If you are new to homebrewing, want to get started, or have a friend that wants to jump in, come join the NBA at Midwest Supplies in St. Louis Park on Saturday, November 2 for the AHA Learn to Homebrew Day event. From 9am-3pm we will have a big brew on the 30gal system, sampling some club beers, and and chatting about beer and brewing.
Who could ask for more? All experience and interest levels welcome!
Check out the Facebook event for updates. No RSVP required.
Although there have been fewer club activities the past month, there are quite a few events coming up soon! Read on to see where we will be and how you can meet up!
Education – Blending Sour Beer: This month the education topic was about blending sour beer. Expert blender and club vice president Matt J brought in four great base sour samples for everyone to sample and blend. It was amazing how blending a few milliliters of four samples and varying by 1-2ml between different options gives such a wildly different results. This is a kick-off to many more blending options for personal and club beers.
Taproom Takeover – Town Hall Lanes in Minneapolis: On the first Thursday in October — Thursday, October 3 — the club will be stopping by Town Hall Lanes in South Minneapolis for the next Taproom Takeover. Come by, grab a pint, and chat with the club about beer, brewing, and… bowling? All are welcome!
Big River Brew Fest: On Saturday, October 5, the club will be attending this great festival to support this fundraiser for East Side Neighborhood Services — our home base and partner. Tickets are available now and we hope to see you at the event!
Education – American Porter and Stout: The October education topic is getting back to the basics to better understand some classic examples of some of our favorite dark beers. We will look into the history, brewing styles, and discuss what makes the difference between these two similar categories. Come grab a taste and learn more about the styles!
NBA Homebrew Competition: The annual BJCP-sancitoned homebrew competition will be coming up for judging in December again! More details will be coming in the next few weeks, so watch this space and our social media for more details. There will be a big announcement this year for a new opportunity, so stay tuned! Start brewing now and details will be made soon for shipping, drop-off, and volunteer locations.
For announcements of the monthly Taproom Takeover, monthly recap of recent events, and announcements for upcoming events, keep an eye on this space, our club calendar, and our social media sites on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Come join us and chat about beer and brewing!
Cheers!
It has been a busy summer including the NBA field trip, so your faithful NBA blogger has not been able to make time to get the post up until now. Check out where we have been and where we are going!
Eductation – Extract vs. Brew-in-a-Bag Triangle Test: Green, red, or purple? Two samples of an extract beer and one sample of a BIAB version of the same recipe were provided blind to club members at this months meeting to see if we could identify which stood out. Overall, 13 of 15 members identified the odd beer out and just over half thought it was extract, despite actually being the BIAB brew. As we finished the experiment, it was clear that one stood out by color, which is often the case with extract.
Mighty Axe Field Trip: This month we were able to head up to Foley, MN, to visit our favorite farm — Mighty Axe Hops. Eric was kind enough to share his insight on this wonderful plant and the industry as a whole, walk through the entire plant-to-pellet process, and take us out into the field to spend time among the Comet plants just weeks away from being harvested. On the way back home, we stopped by Lupulin Brewing in Big Lake, MN, and were able to get a tour of the 10-barrel and 30-barrel brewhouses. It was a great day for a road trip to learn about our neighbors up north!
State Fair Competition: Congratulations to everyone who entered and placed with the annual Minnesota State Fair homebrew competition, especially to club vice president Matt Johnson for his NEIPA taking first place in the Specialty IPA category!
NBA Competition Committee: The NBA competition committee kicked off this year’s event this month as well to start planning. Look for more detail on this in the next weeks and months for the competition to take place around early December.
Taproom Takeover – Wooden Hill Brewing Co. in Edina: Social hour this month is heading south to grab some beers at Wooden Hill. Come grab a pint and chat with the club for a casual night out. All are welcome!
Education – Sour Beer Blending: The monthly meeting for September will include a hands-on experiment and education topic rolled into one for blending sour beer. All current and prospective members are welcome to join (no RSVP required) and sample some finished beers prior to packaging. Pipettes included!
Big River Brew Fest – Saturday, October 5 @ ESNS: Tickets are available for one of the best brew fests around. Grab your ticket now as a fundraiser for East Side Neighborhood Services — the monthly home for NBA meetings — and come grab some great beers. The event moved up a couple weeks compared to previous years. The NBA has some big plans to help support this great event!
For announcements of the monthly Taproom Takeover, monthly recap of recent events, and announcements for upcoming events, keep an eye on this space, our club calendar, and our social media sites on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Come join us and chat about beer and brewing!
Cheers!
There is a strange sense of enjoyment while standing around a boiling brew kettle during the hottest time of the year. At least the boil-off rate is lower than during the winter! Let’s take a tour of what we have been up to the past month and what is coming up!
HomebrewCon 2019: The NBA was able to represent well at the annual HomebrewCon events this year! With a presentation about our barrel program and brewing oat beers, we made quite an impact and look forward to joining again next year!
Hoppy Hour at Midwest Supplies with Mighty Axe Hops: Our friend Eric from Mighty Axe Hops was putting on an event at Midwest Supplies, so we redirected our Taproom Takeover night to join the festivities. It was a great night where members commented on learning more about hops in just that night than in years prior. We have a field trip scheduled for August to go visit the farm, so read on below for more about that!
Education Topic – DIY Electric Brewing: The monthly meeting had an education topic from Nick M about his DIY electric brew system and some best practices for building a system at home. There are a bunch of other tinkerers in the club who had great insight. The club email group has a great number of threads on these topics!
2019 Summer Party
We got lucky for our annual summer party that it was just rain and not the oppressive heat from days prior. It was a great day for grilling, a big potluck brew with 70# grain, 3 boxes of Kix, a ton of hops, and a bunch of ginger. Club members took home a few gallons each and will surely be sharing the different fermentation options at upcoming meetings.
The day also included the low-gravity competition (<5% ABV) where attendees selected a favorite beer or cider from the entries. Andy G won the top award with his Kitchen Session IPA with Galaxy hops (buy him a beer and ask about the story behind the name sometime) and second place went to Matt G for his Summer Sipper with Cascade hops. Everything was great with the next official party coming up in January with the high-gravity (>8% ABV) competition, officer elections, and more bottle sharing.
Taproom Takeover (and National IPA Day) at Barrel Theory: Making the trip to St Paul on Thursday, August 1 will be well worth the trip to grab some IPAs. Come join and chat about beer! Check out the club calendar!
Education Topic – Extract vs Brew-in-a-Bag: With a triangle test at the next monthly meeting on Thursday, August 15, we will be samping two different beers to see if we can identify an extract beer from a brew-in-a-bag that are otherwise treated the same. What do you think the differences could be?
Field Trip – Mighty Axe Hops Farm Tour: In mid-August we are trekking up to Foley, Minnesota, to visit one of our great partners and learn more about hops, the pelletizing process, and what they expect for this year’s harvest. That sounds like a lot of work outside, so a stop at Lupulin Brewing on the way back will help us recoup. The members-only email group will have more detail on this, so keep an eye out!
For announcements of the monthly Taproom Takeover, monthly recap of recent events, and announcements for upcoming events, keep an eye on this space, our club calendar, and our social media sites on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Come join us and chat about beer and brewing!
Cheers!
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!
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.
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.
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!
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!
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!
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.
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:
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!
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.
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!
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.