This is where I welcomed 2013. With three dear friends and a roll in the snow.
Well, welcome back. I trust everybody had a wonderful holiday season? For myself, I spent a lot of time with ones dear to me, and also drank more than a few excellent beers. I actually hadn’t intended to be off blogging for 3 weeks, but there you have it. I’m back, and feeling charged up for the new year.
But first, we have some business to attend to. You might recall, I made some resolutions last year, but not being one to make new year’s resolutions, I did it on January 5th. So, 366 days later (actually 368, but I didn’t make any last minute progress, don’t worry), where am I?
Well, here’s the original post: http://www.torontobeerblog.com/miscellaneous/january-5th-resolutions/, in short: Check in my 500th unique beer on untappd, travel to three breweries in the USA, start my own home brewing set-up, start podcasting, and publish my 500th post here.
So let’s start with the misses:
I’m a Homer
I visited a lot of breweries. Probably more than the average beer drinker. But none of them were in the USA. 0/3. I would still love to, and might have a plan that could kill all three in one step, but I didn’t get it in before the deadline. Oh well, Onward and upward!
A bit surprised by this one
This is only the 441st post, which I really thought would be a fairly easy goal to hit. On the one hand, I have been posting more regularly in the past two months, but on the other, I spent a lot of the summer on the beach with the kids. And I’m okay with that. I have been finding it easy(ier) to post 4-5 times per week recently, and I’m hoping that I can continue that. Certainly, my interaction with readers is at an all-time high. I assume the two are related.
Half-ways
Okay, I still haven’t made a batch of beer in my house (not alcoholic, I’ve made numerous batches of naturally carbonated ginger ale). But I have brewed on an honest-to-goodness home brew set-up (okay, a BrewMagic, which is very efficient, but still). In fact, I’m drinking one of the Black O’Lantern pumpkin porters Matt Caldwell and I made as I type. I’ve also been brewing with pros, taking notes, making plans and getting ready. I had even planned a batch of SMSH pale ale to brew last week, but we found out before Christmas that we would have to move (rental house we live in was sold), and I shelved it. My first full brew at my house will be after I get back from Nicaragua in March. I also have another home brewing project that will be starting shortly (and yes, there will be content about it here). So while I didn’t toe the line perfectly, I did pursue the spirit of the goal, and am happy to say I got it at least partly right.
Podcasting is going, although not quite weekly yet. Lining up interviews is actually more difficult than I expected. It’s also a bit draining on me, especially having been fighting a nearly constant stream of colds etc, from my petri-dish son, who has been hosting a variety of exciting bacterias and viruses since starting junior kindergarten in the fall. I have pulled together some cool videos, and have a couple of cool ideas coming down the pipe, so I’ll give myself part marks on this one too.
Victory
Not only did I check-in my 500th unique beer on Untappd, but I did it in September, with plenty of time to spare. I was actually concerned about this one, needlessly it proved. And it was a perfect check-in. I had toyed with hitting 500 with a dud, like a PBR or an Ex or something, but I did much better than that. I realized that I was heading to Funk Night at Volo, with about 8 to go. 8 beers at Funk Night is beyond easy. So, surrounded by a small group of friends, I put a glass of “Just The Mention of Berlin Makes Me Sexy” collaboration between Iain from Amsterdam and Sam from Sawdust City, took a sip and checked it in. We cheered. It felt great. And the beer was excellent too. And fitting that, while I have many good friends who brew in Toronto, the beer was made by Iain and Sam, two people who I have a special spot in my heart for, and who have played very different, yet equally important parts in me getting where I am today. Here’s to 1000; maybe a glass of Niambic?
So all-in-all, a pretty normal outcome for me, a classic underachiever. I actually feel very good about my year, both personally and professionally (if you can call not getting paid to write about beer a profession). I’m going to post my January 9th Resolutions on Wednesday, and I have a beer review of a stellar beer tomorrow; a great way to kick off 2013.
Thanks for hanging around!
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