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Even though its only 25 degrees right now, we are looking forward to warmer weather with temperatures jumping into the 70s this weekend in my household. It is looking like it might finally be time to break out the smoker, sit on the patio, and enjoy a home brew in the sun. The summer season home brews I will be pulling out this weekend include a gose and a raspberry saison. The raspberry saison is a small batch off of a larger saison recipe and it will be interesting to see how the raspberry flavors come out, balanced by the fruity / spicy yeast character of the base beer, in comparison to the regular non-fruited saison. If interested to be able to share and try the amazing beers of the club, see below!
MHBA Spring Home Brew Review
Come celebrate the changing of the seasons the best way we at the MHBA know how, by sampling home brew at our annual Spring Home Brew Review!
The great folks at Forgotten Star Brewery just North of the cities in Fridley have been gracious enough to let us host our event with them this year. We’re planning for this to be an outdoor event, but if mother nature turns sour then there will be a large event space available to move to in doors.
Starting at 11am on Saturday, April 17th you’ll be able to sample your fellow home brewers libations and have them sample yours! We’ll have tables set up for anyone willing to pour and show off their latest, greatest (or even most questionable) fermented beverage. Feel free to bring as much or as little as you’d like; bottles, can, or kegs.
This is an excellent opportunity to get advice from seasoned brewers and to also get ideas on what to brew next! We’ll be giving away door prizes as well as voting for our favorite home brewed beverage — so you won’t want to miss it. Hope to see you there!
Stay up to date on the discussion about the event and RSVP on the Facebook event.
April Final Friday Social
For this edition of Final Friday Social we will be having Deb Loch from Urban Growler join us to discuss their amazing Cowbell Cream Ale. Stay tuned for more details as the event gets closer!
MHBA Honor Roll
Matthew Weide returned to The Mead House podcast today to discuss pandemic brewing and Valkyrie’s Horn. I found his concept of victory garden meads especially inspiring. Give it a listen here!
March Final Friday Social Recap
On March 26, 18 intrepid home brewers joined Utepils Head Brewer Eric Harper for a guided tasting of Springbok which I found out is totally a real animal. Eric also lead the mother of all technical discussions regarding sauergut as a pillar of German brewing and the virtues of serving Altbier vom Fass. Two lucky club members also won $25 gift cards to Utepils. Thank you to Eric and Utepils Brewing for joining us and sharing your love of European brewing!
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:
- Steal This Beer chats with Zach Nichols (Cellar West Artisan Ales) about his journey from small bottle shop in Madison, WI to starting his own beer company
- Michael Stein from Good Beer Hunting unravels the history of Culmbacher, an extinct American dark lager
- USA Today Readers’ Choice awards crowned Milk and Honey Ciders the best cidery in the US in 2021
It’s the first day of spring as I write this and a perfect day for brewing. Only the kids haven’t adjusted to our collective spring forward yet, and to be honest neither have I. There’s comfort in keeping things as they are, but we always keep moving forward into uncertainty. Instead of brewing the brown ale I wanted, I bench trialed some ideas for a mead I have in repose. Things didn’t work like I imagined, so I’ll keep thinking and working at it until I get it right. I went all-in and made five gallons because I trusted my process and technique, even if I still don’t know how it’s going to turn out in the end. And so it it is in early spring, not yet verdant.
March Final Friday
Join the Minnesota Home Brewers Association on Zoom this Friday, March 26 at 8:30 pm to have an Utepils Springbok (Helles Bock aka Maibock) tasting with Brewmaster Eric Harper!
Before the meeting, buy your Springbok in cans at fine liquor stores near you.
Zoom meeting id: 921 1846 2685
Passcode: 918183
2021 Iron Brewer Recap
Congratulations to Soren Jensen, Dave Matson, and Jon Hunter for brewing the best saisons at the 2021 Iron Brewer. Forgotten Star Brewing Company will brew Soren’s recipe, which I for one would love to have. And thank you to Forgotten Star for hosting this event in their YOOOGE (and dare I say beautiful) taproom and judging our club’s saisons!
