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:
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!
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.
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.
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!
The cold cannot stop us. We are Minnesota brewers! This month there were a couple club brews, our winter party, and another great education topic. Read on to see what we have been doing!
For an upcoming experiment and education topic during the March meeting, a few club members got together to brew a Saison on the 30-gallon club system. The wort was split evenly between six brewers and is being fermented at six different temperatures to see the difference. More details to come with the full experiment report and tasting with the club at the meeting in March at Northern Brewer Minneapolis.
For more photos of the brew day, check out the Instagram Story.
Our monthly meeting was hosted by our good friends at Northern Brewer Minneapolis with special guest speaker Ben from Mighty Axe Hops. His great presentation on their hop farm in Foley, MN, and the process of field to pellet was great education for the group. With this, we had ten beers and one cider being passed around that were brewed with only Comet hops from the farm. With a unique flavor and aroma, they were all a hit and we look forward to getting more varieties from them in the future.
To try beers that use Mighty Axe, check the Drink Minnesota Hops page on their website for a great selection from around the state.
The annual Winter Party was held at Perrin’s house this year where we shared many beers, held the High Gravity competition, elected officers, and brewed a potluck beer. Even with the cold temperature, we were able to pull together a brew day with a wide variety of ingredients, figured out a recipe with three base malts, two specialty malts, one specialty grain, a wide variety of hops, spruce tips, and grapefruit. With the 25 gallons brewed, it was split among interested members to bring home and pitch a yeast of choice. It will be interesting in the next weeks to see how this turns out and compares across fermentation profiles!
For the High Gravity competition, we had about ten beers registered to compete in personal preference voting. With a bunch of great options and none where I would turn down a pint, the clear winner was the Baltic Porter from Jim I. With bragging rights until next year (and the recent education topic on the style), I would not be surprised to see more of this style brewed for next winter.
The day also included elections for three of the club leadership positions:
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!
Join us this Thursday for what should be a really fun meeting at Northern Brewer’s Minneapolis location. 6021 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419
We will be joined by Ben from Mighty Axe Hops. He will be giving a presentation on their process and answering your hop related questions.
We will also be tasting around 10 beers brewed by members featuring only Mighty Axe Comet hops!
Come join us, its bound to be a great time. Cheers!
Happy New Year, everyone! It has been another busy month with the club and here is a recap of some of the events we have been up to and the happenings planned for early 2019.
This month was another successful homebrew competition put on by the club. With 174 entries judged and 84 participants, judges, and stewards, it was a few weeks of coordination culminating with a busy weekend of sorting and judging many fine beers!
Congratulations to all the winners! Results can be found on the competition site. Keep an eye out for the next competition the same time next year!
With two new barrels added to the collection, we decided break them in with an Imperial Stout — and a big one at that with 1.140 target starting gravity! To get that high, the brewers in the club had long days to boil down the wort to that gravity, ranging from 2.5-4.5 hours for just the boil!
The email thread in the Google Group was quite active with discussion around best practices, problems people were having, and the results of brewing and fermentation. At the club meeting there was good discussion about what worked well (regular aeration the first several days, huge yeast starters, degassing regularly) and what we can do next time we try to make something this big. We are looking forward to seeing what this motor oil of a beer turns into over the next months in the barrel!
The education topic at the regular monthly meeting was about Baltic Porter with discussion lead by Bill H. An uncommon style at best, this topic was pushed back a few times until we could find enough commercial styles to bring and a few members could brew their own.
A high gravity, cool fermented version of Imperial Stout, these were a new style to many members and a hit with the club. I would not be surprised if more local homebrew competitions start getting more submissions for this style based on this new interest!
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!
We have been keeping busy as the weather turns colder again. Here are some updates for our events and activities.
On a windy and cold day in October, the NBA was able to participate again in the Eastside Neighborhood Services annual Big River Brew Fest annual fundraiser. This was a record-breaking year for attendance and our booth had quite a few visitors — and return visitors looking for the special brews from previous years. This year included Cinnamon Toast Crunch Milk Brown, Oreo Milk Porter, Apple Cinnamon Amber, and barrel-aged Lambic and Flanders — among others. This is always a great time for the club and we are looking forward to next year already!
The November education topic was a presentation by Chris on how he follows an all-grain partial boil strategy for his quick indoor brews. Although this causes a hit to efficiency, this is easily remedied with a little extra grain. Diluting the wort with clean water in the fermenter, he can brew in the kitchen and keep going on cold winter days. The presentation will be made available through the normal club channels.
After aging to get the oak and bourbon flavors into the beer, a Foreign Export Stout was pulled out of the club Dickel barrel and a new Barley Wine was put in. The barrel program is one of the core programs within the club and there was good turn-out from those who pulled out, brewed to refill, and spectators alike.
Next month two new Four Roses barrels will be filled with a huge Imperial Stout to start them off right! The Barrel Committee is keeping an eye out for additional barrels to keep the rotation
The annual NBA Homebrew Competition is fast-approaching with entries filling up. Everyone is welcome to enter and we expect more great beers. Volunteers for judging and stewarding are also open and we are looking for all levels of experience. Check out the competition page for more information on how to enter or volunteer!
Entries are due at the drop-off or mail-in locations by Friday, November 30, so act fast!
The annual Winter party is now scheduled for January with the High Gravity Club Competition (8% and higher on the honor system) and elections for the Vice President, Communication Director, and Finance Director positions. All members are welcome to join with the final details on time and location being sent out soon.
Next up in the Explore A Style series is Baltic Porter with homebrew and commercial examples available during the presentation. This porter with lager yeast is a unique and uncommon style, so this education topic will hopefully shine some light for the club.
We were able to recently coordinate a Group Buy event with Mighty Axe Hops growing in Foley, MN, for a bunch of Comet hops. These will be brewed into various styles for the January meeting where Ben from Mighty Axe will be stopping by to talk about hop farming and the company — and to taste the beers with us.
All memberships are becoming household memberships! This will allow the partners of members to join meetings, parties, and events with the club at no additional cost. Please reach out if you have any questions — or join us at a meeting or taproom to learn more!
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!
Our BJCP/AHA sanctioned competition is on us, and now is the time to get your account registered in preparation for the entry window to open on November 1st.
Drop off deadline is November 30th, so get those comp beers brewed, and your beers entered.
If you are able to help Judge or Steward we would really appreciate it.
So, join us for a quality competition and a fun time. Cheers!
Sign up here: https://nordeasthbc.brewcompetition.com
A number number of members from the club ventured down to New Ulm to check out Shells Main Brewery and the Star Keller.
We received an excellent tour and tasting at the main brewery from the awesome staff. We had a great time and look forward to returning at some point in the future.
We then headed across town to the Star Keller to enjoy a wide selection of excellent sour beers.
The beer was great at the Star Keller and it was a great end to a great day.
Thanks to Steve M, he plan a crucial role in getting the event setup. Thanks to the Shells staff and the people of New Ulm
Cheers!
It’s a big week for the NBA, with the Monthly Meeting on Thursday, June 21st at ESNS. The topic this month will cover club events and committees. So bring a brew to share, a tasting glass, and join us at 7:00pm in the ESNS Main room.
Also, don’t forget about the Brew for Good event, Saturday, June 23rd. The NBA members will be pouring a wide range of styles, including samples from the club barrel program.
This Saturday, come join us at Midwest Supplies starting at 10am for their Homebrew Club Fair.
We will be there pouring from the jockey box, talking brew, and hanging out with some of the other great club members from the area.
If you would like to share some of your creations, please see the Google group for the sign-up sheet. Kegs, bottles, cans, it all works! Dress in your NBA best and join us for the fun!