News
Congratulations to all of the winners at the 2015 Minnesota Renaissance Festival Homebrew Competition! We had an amazing show from the MHBA. Congratulations to all who entered.
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We have a number of fantastic events on the way for club members, friends and guests to come check out!
First of all, this Saturday, October 17th from noon to 3pm we will be at Bad Weather Brewing‘s new facility in St Paul. Their beautiful new taproom has been open since last Friday and we are going to invade their overflow area. Andy, the head brewer, will be on hand to show off all his new toys and to chat about brewing at Bad Weather. Homebrew is welcome but bring it in quietly. Please try to bring a 6-pack or so to make sure everyone can try it! The address is available on the event page on the club calendar.
Secondly, coming up on November 7th is our annual Learn to Brew day at Barley John’s Brew Pub in New Brighton. We will start the activities at 10am with brewing demos, prizes and lots of homebrew to share! Bring friends who have never brewed and they may walk away with a homebrew equipment setup!
Also at the learn to brew event is our annual Cider Buy. Cider is again $4 per gallon but must be reserved and paid-for in advance. Contact Jonathan Beckel for more information and to get on the list.
Read MoreThe next MHBA meeting will be on Saturday, October 17th, at Bad Weather Brewing in Saint Paul. Their beautiful new tap room opens for business on Friday the 9th (with a soft opening two nights earlier, but I didn’t tell you that), and we will invade their overflow area from noon to three on the 17th. Homebrew is welcome, but please bring it in surreptitiously. Andy the head brewer will be on hand to show off all his new shiny things to interested parties.
As always, if you bring at least a six-pack, growler, or keg of your latest creation, then you earn credit in the Brewers of Fame program (see website for details–offer not valid in Puerto Rico or Guam). You may always bring smaller amounts (e.g., your last bottle of gold-medal mead), but the point of providing a six-pack of one beer is for us to have a group conversation about that particular beer. We’ll focus the attention on you and your beer for a few minutes, and everyone gets to try it simultaneously, which facilitates better edgimucation for all!
As long as you have your calendars out, please mark down Saturday, November 7th at Barley John’s for the traditional Learn to Brew Day. Jonathan Beckel has once again graciously agreed to procure 500 gallons of cider for people to purchase. This is a mildly-heroic and much-appreciated undertaking, so please be grateful to Jonathan! He has stated that sign-up will begin later this week.
Then, on Sunday, December 13th, we have the annual Christmas Party! This will be from noon to five at the C.S.P.S. Hall, and is not to be missed!
As you were . . .
John
Sunday, September 13th, Midwest Supplies hosted MHBA’s September club meeting and the Iron Home Brew Competition. In this competition, the beers entered were not judged “to style,” but were judged on how well lime was used in harmony with the beer. This was a great opportunity for brewers to brew outside the box. Congratulations go to all the brewers who tackled this difficult ingredient. We had a panel of 3 judges taste all 8 beers and award the Iron Home Brewer trophy.
This year the trophy and a $50 Midwest gift certificate was awarded to a team of brewers: Scott Ode and Jim Bradburn for their Lime Pale Ale.
Best of Show: Scott Ode and Jim Bradburn for their Lime Pale Ale
People’s choice, along with a $50 gift certificate was awarded to another team: Megan and Ryan Hoveland for their Lime Wit.
People’s Choice: Megan and Ryan Hoveland for their Lime Wit
All the winners noted that they utilized lots of lime zest to perfect their beers.
Other participants included; John Kreimer (tied for 2nd), Nathan Steigman (tied for 2nd), John Vircks , John Longballa, Dave Royer, and Kevin Meintsma.
We also had many entries in the Brewers of Fame program, including all the lime contestants, who will receive credit in the fruit beer category. Others who received credit for sharing at least a six-pack, keg, or growler of a particular style were Kevin Meintsma for a cream ale and a barrel-aged robust porter, John Kreimer for an IPA, a cherry Belgian, and a RazBerry Rhubarb Ale, John Longballa for a cider, a bitter, and a brown ale, and Jon Hunter for a dunkleweizen. This has been a great opportunity for brewers to get some immediate feedback on beers, and a great opportunity to focus the meeting on one beer for a few minutes. If you have a beer and would like feedback, please feel free to bring it to meetings and enter it in the Brewers of Fame program.
A huge thank you goes to Midwest Supplies for allowing us to us their space and donating some of the prizes. The competition was the brainchild of Matt Weide, so thank you to Matt for putting the event together.
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It’s time to show your lime!
This Sunday on September 13th we will gather at Midwest Supplies for the first ever Minnesota Home Brewers Association Iron Home Brewer competition! The secret ingredient “Lime” was chosen earlier this summer. Come show off your best lime, or if you didn’t have a chance to brew with lime, come see what everyone produced! The competition itself is only open to club members but everyone is welcome to come and sample and share their opinion!
