Author: Marshall Schott

What a hell of a year this has been! I can’t believe it’s already over, seems not long ago at all I sat down at my computer to peck out a few ideas about where I hoped this all would go, and here we are a full year later. Today, I’ll go over the goals I set back then, discuss some new stuff coming in 2016, and finish off with a short list of the most popular Brülosophy articles of 2015.

Whereas I felt 2014 was a year of settling in, 2015 was much more about running with ideas I’d come up with, some bad and others pretty good. To say I’m suprised with where Brülosophy has come over the last year would be a massive understatement, as it seems a completely different beast today than it was just 12 short months ago. I still don’t fully understand the reason for this, but I certainly appreciate the encouragement and support I’ve received from readers and sponsors. Thank you!!

| 2015 RESOLUTION UPDATES |

Resolution #1: Publish 2 xBmts per month

Not just 2 per month, but for most of the latter half of 2015, an xBmt article has been published weekly, thanks largely to…

Resolution #2: Get others involved

In late February, Greg Foster published his first xBmt article followed shortly thereafter by contributions from Ray Found and Malcolm Frazer. I mentioned last year that if adding contributors didn’t work, I’d put the kibosh on it immediately. It worked, alright, really fucking well. I have such a huge amount of respect and admiration for these dudes who have invested so much time, energy, and money into something purely to add to what we all know about this hobby we love so much. The fact they’ve stuck around and continue to contribute despite my anal retentiveness says so much to me about how badass Greg, Ray, and Malcolm truly are.

Resolution #3: Focus more on making high quality beers instead of just xBmts

I have been working on my Vienna recipe and I did enter a couple competitions, though I have to call a spade a spade and own that I hugely failed to meet this resolution. But I don’t feel bad about it, my friends are still my friends, and I’ve accepted that homebrewing isn’t necessarily my hobby as much as homebrew experimentation is. You win some, you lose some.

Resolution #4: Become a BJCP judge

I am currently a Recognized BJCP judge with only 1 more point to go to up my rank to Certified. Resolution accomplished. Don’t get me wrong, my perspectives on the subjectivity of beer evaluation and the veracity of judging hasn’t changed at all, but I have grown to see its value, even if only for community building and entertainment.

Resolution #5: Bring back homebrew tasting videos

Failed. I realized soon after publishing last year’s resolutions that I wasn’t going to do this, I simply have no interest and have a hard time seeing how it fits in with the general theme of the site. A video here and there may occur, but they won’t be of me drinking and talking about someone else’s beer.

Resolution #6: Brülosophy merchandise

This was one of the resolutions I was most conflicted about, partially because I was afraid how the tiny section of folks who believe profiting off of a hobby is evil would respond, but mostly because I wasn’t sure how my ego would handle nobody wanting Brülosophy shit. Never one to shy away from risk, I discovered Teespring and ran my first campaign a few weeks into the new year. I was taken aback by the incredible response. I’ve since run a few more campaigns with different designs and plan to continue doing so. Thanks so much to all who have chosen this as a way to support what we’re doing!

So 4 out of 6, that’s 67%, a solid C, which ain’t too shabby. Rather than inventing more resolutions for 2016, I thought I’d share some general thoughts on the direction we’re heading and some other stuff that will be happening in the coming year.

| Looking Forward |

One of my favorite thinkers once commented that frustration is the fertilizer of growth, an idea I find myself meditating on often since I changed hosting servers. While this is largely unnoticeable to readers, the change has certainly brought with it a few challenges, some of which I continue to struggle with. But I’m learning new things, and that I can appreciate. Be on the lookout for some changes to the look and feel of Brülosophy, we’re currently redesigning everything from the ground up in an attempt to make navigating the ever growing trove of data as simple as possible!

Back in November, we published a fascinating xBmt article on grain crush size by Matt Waldron, he’s currently working on his second xBmt. While my obsession with presenting the most valid, albeit shitty to some, homebrew science is to blame for my rather arduous vetting process, I’ve little doubt Matt will make a great addition to the Brülosophy crew. A homebrewer of nearly 3 years with many ribbons under his belt, Matt brews on a kickass electric Brew In A Bag (eBIAB) system, which will certainly influence the variables he tests.

