Howdy friends! We're back in action with our favorite (ok fine, Jared's favorite) annual tradition on this ol' blog and that's The Year In Numbers! We actually had some big(ish) plans for it this year, but - as always - there was a bit of a monkey wrench thrown into everything recently. So we'll get to all the number nonsense in a bit, but to start us off let's hear more about that metaphorical monkey wrench!
In case you hadn't heard from one of our various social medias, we were closed yesterday (Tuesday) because we had a staff member test positive for covid. Honestly, you've probably definitely heard this song-and-dance from a buncha different places already, but the gist of it is that we want to keep our staff and customers to be as safe as possible so we're making sure that people get tested and we're just all-around following the CDC guidelines on how we're supposed to handle this. (As an aside, the CDC guidelines have... changed substantially since the last time we had to read them. They used to say something like "everybody has to isolate in an underground bunker for a month after any possible exposure" and now they kind of just say "get back to work," which is either encouraging or terrifying depending on how you look at it. Though it's probably not a great sign that the official guidelines called us "a bunch of entitled millennials"). Anyway the point is that we're doing everything we can to keep safe - everybody who tested positive is at home with mild symptoms, and they'll stay away from work until they test negative. We're back up and running in the taproom, and everybody on the schedule right now is testing negative and we sure as heck aim to keep it that way!
And while we're on about bummer times, in unrelated-but-coincidental news: this month's Simpsons Trivia is postponed. It was originally scheduled for Thursday, but some Life Events got in the way, so instead it'll be Thursday January 27th. Sorry for the short notice, but at least you can still flex your Season One knowledge in a couple weeks!
Aaaaand one more cancellation/bummer note: the Sandwich Boy popup that was scheduled for Friday has been canceled. But never you fret - they'll be back in the taproom slingin their delicious sandwiches in a couple weeks (on Friday January 28th, as luck would have it)!
Okay. So. With all that out of the way, let's move on to the fun stuff and the first fun stuff is cask! This time around it's most peoples' favorite beer to have on cask (and your humble blogger's second favorite, but I know I'm in the minority here) and that's Shut Up Kelly! We'll be tappin' that ol' cask on Thursday and pouring until it runs dry, so come on out and drink some with us!
Then movin' on into the weekend, on Saturday we've got The Nada Cart in the house slingin' some tasty-ass empanadas and then on Sunday we've got Chef Harold back in the house to lead y'all through another sushi class!
And speaking of Sunday, it's worth mentioning that since this is a holiday weekend, we'll be open on Monday from 12-8pm instead of 3-11pm. Come on out!
And moving a little farther into the future, next Thursday (the 20th) we've got more trivia! This time around the focus is Cult Classic Movies! Knowing our host, it'll likely focus on horror and comedy with a few action movies thrown in, but we've been wrong before so come prepared!
Aaaaand one more cancellation/bummer note: the Sandwich Boy popup that was scheduled for Friday has been canceled. But never you fret - they'll be back in the taproom slingin their delicious sandwiches in a couple weeks (on Friday January 28th, as luck would have it)!
Okay. So. With all that out of the way, let's move on to the fun stuff and the first fun stuff is cask! This time around it's most peoples' favorite beer to have on cask (and your humble blogger's second favorite, but I know I'm in the minority here) and that's Shut Up Kelly! We'll be tappin' that ol' cask on Thursday and pouring until it runs dry, so come on out and drink some with us!
Then movin' on into the weekend, on Saturday we've got The Nada Cart in the house slingin' some tasty-ass empanadas and then on Sunday we've got Chef Harold back in the house to lead y'all through another sushi class!
And speaking of Sunday, it's worth mentioning that since this is a holiday weekend, we'll be open on Monday from 12-8pm instead of 3-11pm. Come on out!
And moving a little farther into the future, next Thursday (the 20th) we've got more trivia! This time around the focus is Cult Classic Movies! Knowing our host, it'll likely focus on horror and comedy with a few action movies thrown in, but we've been wrong before so come prepared!
