The January mash rest
Gotta let the enzymes do their job
I just wanted to take a few moments to update you all on a few things going on in my life, and to wrap up everything that happened in January.
New Year, New Me
I don’t really make New Year’s Resolutions these days. I find that making a decision to accomplish something internally is more efficient and hearty than announcing a promise you only intend to keep until everyone forgets you’ve made it.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve had a killer case of writer’s block for the better part of a decade. What’s terrible about that is I love to write. For whatever reason, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. So, I decided internally—and yet I’m announcing it here anyway— that 2025 is the Year of the Word for me. Some of the specifics of that intention I’ll keep for myself, but my overall goal is to write, no matter what.
January, What a Year!
I started off the year strong; I started Bitter Wit and wrote a few short pieces for all of you to digest. I made a little cash doing some freelance gig-work-style editing. I took a few online refresher courses and I updated my résumé for communications work.
You might have noticed that I slowed down a bit at the end of the month. To be honest, the enormity of January hit me all at once. The world seems like it shifted significantly in only a few weeks. While I’m not ready to tackle that subject just yet, I’m not going to stop writing either.
Instead, I decided to take a cue from the brewing process and let my mash rest for a bit. Most of you will know this, but in brewing, we start with the mash: combining your milled grain and hot water to achieve the desired temperature and consistency. But what’s just as important as the mash itself is letting the damn thing sit for a minute. It’s during the rest that the enzymes within the malt can break down the complex carbohydrates, converting them into digestible sugars for the yeast.
I’m being heavy-handed with my metaphor, but I think you get the picture. I took a look at what was accomplished in January and decided that it was enough for now; I could just let all of that process for a moment.
So, What Converted?
I took advantage of my downtime (did I mention I’m unemployed?) to reassess my writing goals and expectations of myself. I turned what I was calling “The Thursday Thousand” to just “The Thousand” because forcing myself to write just one day of the week was turning out to be a little bit of a creative bummer. I’ll try my best to write one major article a week, with a smaller piece to follow.
I also had to consider what I should be offering my paid subscribers. Yes, I do have a couple of those, and thank you very much if you are one of them—the support is much appreciated at an awkward time like this (did I mention I’m unemployed?).
For now, I think I’ll publish the longer works, aka The Thousand, for paid subscribers only. A few weeks after they go live, I’ll shift them to be open to the general public. I’ll keep the short-form stuff open to everyone, and I’ll have a few upcoming pieces that I want to keep open as well.
If anyone has any suggestions for formats or perks for the paying subscribers, I’m all ears. Drop a comment or send me a text. Creative ideas are welcome; I’ve got plenty of free time. Did I mention I’m unemployed?
On the topic of employment, a major goal for me this year is completing a significant career shift. I’ve come to realize that my days on the brew deck are over for now, and I want to refocus my career on the written word. Practically, that means working a job in the communications field. Don’t worry, though; I might have some fun, less professional brewing projects in the near future.
What’s Ahead?
I have a few big plans in store for February. First of all, I want to right a wrong by properly documenting my adventures as Effigy Brewing in words. Upon reviewing my accomplishments as a young, optimistic brewer, I noticed that I completely dropped the ball when it came to writing anything significant about the experience. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be putting out a series that I’m calling Effigy in Retrospect. These will be open to all subscribers.
I have another series that I’m working on, and it will continue from my last post, The Farm, pt. 1. This series will follow my first months in Santa Cruz, and continue on to tell the story of how I walked the coast of California from Santa Cruz to Los Angeles, and then hopped a train to Tucson with the intention of punching a doomsday cult leader in the face. This series will be for the paid subscribers, for now. Be sure to subscribe.
If I lapse a little in my writing timelines, or if I go silent for a second, just remember that I’m letting my enzymes do their business. I might even try to do a monthly recap like this to help process those complex carbohydrates.
Bye for now,
Ben
Can’t wait for all of this.