Happy 2020 everyone, I hope your New Beers’ Eve was fantastic and shared with good beer, great friends, and a good long rest.
As the new year and decade are settling in, I’ve been thinking to myself, what are some of my beer related goals for the upcoming year? Are there things I want to try? Places I want to go? People I want to meet? As I sit with my first beer of 2020, a delicious Farmhouse Lager from Lost Abbey Brewery, here are the goals that I’ve come up with.
Drink More Quality and Less Quantity
It’s easy to beer geek out and get a four or six pack (or more) at the store and want to get home and enjoy what you’ve just bought. Working in a brewery I’m exposed to delicious and deeply discounted beer on a daily basis. This can be dangerous, in the best way possible. One goal for myself is drink beer than I want to try because it’s new, unique, or something I’m really craving versus reaching for a beer because it’s accessible and convenient. It’s OK to let my beer fridge go empty a couple weeks at a time, I’ll have to remind myself. That just means it’ll be more meaningful and exciting the next time I go to stock it up.
Drink Beer in Another Country and at Least Two New States
Drinking local is easy, but to have different beer experiences in other places requires the savings, time, and means to go have them. Part of keeping my beer drinking quantity in check means more money saved to travel and enjoy beers abroad or in other states. I am planning to attend the 2020 Beer Now conference in Austin, TX (A state I’ve never been to) in August, so that just means there’s one more state to check this goal off. It’s always great to see what ingredients are unique to other cities or state’s beer scenes. Milwaukee, WI is also high on my list.
Host More Beer Events
I had such a blast running my cookie & beer pairing and my bottle share events at Flagship Taproom this past summer, it was a great way for me to get my brand of beer hospitality out into the public. Being able to share not only my knowledge, but also my passion for the beer world is important to me. I’d love to develop those and new events and bring them to even more places. I’ve also hosted beer share and cheese nights at my apartment in the past and am hoping to host one of those in the not too distant future. What type of beer events might you suggest for me to host?!
Try New Beer Styles and/or Give a 2nd Chance to a Style
There are so many categories of beer out there and I’ve only scratched the very surface. Human nature is to stick to what we like, and know, and in many facets of my life I can be fairly routine and like comfortability. However, especially in an effort to succeed in my final goal which you’ll read below, I need to branch out. Schwarzbier? The German black lager? Not my thing, never has been. But, I also haven’t tried one in 3-4 years. Maybe I oughta give it another shot. Smoked beers, fruited beers, Old English beers, all beers that have various styles that I’ve never tried before. I certainly will search these out in my beer drinking excursions over the next year
Sit my Certified Cicerone Exam
This is the big one. One that by completing all of the above stated goals should certainly help push me to a passing score. Sitting, and passing my Certified Cicerone exam would be a huge personal accomplishment and help push my career in a new trajectory. This exam consists of 20 pages of written test material, a tasting section, and an equipment demonstration. You have to know your stuff. To sit the 3 hour exam is a $400 entrance fee- so I’d want to make sure I know my stuff. The more information I can soak in this year, the better off I am for it. I’m making sure to stock up on beer books, I have some of the Cicerone coursework books, and a syllabus and practice exam, so I’m well on my way to getting prepared. I want to try and give a month to a different part of the beer world in depth as the year goes on. My goal is to sit this exam by the end of 2020.
What are your Beer Related Goals for the upcoming year? Any advice for someone like myself studying for the Cicerone exam? I would love to know!
Cheers,
The Craft Beer Concierge
