5 NBA members place at the 2012 MN State Fair homebrew competition

events

Five NBA members placed in six categories of the 2012 State Fair competition today:

  • Category 7 – Amber hybrid: 3rd place, Grant Wright
  • Category 13 – Stout: 2nd place, Nathan O’brien
  • Catgory 15 – German wheat and rye: 3rd place, Davis Kessler
  • Category 16 – Belgian and French ale: 3rd place, Tom Burtyk
  • Category 17 – Sour ale: 1st place, Tom Burtyk
  • Category 19 – Strong ale: 2nd place, Tyler Bye

Continue reading 5 NBA members place at the 2012 MN State Fair homebrew competition →

Barrel Project Update at 3.5 months

homebrewing
Image
Brett Pellicle forming at the top of the barrel. This Pellicle at the top of the beer is Brettanomyces way of keeping oxygen from infiltrating the beer. Amazing funky critter!

Eight of the members of the Nordeast Brewers Barrel aging project came over to my place on Saturday and sampled the barrel and here are my thoughts on how it’s coming along.   It tastes AMAZING and I couldn’t be happier with the direction it’s going.    It feels really great to have so much time, consideration, and collaboration, all come together and turn into something amazing!

Tasting notes –

Appearance – completely still because it’s pulled from the barrel.   Yellow color with a hint of brown that’s definitely a contribution of the oak.

Aroma -belgian esters, bready malt, tartness, and slight oak is evident.

Flavor – Starts out and hits you with a nice lactic tartness, the middle is slighty malty and the oak sneaks up on you after a few sips.  It’s hard to pull it out, but the oak is definitely starting to come through.   The finish is dry, yet it has an interesting sweetness that hits you at the very end of the sip.   Gravity is at 1.002 so we feel that the sweetness is most likely coming from the sugars in the wood either from the oak itself, or from the Honeywine that previously was in the oak, or both.  Mouth waters and brings you back for more!

Mouthfeel – Tart, thin – medium body

Overall – Damn…this is a fucking fantastic beer already!  We are planning on letting it sit for another 3 months to get some additional brett characteristics going, and to let it become more intensely sour.

BOOMSHAKALAKA!

Single Hop Experiment – Great Success!

events, homebrewing, meeting recaps

20 July 2012

Flight 1 of 4
First flight…go!

Last night was our 2nd Annual Single Hop Experiment and it was amazing.  We met at the East Side Neighborhood Services and about 30 members and guests were able to sample a plentitude of hoppy goodness.  Thanks to all the members who brought beer, to the pro brewers representing (612Brew, Harriet, and Northgate), and to the ESNS for the location! Continue reading Single Hop Experiment – Great Success! →

Biggest Event in Club History Tonight! S.(single)H.(hop)E.(experiment) Tasting

events

WE HIGHLY ENCOURAGE ALL CLUB MEMBERS TOImageJOIN US TONIGHT AT THE EASTSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES LOCATION IN NE MPLS!

This is going to be fucking EPIC!

NBA Single Hop Experiment 

What: Tasting of 19 different hop varieties showcased with the same base beer recipe.  

When: THIS THURSDAY July 19 7:00-10:00pm

Where: 1700 2nd St NE 55413 – East Side Neighborhood Services (There will be other things going on, so be sure to be respectful)

Parking: Lot right behind the building

Who:  All club members, and any pro brewer/beer geek invited by the ExComm (ie. Indeed, Harriet, 612Brew, MNBeer.com, Dangerous Man, MN Beer Activist, Brewing TV, Four Firkins, NorthGate, maybe a couple others)

*To ensure we have enough supplies, this is not a +1 event.  However, we will be selling memberships at the door.

*There will be a sign in sheet at the door.  Please be sure to sign in and get a nametag.  We want everyone to be social.

Single Hop Brewers: Continue reading Biggest Event in Club History Tonight! S.(single)H.(hop)E.(experiment) Tasting →

Summer club BBQ and low-gravity homebrew competition a success!

events

The NBA’s summer BBQ (or as Matt P. would prefer we accurately call it, a “grill out”) was a great success. Attendance was a nice mix of new and gently-used members. It was a perfect hot summer afternoon for tasting session beers. Much better than the 90+ degree and super humid day we had for this gathering last summer.

Pulling off the event in style was definitely a group effort. Matt did a great job coordinating supplies right down to the classy mini tasting glasses. Nate so graciously hosted and cooked for us at his place in Northeast, going above and beyond by simmering our juicy brats in beer for FIVE hours prior to the event and giving away his secret sauce recipe for his burgers. In case you missed it, it’s ranch dressing. A-mazing. On top of all that, we had 10 people submit entries for the low-gravity homebrew competition, the focal point of the event. Here were the entries we tasted in order (entry #2 is missing because Kevin didn’t get his act together, nor his beer over to Nate’s!): Continue reading Summer club BBQ and low-gravity homebrew competition a success! →