Newbie Sharing Brew with Brew Club?

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I'm going to be going to a brew club meeting here in February. I've only been brewing for a couple of months and would love to share some of my brew with more experienced folks to get some feedback and tips on doing things better.

Problem is, I only have 3 brews in bottles right now and I don't have a lot to share (we've been giving out a lot). My question is, how much beer do people bring to these things? If I bring 12 or so (4 bottles of each) would this be acceptable? I don't want to be *that guy* who doesn't bring enough to share.

I'm guessing there will be around 20 or so people in attendance.

Any other tips for a brew club newbie? :mug:
 
It really depends on the club so you could try to reach out to the organizers to get a better idea on how their club meets usually run. Having said that, I typically bring 3 to 4 12oz bottles of each type I want to share and usually have some left over after the meeting. Also, you don't have to bring all three. Perhaps bring two and cellar the other type for a future meeting when your pipelines are even drier.
 
What club?

Almost everyone in my brew club kegs, and often they'll bring a 2L growler for ~15 folks in attendance. However sometimes when they bring that much, we're all sitting around at the end of the evening polishing off the remainders of most growlers, so a 1L growler is often enough. Converting to bottles, 3 bottles is probably plenty.

And as already suggested, you don't need to bring all three. There will be plenty of beer flowing. What I'd consider is that you've probably got a number of experienced brewers there who can give you good feedback on the beer, so I'd pick the one or two varieties that you most want feedback on.
 
I usually bring 4 bottles for a group of 20 to 30. Folks usually pour lightly as this is really just a tasting! And I would only bring 2 at most. You don't want to hog the show the first time up :)
 
I'm the president of the mohonk brewers association in new paltz New York. I can tell you with 100% certainty that new brewers are te life blood of any club new members bring new ideas and a clean slate to learn from expierenced brewers. Great decision to go to the meeting !! To answer your question each club is different. Our club has limits as we have a large attendance. We allow 2-3 12oz bottles per member per meeting and only do 2-4 oz pours to sample. If you have too much beer per member it turns into a drinking festival with a ton of drunk people and the meeting because a drunken blur. Sometimes this is good and we have dedicated events with no limits a few times a year. If I was you I would contact another member or the club president and just ask what is acceptable. I bet this communication would make a huge impression that you want to be a active member and wish to abide by their rules without making assumptions. Best of luck to you !! Hoppy brewing.
 
Depends on the size of the club, but I cant see any club where 4 bottles wouldnt be plenty. If the club is THAT big then im guessing most people wouldnt plan on sampling everyones beer.
 
I'd bring 2. Our club usually has about the same attendance and we do a monthly beer of the month comp. 2 bottles has always been enough to give everyone a big enough sample to get a good taste. Then there's your opinion of your beer. If you think it's good, share it with everyone. If you think you have some issues with it and want help with that, then I'd just share it with the better brewers so they can give you their more seasoned opinion/advice. If you don't have a lot to share people shouldn't be upset. I'm sure they know(and if they don't they should) that once you get further along you'll have more beer to bring.

I started the same way and now I bring more than one kind of beer every month. It just takes time in the beginning.
 
Thanks you guys!

What club?

It's the Addison Homebrew Provisions club out in Fullerton. Hey you're local to me, I'm just down the street in Lake Forest.

We allow 2-3 12oz bottles per member per meeting and only do 2-4 oz pours to sample. If you have too much beer per member it turns into a drinking festival with a ton of drunk people and the meeting because a drunken blur.

Sounds like I will bring a sixer of two kinds for sampling. That's great. Was wondering about the line between sampling/getting smashed so thanks for clarifying. I generally do not drink on weekdays as I tend to be on call for work, so this is right up my alley.

If you don't have a lot to share people shouldn't be upset. I'm sure they know(and if they don't they should) that once you get further along you'll have more beer to bring.

I started the same way and now I bring more than one kind of beer every month. It just takes time in the beginning.

Excellent, yeah I was hoping to not be the house guest that shows up to a potluck empty handed :)

But, if you want to have the beer critiqued.. bring some thick skin and learn from the comments. I never want to have people tell me my beer tastes like cr@p without a reason.. that doesn't help much.. but, constructive criticism is always welcome.

I do want (or at least hope for) some compliments, but also want the critique. If I think a brew tastes great, and these guys can pick out off flavors/tastes and tell me how to remedy them, everybody wins!
 
It's the Addison Homebrew Provisions club out in Fullerton. Hey you're local to me, I'm just down the street in Lake Forest.

Ahh, cool. I'm with brewcommune. I think there are even a few people who are members of both clubs.

Are you looking forward to the opening of the new Slaters 50/50 location there in Lake Forest? I can't wait :mug:
 
Ahh, cool. I'm with brewcommune. I think there are even a few people who are members of both clubs.

Are you looking forward to the opening of the new Slaters 50/50 location there in Lake Forest? I can't wait :mug:

Nice, I'll have to look up brewcommune or maybe you can shoot me some info... I just found their forum. I'd be down to hit up one of their events.