Club Elections Night with Arbeiter Brewing Recap
Thank you to Aaron Herman from Arbeiter Brewing Company for joining us and providing us a guided tasting of their Haha Pils, Citiva Sucker Punch, and Vanilla Mocha Stout. Club members were super impressed with their beer, especially for being the new kids on the block.
Annual MHBA elections were held, and the leadership team of YOUR club for the following year is:
- President: Nick Aschbrenner
- Vice President: Josh Mahoney
- Treasurer: Jon Hunter
- Secretary: Matt Johnson
- Member At-Large: Al Boyce
- Member At-Large: Adam Bystrom
- Member At-Large: Kurt Lawton
- Member At-Large: Nathan Steigman
- President Emeritus: Dave Matson
You can get to know your MHBA board here (PDF).
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:
- Chop and Brew talks with Aaron Herman (Arbeiter Brewing Company) and Nick Walby (Fair State Brewing Cooperative) about dip hopping
- Good Beer Hunting Sightlines discusses how Untappd has turned everyone into a beer judge
- Got Mead? Live interviews Clint Walker (Walker Honey Farm) and Chase Cohagan (Dancing Bee Winery)
- Martyn Cornell lets us know that English porter definitely isn’t Dutch contrary to what you may have read on the internets
Get your crowlers of Arbeiter NOW, then tune in to Tuesday’s Zoom as we drink those beers with Aaron Herman, head brewer at Arbeiter. Trivia contest and door prizes for Arbeiter gift certificates! Run for the club board!
Here is where to order ahead–Get AT LEAST the pils, the Sucker Punch, and the stout:
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As we left the house this morning, my son turned to me and asked if it was spring. With an amiable clemency in the air, it really did feel like dripping icicles and winter’s gloom were relenting to a new season even if just for a day. As I lifted the little ones into their car seats, my mind went forward and backward. Nothing can be definitively acquired; everything must be done all over again every day. Spring coming means that I need to put away the last efforts of 2020 and bottle those ciders and cysers that I’ve been putting off. Spring means doing everything all over again, but hopefully better. Last week I brewed up a Golden Promise SMASH with hops from the South Fork Hop Harvest event last year and the green tea aroma of the hops sent me back to last summer when my daughter and I spent an afternoon picking hops right off the bine. I could almost feel the lupulin perfuming my fingers again. Soon enough.
MHBA Final Friday is this week!
February 26 at 8:30 pm
All welcome
Members in good standing as of noon on February 26 who attend will be eligible to win one of two $50 gift cards to Eastlake Craft Brewery. Not a member? Sign up today!
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 970 2757 1797
MHBA Honor Roll
Congratulations Josh Mahoney, Kevin Meintsma, and Matthew Weide for their third place medals at Midwinter Homebrew Competition!
Hearing Voices
- Minneapolis’ Paige Latham Didora wrote a fascinating article for Good Beer Hunting entitled “What’s Fair in Beer and Litigation?“
- John Holl and Vinnie Cilurzo discuss the ultimate beer whale Pliny the Younger as an experience in the latest Beer Edge podcast
- Stan Hieronymus pontificates about the post-craft beer era in Appellation Beer
- Brad Smith and Mathias Siebler remind us that hops, even in a hop powerhouse like Germany, are fundamentally an agricultural product in the Beersmith podcast
Final Friday – February
On Friday, February 26th, Ryan Pitman Head brewer/Owner of Eastlake Craft Brewery will be joining MHBA members for our Final Friday Social, complete with beer tasting, virtual brewery tour and fun! The featured beer that was just released and will be a direct brewery purchase option for members in advance of this event is “Beneath The Wolf Moon” – IPA – Imperial / Double New England ABV: 6.8% – Juicy IPA featuring a flavorful trifecta of hops. Pacific Jade for peachy citrus and black pepper notes, Amarillo with more of a zesty citrus, and the tropical Azacca Hops.
Advance Ordering with a Special Price for MHBA: Ordering of “Beneath The Wolf Moon” can be made online for direct pickup and also delivery is available for free within areas listed on their ordering site: Use Promo Code YEASTCAKE – this will work on both store for delivery and also for pickup orders.
