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!

Recent Activities

Saison Club Brew

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.

Education: Mighty Axe Hops

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.

Winter Party

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:

• Matt Johnson was elected Vice President
• Tyler Bye was re-elected as Director of Finance
• Jason Berg (yours truly) was elected Director of Communications and Technology

Upcoming Events

• Club Brew and Barrel Fill: Over the next few weeks we are planning a club brew to put together enough Belgian Blond to refill a barrel inoculated with brett, pedio, and lacto. Some of the best beers have come out of this barrel and we look forward to getting this going!
• Taproom Takeover: On Thursday, February 7 we are meeting at Utepils Brewing to have a pint. All are welcome and this is a great chance to meet a few folks if you are looking to join the club.
• Off-Site Meetings: As is tradition, the February and March meetings are away from our normal home.
  • Thursday, February 21 at Midwest Supplies for a demo on brewing equipment, including electric systems.
  • Thursday, March 21 at Northern Brewer Minneapolis to discuss and sample the Saison temperature experiment described above.

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!