All posts by GrantPWright

Single Hop Experiment – Great Success!

events, homebrewing, meeting recaps

20 July 2012

Flight 1 of 4
First flight…go!

Last night was our 2nd Annual Single Hop Experiment and it was amazing.  We met at the East Side Neighborhood Services and about 30 members and guests were able to sample a plentitude of hoppy goodness.  Thanks to all the members who brought beer, to the pro brewers representing (612Brew, Harriet, and Northgate), and to the ESNS for the location! Continue reading Single Hop Experiment – Great Success! →

Biggest Event in Club History Tonight! S.(single)H.(hop)E.(experiment) Tasting

events

WE HIGHLY ENCOURAGE ALL CLUB MEMBERS TOImageJOIN US TONIGHT AT THE EASTSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES LOCATION IN NE MPLS!

This is going to be fucking EPIC!

NBA Single Hop Experiment 

What: Tasting of 19 different hop varieties showcased with the same base beer recipe.  

When: THIS THURSDAY July 19 7:00-10:00pm

Where: 1700 2nd St NE 55413 – East Side Neighborhood Services (There will be other things going on, so be sure to be respectful)

Parking: Lot right behind the building

Who:  All club members, and any pro brewer/beer geek invited by the ExComm (ie. Indeed, Harriet, 612Brew, MNBeer.com, Dangerous Man, MN Beer Activist, Brewing TV, Four Firkins, NorthGate, maybe a couple others)

*To ensure we have enough supplies, this is not a +1 event.  However, we will be selling memberships at the door.

*There will be a sign in sheet at the door.  Please be sure to sign in and get a nametag.  We want everyone to be social.

Single Hop Brewers: Continue reading Biggest Event in Club History Tonight! S.(single)H.(hop)E.(experiment) Tasting →

Summer club BBQ and low-gravity homebrew competition a success!

events

The NBA’s summer BBQ (or as Matt P. would prefer we accurately call it, a “grill out”) was a great success. Attendance was a nice mix of new and gently-used members. It was a perfect hot summer afternoon for tasting session beers. Much better than the 90+ degree and super humid day we had for this gathering last summer.

Pulling off the event in style was definitely a group effort. Matt did a great job coordinating supplies right down to the classy mini tasting glasses. Nate so graciously hosted and cooked for us at his place in Northeast, going above and beyond by simmering our juicy brats in beer for FIVE hours prior to the event and giving away his secret sauce recipe for his burgers. In case you missed it, it’s ranch dressing. A-mazing. On top of all that, we had 10 people submit entries for the low-gravity homebrew competition, the focal point of the event. Here were the entries we tasted in order (entry #2 is missing because Kevin didn’t get his act together, nor his beer over to Nate’s!): Continue reading Summer club BBQ and low-gravity homebrew competition a success! →

BAMF Meeting 5 June 2012

meeting recaps, the mash tun

Here’s what went down at the June BAMF meeting, held at Pracna.

Atttendance: Andrew N, Grant W, Nathan G, Tim S, Tyler B, Steve M, Matt P, Nick P

Meeting location

Due to recent events, for the time being we cannot have our all-club meetings at Pracna since we cannot serve homebrew there.  But don’t fret!  We have a substitute location!  The East Side Neighborhood building is available for us to use, free of charge.  This is also the location of the Single Hop Experiment in July.  The location will provide with ample space and a kitchen.  The downside is that we will not have a full selection of tap beers, so tastings may become part of the entire meeting.  If someone knows of another bar location that would welcome us, we are not closing the door to that possibility.

Farmers Market Update:

Our first weekend went incredibly well, and we reached out and had seven new members join.  Check out some pictures Dan took here  [fixed link].  Over the next three weekends, we want to continue our recruitment efforts, so if anyone else wants to help out, let us know on the email threads. 

June 30th BBQ update:

Grant will be sending out an email form to fill out so we can get a head count, as well as determine the entries for our <6% contest.  Please be sure to respond ASAP!  Grant will also be updating the blog with how we are judging the contest so there aren’t any questions. 

The majority of food for this BBQ will be paid for by club funds.  However, if you want to bring a dish to show off your cooking prowess, or just want to help out, please do. 

