Happy Anniversary to Us!

Tonight's homebrew club meeting marks the 4th Anniversary of our first meeting. Hard to believe that!

Tonight's meeting will be held at the Coney at 8pm.

Our next homebrew club competition will be set for the February 2012 meeting - the style is porter. Robust, imperial, Baltic ... doesn't matter. Brew a porter and share with the club in February!

First Club Competition A Success!

The following is a summary of the evening, written by Bill D., who included the text below into an email to Geary's Brewing Co. in Portland, ME.

On Tuesday evening, August 09, Patrick Scanlon won the Geary's Pale Ale competition of the Indiana Pennsylvania Alesmiths (IPAs) homebrew club held at Ray Schamus's Pennsylvania Barbecue in Indiana, PA.

In April, 2011, Bill Dietrich, under the direction of president Nate McElroy, circulated copies of the recipe for the Geary's Pale Ale clone from "Clonebrews" ( T & M Szamatuiski, 1998, pg. 149). The objective was to have each member brew the same beer to see which came out best. Tom Montgomery of Montgomery Underground Winery, and our local homebrew supplier, made kits for both all-grain and extract brewers.

In all, there were thirteen brews to try plus a six pack of Geary's Pale Ale brought from the brewery on Bill's recent fishing trip to Maine.

The event was a success and all of the ales were very good. A first-time brewer and two brewers who had not brewed in a long time entered the competition. Twenty three beer enthusiasts tasted and voted for the best Geary's Pale Ale clone. The winner, Pat Scanlon, brewed an all-grain recipe on his home-built recirculating brew system. He was awarded a glass, some cozies and bottle opener from Geary's.

A good time was had by all.

August Club Meeting - Our First Intraclub Competition!

On Tuesday, August 9, we will meet at PA BBQ (2045 S. 6th St.) at 8pm for the Indiana, Pennsylvania Alesmiths (IPAS) first ever intraclub homebrew competition.

In May, it was suggested by club member Bill D. that we should all brew the same recipe and have a big tasting to see how each of us approached brewing. Bill handed out a recipe for a rough clone of Geary's (both extract and all grain) and we decided to set August as D-Day (drinking day).

Not sure yet how many people took up the challenge, but probably at least 10 folks will be bringing their beer for tasting on Tuesday. Though we've been meeting at the Coney on a regular basis, club member Ray S. (owner of PA BBQ) offered to host this special event after the restaurant is closed for the evening. It promises to be an education!

Gazette Article on Homebrew Club

A big thanks to Sam Kusic from the Indiana Gazette for his article today on the club. For those who get the paper, check out today's page 4.

Probably the only drawback to the article is that there is no contact information for readers, other than to come to the Coney, but I think it was well written - it elevates beer and homebrewers without making us sound too snobby or like total drunks ;)

First Meeting Goes Great!

What a response!

I think I speak for the four organizers when I say we were very pleased with turnout. Last count had more than twenty people in attendance, all very enthusiastic about brewing. It was a great start, for sure.

Next meeting is November 13th, mark your calenders.

Inaugural Homebrew Club Meeting

That's correct! We are going to have our inaugural meeting at The Coney on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 8pm. Come one, come all interested in homebrewing. Our flier will be posted at various locations in town, and we'll be spreading the word as much as possible.

At the moment, we're not sure how many people may show or what the interest/experience level will be, but there's only one way to find out!

P.S. - A huge thanks to Jon for creating the flier!!!

Homebrewers Club Forum Now Online

That's right .. the Indiana Beer Club, which is really going to turn into more of a Homebrewers Club, now has a discussion forum for its members.

Join us at:
http://indianabeerclub.hyperboards.com/.

The inaugural meeting is coming soon! Details will be posted shortly.

We are still beer... er, here.

Despite how it seems here, the Club did not fall apart after the Gazette article. I think we've all just been a tad busy.

Me, I'm getting ready to brew my first batch of homebrew tomorrow night, so I've been busy planning, stressing and thinking about good brewery names and logos. You know, the important stuff.

We had a pretty good response to the article and I think things are going to just keep picking up. As the weather warms and winter goes away for a little while, I think we'll have more things planned beyond our meetings.

Speaking of meetings, we've not yet decided on a beer style/theme or meeting place, so if anyone has any ideas, please speak up or drop us a comment.