Reminder: Final Friday Social January 28th
Winter Beer Dabbler Homebrew Contest is back
Are you planning on going to the Winter Beer Dabbler on February 19? If so, you’ve entered a homebrew contest already! Register a beer, mead, or cider ahead of time and drop off your entry at the Dabbler. Judging will happen the following week. Entering makes you eligible to win medals and prizes ($100 Northern Brewer gift card for BOS, $50 for runner-up, and $25 for third place). It’s also a GREAT opportunity to get some feedback on how to take our homebrew to the next level. Sign up now and hopefully lots of MHBA members sign up!
Brew Day Jams
MHBA Holiday Party Re-Scheduled for February 26th at Forgotten Star Brewing
The holiday party is officially one and a half weeks away! Bring your homebrew to share, food to enjoy with others (beer/cider/mead infused to enter the competition), and your luck to win some awesome raffles!
Quick Info
- When: Saturday, February 26th – 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
- Address: Forgotten Star Brewing Co., 38 Northern Stacks Dr, Fridley, MN 55421 – the event space in a private room in the back of the brewery.
What’s Happening
- Setup will start around 5:00 pm and teardown at 9:30 pm
- Socializing will be from 5:30 – 7:00 pm
- Buffet-style food service will begin at 7:00 pm
- Raffles with gift cards occurring throughout the night
What to bring
Food: Come with a potluck dish to share (bonus points for being prepared with a beer, cider, or mead). Make sure to bring serving utensils and an extension cord if needed. A “People’s Choice” award will be given for the best potluck dish with beer, cider, or mead as an ingredient with voting going on throughout the night. Plates, napkins, and silverware will be provided.
Beer/Cider/Mead to share: Bring any beer, mead, or cider that you wish to share. Bottles, growlers, and kegs are welcome. Don’t forget a small tasting glass—some plastic glasses will be available in case of emergency.
Remember to bring a tasting glass.
Family and Friends: This is a family-friendly event, so bring your significant other, kids, and/or any friends/family that have ever expressed an interest in homebrewing or beer. As this is one of the most attended gatherings of the year, it’s a great opportunity to get out and meet your fellow homebrewers. If you have not made it to a meeting or would like to join the club, the Holiday potluck is a perfect chance to try some great homebrew and delicious food, and exchange homebrew with others.
Reminder: MHBA Visit to Wooden Ship Brewing Feb 20, 2022
Wooden Ship Brewing will host the Minnesota Homebrewers Association for some fun! We will be touring the brewery and spending some time to learn about both Wooden Ship, how they make beer, and the great folks that run the brewery!
Please note, that in order to attend the event individuals need to be fully vaccinated per guidance provided by the brewery.
MHBA Full Core Press Cider Competition
The Minnesota Home Brewers Association is pleased to announce the first MHBA Full Core Press Cider Competition. The club cider buy has long been a cornerstone of who we are collectively, and this competition strives to take our cider and cyser making to the next level by providing professional and high-level feedback.
Key details
- 100% of the cider you use MUST come from the 2021 MHBA club cider buy
- Full Core Press encourages entries in three categories: Standard Ciders (C1), Cysers (M2A), and Specialty Ciders (C2, including grafs)
- Entry and judge registration will open September 2022
- Judging will occur October 2022
- Awards will be in-person at the 2022 MHBA club cider buy
- Bring your ciders and cysers to the 2022 club cider buy for a fun bottle share!
Questions From the Community
No Questions Yet! Don’t forget that the Minnesota Home Brewers Association offers the Hive Mind as an option to ask questions from experts the community.
In order to submit a question, fill out the form here. The information is then anonymously sent to the experts who will provide their answer(s) based on years of expertise and studies. The answer(s) will then be collated and sent back to you – its that easy! At the end of every newsletter we will include the anonymous questions and answers for everybody else to see in order to spread the wealth of knowledge.
MHBA Honor Roll
- Adam Bystrom runner up for Mead Maker of the Year
- Steve Fletty second runner up for Mead Maker of the Year
- Nathan Steigman received first for berry dry and 3rd for historical at Mazer Cup
- Adam Bystrom got 1st in fruit and spice dry and 2nd for cyser at Mazer Cup
- Paul S Johnson received 3rd for SHV sweet at Mazer Cup
- Josh Mahoney received third in braggot at Mazer Cup
- The club received second place in the club competition at Mazer Cup
- Kevin Meintsma won best in show for mead/cider at Hoppy Halloween
- Al Boyce won best Halloween Beer at Hoppy Halloween
- Nathan Steigman won second and third for Traditional Mead at Hoppy Halloween
- Kevin Meintsma won first for Spice and Specialty Mead at Hoppy Halloween
- Nathan Steigman won second for Spice and Specialty Mead at Hoppy Halloween
- Kevin Meintsma won third for Cider and Perry at Hoppy Halloween
- Kevin Meintsma won Best in Show – Mead at Minnesota Mashout
- Erik Nelson won third in Bitters at Minnesota Mashout
- Soren Jensen won first in “Belgians – non-churchy” at Minnesota Mashout
- Erik Nelson won second in “Belgians – non-churchy” at Minnesota Mashout
- Dave Matson won third in “Belgians – non-churchy” at Minnesota Mashout
- Scott Haraldson won first in “Fruitsen and Spicen” at Minnesota Mashout
- Erik Nelson won first in “Smoked, wooded, weizened, and specialty” at Minnesota Mashout
- Josh Mahoney won first in Mead – Traditional at Minnesota Mashout
- Adam Bystrom won first in “Mead – Pyser Cyment” at Minnesota Mashout
- Adam Bystrom won third in “Mead – CarMelo’s Mels’ at Minnesota Mashout
- Kevin Meintsma won first in “Mead – Fruit goes here” at Minnesota Mashout”
- Anthony Davis won third in “Mead – Fruit goes here” at Minnesota Mashout”
- Al Boyce won third in “Mead – Fruit does not go here” at Minnesota Mashout
- Josh Mahoney won first in “Mead – Wilford’s bain” at Minnesota Mashout
- Nathan Steigman won second in “Mead – Wildford’s bain” at Minnesota Mashout
- Nathan Steigman won third in historic and alternative ferment beer at Music City Brew Off
Hearing Voices
The following is a curated list of what we’re reading, listening to, and thinking about in the world of beer, mead, and cider this week:
- Watch club member Al Boyce on Man Made Mead as he talks all about his experience in homebrewing, what the BJCP mead certification exam looks like and gives us tips on how to be better mead makers!
- AC Em Sauter at Pints and Panels talked about winter seasonal beer
- Chip Walton of Chop and Brew was on the BeerSmith podcast on the episode that released on Christmas Eve.
- Paige Latham Didora was on a panel for the North American Guild of Beer Writers discussing how the revelation of more than a thousand accounts of sexual harassment and assault, toxic workplaces and discrimination is affecting the beer industry – listen in here
- Good Beer Hunting writes about how a method that had fallen to the wayside for modern generations of brewers, decoction brewing, is finding new interest and popularity
- Louis Livingston-Garcia of Beer Dabbler talks with Beer Kulture, a non-profit focused on diversity and inclusion in the craft beverage industry, and the impact they are making