And now it's the time that nobody has been waiting for: time for the Year In Numbers! If you're new around here, the gist is that we look back on the past year and come up with a bunch of interesting and/or silly stats about what we did over the course of the year. We think it's a fun way to put the past year into perspective (or at least Jared does, because he thinks that "numbers are fun" like a completely normal person) and we had meant to come up with some five-year stats* since 2021 was our fifth full year in operation. But then... well, you (presumably) read the blog post up top, you can see how maybe some things might get deprioritized. And we thought about pushing that to next week, but... January 12th is already too late in the year to be running retrospectives. It's kind of weird to be reminiscing about the past year in what is effectively February. Anyway, that's really neither here nor there and now I'm just throwing a bunch of words at you when I promised numbers so here's the numbers!
* Some examples:
Number of actual, literal dumpster fires: 2
Number of times our back fence caught fire: 1
Number of staff members who learned, for the first time in their adult lives, that apricots aren't just dried peaches: 2
* Some examples:
Number of actual, literal dumpster fires: 2
Number of times our back fence caught fire: 1
Number of staff members who learned, for the first time in their adult lives, that apricots aren't just dried peaches: 2
Production: Year in Numbers
Number of batches brewed: 100
Number of double batches: 32
Percentage of batches brewed that were new beers: 45%
Number of double batches: 32
Percentage of batches brewed that were new beers: 45%
Number of batches of flagships brewed: 36
Number of batches of non-flagship recurring beers brewed: 19
Number of batches of non-flagship recurring beers brewed: 19
Amount of beer packaged, in gallons: 12,920
Number of flights that would fill: 82,688
Percentage of total volume actually served in flights: 6.9% (nice)
Number of flights that would fill: 82,688
Percentage of total volume actually served in flights: 6.9% (nice)
Number of different beers packaged: 77
Number of new beers released: 61
Number of collaboration beers: 19 (10 if you don't count band beers for our birthday party)
Number of wedding beers: only one (again), but that's scheduled to increase next year
Highest number of beers released (or rereleased) in one month: 9 (April)
Number of funky/wild beers released: 6
Number of "milkshake IPAs" brewed: 0, which is in fact the correct amount
Number of new beers released: 61
Number of collaboration beers: 19 (10 if you don't count band beers for our birthday party)
Number of wedding beers: only one (again), but that's scheduled to increase next year
Highest number of beers released (or rereleased) in one month: 9 (April)
Number of funky/wild beers released: 6
Number of "milkshake IPAs" brewed: 0, which is in fact the correct amount
Average OG of beer produced (in degrees SG): 1.055
Average ABV of beer produced: 6.1%
Average ABV of beer produced: 6.1%
Highest ABV beer produced: 8.8% (Birthday Suit)
Lowest ABV beer produced: 4.2% (Electric Juicer)
Amount of vodka, in gallons, it would take to make the same amount of alcohol we produced this year: 1970
Amount of vodka, in gallons, it would take to make the same amount of alcohol we produced this year: 1970
Beer brewed most often: Extra Naked
Number of Extra Naked batches brewed: 15
Number of Extra Naked batches brewed: 15
Number of Key Lime batches brewed: 5 (including 3 double batches)
Number of key lime pies that could have been made with that lime juice instead: 256
Number of actual key limes it would take to produce that much juice: 4,915
Number of flagships we decided to "sunset" this year: 2
Number of angry emails/internet comments we got about said decision: 17
Number of those that were clearly sent by Matt, via an extremely-transparent alias: 16 (plus one from Chris)
Number of key lime pies that could have been made with that lime juice instead: 256
Number of actual key limes it would take to produce that much juice: 4,915
Number of flagships we decided to "sunset" this year: 2
Number of angry emails/internet comments we got about said decision: 17
Number of those that were clearly sent by Matt, via an extremely-transparent alias: 16 (plus one from Chris)
Number of people in production who had Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in their top five most-listened-to songs of the year: 2 (out of 5). 3 if you count the fact that it was in Jared's list twice.
