ability to accurately judge someone else’s beer, a beer they worked hard to create and probably think is awesome? It took a few months, but I’ve finally been convinced there is some value in becoming a judge, especially since there aren’t many in the area I live. I’m doing this thing, and who knows, maybe a whole new world will be opened up to me. Or I’ll bomb the tasting exam, left only to wallow in heaps of self-pity and mediocre homebrew.
I have been considering bringing back homebrew tasting videos, though I’m still trying to figure out how to do it without coming across as a douchy know-it-all and making it interesting enough to want to watch. I mean no offense at all to the dudes out there who really enjoy making/watching standard “here’s-this-beer-watch-me-taste-and-talk-about-it” videos, but they’re not for me. At the very most, I think I’d only post one video every 6-8 weeks, and there’d have to be some compelling reason for it. I’m not quite sure what this might be, if you have any ideas, please don’t hold back!
A number of people have asked if I ever plan to sell Brulosophy merchandise, stuff like t-shirts and caps. As much as I like the idea of people wearing their support, I’m not terribly sure how I’d even approach something like this. If this interests you or if you know more about this type of thing than me (I know nothing), please let me know. I’ve no set-in-stone plans at this point, but I’m definitely open to exploring the option if people are interested.
Finally, I will be attending my first National Homebrewer’s Conference this year and I couldn’t be more excited! I’ve not attended in the past for numerous reasons (grad school, too expensive, babies, etc), but this year I am committed, a hotel room is already booked. What only a few people know is that I submitted a couple proposals to speak at NHC this year. I’ve heard back that one was not accepted, though as of the writing of this article, I’ve yet to hear from the Board about the second proposal I submitted, titled A Skeptic’s Guide to Homebrewing. While I’ve never been one for public speaking, I’m excited about the opportunity to potentially blowhard about this stuff I spend so much time doing and thinking about. Regardless of whether my proposal is accepted or not, I’ll still be at the conference enjoying the company of other badass homebrewers. I hope to see you there!
All in all, 2014 has been a fantastic year filled with experiences I never imagined, small as they may seem to some. I’ve learned so much since starting Brulosophy and look forward to all the interesting things to come. I sincerely hope you all have the happiest of New Years celebrations and would like to extend a very hearty cheers to everyone!
If ever you’re around my neck of the woods, hit me up, I’m always happy to meet up with cool people and share some of the beer I make. As always, never hesitate to shoot me exBEERiment suggestions, questions, or comments, I always try to respond promptly.
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20 thoughts on “2014 Reflections & Resolutions”
Howdy Bru,
Your work rocks. We’ve had a few positive back-and-forths on Reddit in the past. Your posts often end up inspiring me to brew (I’m about to try out your Munich Helles recipe as my first ever inaugural 18-day lager when the grains get here) and I will often read your new posts whenever they come out, given priority over others. I would love the chance to contribute my tiny-quarters all-grain brewery, and willingness to take down the urban legends of Homebrewing to your cause.
I’m always open to contributions, buddy, email me anytime!
Once again, thank you for all you have done for the homebrewing community. I stumbled across your website while looking for a simpler way to harvest yeast. At that time I was only 3 months in to homebrewing, now I regularly visit your site and read all of your posts! I’ve completely modeled my brewing processes emulating your methods with expected amazing results! One day soon I plan I visit and share a beer with the Brulosopher!! Sorry to sound like a fanboy but I greatly appreciate all the work you put in to this great craft. Thank you and may you and your family have a great 2015!
Thanks, man, that’s very kind of you to say. I trust the Helles won’t disappoint!
Cafe press makes it really easy to sell T Shirts and caps as such. You may want to look into that.
I’ve always heard you shouldn’t cool the wort by putting anything in it (usually ice). So for the longest time, I used the standard “ice water bath.” After talking to a high school chem teacher and a chemical engineer, and with the knowledge I might be inoculating my wort with God knows how may bugs, I cooled one wort by placing “food grade” (supposedly) dry ice into the wort.
A. It cooled quickly, almost too quickly, and I had to fish the dry ice out when the temps started plunging below 60 degrees F B. Turned out no noticeable infection. and C. I could taste a difference from my control (water bath) batch.