Details:
- September 13th, 1pm at Midwest Supplies
- This is a club only contest.
- Entrants can brew any beer that they feel will work in harmony and exemplify limes. The beer does not need to be brewed to any specific style.
- Brewers should bring at minimum 6 – 12 oz bottles or 1 – 64oz growler. We will have the club jockey box available for kegs as well.
- If you didn’t bring a beer with limes in it, bring it anyway for the Brewers of Fame program and receive some instant feedback.
There are two ways to win:
- We will have a panel of 3 qualified judges to select the Iron Home Brewer. The winner will win an MHBA Iron Home Brewer trophy and a $50 gift certificate to Midwest Supplies.
- We will also have a people’s choice award will win a $50 to Midwest Supplies.
If you have any questions about this event please e-mail Matt Weide.
Read MoreHere’s a quick run down of some of the mhba activities, discussions and happenings of the past week:
2014 State Fair Homebrew Competition Winner on tap at the 2015 State Fair
MHBA VP John Longballa’s 2014 State Fair Homebrew Competition winning beer was brewed up by Bent Brewstillery. It is available this year at the Ballpark Cafe at the Great Minnesota Get together! John shared:
As some of you know, my British Bitter won Best of Show (out of 693 entries) at the 2014 MN State Fair homebrew contest. As a result, Kristen England at Bent Brewstillery agreed to make a version of it (based on my recipe) for this year’s Fair. I was at Bent in early August, helping a tiny bit with the beer, which is called Fest Hops, and Fest Hops is on sale at the Ball Park Cafe at the State Fair this year. The beer will also be on tap at Bent and perhaps a few MN bars. Ball Park Cafe will also have Chris Smith’s German Hefe, which was produced with Chris at Lucid, as part of Chris’s victory in the BFD contest.
The Heavy Table posted this review of the beer as well:
Successful beers were the bright spots in our day: Bent Brewstillery’s Fest Hop was able to cut the sweetness and richness of several new food items. Using a 2014 Homebrew Competition winning recipe, Bent has created something for hop-loving fairgoers. Available at the Ballpark Cafe, Fest Hop struck several bitter chords and yet remained balanced and crisp.
Congrats to all the 2015 State Fair Homebrew Competition Winners
Look for a rundown in a separate article but congratulations to everyone who placed at the 2015 State Fair Homebrew Competition.
Renaissance Festival Competition Coming Up
Anyone looking for another fantastic homebrew competition to enter or help out with needs to check out the Minnesota Renaissance Festival Homebrew Competition, Byggvir’s Big Beer Cup. You can enter now and the competition is looking for volunteers to help steward and judge the weekend of October 3rd and 4th at the festival. Check out the website for more information.
Read MoreIt’s hard to believe but the State Fair is almost upon us. That means the State Fair Homebrew Competition is coming up even sooner! Our friends at the Primary Fermenters run the State Fair competition and they could really use some additional volunteers to help the competition run smoothly.
Sign up here by THIS Friday afternoon on the State Fair Competition Website for a stewarding / judging session on Friday, 8/21 and/or three sessions on Saturday, 8/22.
If you haven’t stewarded or judged before, now is the perfect time. You’ll have lots of experienced judges helping you learn the ropes. It’s a great time, a great way to learn to be a better brewer and you get to drink beer for FREE!
Read MoreEvery year at the Minnesota All-Club Campout each club can enter one Ale, one Lager, one Belgian and one Nead/Cider into a competition. Here are the winners from this year!
2015 Master of Malt Awards Results
ALE – 5 entries
- 1st – Tom Roan and Nancy Bowser, PHC – American IPA
- 2nd – Al Boyce, Primary Fermenters – American Brown Ale
- 3rd – John Vircks and Gera Exire LaTour, CRAZY – American Pale Ale
BELGIAN – 5 entries
- 1st – Dick Nilles, PHC – Kriek
- 2nd – John Vircks and Gera Exire LaTour, MHBA – Golden Strong
- 3rd – Nate Battendorf, Cloudy Town Brewers – Flanders Red
LAGER – 1 entry
- 1st – Paul Vogel and Roger Vaagen – Premium American Lager
MEAD & CIDER – 7 entries
- 1st – Al Boyce, Jack of All Brews – Mixed Berry Melomel
- 2nd – Al Boyce, NBA – Black Current Melomel
- 3rd – Nick Tillemans, MHBA – Mulberry Cider Applewine
Reminder that next Saturday, August 8th the MHBA will be at Midwest Supplies to celebrate all things Mead! Come stop by, learn how to make mead, try some samples and chat with Midwest Supplies customers about brewing and mead making!
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A quick reminder about Saturday’s meeting at Mighty Axe Hops in Ham Lake. Come out and join us for a tour of the hop farm! Please bring a chair and food item to share. Homebrew is of course welcome and encouraged!
Details are available on the Mighty Axe calendar page!