Number of people on staff who learned, for the first time in their adult lives, that "there are different types of cows": 1
Number of people on staff who learned, for the first time in their adult lives, that "there are different types of cows": 1
Ingredients: By the Numbers
Amount of hibiscus, in pounds, that was sacrificed to Henrietta this year: 60
Amount of hops used, in pounds: 639.78
Average hopping rate, in lbs/BBL: 1.54
Percentage of hops that were grown locally: 42%
Percentage of hops that were grown in Michigan, of all places: 13%
Number of hop varieties used: 37
Most used hop variety: Masscade (87 pounds!)
Height, in feet, that you would need to grow all those hops on a single bine: 4,801
Amount of time, in weeks (assuming a 40-hour workweek), it would take you to pick all those hops by hand: 16
Average hopping rate, in lbs/BBL: 1.54
Percentage of hops that were grown locally: 42%
Percentage of hops that were grown in Michigan, of all places: 13%
Number of hop varieties used: 37
Most used hop variety: Masscade (87 pounds!)
Height, in feet, that you would need to grow all those hops on a single bine: 4,801
Amount of time, in weeks (assuming a 40-hour workweek), it would take you to pick all those hops by hand: 16
Amount of grain used, in pounds: 30,177
Number of individual grains that would be (approximate): 380,181,543
Percentage of grain that came from local suppliers: 33%
Amount of oats used, as measured in bowls of oatmeal: 24,794
Amount of brown sugar used, also measured in bowls of oatmeal (but as a topping this time): 9,164
Amount of lactose used, in pounds: 54
Number of Lactaid pills you would need to neutralize all that lactose: 1,884
Number of individual grains that would be (approximate): 380,181,543
Percentage of grain that came from local suppliers: 33%
Amount of oats used, as measured in bowls of oatmeal: 24,794
Amount of brown sugar used, also measured in bowls of oatmeal (but as a topping this time): 9,164
Amount of lactose used, in pounds: 54
Number of Lactaid pills you would need to neutralize all that lactose: 1,884
Amount of honey used, in pounds: 400
Number of bees it would take to produce that much honey: 22,240 (visiting approximately 800,000,000 flowers in the process)
Number of bees it would take to produce that much honey: 22,240 (visiting approximately 800,000,000 flowers in the process)
Yeast harvested, in cells: 590,545,000,000,000 (plus another 39,432,000,000,000 or so from lab-grown yeast)
The Blog: By the Numbers
Number of words written in the blog: 54,644
Number of pages that would fill in a paperback: 199
Number of pages that would fill in a paperback: 199
Least verbose month: April - 2952 words
Most verbose month: November - 6,444 words (not counting December, with it's ramblin'-ass year in review)
Most verbose month: November - 6,444 words (not counting December, with it's ramblin'-ass year in review)
Top 3 most commonly used words in November (in order, other than "beer"): time, suggest, pairs (with "pulpo" as a close runner-up)
Number of times we used the word "beer" in the blog this year: 659
Number of months "beer" wasn't the most-used word: 1 (only January, when it was "number" for reasons you can probably guess)
Number of times we managed to use the word "spooktacular" in the blog this year: 24
Number of times we used the word "beer" in the blog this year: 659
Number of months "beer" wasn't the most-used word: 1 (only January, when it was "number" for reasons you can probably guess)
Number of times we managed to use the word "spooktacular" in the blog this year: 24
Snacks: By the Numbers
Number of hot dogs served: 3,079
Number of cows it would take to produce that much beef: 0.87 (as in, we went through 87% of the beef you would get from a cow, in hot dog form)
Total number of pieces of candy consumed per beer on draft when figuring out the beer and candy pairing menu: 10
Number of cows it would take to produce that much beef: 0.87 (as in, we went through 87% of the beef you would get from a cow, in hot dog form)
Total number of pieces of candy consumed per beer on draft when figuring out the beer and candy pairing menu: 10
Number of calories - in candy alone - consumed by each member of production when figuring out the beer and candy pairing menu, as measured in pints of ice cream: 1.74
Amount of sugar consumed by each member of production when figuring out the beer and candy pairing menu, as measured in Pixy Stix: 58
Amount of sugar consumed by each member of production when figuring out the beer and candy pairing menu, as measured in Pixy Stix: 58
Taproom and Beer Garden: By the Numbers
Number of flights served: 5,722
Percentage of those flights that were served over Halloween weekend: 7.8%
Percentage of those flights that were served over Halloween weekend: 7.8%
Number of beers poured during our birthday weekend: 1,867
Amount of time it took for us to sell out of The Heist during our birthday party: about three hours
Amount of time it took for us to sell out of The Heist during our birthday party: about three hours
Number of staples used for the "wallpaper" in our beer garden: 7,500
Number of times the beer garden walls blew over in the wind before we gave up and replaced them with ropes: 3
Number of dog costumes at our dog costume party: 39
Percentage of those dogs that came with their own Instagram account: probably at least 50%
Percentage of those dogs that came with their own Instagram account: probably at least 50%
Beers Released in 2021
Parentheses indicates the rerelease of a seasonal/rotating/flagship beer.
