Happy Father’s Day to all the Brew Dad’s out there!

It was so nice out for the June meeting, we moved it outside to the ESNS pavilion. We shared some beers and talked about cream ale as the education. Here are some others notes for this month about recent and upcoming events and activities.

• Officer elections are in January with nominations being collected started in November. Tyler, the current Finance Director, has elected not to run for re-election, so that position will be open for nominations later this year. The election will also include the Communication Director and Vice President. Please feel free to reach out to anyone from the leadership committee if you have any questions or would like to discuss these roles.
• We have been looking into a vendor for one-off merch orders, but they have not been responsive since the site was set up, so we are investigating other options. We have some t-shirts, a few work shirts, and some tasting glasses in stock now. If anyone has a lead on a one-off merch shop we can research, please reach out!
• Our recent Taproom Takeover was a trip up to Coon Rapids to visit Alloy Brewing! A few members took the trip and we were happy to visit a great sponsor to our competitions!
• There are a few upcoming events:
  • This week a few members will be going out to Pittsburgh for Homebrew Con. Be sure to say hello if you see us around the convention!
  • On the first Thursday in July, we will be visiting Venn brewing for the monthly Taproom Takeover event. Come grab a pint!
  • Nick is coordinating more group bike rides between breweries. Keep an eye out in the club email and Discord for details around those casual strolls.
  • The Summer Party will take place at the palatial Mittelstaedt estates in Minnetonka on Saturday, July 30. That gives plenty of time to brew up a batch for the low gravity (≤5% ABV) competition and find a recipe for potluck side-dishes.
  • A few folks are researching a field trip later this year perhaps to a fresh hop harvest festival. Once we have more information, keep an eye out to join in.
• The Sour Times competition was a great success. We really enjoy this new competition in our rotation and look forward to doing it again! Thank you to everyone who entered a beer, helped judge, and helped coordinate! Congratulations to Adrian who won TWO first place prizes for his Flanders and Berliner entries!
• With more news to follow soon, Brew For Good will be returning in September with coordination from the NBA and partner homebrew clubs. This is exciting!
• The barrel committee met recently and tasted through the club barrels. There are a couple that are ready to come out — the imperial stout in the Rittenhouse Rye barrel, the pale sour in the HOBO barrel, and the pale sour in the Lodi lambic-style barrel — so keep an eye out about getting your beer and the opportunity to re-fill.
  • The HOBO barrel — Honey Oak Barrel One — was the first in the club barrel program. Based on some recent beers turning a bit ascetic, this barrel will be retired with this empty. There are some ideas on its replacement (tequila-barrel gose?! yes, please!), so more news will be shared as barrels are sourced and sign-up is announced.
• During the Beginner’s Corner section of the meeting, Carl brought up recently moving from Northeast Minneapolis to St. Anthony and finding that despite his zip code not changing, his water source did — and not favorably. He asked what members recommend for improving his water now.
  • A couple members recommended $0.39/gallon distilled from the grocery store
  • Tyler told the club about his recent installation of a tankless under-counter reverse osmosis system that generates 5 gallons in about 15 minutes.

Next month we will meet again at East Side Neighborhood Services, of course, where the education topic will be about brewing salts. We look forward to seeing you there!

Keep tabs on other events and news on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Brewers of all skill levels and experience are welcome to join us any time!

Cheers! 🍻