Iron Brewer
This year’s Iron Brewer challenge is saison!
Compete with other MHBA members to have your beer professionally brewed and served at the Forgotten Star Brewing taproom.
To keep our activities as healthy as possible, there will NOT be a homebrew share and voting this year. Fortunately, to keep with tradition of a yearly throw-down, Forgotten Star Brewery’s owner and head brewer Matt Asay has agreed to choose the club’s best saison.
Forgotten Star Brewery has a massive taproom section with plenty of space for a safe, socially-distant get-together as Matt, announces his favorite saison. There is also an outdoor tent and skating rink in case President Dave Matson wants to lace up and work on his axel jumps.
Entries can be dropped off at the brewery any time during normal business hours between now and February 25th.
Limit three unique entries per entrant. One bottle per entry. Attach your name and saison strength and color per BJCP guidelines. Including the beer recipe would be helpful but not required.
Entry deadline February 25th.
Winner revealed 6:00 P.M. March 2nd at Forgotten Star Brewing Company.
Also, if you’d like to bring bottles to swap with other members, feel free. Just don’t bring them into the brewery.
Good luck!
Final Friday – January recap
On January 29, 13 club members got together online and had a lively discussion. As promised we held a raffle and club members in good standing Matt Johnson and Josh Mahoney each won a $50 gift card to Fair State Brewing Cooperative just for being there.
MHBA Honor Roll
This club is unbelievably impressive. The MHBA website has a brand new In the Media page with links to books, articles, podcast appearances, and blogs by members of the club. Are we missing stuff? Let us know and we’ll add it!
The MHBA won the best homebrew club at Domras Cup! Congratulations to the following club members who came away with swag:
- Adam Bystrom. 9th place Heavy Medal, 3rd place Melomel, 3rd place Braggot.
- Josh Mahoney. 7th place Heavy Medal, 1st place Sweet Mead, Honorable Mention Cysers and Pyments.
- Nathan Steigman. 6th place Heavy Medal, 1st place Braggot, 3rd place Experimental Mead.
- Matthew Weide. 1st place Cysers and Pyments.
Welcome to 2021. Like most of you, I’m reminded this time of year is nonpareil for quiet reflection. The sun, low in the sky, casts long shadows and lets you recount how far we’ve come and where we want to be going. Last night, after some exercise, I found a bottle of IPA from the club bottle share last November that was positively sublime. Joy can come in unexpected places, even a forgotten bottle. With fresh snow by our feet, I hope you’re having fun imagining the delicious beverages that will grace your carboys this year. Joy is also not an accident.
With that in mind, the MHBA board met on January 12 and planned the core club events for this year:
- March 2, 2021. Iron Brewer (see more below)
- March 16, 2021. Club Elections and a guest from Arbeiter Brewing Company. Are you interested in being on the club board? We’ll be electing club president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and member-at-large. This is your club, and your chance to steer the ship!
- April 17, 2021. Spring Forward Homebrew Review.
- May 1, 2021. Big Brew Day.
- September 19, 2021. Autumn Homebrew Review.
- November 6, 2021. Learn to Brew Day and Club Cider Buy.
Final Friday Club Socials
Miss your MHBA friends? Joined the Facebook group and want to check out our club? Let’s try something new and have a regular social event. No agenda, just fun.
Name: MHBA Final Friday Social
Time: Fri, Jan 29, 8:30 – 10:30 PM
Join the meeting: https://meet.google.com/pwq-opzb-sun
In the spirit of supporting local breweries affected by the pandemic, let’s all try to get Life Ain’t Fair by Fair State. You can order online and have contactless pick up from locations all over the cities. If enough of us get the same beer, it would be fun to taste it together.
Direct link to order: https://shop.fairstate.coop/product/life-aint-fair/
Can’t get it? No problem. Open something from a brewery you want to see in 2022 or some of your homebrew.
See you all at Final Friday!
Iron Brewer
This year’s Iron Brewer challenge is saison!
Compete with other MHBA members to have your beer professionally brewed and served at the Forgotten Star Brewing taproom.
