Home brew goes pro

Phil Grey from Hamilton is very enthusiastic about home brewing and has his own micro brewery.

It might come as something of a surprise but some of the finest beers I’ve ever tasted have been brewed by amateur brewers at home. Furthermore, assuming you’re a fan of New Zealand craft beer, I’ll wager there’s a fair chance some of your favourite commercial beers were originally created in someone’s garage.

With its sparse, spread-out population and much admired give-it-a-go mentality, it’s hardly surprising New Zealand has a long history of home brewing. Traditionally, many Kiwi home brewers have made something pretty basic but these days more and more are using the internet to source ingredients, research and perfect recipes and techniques and share information. Websites such as RealBeer (forum.realbeer.co.nz) provide an invaluable resource for discussion and exchanging ideas between fellow home brewers and the range of styles and quality of the beers now being produced has skyrocketed.

In recent years some of the country’s best home brewers have taken the next step and started producing their beers commercially. Wellington home brewer Stu McKinlay, for example, designs and test brews the Yeastie Boys’ beers before scaling them up for commercial production at Invercargill Brewery. Similarly Dale Holland, the Nelsonian behind Dale’s Brewing Company, whose Belgian Pale Ale won the supreme award at SOBA’s National Home Brewing Competition in 2010, hones his recipes at home before travelling to Westport to brew 2500-litre batches.

Other passionate home brewers who’ve turned their hobby into a commercial venture include Taranaki’s Joe Wood (who brews the much-admired Liberty Brewing beers), Hamilton’s Graeme Mahy (666 Brewing), Christchurch’s David Gaughan (Golden Eagle), Wellingtonians Shigeo Takagi (Funk Estate) and Chris Mills (Kereru) and, most notably, Soren Eriksen (of Blenheim’s 8 Wired Brewing).

While some are producing just a few hundred litres at a time and hand-selling the beers bottle by bottle at farmers’ markets and the like, larger producers such as 8 Wired and Yeastie Boys brew thousands of litres at a time and are even exporting some of their beers. No doubt many more will follow in their footsteps.

If you’re brewing at home and would like to investigate the possibility of making and selling your beers on a commercial basis, I’d suggest the first thing to do is to have your beers evaluated at a reputable home-brew competition. This summer there are several such events lined up around the country.

The country’s largest and most respected competition, the SOBA National Homebrew Competition, is run annually by the beer consumer group the Society of Beer Advocates. This year’s competition will be judged in Hamilton over the weekend of November 3 and 4 and is expected to attract about 500 entries.

Hamilton brewer Graeme Mahy will be chairing a panel of judges which includes brewers Kelly Ryan (formerly of Epic Brewing and now brewing for Hamilton’s brand new Good George Brewing Co), Shane Morley (Steam Brewing), Dave Kurth (West Coast Brewing), Dale Holland (Dale’s Brewing) and veteran brewer Ben Middlemiss (Ben Middlemiss Brewing). Beer writers Kieran Haslett-Moore and I will also be on the judging panel. Full details are available online at nhc.soba.org.nz.

If previous competitions are anything to go by, the panel can expect to sample a broad selection of styles.

Last year saw New Zealand and American pale ales, English, American and Imperial IPAs as well as English and American barley wines, while darker styles included robust and brown porters, American-style brown ales, oatmeal stouts and Russian Imperial stouts. Smoked beers and Belgian-style saisons were also well represented.

Last month Beervana in Wellington included a home-brew competition sponsored by Black Rock, the makers of home-brew kits. This year’s competition was judged by Black Rock master brewer Kirsten Taylor, Joseph Wood, of Liberty Brewing, and beer aficionados and home-brew advocates Simon Morton and Richard Scott from Radio New Zealand’s This Way Up programme. The overall winner was Richard Jack with his Figaro imperial oatmeal stout. Second place went to Dale Cooper with Anntico Street Sour and third place was picked up by Marcus Bird, who brewed Trafalgar Ale, a late-hopped saison.

