We are brewing outdoors, pouring with and four our friends, and planning travels across the country to celebrate our favorite hobby. Here is what we have been up to!

Recent Activities

Brew For Good: Another amazing event! We were able to get together with our friends from Brew For Good, Chop & Brew, and all of the other local homebrew clubs to pour 75+ beers, ciders, and meads for 300+ people to raise money for Think Small. Our selection of 13 taplines included barrel-aged lambic, dark German lagers, and even a cask of gravity-served Keller pils! With a fear of thunderstorms, we came together and it was a great night with only a few minutes of light rain. This event will surely keep growing larger every year and the NBA looks forward to being a strong partner with planning and execution for further fundraising!

Congratulations to Jim I and Matt J for their award-winning Helles and Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout taking home great prizes for the event!

Education – Explore a Style: British Beer: After a recent trip across the pond, one of the members put together an education topic on British beers, including some American-brewed styles. This recurring program helps the club explore different styles and taste a variety of beers that fit classic styles and understand the nuances in flavors and techniques for both drinking and brewing.

Upcoming Events

HomebrewCon: Coming up this week, several members are heading out to Providence for one of the best parties and education seminars in the country. Keep an eye out on the Session Schedule for two important topics — including NBA beers available.

• How to Facilitate a Club Barrel-Aging Program and Produce Quality Beer
• Brewing with Oats

Taproom Takeover @ Clutch: The July social hour is pushed back one week to accommodate the Independence Day holiday, so we will be meeting at Clutch Brewing in St. Paul on Thursday, July 11 at 7pm. Come grab a pint, chat about beer, and check out a cool venue for food and drinks. Everyone is welcome!

Monthly Meeting: The July meeting will take place at East Side Neighborhood Services with a presentation on DIY Electric Brewing. If you have been considering programming your own heating element automation, bring your questions on Thursday, July 18 to learn about how other members have put together their systems and get a leg-up on building something on your own!

Summer Party: To celebrate warm weather, the annual summer party will take place on Saturday, July 20 in Minnetonka with grilling, socializing, and the low-gravity ( ≤ 5% ABV) club competition. We will also have a potluck brew (like how we made the spruce-tip brew at the winter party) and kicking off a flea-market to sell, trade, and barter equipment no longer needed and pick up some good deals on enhancements to your own brewhouse! Join the club at Clutch or the monthly meeting to get on the invite list for this great party!

For announcements of the monthly Taproom Takeover, monthly recap of recent events, and announcements for upcoming events, keep an eye on this space and our social media sites on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Come join us and chat about beer and brewing!

Cheers!

Today is the big Brew For Good event from 4-8pm — this year in our stomping grounds of Northeast Minneapolis! There may be a little rain, but we are still aiming to pour off a dozen taps through our jockey boxes. Come get some Cherry Weizen, Margarita Gose, Vanilla Barrel-Aged Stout, and many others! Cheers!

Look for updates today on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

Recent Activities

Barrel Transfer – We took a lambic out to put a new lambic in! Another great beer was taken out of one of our barrels to replace with a fresh batch to be ready a year from now — or maybe longer. The beer coming out tasted great — and to make sour beer even better, it was blended with other beers to balance the acidity, funk, and general character. Surely a mix of both science and art!

Big Brew for National Homebrew Day – On a beautiful Saturday morning, our friends at Midwest Supplies were kind enough to host us for this nationwide event. Between three systems — the club 30gal brewhouse, Bill’s 15gal kettle, and a Grainfather inside — we took home 40gal+ of wort to ferment into a session pale ale. To make the day even better, a few club members brought beers to serve on the club jockey box to anyone who was able to come into the store.

Education: Carboy Etching and Hacks – Club member Chris A. put together a presentation on how he works with his glass carboys. Talking about using glass etching paste from a craft store to filling his carboys through the wall from his garage to his basement, I am sure every club member at the meeting this month took something away to improve brew day and use equipment more efficiently!

Upcoming Events

Taproom Takeover @ La Doña on Thu Jun 6 – Come join for a pint or three this coming month at a new local taproom! The social hour starts at 7pm and club members have been looking forward to getting together here for these great beers! Come join us!

Brew For Good @ Sociable Cider Werks on Sat Jun 15 – Following up on the huge hit from last year, this event is moving to the Sociable location for this homebrew-only event supporting Think Small. Check out the BFG website (or Facebook event) and come join the event for surely some of the best beers in Minnesota!

Monthly Meeting @ East Side Neighborhood Services on Thu Jun 20 – The topic this month is Explore A Style: British Beer. A few batches from club members will be available and some examples stored away packed away from local shops across the pond, the next monthly meeting will help club members understand a variety of classic styles. If you have been interested in this style, come join the meeting and have a taste!

HomebrewCon @ Providence, RI on June 27-29 – With two presentations lined up for the seminars through this conference, the NBA will have a solid presence out on the East Coast. If you will be attending, look for our work shirts and say hello!

Coming up in July is the annual Summer Party for all NBA members (including new members!) in Minnetonka. Watch the club email list for more detail coming soon on the low-gravity competition, potluck food, and other fun for this social afternoon.

For announcements of the monthly Taproom Takeover, monthly recap of recent events, and announcements for upcoming events, keep an eye on this space and our social media sites on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Come join us and chat about beer and brewing!

Cheers!

Recent Activities

Education: NBA Yeast Bank – This month at the monthly meeting, Paul explained to the club how the Yeast Bank works, how to put strains into the deep freeze, and how to request strains to get out. This bank already has some rare and retired strains in long-term suspension and we will continue to watch for more rare strains to add to that collection.

