Happy New Year, everyone! It has been another busy month with the club and here is a recap of some of the events we have been up to and the happenings planned for early 2019.
Recent Activities
NBA Homebrew Competition
This month was another successful homebrew competition put on by the club. With 174 entries judged and 84 participants, judges, and stewards, it was a few weeks of coordination culminating with a busy weekend of sorting and judging many fine beers!
Congratulations to all the winners! Results can be found on the competition site. Keep an eye out for the next competition the same time next year!
Sunday judging 
Best In Show flight
Four Roses Bourbon Barrel Fill
With two new barrels added to the collection, we decided break them in with an Imperial Stout — and a big one at that with 1.140 target starting gravity! To get that high, the brewers in the club had long days to boil down the wort to that gravity, ranging from 2.5-4.5 hours for just the boil!
The email thread in the Google Group was quite active with discussion around best practices, problems people were having, and the results of brewing and fermentation. At the club meeting there was good discussion about what worked well (regular aeration the first several days, huge yeast starters, degassing regularly) and what we can do next time we try to make something this big. We are looking forward to seeing what this motor oil of a beer turns into over the next months in the barrel!
Two new barrels getting in place 
Pitch-black beer going in
Monthly Education Topic: Baltic Porter
The education topic at the regular monthly meeting was about Baltic Porter with discussion lead by Bill H. An uncommon style at best, this topic was pushed back a few times until we could find enough commercial styles to bring and a few members could brew their own.
A high gravity, cool fermented version of Imperial Stout, these were a new style to many members and a hit with the club. I would not be surprised if more local homebrew competitions start getting more submissions for this style based on this new interest!
Upcoming Events
- January Taproom Takeover at Wabasha Brewing on Thursday, January 3. Come join the social hour and learn about the club. Everyone is welcome!
- Club brew day in January for an upcoming Saison experiment. We will be brewing 25+ gallons to split into a few fermenters. All are welcome to join!
- Winter party in January for the club high-gravity competition, annual membership renewal, officer voting (Vice President, Communication Director, Finance Director), and a group collaborative brew. More details to come on the location and sign-up.
- Off-site meetings: Since we are unable to use our normal home at East Side Neighborhood Services for the first few months of the year, we will be off-site in January, February, and March. Check the Club Calendar for details.
- January: Northern Brewer Minneapolis with Ben from Mighty Axe hops as the guest speaker and the Comet hops experiment. After-party at Wild Mind.
- February: Midwest Supplies (St. Louis Park) for a demo on electric brewing equipment. After-party at Steel Toe.
- March: Northern Brewer Minneapolis for the Saison experiment from the January club brew day. After-party at Wild Mind.
For announcements of the monthly Taproom Takeover, monthly recap of recent events, and announcements for upcoming events, keep an eye on this space and our social media sites on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Come join us and chat about beer and brewing!
Cheers!