This month the education topic at the club meeting will be on the NBA Solera Program. This is part of the overall NBA Barrel Program and run by the Leadership Committee. The overall goal is to create a consistent and regular source of distinct and wonderful sour beer sponsored by the club for the members to enjoy.
There is a bit of planning and maintenance in this program, so come by the meeting on Thursday, January 20 7-9pm at East Side Neighborhood Services to learn more — and have a sample of the first pull from this barrel!
The club has a number of recurring events — monthly meetings with education or experiment topics, Big Brew and Learn To Homebrew Day group brews, Summer and Winter parties — with one of those events being the monthly Taproom Takeover.
On the first Thursday of each month we schedule time to meet up at a local taproom, rotating around the Twin Cities area, to meet up socially and share in conversation over a pint or three. We prioritize the breweries that help sponsor our competitions to return the support. When we are lucky, we are sometimes even able to get a brewer-led tour of the back of the house, too!
The 2021 taproom list was recently updated, so check out the club calendar to see where we will be. If you are interested in learning more about the club or just hanging out and talking about beer, this is a great opportunity stop by and say hello. No reservations required.
Thank you to everyone who sent in beers to be judged for the 2021 Nordeast Brewers Alliance Homebrew Competition! There were 228 beers judged this year — our biggest competition to date — and we were excited about every one of them! Cheers to everyone!
Keep an eye out in 2022 for the NBA Sour Times competition around May/June and the all-category competition in November/December again!
We are always amazed by the great sponsorship we get from the homebrew community, local breweries, and equipment manufacturers! Thank you to everyone who donated brewing equipment, merchandise and swag, gift cards, and (maybe my favorite) free beers at Minneapolis-area taprooms!
A couple top winners local to the Minneapolis area will also receive the chance to brew one of their award-winning recipes on a professional system! Fat Pants Brewing in Eden Prairie, MN, and Excelsior Brewing in Excelsior, MN, are each offering some winning brewers a brew day experience! Watch for more details on where to buy that beer when it hits the taprooms!
Come join a brew day on the NBA club system at Midwest Supplies on Saturday, November 6 from 9am – 4pm for Learn To Homebrew Day. We will have some homebrew to share, too! Come by and check out the club and deals going on inside the store!
Learn To Homebrew Day – Sat Nov 6
We welcome everyone regardless of experience or skill to join the club and take part in whatever events are most interesting. Check out the club calendar to see where we will be and feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Updates are also available on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Registration is now open for the Nordeast Brewers Alliance Homebrew Competition 2021! Create or update your account now with entry registration open November 1 – 30. Judging will be 100% remote, so check the competition site for more details.
Looking back, February 2020 turned out to be a poor time for a post about all the in-person events that we do. Now in Summer 2021, we are getting events back on the calendar, so that article is important again. From taproom visits to education deep-dives and social events, the club has a lot going on throughout the year.
There are two great times to meet up with us to learn more or join the club:
First Thursday: Taproom Takeover social hour. Watch the club calendar to see where we will be. Find the table with a bunch of brewers wearing our logo and say hello!
Third Thursday: Monthly meeting and education/experimentation topic. Back at East Side Neighborhood Services in Northeast Minneapolis starting with the July meeting, come share some homebrew if you have it — or at least bring tasting glasses to sample offerings from others.
We welcome everyone regardless of experience or skill to join the club and take part in whatever events are most interesting. Check out the club calendar to see where we will be and feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Updates are also available on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
After more than a year of the club being separated during COVID with only access through video chats and email, our friends at Rahr Malting and BSG Handcraft were able to help with a virtual brew day in April 2021. We collaborated on a couple recipes — a pale ale featuring Leopold Bros. pale malt, Chinook hops, and US-05 American yeast and a Kolsch-style with Rahr North Star Pils malt, Mt. Hood hops, and German K97 yeast — and bagged them up for club members to pick up in five-gallon kits.
Many members logged into a video chat during brew day so we could brew together… apart. It was an interesting experience with friends over in the corner during a normally solo brew day, but the company was great on one of the first nice weekends of the year.
Photo by Aaron D
With a variety of brewing kits, it was fun to travel through virtual brewery tours to see what others are doing. Some of the best knowledge I have picked up since joining the BSG club has been at group brew days and brewing with other people. It is amazing how obvious some techniques are once they are seen in-person from another brewer.
Photos by Aaron D, Tyler B, Nick M, and Jason B
The beers, of course, came out great! With these great ingredients comes great beer. Aaron D. reported that his Leopold Chinook Pale Ale was the best beer of that style he has brewed. Although most brewers with the Kolsch-style kit got higher efficiency than expected, that could mean the beer is just kicked up a notch to a Blonde Ale or Session Pale. Regardless, beer is beer.
Photos by Mike C (shaker pint, Leopole Chinook pale ale) and Jason B (tulip, Kolsch-style)
At a recent meeting, the monthly education topic focused on the different products available for cleaning our equipment and brew spaces. Jump in to see what we found for best practices and what works best in different situations.
Our club focuses on a different education or experimentation topic at our meetings on the Third Thursday of each month. We have some interesting topics coming up in 2021, including:
Explore a Style: Maibock
Historical Farmhouse Beers: Kviek and Beyond
CO2 capture (Theory and Practice)
Our goal is to be inclusive of all levels of brewer from someone on their first batches or award-winning brewers with decades of experience. All are welcome to join and learn.
Over the past six months I am sure everyone has felt that we are living in sour times, so this year the NBA homebrew competition is embracing that fully. We are putting on an event smaller than previous years and will focus exclusively on sour, wild, and funky beers. This includes European (Berliner, Flanders, Oud Bruin, Lambic, Geuze), American (Brett, Mixed Ferm, Wild), Historical (Gose, Lichtenhainer), and Local styles (Catharina) following BJCP style guidelines.
Account registration is NOW OPEN with entry registration and drop-off/shipping capped at 50 entries due in November. All judging will be done through remote video chat, so THREE BOTTLES OF EACH ENTRY are required. Check out the competition website for full details. Register early and get your entries submitted!
If you have a taste for these styles, we are looking for judging volunteers for this BJCP-certified event. Pick-up will be made available in the Minneapolis area in early December.
Please reach out with any questions about entries or to help judge!
