My shift in expectations was so subtle, I have difficulty in determining when it happened. Let me explain. Before my first brew, I had read many different stories about first-time brewers and talked to people I knew who had interesting experiences with beer making. Some had positive experiences, others had experiences that were less than stellar. I had determined that there seemed to be some kind of magic and luck required to make beer. So I went into my beer making experience with a "nothing-to-lose" mentality. After my first draft turned out to taste pretty good, I thought I would give it another shot. I wondered if lightning would strike the same place twice. Could I produce something drinkable again? Sure enough, my second batch tasted as good as the first. A third batch led to a fourth batch, and so on. However, somewhere after a half-dozen batches, I made a beer that didn't measure up. It was ok, just not great. A beer being "ok" would have been fine if it had been one of my first few batches, but not now, having made a handful of decent brews. Slowly, without realizing it, my expectations of the beer I was capable of making had changed.
I have accepted this shift as part of the natural progression of getting better at anything, not just brewing. It's why professional golfers get made after missing a long putt, chefs throw away perfectly good cakes, and why I frowned after taking a sip of a perfectly acceptable beer. It was less than expected. It didn't measure up. The potential was not achieved. Of course, there are two ways of managing my expectations. The first is to change (i.e. lower) my expectations so that even a brew that is mediocre makes me happy. Everything that Picasso painted wasn't a masterpiece. Even master brewers make beers that fail to measure up to their expectations yet would make most beer drinkers happy. The second option is to keep striving to meet our own expectations. Keep reaching for something that is within my reach, yet still stretches my abilities. This is how progress is made in all things, now just brewing. Both of these options have a place in our lives. The first is about contentedness, the second about persistence. Together they are about living.
Cheers
I have accepted this shift as part of the natural progression of getting better at anything, not just brewing. It's why professional golfers get made after missing a long putt, chefs throw away perfectly good cakes, and why I frowned after taking a sip of a perfectly acceptable beer. It was less than expected. It didn't measure up. The potential was not achieved. Of course, there are two ways of managing my expectations. The first is to change (i.e. lower) my expectations so that even a brew that is mediocre makes me happy. Everything that Picasso painted wasn't a masterpiece. Even master brewers make beers that fail to measure up to their expectations yet would make most beer drinkers happy. The second option is to keep striving to meet our own expectations. Keep reaching for something that is within my reach, yet still stretches my abilities. This is how progress is made in all things, now just brewing. Both of these options have a place in our lives. The first is about contentedness, the second about persistence. Together they are about living.
Cheers