The home-brew competition will return at next year’s Beervana.

If you live further south and would like your beer judged closer to home, the Nelson A P Association is holding separate competitions for home-brewed and commercially brewed beers as a part of at its annual A P Show at the Richmond Showgrounds on November 24 and 25. Entry is just $10 per beer and entry forms can be downloaded from the show’s website (richmondpark.org.nz/ap-show/wine-beer).

Finally, if you’d just like to get together with fellow home brewers and check out each other’s beers, the Nelson branch of SOBA will be holding a home-brew competition on November 11 at McCashin’s Brewery in Stoke. Further details are available by emailing nelson@soba.org.nz.

Happy brewing.

Cheers!

– The Marlborough Express

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Tastings, brewers challenge mark Grand Rapids Public Museum beer history … – The Grand Rapids Press

IF YOU GO

‘Thank you, BEER!’ programs and events

BREWERS CHALLENGE:

Dates: Friday, Oct. 19, 6-9 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 20, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Brewers Challenge is an audience-judged competition that will showcase Michigan regional brewers. The event will also feature beer-related merchandise, cider and home-brew displays, and an interview station to capture the stories of current local brewers.

Tickets: $30 per person; includes general admission, small plate food and ten beer tasting tokens. Must be 21 and older.

BEER SCHOOL

• Oct. 25: The Harvest, a summer gathering.
• Nov. 15: Beer styles and what they mean to us.
• Nov. 29: Extreme sides of beer.
• Dec. 6: A holiday feast, the story of holiday beers.
• Dec. 13: The future of beer.

Tickets: $8 per person; includes admission to the exhibit and the class.

GOURMET PAIRING DINNER

Date: Saturday, Nov. 17 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Museum Chef Hans Dokl will present an elegant five-course dinner paired with beers made by the five winners of the Brewers’ Challenge. Chef Hans will talk about the foods and their pairings, and the brewers will explain the chosen brews. The Museum’s special commemorative beer by Founders will also be featured as a special “Welcome Beer.”

Tickets: $45 per person; must be 21 or older.

’HOPPY HOUR’ TASTINGS

Every Tuesday night and most Saturday afternoons during the run of the exhibition, adults will be able to purchase and enjoy selected regional craft and national beers. Free root beer samples will be offered for kids in Rudell Drug Store.

Dates:

Oct. 13, 16, 23, 27, 30.
Nov. 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, 24, 27
Dec. 1, 4, 8, 11, 15, 18, 22, 29

Times: Tuesdays, 5 to 8 p.m., Saturdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Dry Saturdays on Oct. 20 and Nov. 3).

Tickets: $5 per person for 5 samples; must be 21 or older.

More info: Purchase tickets to all events by visiting the Museum’s website, or by calling 616-456-3977.

The craft of beer making: Head brewer versus home brewer

It’s not every day that you get to compare the notes of a head brewer and a home brewer.

NewsWorks asked Paul Rutherford, head brewer at Iron Hill in Chestnut Hill, and Scott Wikander, home brewer and owner of Malt House, Ltd., a brewing supply store in Mt. Airy, about the craft of beer making.

Ramping up creativity

We’ve all seen our local watering holes change the taps before, but within the last several years, those drafts have become increasingly over-the-top and buzz-worthy.

Just consider Iron Hill’s “Pineapple Express,” a popular pineapple-flavored beer on tap at the brewery.

“Science is a part of the job,” explained Rutherford. “When we put a recipe together, we need to do research, especially with a novel ingredient like a pineapple.”

Wikander explains that time is what makes craft beers stand out against the Miller Lite’s of the beer world.

“The root of it is a commitment to quality, rather than mass-produced things,” said Wikander. “It’s taking the time to do it right.”

His interest in home brewing began at the age of 32 after learning from a friend.

“I was surprised when I learned how to home brew,” said Wikander, “I realized it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.”

Rutherford says he gained interest in home brewing at the age of 19. “That was a hobby for me then,” he admitted, “now, it’s a career.”