To keep our activities as healthy as possible, there will NOT be a homebrew share and voting this year. Fortunately, to keep with tradition of a yearly throw-down, Forgotten Star Brewery’s owner and head brewer Matt Asay has agreed to choose the club’s best saison.
Forgotten Star Brewery has a massive taproom section with plenty of space for a safe, socially-distant get-together as Matt, announces his favorite saison. There is also an outdoor tent and skating rink in case President Dave Matson wants to lace up and work on his axel jumps.
Entries can be dropped off at the brewery any time during normal business hours between now and February 25th.
Limit three unique entries per entrant. One bottle per entry. Attach your name and saison strength and color per BJCP guidelines. Including the beer recipe would be helpful but not required.
Entry deadline February 25th.
Winner revealed 6:00 P.M. March 2nd at Forgotten Star Brewing Company.
Also, if you’d like to bring bottles to swap with other members, feel free. Just don’t bring them into the brewery.
Good luck!
MHBA Honor Roll
Iron Brewer
This year’s Iron Brewer challenge is saison!
Compete with other MHBA members to have your beer professionally brewed and served at the Forgotten Star Brewing taproom.
To keep our activities as healthy as possible, there will NOT be a homebrew share and voting this year. Fortunately, to keep with tradition of a yearly throw-down, Forgotten Star Brewery’s owner and head brewer Matt Asay has agreed to choose the club’s best saison.
Forgotten Star Brewery has a massive taproom section with plenty of space for a safe, socially-distant get-together as Matt, announces his favorite saison. There is also an outdoor tent and skating rink in case President Dave Matson wants to lace up and work on his axel jumps.
Entries can be dropped off at the brewery any time during normal business hours between now and February 25th.
Limit three unique entries per entrant. One bottle per entry. Attach your name and saison strength and color per BJCP guidelines. Including the beer recipe would be helpful but not required.
Entry deadline February 25th.
Winner revealed 6:00 P.M. March 2nd at Forgotten Star Brewing Company.
Also, if you’d like to bring bottles to swap with other members, feel free. Just don’t bring them into the brewery.
Good luck!
- BJCP style guidelines for saison
- Craft Beer and Brewing article about brewing saison
- BeerSmith podcast on brewing saison
- Basic Brewing Radio podcast on a saison yeast experiment
- Milk the Funk Wiki article on saison (hopefully website will be available again soon!)
Holiday Zoom
There were still ugly sweaters, holiday lights, and the shroud of holiday mystery. But club members celebrated a bit differently this year with a holiday party over Zoom. We were joined by the Head Brewer at Back Channel Brewing, Marc Makarem, who gave an inspiring story of his journey from back-porch home brewer to where he is now. A fierce round of trivia was played, and club members Al Boyce, Adam Bystrom, and Dave Royer (as a gift from Marc) each won a $50 gift card to a taproom of their choice to support local breweries.
Everyone who attended the Holiday Zoom is on Santa’s nice list and can buy a bottle of Back Channel Soviet Slayer for a $5 discount, which were specially set aside by Marc for our club. After the guided tasting he provided, this is sure to be a hit! Get a stemless chalice while you’re there, too! (I can vouch that it’s surprisingly awesome.)
Flex
Since Apple is getting into the lucrative fitness market, the MHBA had no choice but to follow suit. There are two new ways to have fun and get swoll as a club (and are free!):
- Peloton: Add the #MNHomeBrewers tag on Peloton
- Strava: Join Minnesota Home Brewers Association on Strava
MHBA Honor Roll
Congratulations to Anthony Davis for winning Best of Show at the Sour Times Competition for his brett beer! He also picked up a silver medal for his Berliner weisse.
Also, shout-out to Colby Reineke for winning silver in American wild specialty (which I actually judged, it was a heck-of-a-beer!), bronze in continental sours, and Honorable Mention in historical/brett beers.
You can see the full results here.
Open Mic
Club Holiday Party this Friday from 7 – 10 pm
Rolling with the punches! Since we can’t be together to celebrate at our annual party, we are planning a virtual party!
Join us for a virtual MHBA Holiday Party!!! It’s your chance to hear from old friends, meet new members and let everyone know what you’ve been brewing during these crazy times.