Mostly it was fun and thought I’d share.
Happy New Year.
Larry
Larry,
This dry ice thing interests me.
My calcs show that you need a block of dry ice 10″ x 10″ x 4″ (about 25 lbs) to cool about 5 gals of wort from 210F to 65F.
What were your numbers?
How much is dry ice per lb?
Marshall, you are going to be a terrific beer judge. You have all the necessary qualities. You are intelligent, informed, inquisitive yet you are still modest. You are open to suggestion and are able to consider other points of view. You have a lot of experience brewing and tasting beer. You are very adept at expressing yourself in writing, what more could an entrant ask for? You have all the makings to be an awesome beer judge! Cheers,Tom
Thanks, Tom 🙂
Came to you first after I posted in a forum about excess trub in the fermenter. I was imeadiatly directed to your trubby v non-trubby page. Your ability to present clear results massively helps inexperienced brewers like me to calm down and have a homebrew! Thanks and happy new year dude.
As someone whose literal job is to help bloggers earn money from their WordPress sites: don’t feel a single ounce of regret. You work hard and make excellent articles, there’s nothing at all wrong with reaping the fruit of your hard work.
Nice, my San Diego will be my first NHC as well! We should try to organize a meetup with the other redditors (et al) while we’re there.
Thanks, Derek, I’ve definitely learned to feel less weird about it.
Absolutely, let’s organize a meet-up!!
I’m glad I found your blog. Your exBEERimints are always great to read and help me, the newcomer, void some myths and dark areas of brewing such as using secondary fermentation or not, for example. I wish you a great 2015 and look forward to reading more of your blogs.
I have only been reading your blog the past few weeks, but I find it fun, educational, and rewarding. I have only been brewing a few years ( about 16 brews a year till freeze up ). I recently started late hop additions which resulted in plugging my Blichmann hop blocker. So, I tried adjusting the timing of the hop additions, making a hop spider and using bags. Well, long story short, after reading your trub exBeerimint, my first brew this spring will be without spiders, blockers and bags and a return to my original late hop addition schedule. And, I am not going to rack to a secondary…just dry hop the primary! Thank you, and I look forward to more great reading on your blog. Cheers to the new year.
I’ll take a look at Cafe Press, thanks. That experiment is awesome!!!
I agree with the others. I only discovered your site last week, but it’s a must-read. I’ve enjoyed taking a deep dive on past content. Looking forward to the year ahead!
Happy New Year and keep up the good work! My favorite beer site by a mile right now, I’m glad you enjoy it as well.
A suggestion on beer videos (although, full disclosure, I prefer text to video, but you want ideas, not opinions lol): take submitted homebrew and walk through the tasting process and how you would/are scoring them on a BJCP score sheet, thinking out loud as you score each category.
For the homebrewers (who sent in the beer, and others), it could be a very interesting insight into how one qualified judge might interpret different beer characteristics at a completion, and also maybe help you avoid the subjective elements (which I agree with; my conclusion after a lot of exploring at the grocery store beer section and brew pub touring is that there are really only perfect beers for perfect moments).
Anyway, cheers!
Definitely some good ideas, thanks!
Cheers to a happy new year Brulosopher! I’m impressed you kept up your blogging pace through the holidays, I’ve fallen off the wagon for the last few weeks with all the social gatherings and errands. Time to catch up and get posting again!
Another Redditor here who came to your site from /r/Homebrewing, and then promptly read most of your posts. I had successfully brewed several batches from extract many years ago, but then got married, had kids, and with all that entails, the equipment got dusty in the garage. So the wife convinced me, reluctantly, to sell it all. Fast forward 10 years, and she’d been looking over my shoulder whilst reading your stuff, among others. So Santa this year brought me an all new beginners kit and a $100 gift cert for my LHBS. It’s because of you that I decided to go straight into AG instead of starting back again with extract. So thank you for all your work, and please keep it up, you are having a growing positive impact in the HB world.
Cheers, and Happy New Year!
That’s such an awesome story, Christian, welcome back! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know, I’m always happy to help out (brulosopher@gmail.com). Cheers!