While working in the restaurant business in California, he decided he wanted to enroll at the Siebel Institute of Technology and World Brewing Academy in Chicago. He graduated with a World Brewing Diploma and even spent a month studying in Munich at a pilot brewery.

“It’s like any other trade,” explained Rutherford. “The industry is growing. Now, it’s a viable career path.”

Hollywood names for hometown beers

Naming beer is essential to the craft. Wikander says one of his favorites is “Saison II: Tokyo Drift,” a spin on the movie of a similar name.

“Most home brewers come up with crazy names,” said Wikander, who currently has a “Maison Saison” on tap, meaning “house malt,” and an “East Coast Pale Ale.”

With names like “Cowabunga Porter,” “Chestnut Hill Cream Ale” and “Kryptonite Imperial IPA,” Iron Hill always has an array of unique beer names.

Breaking down the brewing process

During the NewsWorks visit, Wikander made a British Mild Ale that was brewed with pale and crystal malts, British hops called “Fuggles” and British ale yeast.

Rutherford brewed a Biere de Garde, a French farmhouse style ale that translates as “beer for keeping.” It was brewed with pilsner, aromatic and Munich malts, a lager yeast and cracked black pepper.

Wikander utilized a pot on his stovetop, while Rutherford used a mash tun, a brewing vessel that can hold up to 800 pounds.

Both brewers boiled water, with Wikander boiling 5 gallons and Rutherford boiling 2.5 barrels (about 82 gallons).

The processes were similar, including the hop addition. Both brewers explained that there are three fundamental hop additions that a brewer can add to their beer. The first addition adds bitterness, the second adds flavor and the third adds aroma.

While there were differences in the scale of the equipment being used, one stand-out item that the brewery did not have on hand was a “hop sock.” The sock or netted bag can hold a hop addition that is sunk into the brew.

“[It] is purely a home brewer item,” said Wikander. “It’s meant for small amounts of hops, commercial brewers use much larger quantities.”

Hazards of the trade

Both processes include a hazardous element because of Carbon dioxide (CO2) build up. The fermentation process itself converts sugars into alcohol and Carbon dioxide.

Rutherford says Carbon dioxide can cause a pressure build up that could essentially cause a small explosion.

“That’s why we have a blow-off tube that vents the CO2,” said Rutherford.

He surmised that home brewers could also have issues in a glass carboy. “They’d have a glass mess on their hands,” said Rutherford.

In a glass carboy that contains Wikander’s brew, an airlock releases Carbon dioxide and allows gas to escape the container, preventing a small eruption.

“For a home brewer, the stopper or lid would give-way before a fermentor actually exploded,” explained Wikander.

Losing money from botched batches

Wikander says if a batch of beer is bad or undrinkable, he loses about $40. “It depends on the ingredients,” he explained.

Rutherford agrees that ingredients are what determines the cost of a batch and says the brewery can lose thousands of dollars. “It depends on what the raw material costs.”.

Both brewers agreed that sanitation is a key part of making a good beer. Wikander even cleans the bottles and caps that he stores his beer in and Rutherford personally checks and shines the glassware at Iron Hill.

“Bad batches for home brewers are usually the result of improper sanitation that result in foreign or wild yeast entering the beer and adding off-flavors,” said Wikander.

“Eighty percent of the job is cleaning. It’s not that glamorous,” said Rutherford, “but mostly, it’s the best job in the world.”

Tuning in to the right timing

Both brewers watch a clock when brewing, with Rutherford using his cell phone and Wikander a wall clock. “Everything is time sensitive,” said Rutherford.

With 16 beers on tap at Iron Hill, Rutherford says a major part of his job is scheduling. He has six 10 barrel tanks and one 20 barrel tank filled with fresh beer ready-to-go at any one time. He described it as “a juggling act.”

“It’s better to have a second person to help on this level,” said Rutherford, who works alongside Derek Testerman, assistant brewer at Iron Hill, “usually we’re overlapping a lot of projects at once.”