Working on a few things like a local brewery beer tasting, ugly beer label contest, and more.
A link to the meeting will be added in the near future.
MHBA Honor Roll
Nathan Steigman won four medals at Orpheus for his outstanding meads. You can see the full results here.
Cider Shenanigans
October can get pretty spooky, so to avoid the very real and totally not made up terror of missing out the Minnesota Home Brewers Association wants to let you know that three windows of opportunity are quickly closing.
- All orders for cider need to be placed before Monday, November 2. You don’t want to miss out on Pine Tree Apple Orchard’s delicious cider or Barley John’s famous egg bake. Place your order here.
- Due to covid, we will not be doing our customary bottle share at the cider buy. Instead, we are doing a bottle swap where you can drop off four bottles at the club secretary’s garage and you will get four different bottles at the cider buy to enjoy off-premise. You can even elect to get written feedback. To participate, enter the details of your brew here as soon as possible. The drop off is noon to 3 PM on Saturday, October 31 at the garage at 887 Nebraska Avenue W, Saint Paul, MN. More details are on the club website here. To recap: don’t bring beers to share to the cider buy, instead plan ahead and get bottles to enjoy later!
- You can order amazing Minnesota honey from Gardner Bees and pick it up from Josh Mahoney at the cider buy, but only until Monday, November 2. I’m getting a pail of their new goldenrod honey and can’t wait to try it in a cyser!
You don’t want to miss this. All those bottles and kegs you have could be full of crisp, fruit-forward, austere, and refreshing hard cider in a month or two.
Don’t forget your mask, practice physical distancing, wash your filthy paws, and please don’t come if you’re having symptoms. If you ordered and think you might be coming down with something, please reach out to a club officer and we will make alternate arrangements.
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The Cider Buy
The Minnesota Home Brewers Association is hosting our annual cider buy at Barley John’s Brewpub on November 7 from 10 am to 4 pm. The cider is from Pine Tree Apple Orchard and is being sold to club members for $25/5 gallons. The deadline is November 3, so don’t delay! Order your cider here!
If you’re new to making cider or want to up your cider game, check out:
- A Brewing TV episode featuring former MHBA club president Chris Smith
- The MHBA Cider Guide
Please remember that we will NOT fill glass containers for safety.
Don’t forget to enjoy Barley John’s famous egg bake and support them for hosting this annual event!
But wait … there’s more!
Due to covid, we are doing a virtual bottle share in lieu of our traditional in-person share. To join the fun:
- Pick a beer, mead, or cider you’ve made and of which you have at least four bottles
- Fill out this form with the details of your beverage. Decide if you want the recipient to judge it or not. This MUST be done prior to drop off.
- Drop off the four bottles at the club secretary’s garage (887 Nebraska Ave W, Saint Paul, MN) on Saturday, October 31 from noon to 3 pm. Can’t make that drop-off window? Contact the club secretary at [email protected]to drop it off before October 31. Please drop off your bottles in a four or six-pack holder. There will be a stack of post-it notes with a unique number on each one. Write your name legibly on the top-most post-it and stick it to the barrel of one of your bottles, and put that bottle inside the holder you brought. Using the permanent marker provided, please write the number from the post-it on each bottle cap.
- The club secretary will create mixed packs
- Pick up four different bottles at the cider buy
- If you decided to have your entries judged, you will get score sheets via email from the club secretary
Could the day get any sweeter?
Gardner Bees produces local, high-quality honey that has been used to make award-winning mead. Members who order honey from them will be able to pick it up from Josh Mahoney at the cider buy. This is a great opportunity to make cysers!
Speaking of cysers…
Club board member and one of the top home mead makers Adam Bystrom was invited on Got Mead Live last week to talk about cysers. You can listen to their conversation here.
Pucker up
Our friends at the Nordeast Brewers Alliance are hosting the Sour Times Homebrew Competition. Entries open November 1, and are limited to 50 entries. Get your sour and funky beers ready to compete!
Open mic
Do you want to organize an event of interest to the MHBA? Let us help publicize it! Contact the club secretary to get the ball rolling!
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