|
|
I think for 2022 I have been influenced a lot by what the previous couple years of the pandemic had taught me. It made me shift to more homebrewing and less going out to drink. In another thread, I posted my year-to-date totals and it's over 75 gallons (so far) in 2022. I previously didn't brew as much. Do we drink more now? Not really. It's that we don't go out to bars and breweries nearly as much as we did pre-Covid. Even though the pandemic has slowed to a simmer this past year, we still don't go out as much. My wife is retired and I'm semi-retired with a PT solo practice. So we're home a lot and have some free time. We do our own happy hour many afternoons and enjoy some homebrew, cider, snack a bit. We often make up a charcuterie board and have that with some brews in lieu of a traditional dinner.
There are a few nearby breweries we like to patronize, but we don't visit as often. In summer, we try to go to one maybe once a week. In winter, it's more like once a month. We do try some new places from time to time, but that's been hit and miss. A craft beer used to be about $5-$6 just a few years ago. I'm seeing it $8-$9 now. Their beer better impress the shiat out of me, at that price. And if we both want to drink, there's the expense of Uber/Lyft. Eating out is getting expensive, too, so we have dialed that back. The pandemic taught us to experiment with cooking at home more.
As for my brewing process, I'm trying to improve the workflow, make it less work to move from one step to the next. I've made up printable checklists to help me quickly gather and set up equipment and be better organized each brew day. I still have to lift kettles and load fermenters in and out of a ferm chamber. Some day I won't be able to do that. When that time comes I might have to consider eBIAB with pumps to do the work, or an all-in-one system, or just do small batches on the stove. Online communities like this always give me good ideas on how to look at things differently. |
|
Post time 2022-12-27 00:37:07