Because he has a kegerator, a refrigerated container that dispenses beer, Wikander can keep four beers on tap at the same time. He typically has three to four batches ready to drink with “a few fermenting.”

A sense of camaraderie

Both brewers agree that brewing is something that has its own culture and community. They love that they’re able to share their craft with friends, family and beer lovers alike.

Wikander says he gives his beer as gifts. “I bring it to parties,” said Wikander.

Rutherford says he enjoys participating in the beer culture. “We plan events and have beer release parties,” he said, “we really try to keep people talking.”

In July, Iron Hill held a Wrestlemania-inspired event featuring two beers, “Ultimate Warrior IPA” and “Belgian Full Nelson.” They invited patrons to order one or the other until one was tapped out, making that beer the winner.

Much of the beer community starts at local home brew clubs like M*A*S*H (Mt. Airy Society of Homebrewers), the G.L.U.B. (General Lafayette Underground Brewers) Club in Chestnut Hill and the YTM (You The Man) Homebrew Club in Manayunk.

Whether they’re producing a few gallons or multiple barrels, both brewers agree that it’s creativity and community that keeps them loving the craft of beer making.

Reuben’s delivers beer with a personal touch

Reuben’s delivers beer with a personal touch

Owners Adam and Grace Robbings opened Reuben’s Brews August 5, further adding to the brewing trend in Ballard people have been calling the “Red Hook District.”

Robbings, originally from London, moved to Seattle in 2004. After the birth of his son, Reuben, Robbings said he started home brewing because he felt he could enhance flavors in many of the beers he was drinking. Coincidently, his first brewing kit was a gift from his son.

In 2010, Robbings won his first competition as a homebrewer in the Phinney Neighborhood Association’s (PNA) Winter Beer Taste, taking peoples choice award for his Roasted Rye PA against well known breweries like Sierra Nevada and Ninkasi. Later, Robbings also won Best of Show at the Skagit County Fair.

After Robbing’s win in Skagit County, he was invited to brew his recipe at the Anacortes brewery. Since that batch was brewed at a commercial brewery, Robbings was allowed to enter in the 2011 PNA Beer Taste, which had banned home brewers from participating. That year he won the peoples choice again with his American Brown. Following local victories, Robbing’s brown won silver on a national scale at the 2012 National Home Brew Conference.

Marked by overwhelming popularity after success in competitions, Robbings and Grace decided to open Reuben’s, but not with the typical tap room or commercial brewery mentality. They want to limit their distribution to local vendors but be nationally recognized, so that when people want to drink Reuben’s Brews they come to Ballard.

“Our goal is to make the best beer out of the best local ingredients, not to sell as much as we can,” said Robbings.

What’s more is that when people come to Reuben’s they are in for an education. Adam and Grace, who is an economics instructor at Bellevue College, have made the tap room also a classroom, where they encourage people to think about the flavors and the process in the beers.

The menu is an example of the Robbings’ educational goal, where specifics like the International Bitterness Units (IBU), alcohol by volume (ABV), original specific gravity (OG) and flavor profiles are clearly listed.

From the start Robbings has kept ingredients and materials local and sustainable. He uses grains and malt from Washington State and has used a recycled wood and plastic waste material called NewWood (manufactured in Elma, WA) to build much of the space.

Robbings, said the space was empty and had no sewer or running water. With the help of his in-laws, Michael and Liz Pfeiffer, they have refurbished the space into a vibrant room that functions as both brewery and urban tap room.

“I wanted to keep people close to the brewing equipment so when they ask about the beers I can literally show them [the equipment] a few feet away,” said Robbings.

Pfeiffer, a carpenter by trade, moved from Illinois to help in the construction of the space and brewery operations. He works as brewery manager and has a hand in every step in the brewing process all the way up to pouring taps. “I’m here from morning to night and assist Adam with everything,” said Pfeiffer.

“If you ask me the pumpkin brew is what brought Mike out here. He was drinking only Bud light before he tried it. Now he drinks nothing but micro brews,” said Robbings.

