News
Thanks to Gera and Rock Bottom, the club once again enjoyed the lovely and spacious confines of Rock Bottom’s group room in downtown Minneapolis this past Saturday. As recompense for the brewery’s hospitality, the club purchased six pitchers of varying beer styles for the enjoyment of the twenty (or so) attendees. It WAS the election meeting, so no one dared step away to the restroom for long, for fear of returning to find that he or she was now in an elected position!
It was great to see some new faces, and one of those new faces will be seen on the MHBA Board for the next two years. Dan Dugan, fresh off the bus from D.C., accepted a nomination for (and won) an at-large seat. The other at-large seat was filled by Paul Illa, who (besides assisting with the printing of the calendar cards each member will be receiving) also will be serving for two years.
The club very much appreciates Al Boyce, who had been in an at-large seat the past two years.
The other at-large seat up for election had been filled by Gera Exire LaTour, who also had been the club treasurer this past year. On Saturday she was elected to remain treasurer for another year, but vacated the at-large seat she had held so that there could be more people involved on the board. President Brett Glenna, vice-president John Longballa, and secretary Dave Royer were all re-elected to their one-year positions. Chris Smith and Matt Weide are in two-year at-large seats that will be open next February. Michael Cote is a board member as President Emeritus.
Mike Behrendt and Mike Moranz raised the question of whether the club’s cash assets are too high, and asked the board to draft a budget for the coming year, and the board will do so. One reason mentioned for having a large amount of money is that the cost of meeting space might be rising dramatically in 2015, as the CSPS Hall is no longer able to give us the fantastic rate that they have held for us for decades. They are still giving us a break versus their regular rate, but just not as much of a break.
Here is the list of brewers who brought their wares to be sampled by all. They’ll be entering (or climbing) the ranks of the club’s Brewers of Fame program.
John Vircks–Ivan and Arthur: Baltic Porter
Brett Glenna and Paul Illa: English Mild
Gera Exire LaTour: Mead with blackberries and tart cherries
Brett Glenna: Scottish 70/-
Jon Hunter: Vienna
Paul Illa: Gose
Thanks again to Rock Bottom for once again granting us some free space!
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It’s time for a social event! Boom Island has invited us out to their taproom for a social event Wednesday, March 11. They are offering us $3 pints all night. Put it on your calendar and swing out to chat about Belgian beers, favorite beers or to brainstorm your latest homebrew recipe.
As this is a social event at a taproom that is open, we won’t be bringing outside beer to Boom Island. Come and try their beer and bring your questions, thoughts and discussion topics!
Check out the calendar event for more details, times and location information.
Read MoreWe have a brand new social event on the books. Come check out Burning Brothers Brewing in St Paul this upcoming May 21st. Burning Brothers is a gluten free brewery with a very interesting story. The event details are available on the club calendar event. As this is a Gluten Free environment, no outside food or beverages are allowed at the brewery.
Read MoreThe MHBA Club Leadership is finalizing the 2015 calendar and we could use your input regarding the holiday party.
In 2015 the cost of using the CSPS Hall is increasing quite a bit. To hold the party there on the traditional Friday will cost $700 (the past few years it’s been $400), but the party could be held there on a Sunday afternoon for $400. Additionally, some members have expressed an interest in having the holiday party on a day other than a Friday.
Please respond to the following poll so that the club leadership has some input to guide the scheduling decision. The cost should not be a deciding factor, but if just as many people would attend on a Sunday as on a Friday, then we may as well save some money. Likewise, if no one would attend on a Sunday, then we’ll likely just pay the extra money and go with the preferred day of the week.
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Although the view out your window does not inspire you to ponder the sport of baseball, it’s actually been since late November that the club has been sitting on fifty tickets for the Saints’ Monday, June 8th game versus the Joplin Blasters. Why in the world would we purchase tickets to a baseball game that at the time of sale was seven months away?–because the Saint Paul Saints baseball club is beginning a new era this summer, in that they’re moving to their new home in Lowertown Saint Paul. Because of the higher level of interest in Saints baseball this coming summer, we bought tickets for our annual club outing the day that they became available.
Tickets will be $18 each, and include a reserved infield seat at the new stadium, plus some tailgating grub (to be determined). Tailgating details are not yet fleshed out, given that no one is yet certain just how tailgating will play out in the new situation. If there ends up being special group spots, we’ll get one. If not, we’ll improvise.
You’ll want to purchase your tickets with a credit card, using the link below. We probably cannot purchase extra tickets come April, so step forward now to give us an accurate head count, please.
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Congratulations to everyone who placed at the 2015 Great Northern Brew Ha Ha competition in Duluth this weekend! Find the complete results on the competition website. Thanks to everyone who entered and volunteered!
This year’s Minnesota Mashout (formerly Upper Mississippi Mashout) has come to a close with a fantastic showing from MHBA members! Congratulations to all 2015 Minnesota Mashout winners! A huge thanks goes out to the organizers, volunteers, stewards and judges for a fantastic competition.
The complete list of all winners is available at the Mashout Website.
There is a brand new benefit to being a member of the Minnesota Home Brewers Association! If you show your MHBA membership card at the Boom Island Boom Room (aka, taproom) you will get happy hour pricing all the time! Consider stopping by and saying hi next time you are in the area. A big thanks to Boom Island for extending us this discount. 
Thanks to everyone who came out January 8th to Casket Cinema for the screening of “For the Love of Beer”! We had a fantastic showing from the club and were able to introduce a number of Casket Cinema patrons to some great examples of homebrew.
The movie provided a great snapshot into the brewing industry, presented form a female perspective. It was very well produced, entertaining and informative. After the movie, the discussion with Gera, Tara, Rachel and Kathleen was likewise entertaining, fun and informative. Thanks ladies for sharing!
A special thanks goes out to Mark Wojahn and Wilbur Ince, co-founders of Casket Cinema for inviting and hosting us.
Read MoreThanks to everyone who came out to last month’s holiday party. We had a fantastic turn out with a great collection of food, beverages and people!
This year’s winners of the “Best Food” and “Best Beverage” awards went to Paul Illa and Tim Burman. Paul took best beverage with his triple IPA, brewed at Learn to Brew day at Barly John’s. Tim amazed us with “beer-amisu”, a beer version of tiramisu!
Thanks to everyone who made this past year’s party a huge success. Here is a collection of photos from the event.
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