News

If 10:00 a.m. comes Saturday, November 4th, and you don’t find yourself in a deer stand, then we’ll expect you to be eating egg bake and sampling homebrew and cider with the club at Barley John’s!  If you haven’t attended a meeting before, and you’re there at 10:30, then I GUARANTEE that a veteran member will introduce herself/himself and pour you a beer.

Barleys John’s is once again kind enough to allow us to take over their patio for the day.  They’ll have a special egg bake ready, so come hungry!  Two volunteers will be brewing demonstration batches outside, and supposedly some of those brews will find their way to the Holiday Party (Sunday, December 10th).  There will be a door prize or two as well . . .

Bring homebrew to share; there will be a special judging area where you can get feedback from BJCP judges.

Bring CIDER!  There will be a prize for the best cider.

Pick up your cider purchase!  There will be a prize at the Holiday Party for the best cider from this year’s batch.  THE CIDER PURCHASE IS CLOSED. Members purchased all 500 gallons, so if you are a non-member who was hoping to get some at the end of the purchase period, you will just have to join the club before next November.  🙂

Learn about cider!  At 11:00, our club scientist Dave Matson will present ciders to be sampled; the ciders were fermented with nine different yeasts.  Dave might also have some doctored ciders to show the effects of adding acid and/or tannin.  Following Dave’s presentation, he and noted cider expert Chris Smith will hold a cider conversation where attendees may ask questions about the cider-making process.

Drink lots of Barley John’s great beer!  While you eat egg bake, sample ciders, and wait for your turn in the cider line, please make certain to drink lots of John’s fabulous beer.  Homebrew is welcome, but we want to make this worth Barley John’s time.  We also want to be known as a club that tips like there’s no tomorrow.

We’ll see you incider or outcider Barley John’s on the 4th!  People will be brewing and mingling until at least 2:00 . . .

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Coming up on August 9th, the Minnesota Home Brewers Association has been invited to visit the brand new brewery Unmapped Brewing, in Minnetonka. Club member and BJCP Judge Derek Allmendinger is the head brewer. He will give us a tour and share his perspective on the professional brewing experience.

Bring your friends and family and come out and enjoy some of Derek’s beers, hang out and catch up with fellow club members and brag about how awesome your entry to the Iron Home Brewer Competition will be in September!

The event page has all the details but here’s the short version:

When: Wednesday, August 9th from 6:00pm until 9:00ish.
Where: Unmapped Brewing, Minnetonka, MN

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• The all club camp-out is only a month away, so start planning now.  Families are VERY welcome at this event!

When:

• Friday through Sunday August 4-6

Where:

• El Rancho Manana, 27302 Ranch Road, Richmond, MN 56368 – map
  • Near Cold Spring, not far from St. Cloud

Keep reading for more camp-out details: Please let me know ahead of time of you’re coming.  This will help us plan, especially for Saturday dinner.  Please e-mail [email protected] to indicate your intentions to attend as soon as possible.

Camp Details:

• El Rancho Manana is a multi-use site.  For the campout we have a large group space off by ourselves, primitive camping or small RVs, portable toilets, community water spigot, no electricity.
• If you want more luxury, they do have more developed sites; call the campground to find out more information and rates on those.
• El Rancho has a variety of other perks including a beach, shower house, water bike rentals, horseback riding etc., all on site, only a short walk or car ride from our group site.
• Our location is an open space, not a lot of shade, if you have a portable canopy, you may want to bring it.

Cost and Registration Information:

• Cost is $25 per adult for the two nights.  If you wish to extend your stay before or after, you can do that at a cost of $10 per adult for the extra night.
• Please call El Rancho for reservations at 320.597.2740 and state you are with the Minnesota Homebrewers Camp-Out.  The sooner the better.
• There will also be a minimal charge for those participating in Saturday’s dinner.  Final costs will be determined on site, and will be about $10 per adult, no charge for children.

What to Expect:

• If you’ve been to the campout, you know it’s primarily a time to kick back and enjoy good beer and fun beer drinkers.
• Feel free to participate as you wish.
• Bring beer to share.
• Club jockey boxes will be available so kegs are welcome and encouraged.
• The campfires are always accompanied by the passing around of great beers for all to sample.  Start thinking now about what delectable delights you’ll bring in your cooler.
• The host clubs cook dinner Saturday evening, but for all other meals you’ll want to make sure you bring food for yourself and/or family.
• Of course, bring your own camping gear and chairs.
• Well behaved dogs are welcome.
• Well-behaved acoustic instruments are welcome.
• Amplified music is generally unwelcome.

Over the years some traditions have developed and some new ones are added:

• NEW THIS YEAR -Tour at Third Street Brewhouse (about ten minutes away)
  • 1:00 Saturday–no charge, but space is limited, so let me know if you’re interested.
• Group bike rides.  Bring your bikes, and let’s hit the road!  I might bike to the Third Street tour; I biked there once from El Rancho, and it’s not a long trip.
• Master of Malt
  • This fun competition between clubs has been held at the campout since 1992 (yes, this will be year 26).  Each club can enter up to four brews: one for ALES, one for LAGERS, one for BELGIANS, and one for MEAD/CIDERS.  There will be awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in all categories and best of all, you will be competing for the coveted title of Master of Malt!  The win is recorded forever in history for your club AND you get to spend a full year with the prestigious Master of Malt trophy.  It is kind of like the Stanley Cup (but not really)!
• Sour Hour:
  • A tart happy hour.  Sometime in the lull between the Master of Malt competition and dinner we will get together and break out some sour beers.  It is a very casual thing.  Bring and share if you like sours.
• Bloody Mary Mornings
  • (okay, maybe early afternoon for later risers):  Some of us like to start the day with a good Bloody Mary (remember the old saying, “you can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning.”)  This is another low key event, if you would like to begin your day this way, bring your own mix and vodka to begin, but also bring one Bloody Mary Builder to share with the group (pickles, beef sticks, cheese, celery, the list is endless).  Let’s see how creative we can get.
• Saturday Dinner:
  • Saturday’s dinner will be prepared and hosted by The MN Home Brewers Association.  There will be meat prepared on a huge grill trailer, and enough non-meat items that you can justify eating dessert.  So we can plan for dinner pleased indicate your participation by e-mailing John Longballa.

  If any of this sounds like fun, you’ll want to join us at the camp-out!  See you there.

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It’s almost time for Homebrew Con! The first question is, are YOU attending? Also, our club is serving club homebrew (beer, mead and cider) at two events and we are looking for a couple volunteers:

Club Night:
Friday, June 16, 7:30 pm – 11:30 pm, Hall D, Booth 1540
Social Club: Saturday, June 17th, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm, Hall E, Bar 1

We are looking for volunteers to serve beer and represent the MHBA during these events…if we can get enough people would be ½ hour to 1 hour stints. Email Dave Matson if you can help. Note, if possible you should wear either MHBA garb or something along our Night’s Watch theme (club night only). Dave has an extra MHBA shirt I can borrow you if needed.

Also, we will be setting up for club night some time Friday between 10am and 6pm…contact Dave to let him know if you can be available…shouldn’t be a major undertaking but the more the merrier.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

– Dave Matson

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