Reminder for the event (4:00pm – ??), it is for members and family/significant others.  If you want to bring a bunch of people, they will need to become members.  Also, NO DOGS!  There will be one there who is super friendly with people, but doesn’t like to share his territory.

SHE (Single Hop Experiment):

Due to the popularity this event should have, it is going to be for members only and the select pro brewers that have already been invited.  If all members show up, we are looking at nearly 40 people as it is.  If you know someone who really wants to come to the meeting, get them to sign up as a member and reap the rewards! 

Due to the number of people who will want to try the many beers, plan on bringing at least 12-12oz. bottles or any 144oz equivalent.  The last thing we want is to run out of samples.  We will be planning on 2oz pours for samples.

Since we will not be at a restaurant and we will be consuming copious samples of amazing beer, we will need food.  We decided to turn this event into a potluck dinner as well.  This is the most effective way to feed the troops.  A sign-up sheet will be available at the BBQ, and then on the Google Groups thread thereafter.

Big River Brewfest Homebrew Competition:

A committee meeting will be set up soon; we are still welcoming more members who want to help with this.  Nick P is the committee chair, and there is way too much for one person to do.  It looks like the judging will take place prior to the brewfest, and we will use the brewfest to announce the winners. 

At this point, the website is under development, but start spreading the word to other homebrewers via forums, emails, whatever you have at your disposal!

Jockey Box:

As a future endeavor, the club will pursue a larger, 4+ tap jockey box to have for events and club use.  The cost is probably around $300 for this creation, which may prohibit us from having one on hand for a while.  Until then, if anyone wants to build one themselves and let the club use it…

Northeast MPLS Farmers Market hear we come!

events

Nordeast Brewers Alliance will be at the NE MPLS Farmers Market this Saturday from 9am-1pm demonstrating how to brew beer at home.   We’ll also have samples of some of the raw ingredients; grain, hops, yeast…etc!    Make sure to stop on by our booth and check out the process of cooking up the raw ingredient for making BEER!  We’ll be passing out flyers like the one below…possiblystickers, and have all kinds of cool stuff going on.    Those of you who want to pick up your grains forthe Single hop experiment, come on by our booth and we’ll measure and crush them on the spot!

Location: Intersection of University Ave NE & 7th Ave NE, right across from Emily’s Lebanese Deli!

May 17th Club Meeting Notes

meeting recaps,
  • Introductions/misc. (5 min.)
    • Discount reminders (see previous postings)
  • Atendence: Aaron D, Tim, Andrew w, Brian, Matt C, Joe, Robin, Joe, Chad, Nick P,  Tom, Ryan, Nick, Nathan G, Eric, Justin, Nate, Kevin S,
  • Announcements/upcoming events/new business(15 min.)
    • Mid-month BAMF meet-up recap
    • Club Priorities
    • Signing of the by laws for all members – Read before the meeting
    • Summer BBQ – Where, When, Who (Nathan’s Place, June 30th)
    • Summer BBQ – 1st Semiannual NBA Club Competition – Recap of rules and regulations
      • 6 pack of bottles, best of show, prizes still unsure
    • NBA Sponsored Homebrew Competition – Big River Brew Fest
      • October in coordination wit the East side neighborhood services.
      • Last year was first big river beer fest, this will be the first time they have a homebrew contest.
      • We will limit the contest to beers only, no meads or ciders.
      • There is a lot of work to be done, all help is welcome.
      • A Committee has been started, and we’re looking for more members.  Email Nick P on the Google Groups to  join.
  • Northeast Farmer’s Market  – June 2nd!
    • NBA has secured a booth the first four Saturday’s in June (8:00am set up, 9:00am-1:00pm market open).
    • Our Primary purpose is to continue our membership drive and get our name out in the community.
    • We will be demonstrating brewing, educating anyone with questions, and letting people know about the cool stuff we’re doing.
    • We are responsible for bringing all the gear, setting up, tearing down, and exuding excellence for the entirety of the market.
    • We have a minimum of 3 people signed up for each weekend, but the more the merrier.  Post on the forum to sign up for a day, and what you can bring.
    • Nick and Steve will coordinate the team on how to conduct ourselves.
  • Upcoming local competitions
    • Minnesota State Fair is right around the corner…
    • Big River Brewfest
  • Group experiments update (5 min.)
    • Barrel-aging project update [Nick P]
      • General status update.
      • Barrel is full, and Nick sampled (1.007 – from 1.013) flavor is a lil funky, lil tart.  Good start to the project.  Now we play the waiting game.
  • Single Hope update/status–
    • The page lists all the chosen hops.  Money was collected for the group buy.
    • If you didn’t get in on the group buy, you are on your own to purchase ingredients.
    • Water (Ice Mountain Spring water) and hops are up to each individual for purchasing
  • Financial Report (5 min.)
    • See the non-profit bullets above.
    • 7 members joined at this meeting.
    • Keep bringing in your friends!
  • Education session (20 min.)
    • DIY – Nathan G – “Mash tun to Jockey Box” – Link coming from Instructables once it’s up
      Nathan showing off his work
      • Why would you do this? 
      • To cool hot wort (at farmers market) and/or to chill a keg for serving.
      • What’s involved?
      • Added Quick disconnects in top of mash tun to make it multi function
      • Copper coils (soft copper/refrigeration tubing)– 60’ wrapped coil around a soup can, then arount a coffee can, then brought it all together
      • Jockey box – copper wort chiller goes in mash tun, fill it with ice, and you run wort/beer through the tubing
      • The entire system is gravity fed, for wort cooling, the remaining pressure in the keg pushes out the beer when serving.
  • Total build cost: ~$ 160 for entire mash tun/jockey box conversion
  • ~$95 for just jockey box conversion

