What is your New Year's beer resolution?

29 Dec What is your New Year’s beer resolution?

Posted at 18:40h in Musings, Uncategorized by Justin Knepp 2 Comments

When it comes to beer, I’ve become the go-to person for recommendations in my family and friends circle, especially to those who are newly initiated into the craft beer family. While I’m able to provide basic recommendations – IPAs, Pale Ales, Stouts, etc. – I’m unable to provide expertise on one-off specialty beers. But that will be changing in 2016 as my beer resolution will be to drink and advance my Indiana specialty brew knowledge base.

Since joining the Indiana on Tap family back in October, my beer consumption, and knowledge, has grown ten-fold, which is definitely not a bad thing. It’s forced me to try different styles of beers, attend events I never would have before, and discover breweries I’d never heard of. Yet despite all of that, I failed to find and drink very many specialty brews from the great Indiana breweries.

I have many excuses as to why my 2015 beer list doesn’t contain many specialty brews: too expensive, couldn’t try before I buy, too lazy to drive to free event, etc. But that attitude has to change, not only for me but for those who ask for my recommendation and for those who read my articles. If I want to become an expert on Indiana beer, then I have to make the effort to drink every beer I can.

Just looking back on the last three months of 2015, I quickly realize how many speciality beers I missed out on, some of which could have been life-changing. Flat12 had their 12 Beers of Christmas, which I only tried one of; Sun King has a fantastic barrel-aged program, from what I’ve been told, yet I failed to even split the $20 beers with a friend; and Scarlet Lane released their Heaven and Hell collaboration with Taxman, but I never even tried to find them on tap.

No more excuses, only reasons to try the brews these hard-working brewers have specially concocted for our entertainment. I can try all of the standard and seasonal beers I want, at any time, but some speciality beers are one-and-done, or change from year to year. I may have missed out on some great 2015 speciality beers, but by the end of 2016 I’ll only be discussing the ones that got away.