Frequently Asked Questions

How do I join?

Show up at any of the monthly membership meetings. Membership is open to anyone that is of legal drinking age. Dues are $15 for an individual membership and $20 for a family membership (i.e. spouses and significant others are welcome)

 

What is the format of the meeting?  Do I have to prepare?  Is there a test?

•   Our current format consists of one meeting a month, usually on a Friday or Saturday.(unless it conflicts with a holiday). 
 
•   Our meetings are styled around four club members only style specific competitions held every third month. 
 
•   The first month is devoted to a presentation on the history and brewing techniques associated with the upcoming competition style. After the presentation members are welcome and encouraged to share any home brew they may bring for informal analysis by the group and most importantly for the simple joy of it. 
 
•   The second month is devoted to the sampling, discussion and judging of commercially available examples of the upcoming competition style. Members are encouraged to use the BJCP competition scoring sheets to help sharpen their tasting skills. 
 
•   The third month is our competion. Members' brews are judged by the club using the BJCP format. The scores are averaged and the winners are declared. Those that place first - third receive a trophy for thier efforts. 
 
•   The brewer with the highest total score for all of the competitions held during the year is declared our Home Brewer of the Year. The club will generally offer a grand prize for this prestigous accomplishment. 
  
 •   We also take care of club business at meetings and try to keep it as brief as possible. 
 
•   To get an idea of what goes on in greater detail please visit our President's Update page

 

Which of my homebrews should I bring, and how much?

When we are tasting each homebrewed style, 2-12oz bottles are usually sufficient. Bring them in a cooler and already cold. If you don't have the style that we are evaluating, bring what you have. If people bring something other than the style we are tasting, we usually have a "Brewer's Choice" tasting at the end, so that people can get other people's opinion about what they have. We've had meads, cysers and wines presented at this Brewer's Choice section so far.

Don't be intimidated by the tasting process; it is actually much less formal than it sounds on paper. We just decided that we wanted other people's feedback on our beers, not just to sit around and drink beer. None of us are certified beer judges (yet), so we are mostly relying on our own beer tasting and brewing experiences and the commercial examples to help form our opinions. Also, the floor will be open after the ranking for people to ask specific questions ("My beer was the third from the last, I tasted something "off" with it. Does anyone know what it is?") to try to get tips, etc.

 

I'm not sure I'm ready to have my homebrew judged--should I wait until I learn more?

All of us are at that stage. None of us have had our beers formally tasted (OK, maybe a few of us have entered a competition or two), so we are as insecure with our beers as anyone. We just use this as an opportunity to taste what other people are doing, and most of us have come away confident that our beers are as good as each others. And finally, we have people at all ranges of experience from "just bought my first equipment kit newbies, to years of all-grain" and we have people who try to brew to traditional styles and those who just make beer that they like.

Also, we try not to be critical (some tasters succeed at this better than others), so we try to help people whose brews might not have ranked well by highlighting the product of others who did better. We try to get comments going like, "I was dissapointed with the lack of clove character in my wheat, but yours had a lot (and you got 1st place), what type of yeast did you use?".

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