Not only will I be attending the National Homebrewers Conference in Baltimore, MD this year, but I’ll also be presenting… twice. Both my individual proposal, Modern Perspectives On Traditional Methods: Applying New Knowledge To An Ancient Craft, as well as a group proposal for a Homebrew Bloggers Roundtable with Derek Springer of Five Blades Brewing, Ed Coffey of Ales Of The Riverwards, and Matt Humbard of Ph.D. In Beer were approved. Should be interesting!

If you listen to popular homebrewing podcasts, you may occasionally be lulled by the voice of yours truly as well as those of the other contributors. Besides more appearances on Basic Brewing Radio, I’ve been invited to be a guest on The Brewing Network’s The Session (2/1/16 tentatively) and I’ve agreed to shoot the shit with fellow homebrew experimenters Denny and Drew on their new podcast, Experimental Homebrewing.

Finally, on the issue of merchandise. As great as Teespring has been, the temporary nature of running a campaign has made it so that many folks interested in a shirt are unable to get one when they want one. I’m currently looking into various solutions to this problem that don’t involve me packaging and shipping, if anyone has any ideas, I’m all ears! Many people have been asking about other Brülosophy items such as glasses, growlers, caps, stickers, etc., all of which would be really cool, but require quite a bit of an investment in time and money, neither of which I have in high supply. That said, I am diligently working on it. Without saying too much, I’ll soon be releasing a product I believe has the ability to significantly improve the lives of some brewers… more details coming soon!

| TOP VIEWS OF 2015 |

Most Popular xBmt articles

By a rather hefty margin, the most popularly viewed xBmt article of 2015 was The Gelatin Effect, which demonstrated no reliably distinguishable difference between a dry hopped beer fined with gelatin from one receiving no gelatin, despite the incredible difference in clarity. This article garnered over 40% more views than the next most popular xBmt article.

1. The Gelatin Effect
2. The Great Trub exBEERiment – Pt. 1
3. Whole Cone vs. Pellet Hops –  Pt. 1: Dry Hop

Most Popular Pages

It comes as no surprise the xBmts page was by far the most often viewed on Brülosophy, which was recently updated with searching and sorting functions that ought to make it much easier to go through.

1. xBmts
2. Lager Method
3. Yeast Harvesting

Most Popular Product Reviews

When I agreed to test out and review the Vent-Matic faucets, I was completely unaware of 2 things, first, that they were going to be so awesome, but also how huge the response would be. In the 3 months since publishing that review, it has received more views than any other product review article and I’ve heard from a ton of people who are now happy Vent-Matic faucet users!

1. Vent-Matic Ultra Flo Faucets
2. Sterile Siphon Starter
3. Ss Brewtech Kettle

Most Popular “Other” Articles

While Mondays are reserved for xBmts, we regularly publish other types of content on Thursdays in between The Hop Chronicles, Brü’s Views, and Product Reviews. Here’s a few of the most popular of these articles.

1. 18 Ideas to Help Simplify Your Brew Day
2. 7 Considerations for Making Better Homebrew
3. A Slightly Less Simple Keezer Build

Most Popular Recipe Page

Brülosophy has never been a recipe focused website, but I have shared a few of my favorites, most of which have a unique twist of some sort. Topping the list of recipe pages that received the most views, and likely brews, in 2015 is my Munich Helles fermented with WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch yeast, which is currently available in an awesome kit from Love2Brew!

1. Munich Helles
2. A Lil’ Slack IPA
3. Tiny Bottom Pale Ale

2015 has been an awesome year, indeed, bringing with it all sorts of fun opportunities and experiences I truly never expected. Cheers to all the rad readers and sponsors who continue to support my silly ideas, I look forward to all 2016 will bring and wish everyone a…

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| Read More |

18 Ideas to Help Simplify Your Brew Day
 7 Considerations for Making Better Homebrew
 List of completed exBEERiments 
 How-to: Harvest yeast from starters
How-to: Make a lager in less than a month 

| Good Deals |

Brand New 5 gallon ball lock kegs discounted to $75 at Adventures in Homebrewing
 ThermoWorks Super-Fast Pocket Thermometer On Sale for $19 – $10 discount
 Sale and Clearance Items at MoreBeer.com

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