Break

  • What’s on tap?– Other New Business
    • Since there are so many projects going on, and our next two meetings are essentially events, breakout committee sessions are needed to advance individual projects.  The Google groups forum will be helpful for this.
    • Library – Nick starting a forum (spreadsheet coming on blog)
    • Next educational topics:
      •  June – BBQ! (Session beers [Matt P.])
      • July – SHE tasting
      • August – ??Electric set up?  Ryan?
      • September – Andrew N – Mash tun
      • Summer Social Events?
        • mid month happy hours, Pub crawls?  Nothing cemented, but events are encouraged.
        • Next BAMF date- TBD
  • General Q&A (15 min)
  • Group Tastings
    • Andrew W – Saison (16c)
    • Tyler B – Specialty beer (23) base is cream ale (6A)
    • Tim S – Belgian Spelcialty (16e?)
    • New Holland gave us a couple bottles of the Sour, and stopped by after our meeting to talk about it.

May 17, 2012 Club Meeting Agenda

upcoming meetings

Here’s what’s on tap for Thursday May 17th, 7:00-9:00pm @ Pracna.

This is just an outline, if I forgot something or you have something you want added, email Tyler to get it added to the list

  • Introductions/misc. (5 min.)
  • Announcements/upcoming events/new business (15 min.)
    • Summer BBQ – Where, When, Who (Nathan’s Place, June 30th)
    • Summer BBQ – 1st Semiannual NBA Club Competition – Recap of rules and regulations
    • NBA Sponsored Homebrew Competition – Big River Brew Fest
    • Farmer’s Market  – June 2nd!
      • Steve and Nick to give us a run down on marketing ourselves
    • Upcoming competitions
  • Group experiments update (5 min.)
    • Barrel-aging project update [Nick P]
      • 2 weeks in, sure to be tons of news…
    • Single Hope update/status– Who’s in, what the cost is, what the schedule is.  If you want in on the group buy for ingredients, bring some cash to the meeting (Roughly $16 not including water or hops).
  • Financial Report (5 min.)
    • Banking situation update [Matt]
    • Recruitment efforts Announcements
      • Keep bringing in your friends!
      •  Recruitment chair [Steve M] – Announcements
  • Education session (20 min.)
    • “Yeast Washing” – [Nick P] takes care of the dirty, dirty yeast
  • Break
  • What’s on tap? – Other New Business
    • Next educational topic: June – BBQ!
    • July – Session beers [Matt P.]
    • Next educational topics? Volunteers needed for August
    • Summer Social Events?
    • Next BAMF date
  • Group Tastings
  • Andrew W – Saison (16c)
  • Volunteers needed!