The Imperial Pumpkin Rye, which will be available in October, is one of many beers that distinguish Reuben’s brews from other breweries.

“There is a science and there is an art in brewing. We experiment with different yeasts and ingredients like molasses and toasted pumpkin seeds like in the pumpkin rye to bring complexity to flavor,” said Robbings.

Robbings said out of seven taps there are five different yeasts used and in the American Brown there are 8 different grains, creating depth and complexity in the flavors.

Since opening with five beers on tap on their opening day, Aug. 5, Robbings has added two more brews. Currently, tap tasters can look for the Roggenbier, American Rye, American Brown, Robust Porter, Dry Stout, Imperial IPA and the Imperial Rye IPA. A California Lager and an India Red Ale are on the way.

On his first visit, Kris Harness of Lake Forrest Park said he comes through Ballard for business and happened to discover Reuban’s Brews. Finishing his glass of Imperial IPA, Harness said the beer is bitter at the finish, but very smooth getting there. “If you like IPA’s your going to love this place,” Harness said.

President Obama’s Tour Bus Rolls With White House Home Brew

by Bill Chappell, National Public Radio

It seemed normal enough when President Obama chatted with a coffee shop patron about beer in Iowa Tuesday. The president has shown he’s a fan of beer — and it’s the most politically expedient, “everyman” beverage a candidate can drink. But then the president told a man at Knoxville, Iowa’s Coffee Connection cafe that he travels with his own home-brew — and gave him a bottle to prove it.

We reported on Obama’s venture into home brewing last year, when he served the White House’s beer to guests celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and (at an earlier event) watching the Super Bowl. That beer was a honey ale, brewed using honey from the White House’s bee hive.

Now comes news that Obama’s homebrew is packed aboard his campaign bus. At the end of his coffeehouse chat, the president had a bottle brought in for his new beer buddy. Watching this, the press corps who travel with the president were thunderstruck. And they wanted answers from White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

Carney took flurries of questions about the beer. One reporter asked about transporting the homemade brew across state lines, in a line that drew laughter from the press pool: “Does the Treasury Department know about this?”

Carney was also asked, “Any other distilleries in the White House we don’t know about?”

“There’s a lot going on behind the trees on the South Lawn,” he said.

In our earlier story, we noted that President Obama doesn’t exactly hover around the carboy with a thermometer, agonizing over alcohol levels. The White House kitchen staff reportedly does all the actual brewing. But the president has shown he’s a fan of small brewers, such as Chicago’s Goose Island. He once gave a sample of that beer to British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Asked if he’d tried the White House beer, Carney said he had — calling it “superb” — and added that he thinks there are both light and dark style beers. But he wasn’t sure who is in charge of the brewing.

“Usually, when somebody hands me a beer I don’t ask how it was made. I just drink it,” he said.

You can expect to keep seeing politicians hoisting beers this campaign season. It’s become a well-established political prop: Many candidates use it to signal to voters, “Hey, I’m drinking a frosty mug just like you — you really should vote for me, because we have so much in common.”

Consider that Obama, who clearly enjoys the White House brew, will also happily drink a Bud Light with folks at the state fair, as our colleague Scott Horsley reports. He even treated for one round — sparking a rallying call of “Four More Beers!” from the crowd.

As The Washington Post reports, the “beer vote” is crucial — especially when going after independent voters:

“According to a survey conducted by Scarborough Research, 47 percent of independent voters drank a beer in the past 30 days, while just 40 percent of Republicans and 39 percent of Democrats did.”

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Drink In All That Brewer App Offers

The recipe manager is rather sophisticated for a mobile app, including the ability to add ingredients, your brewing equipment and different mash profiles. This allows for a complete homebrew recipe to be created on the go.

Not only does it include a recipe manager, it also includes a large number of brewing calculators.

A few calculators that are really handy on brew day are the hydrometer correction and the refractometer conversion.