January:
Extra Naked
Preboil Dave
(Double Key Lime)
Wasted Life
Shut Up Kelly
No Puns, Just Fun
Key Lime
Critters XI
Barb
Play Date
Extra Naked
Preboil Dave
(Double Key Lime)
Wasted Life
Shut Up Kelly
No Puns, Just Fun
Key Lime
Critters XI
Barb
Play Date
February:
It's Like We Finish Each Other's...
...Sandwiches!
Mystery Shack
Ole Orange Eyes
Sir Wallington
It's Like We Finish Each Other's...
...Sandwiches!
Mystery Shack
Ole Orange Eyes
Sir Wallington
March:
No Light Ever
Driller's Brew
(Wellington)
RBG
No Light Ever
Driller's Brew
(Wellington)
RBG
April:
Honey 'n Hops Revamped
(Tres Brujas)
Pepite Pale
(Out of Bounds)
Critters XII
(Henrietta)
SaBRU
Passion (Fruit) Project
Cone Crusher
Honey 'n Hops Revamped
(Tres Brujas)
Pepite Pale
(Out of Bounds)
Critters XII
(Henrietta)
SaBRU
Passion (Fruit) Project
Cone Crusher
May:
(Joybringer)
(Ginger Disco)
Pride and Pomegranate
Yelling at Birds
(Joybringer)
(Ginger Disco)
Pride and Pomegranate
Yelling at Birds
June:
The Great Equalizer
Lil' Goblin
Critters XIII
Into the Unknown
The Great Equalizer
Lil' Goblin
Critters XIII
Into the Unknown
July:
Birthday Suit
Merry-Go-Round
El Azakuanot
Critters XIV
(Blood Built)
Seven X's
(Blue Manic)
Vacant Throne
Birthday Suit
Merry-Go-Round
El Azakuanot
Critters XIV
(Blood Built)
Seven X's
(Blue Manic)
Vacant Throne
August:
Two to Mango
(Organ Meats)
The Heist
Electric Juicer
Ginger Occasion
Part Deux
Two to Mango
(Organ Meats)
The Heist
Electric Juicer
Ginger Occasion
Part Deux
September:
KTS
Excellent Question
Sunday Plans
(Ginger Spectacular)
Squash Everything
Sato
Sachem's Ale
KTS
Excellent Question
Sunday Plans
(Ginger Spectacular)
Squash Everything
Sato
Sachem's Ale
October:
Meesh Meesh
Green Smoothie Redux
Emerald Spire Pale
(Joyrider)
Rakau
Awkward Conversation
Meesh Meesh
Green Smoothie Redux
Emerald Spire Pale
(Joyrider)
Rakau
Awkward Conversation
November:
The Gargoyle
Menagerie
The Horned Beast
(Barrel-Aged El Pulpo)
(El Pulpo)
Nor'east
Oh My Redux
The Gargoyle
Menagerie
The Horned Beast
(Barrel-Aged El Pulpo)
(El Pulpo)
Nor'east
Oh My Redux
December:
Ozzy
Dark Humor
Chaotic Gold
Unchained
Ozzy
Dark Humor
Chaotic Gold
Unchained
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