Juice Buy @ Sociable Cider Werks – A few members were able to sign up for a juice buy at Sociable this past month to brew up some ciders (and mixed beverages). There will surely be a few finished brews at club meetings over the next couple months.

Upcoming Events

Barrel Transfer – Saturday, Apr 27. The Barrel Committee has determined that the lambic (or “lambic-style”, really) is ready for members to get back and put into kegs and bottles and to make room for other members to put beer in. These barrels make magical beers given enough time, so look forward to more great beer coming out after 18-24+ months.

Taproom Takeover @ Bauhaus – Thursday, May 2 7pm. Social hour with the club will be in Nordeast Minneapolis again this month at Bauhaus. Grab some pints and meet up with members to chat about beer and summer brewing plans.

Big Brew Day @ Midwest Supplies – Saturday, May 4 9am to mid-afternoon. As discussed at the post below, NBA will be brewing at Midwest Supplies for National Homebrew Day. The jockey box will be set up to pour club brews, so come see what our system has to offer, learn about the club, and pick up your brew ingredients at Midwest. See you there!

May Monthly Meeting @ ESNS – Thursday, May 16 6:45pm. Our regularly monthly meeting at the normal home base of East Side Neighborhood Services will cover club business and the education topic of carboy etching. Stop by, share some beers (or at least sample beers from other members), and learn how Chris A. marks volume on his glass carboys!

Also keep an eye out for upcoming events:

• Brew For Good on Sat Jun 15 at Sociable Cider Werks to try some NBA beers.
• National Homebrew Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, in June.
• Summer Party for all NBA members in July.

Big things coming up the next couple months!

For announcements of the monthly Taproom Takeover, monthly recap of recent events, and announcements for upcoming events, keep an eye on this space and our social media sites on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Come join us and chat about beer and brewing!

Cheers!

“In 1988, May 7 was announced before Congress as National Homebrew Day. The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) created Big Brew as an annual event to celebrate National Homebrew Day around the world. Big Brew is held each year on the first Saturday in May.” – From the AHA website

It’s pretty awesome that homebrewers have a congressionally recognized day.

Let’s celebrate it!

This coming May 4th is Big Brew Day, the weekend celebration of National Homebrew Day. The Nordeast Brewers Alliance homebrew club will be at Midwest Supplies brewing and serving beer. We will have our 30-gallon club system on-site making wort and our jockey box serving beer made by club members.

Everyone is welcome! Please come join the club at this Big Brew event in the Midwest Supplies parking lot, learn about our club brewhouse, members, and events. More available on the Facebook Event to set a reminder to join this special day!

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or want to learn more!

Cheers!

With another trip to visit our friends at Midwest Supplies, the club was able to get a two-for-one education topic this month. Read on to learn about what we were up to and what is coming up in April!

Recent Activities

Saison Experiment

Brewing a 25gal batch of Belgian Saison together, a few of the members were able to run an experiment with BE-134 yeast at six different temperatures to find the difference. During the March monthly meeting, everyone was able to get samples of each and find the “right” temperature based on personal preference. There were strong opinions with favories across all six of the offerings. Even from the same batch of wort, the temperature had a clear impact on final beer color.

Imperial Yeast Presentation

We were lucky enough to have Owen talk with the club at the monthly meeting about yeast and process at the homebrew and commercial scale. He provided great insight and we look forward to meeting up with him again for future experiments and education!

Upcoming Events

Taproom Takeover on Thursday, April 4 at Bad Weather Brewing. Grab a pint or three and learn about the club. All are welcome for our monthly social hour.

April monthly meeting on Thursday, April 18 at Eastside Neighborhood Services. We are back at our home base in Northeast for the April meeting again. Come join to learn about the club yeast bank and share some beers.

We have a great opportunity to meet with Imperial Yeast during our monthly meeting at Midwest Supplies on Thursday, March 21 at 7pm. This is a change in location, so come join us in St. Louis Park. I can think of 200 billion good reasons to join!

Quick agenda for the meeting:

• Short update on club business and upcoming events
• Intro to the Saison temperature experiment
• Presentation from Imperial Yeast — and sampling the Saison flight

A common discussion this month was being able to brew outside again. With more snow again, I think everyone is looking forward to brewing outdoors on a warm spring day again. Until then, we are keeping busy!

Recent Activities

HOBO Barrel Fill

This month we were able to fill the HOBO barrel — Honey Oak Barrel One — with another Belgian blonde, Roeselare yeast blend, and dregs from a couple bottles. Sampling as the beers go in, we are excited to see how this one turns out. Watch this space for updates — in 18-24 months! We are in this for the long game.

Education: Electric Brewing at Midwest Supplies

Our friends at Midwest Supplies were kind enough to host our February monthly meeting during out first quarter travels. With a demo of electric brewing systems, there was good discussion about this method, which is new to most of the club.

Upcoming Events

Taproom Takeover at Insight Brewing on Thursday, March 7. Come join for a pint or three at the Insight taproom to socialize and chat about beer. Interested in learning about the club, talking about barrels, or just sharing a beer with good folks? Everyone is welcome!

March monthly meeting at Northern Brewer on Thursday, March 21. Have you ever wondered the impact of temperature on Saison yeast? The education topic for March will be six versions of the same batch of wort at six distinct temperatures.

Meetings will move back to Eastside Neighborhood Services in April through the end of the year again.

For announcements of the monthly Taproom Takeover, monthly recap of recent events, and announcements for upcoming events, keep an eye on this space and our social media sites on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Come join us and chat about beer and brewing!

Cheers!