These calculations are essential to measure the final alcohol percentage of your home brew.

Another great feature of Brewzor PRO is the ability to import BeerXML files, which allowed me to take my existing recipes on the go.

The built-in shopping list feature is very convenient, as I no longer need to print out my recipes before heading to the homebrew store to pick up ingredients.

The only features I found lacking in Brewzor PRO were a brew-day timer and an estimated alcohol-by-volume percentage calculation for the brew recipes. Once these features become included, you could easily replace your desktop brewing software.

[ Frankie Majowich works for Lakeland-based DSM Technology Consultants. ]

Come taste local brews at Art of the Home Brew event

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Beer with bite: Bell’s Brewery to tap winner of its home-brewing contest Saturday – Michigan Business Review

Courtesy of Bell’s BreweryBell’s Brewery will be tapping the winner of its annual home-brewing competition July 21 at 3 p.m. Winner Geoff Groff’s secret ingredient? Habanero chilis.

KALAMAZOO, MI — If you like your beer with a kick, Bell’s Brewery will have a peppery batch to offer Saturday.

The brewery will be tapping A Bit of Heat, which won its second annual home-brewing contest last September, at 3 pm. at the Eccentric Cafe at 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave. downtown.

The IPA or Strong Pale Ale is brewed with paradise seeds, rose hips and habanero chilis and is the brainchild of substitute teacher Geoff Groff.

The habanero might be nicknamed “Satan’s chili,” but Groff assured people that drinking the beer is a far different experience from chugging Tabasco.

“It is well balanced
and is not as spicy as people may think. The spice is enough to recognize
that’s it in there and that it is peppery,” Groff said.

Groff,
who is originally from Troy and lives in Climax, is a member of the Kalamazoo Libation Organization of Brewers and has been home-brewing off
and on since 1999.

He
decided the day before picking up his Bell’s wort to experiment with the peppers, which came from his garden.

Groff, along with brewery manager Andy Farrell and specialty brewer Zeke Bogan, brewed about 10
barrels of A Bit of Heat in June on Bell’s 15-barrel system, which is used for experimental and small-batch beer such as The Wild One.

“I enjoyed being with
Andy and Zeke, to watch them brew on a larger system and seeing how different
it is from brewing on a home-brew scale,” said Groff. “The fact that you
can brew 10 barrels in not more than a few hours longer then it might take a
home brewer to make five to 10 gallons is quite cool.”

Bell’s 3^rd Annual Homebrew Expo and
Competition Kick-off will be held Sept. 8.

Yvonne Zipp is a business reporter for the Kalamazoo Gazette. You can reach her at yzipp@mlive.com or 269-365-8639.

A Cost-Comparison Of Home-Brewed Versus Store-Bought Beer

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To brew one’s own beer is, in my book, one of life’s great pleasures. But, as the Bargain Babe, I’m not convinced that brewing my own beer is any cheaper than buying it from the store. Of course, this is assuming my homemade beer would taste as good as a pint of my favorite store-bought brand.

Well, I finally decided to settle the debate once and for all. Here is my breakdown of home brew vs. store-bought beer.

Does brewing your own beer save money?

First, let’s compare the cost of home brew to the cost of store-bought for an entire year. For the sake of the experiment, let’s also assume that you consume one six-pack a week. I’ll ignore the negligible costs of storage and energy for both methods.

Store-bought beer costs approximately $5-$9, depending on whether you buy an inexpensive brand or fancy schmancy craft beer. Again, for this analysis, let’s assume you spend $7 a week on a middle-of-the-road six-pack, which amounts to $364 (plus tax) a year.

The True Cost of Home Brewing

For home brew, you have to invest in supplies, plus ingredients for each batch.

A basic home brewing kit at MoreBeer.com costs $109. Shipping is free. An ingredient kit, called extract, for mild brown beer costs $25 and makes 5 gallons, or about 50 beers (equivalent to 8.3 six-packs). A tube of liquid yeast costs $5.75 and bottle caps (I’m going to assume you saved empty beer bottles to avoid the cost of buying new ones) will run you $1.50. That brings the cost of your first batch of home brewed beer to $141.25.