And Slaters 50/50, heck yeah! Not my favorite area in Lake Forest but that place is going to be sweet :tank:
 
Nice, I'll have to look up brewcommune or maybe you can shoot me some info... I just found their forum. I'd be down to hit up one of their events.

And Slaters 50/50, heck yeah! Not my favorite area in Lake Forest but that place is going to be sweet :tank:

Brewcommune has their meetings every other month (on odd months). The next meeting is tomorrow: http://www.brewcommune.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2518

Come on out, new people are always welcome at the meetings. There is no cost to attend (except what you may buy to eat/drink for yourself).

Brewcommune has a good group of experienced people that can help you with feedback on your beers.
 
Brewcommune has their meetings every other month (on odd months). The next meeting is tomorrow: http://www.brewcommune.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2518

Come on out, new people are always welcome at the meetings. There is no cost to attend (except what you may buy to eat/drink for yourself).

Brewcommune has a good group of experienced people that can help you with feedback on your beers.

Man! I work til 830 pm tomorrow night. Bummer. So the next one would be March? Is it always at that location?
 
Man! I work til 830 pm tomorrow night.

Do you typically have odd work schedules? My office is encouraging us to use up some of the vacation time we have on the books, so I'm planning on taking some days off in the next few months to brew. If you'd like, I'll let you know the next time I decide to fire up the kettles (likely next brew day is sometime next week).
 
bwarbiany said:
Do you typically have odd work schedules? My office is encouraging us to use up some of the vacation time we have on the books, so I'm planning on taking some days off in the next few months to brew. If you'd like, I'll let you know the next time I decide to fire up the kettles (likely next brew day is sometime next week).

That would be awesome.

I'm in marketing so occasionally I have to go to an event or be out late. Usually I'm done by 6 pm. Mondays and Wednesdays are usually best for me. And of course weekends. Let me know!
 
I brought 6 bottles to the last meeting of around 125 people, and even had one bottle left over. However, there were lots of growlers being passed around and those are usually finished off before the bottles, so that's something to consider. I'd also recommend putting your name on them. Literally only myself and one other person did that. I wanted to give them props on their beer but had no idea who brewed it...

That was my first club meeting - if you've never been to one, you'll be amazed by the variety and quality of beer people bring. So many good beers...
 
I brought 6 bottles to the last meeting of around 125 people, and even had one bottle left over. However, there were lots of growlers being passed around and those are usually finished off before the bottles, so that's something to consider. I'd also recommend putting your name on them. Literally only myself and one other person did that. I wanted to give them props on their beer but had no idea who brewed it...

That was my first club meeting - if you've never been to one, you'll be amazed by the variety and quality of beer people bring. So many good beers...

Right on, good tip! I have a couple "Hello my name is" stickers that I'll slap on my bottles since I don't really mess with labels.

Really looking forward to it now.
 
I brought 6 bottles to the last meeting of around 125 people, and even had one bottle left over.

Wow! That's a huge brew club meeting! Our meetings average 16-20 people. We usually pass around the brews so everyone is sampling the same one at the same time. The brewer can then answer any questions or maybe just rattle off the basic recipe he was doing.
 
Update, I brought a blonde I brewed (my first all grain) to the meeting yesterday and had 3 bottles. I submitted it for tasting (3 bottles was just enough for the 25 or so people attending) and got good remarks from the group with no real change requests other than to ferment a little cooler (I was at 67 but they said try 65 or 64 even). Was complimented a couple of times afterwards, felt great.

I was the only brewer in attendance that does brew in a bag (BIAB) which I thought was pretty awesome. Thanks everyone for the input.
 
Congratulations! :D

Wow! That's a huge brew club meeting! Our meetings average 16-20 people. We usually pass around the brews so everyone is sampling the same one at the same time. The brewer can then answer any questions or maybe just rattle off the basic recipe he was doing.

Yeah, it's always really crazy in January apparently, as the membership dues are based on calendar year. So everyone waits until January to sign up if it's past August or so, then some don't come back for the rest of the meetings.

I think your club's way is better, it's kind of a free for all here. I'd like to get to know the brewer and their methods more.
 
While the homebrew club at AHP is gone, we're starting a new one that will meet in North Orange County. Our first meeting of NOKOFFZ will be at Draft Pick Sports Grill in La Mirada on Sunday, May 19th. Find us in Google groups under NOKOFFZ. We're focusing on making better beer, not bottle shares. This is an offshoot from Brewluminati for those people who want to learn how to brew better beer.
 
While the homebrew club at AHP is gone
What happened to the AHP club?

This is an offshoot from Brewluminati for those people who want to learn how to brew better beer.
LOL :D

FYI - You might want to make your Google group open so that people can drop by and check it out to see if they want to join. By making it closed and requiring people to ask for entry, you'll turn many away.
 
All of the advanced brewers moved on and it seems nobody there had the know how to do the presentations any longer. They still throw up a beer signal in case brewers want to come share their brews and discuss them, but the owner has stopped the club meetings. We hope that our new club can pick up where that one left off to help educate brewers in the area.
 
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