This month we can hopefully get outside again — disc golf, bottle shares, and brewing on outdoor kits! A perfect time to set up some Maibock or brew something dark and rich for late winter sipping. Coming up in a few days is the Taproom Takeover at Falling Knife this time. In a couple weeks is the monthly meeting with water chemistry education.

Members of levels are welcome at any of the club events and meetings! Swing by before you commit and check it out. Membership grants access to the email list, Discord server, and barrel program — as well as the camaraderie of a bunch of brewing friends!

Mead, cider, beer, wine. Folks do it all! Cheers!

Bill from Two Track Malting is joining the meeting next week to talk about the products coming out of that North Dakota maltster. We also have four beers brewed without knowing the ingredients. Can you identify what makes the four beers different? Monthly meetings (and all events!) are open to anyone.

Swing by East Side Neighborhood Services around 7-9pm tonight to share some homebrews, talk about Two Track, and socialize. See you there!

In addition to our monthly Taproom Takeover (Thu Feb 5 7pm at Broken Clock) and monthly meeting (Thu Feb 19 7pm at ESNS), there are a bunch of club social events going on: Tuesday night indoor disc golf league at Modist, Wednesday night curling league at Sociable, an upcoming Bonspiel curling tournament at Forgotten Star, and a monthly game night with board and card games.

Anyone can join or spectate these social events, so check out the club this month!

Every month on the third Thursday we have an education or experiment topic. After talking about a little club business, recent and upcoming events, and some amazing homebrew that folks are sharing during the meeting, we turn focus onto a specific topic. For January, that is a SMaSH hop experiment to discuss and taste different batches that all focus on a Single Malt and Single Hop in a batch of beer. Do you think you can identify what folks are using?

Thursday, January 15 7:00-9:00 PM
East Side Neighborhood Services
Northeast Minneapolis

Everyone is welcome! Bring some tasting glasses (otherwise we have some extra) and meet up with the club. We look forward to having you!

If you cannot make it this month, check out the club calendar for other events!
https://www.nordeastbrewersalliance.org/club-calendar/

Happy New Year! 🥂

It is going to be another great year for the club:

• Taproom Takeover social hours to meet up and hang out for a bit every first Thursday
• an education or experiment topic every month at the meeting on the third Thursday
• social get-togethers and competitions like curling leagues, indoor winter and outdoor summer disc golf, and board game nights
• group brews and one-off bottle shares

If you are brewing beer, making mead, pressing cider, bottling wine, or concocting any sort of fermented beverage, come check out some NBA events and meetings to hang out. Everyone is welcome. Membership is not required, but grants access to the email list and Discord chat within the club.

There have been a handful of new members in the past few months and a lot of the long-time members have been venturing into new ideas. We are even talking about putting together some beer judging training toward the tasting exam and BJCP certification.

If you have any questions, reach out (email is best), otherwise just show up to one of the events on the club calendar — and bring some tasting glasses! Folks always have good new recipes to share.
https://www.nordeastbrewersalliance.org/club-calendar/

Cheers!

Every month at the club meeting we prioritize an education or experiment topic. These vary from “explore a style” to dig into the history and examples, brewing process or tips that a brewer wants to share, guest speakers from an equipment or ingredient company, or informal competitions for a style or process. We make this part of the meetings a priority because we are getting together both for the community and to learn about this hobby.

EDIT: The education topic will look at the history of some approaches to fermentation, including some fermenters and process — plus how modern homebrewers can leverage those ideas!

Next week (Thursday, December 18 7:00 PM @ East Side Neighborhood Services in Northeast Minneapolis) is our next meeting. Everyone is welcome to join and check it out before becoming a member. The topic for this month fell through, so at the time of this post, we are working on getting some new ideas put together.

See you there! 🍻

Thank you to everyone who entered, judged, stewarded, and coordinated this competition! There were many great beers and there was a lot of feedback of Mini-BOS and Best Of Show judging being tight races!

Check out the full results:

Keep an eye out for upcoming competitions from our friends:

• DÉJÀ BRÜ – The Homebrew Competition Remembering Historic and Long-Forgotten Beer Styles
• Valkyries Horn – Largest mead only competition in the Americas in 2025.

Upcoming events for December:

• Taproom Takeover social hour at Utepils on Thu Dec 4
• NBABrewComp.com judging on Sat Dec 6 (winners announced later in the day)
• Monthly meeting with education on Thu Dec 18

The photo in this month’s post is from a few years ago when we turned staves from a retired barrel (charred bourbon barrel by the color of dirty hands!). We have done a few one-off projects like this, also engraving club logos into barrel heads, staves into competition awards, and of course making beer together. The club is about community and working on these things together!

Brewers of all skill levels and specialties — wine, cider, beer, mead, and beyond — are welcome (and encouraged!) to join a club event or meeting. Come join before becoming a member; we welcome everyone at all events! Membership gets you access to the email list, Discord chat server, the barrel program, and other club projects.

Cheers! 🍻

We received notice today — Thursday, November 13 — that competition websites hosted at brewingcompetitions.com is undergoing maintenance. It should be done Friday or Saturday. This was not announced in advance to us or to the folks that host the competition site.

Once back online, we will confirm the entries and competition settings are where we expect.

The competition is still on track!
Thank you for your patience!

Cheers!

EDIT SAT NOV 15 6:00 PM CT: We are still waiting to hear back when the site will be back up at the normal address. In the meantime, we were told the address below will work. Once everything is clear, we will be validating all site settings and entries look normal.
https://brewingcompetitions.com/nordeasthbc/

EDIT MON NOV 17: The competition site is working again.

When a beer is not boiled, how does that change the sensory experience? Raw ale does just that. Next week at the monthly meeting we will explore this style and see what it involves, how it is different, and what to consider when you make your recipe.

Thu Nov 20 7-9pm, East Side Neighborhood Services, Northeast Minneapolis

Everyone is welcome to join club meetings and events regardless of membership. This includes our monthly #TaproomTakeover social hour (first Thursday at rotating breweries), our monthly meeting (third Thursday at ESNS in Northeast Minneapolis), one-off wort rally and group brews, the annual summer and winter party, and all kinds of fun events. More details are available on the website for the Club Calendar: https://www.nordeastbrewersalliance.org/club-calendar/

Reach out with any questions, otherwise join up when you can!

Cheers!