That’s $16.95 per six-pack!

However, each additional batch of home brew only costs $32.25 (extract + yeast + caps). A batch makes 8.3 six-packs, so you only have to brew once every two months, give or take. A year of home brewing will cost you $109 for the kit, plus six batches at $32.25 each. That comes to $302.50.

Home brewing saves approximately $62 a year.

Hmmmm…. With that kind of savings, brewing your own beer might not be the kind of money-saving endeavor that would help fund your next vacation or amount to a significant contribution to your emergency fund.

Also, if time is money, that figure doesn’t take into account the hours spent making beer, either. But…. on the flip side, how could I ever put a price on the street cred I would earn for making my own beer?!! Plus, in my opinion, brewing beer sure beats watching TV as a hobby.

The Bottom Line

I’ve made plenty of things myself, like granola bars, bagels, and hummus. When I’m contemplating a house repair, I calculate my own hourly rate to help me decide if I should hire a contractor or not.

But I’m going to add beer making to the list of DIY projects I would never do. It just doesn’t seem worth the dollar savings.

Would you brew your own beer?

DON’T MISS: The lifetime cost of these 13 bad habits

This story was originally published by Mint.

Brewhaha: Beer and Taxes

The Dead Yeast Society is a superbly local resource for home-brewers and craft beer lovers, so much so that donating to the cause is tax deductible.

For beer lovers of the most devoted variety – home brewers – the Hub City is home to a superbly local resource for craft beer and home-brewing.

This week’s Brewhaha blog, a promotion from The Independent crafted to support EatLafayette and encourage local flavor, features The Dead Yeast Society, Lafayette’s premier home-brewing club.

Founded in 1990, the Dead Yeast Society meets one Tuesday a month at Marcello’s on Johnston Street for a session on all things home brew. When it comes to home-brewing in Acadiana, Dead Yeast Society President Gene Nelson says via the club website that “we’re always here to help.”

“We are working on ways to help out the new brewers as well as the veterans. Check us out … come say hi,” Nelson says in the club website’s message from the president. “This is your club and with your help it can be better. We are always looking for ideas to help out the club.”

One way to help is by making a donation to the club, which doubles as a non-profit “educational” organization and thus contributions are tax-deductible.

Member-only benefits include access to the yeast library, as well as loans on the gear needed to brew your own beer.

Click here to read more about the Dead Yeast Society, including info on upcoming “sensory analysis” training sessions what it takes to “Sweat Your Brews Off” at a planned Dead Yeast Society event.

Every Friday during the EatLafayette campaign, The INDsider will post fun facts, local trivia and more under its Brewhaha blog. Post your best beer responses under the blog on our website, and we’ll choose one commenter per week to receive a 12-pack of Bud Light Platinum courtesy of Schilling Distributing. Commenters must be registered with our website to post a response. Click here to sign up for The INDsider and a chance to win.

Brewhaha Trivia:
-Name three of the four main ingredients found in beer recipes. Then tell us about some of your favorite beers and where you like to drink them. Remember, a good beer story could mean a free 12-pack of Bud Light Platinum to kick off your weekend, as the first person to correctly answer trivia is not the automatic winner of the blog. It’s a dialogue, and the winning comment may not necessarily be the correct trivia answer.

Brewhaha Fun Fact:
-The word lager stems from the German word lagem that means “to store,” referring to the process by which beer is made by fermenting over long periods of time.

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3 of the 4 main ingredients in beer is…. Water, Hops, and Yeast. personal favorite beer would have to be Abita Amber, can’t go wrong with local beer which I regularly drink at Cafe Cottage, $5 pitchers on Fridays!

And a good beer story? …. The effects of all of my past beer drinking has taken its toll…. but here’s one beer fail for you. Showing up at a party with a 12 pack of beer only to realize its non alcoholic once you start passing it out.