Hosting a brew day and need tips/advice

[beernutz]

In July I'm hosting a brew day at my house for members of my non-AHA homebrewing club and I could stand to hear advice from anyone who has done this before.

The brew day will actually be jointly hosted as another member of the club who lives a couple hundred feet away from me will also be participating. We haven't decided whether he'll come here or brew at his house since he's so close.

I am pretty sure at least two other members will bring gear and brew at my house. I have no idea what to expect as I've never hosted or even been to an open brew day event. Well I did go to one that was hosted by our LHBS but only one person brewed using a single propane burner and one pot so pretty simple and self-contained.

I plan to have plenty of water and non-alcoholic drinks on hand and we'll be grilling lunch for everybody since the plan is to start at 9 and run until 4. I also got the go ahead from SWMBO.

As my college professor dad used to ask at the end of each lecture, "Questions? Comments? Observations?"

 

[ProblemChild]

Make a checklist.

Follow the checklist

Check brew gear and ingredients day before at latest.

When you wake up in the morning, do another systems check so you do not start the event already behind. Make sure things are in place so you all can crack a beer when you light the flame for the strike water.

 

[Sailingeric]

Make sure you got some good music.

 

[eadavis80]

Make sure you have ample propane - running to fill a tank in the middle of a brew day sucks. Having access to two faucets help as it sucks for 3-4 guys to have to wait for access for the wort chiller. Expect it to go longer than 4 p.m. for reasons you can't foresee. Have fun

 

[beernutz]

Great suggestions so far. Since its my house I'll have everything I need but great ideas about the checklist, music, and propane.

I use my house natural gas to brew but I have an old propane tank I might fill if someone needs it. Getting music into my backyard is going to be more of a challenge but I've got some ideas.

I just set up a guest network on my wifi for people to use.

 

[InTheBasement]

Get a 4 way splitter for your water faucet. It's handy for when you have multiple people who need water, and it's handy for your non brewing needs as well.

 

[Homercidal]

All of the above. There is a HIGH chance you will forget something. Plan ahead to minimize this risk.

Best of all, relax. Don't stress. This is supposed to be a fun time. Finger food snacks are my preferred item of consumption, besides beer.

oh, and you will want to take it easy on the beer until you get done chilling. It's not fun to try to finish up while really buzzed.

 

[beernutz]

Get a 4 way splitter for your water faucet. It's handy for when you have multiple people who need water, and it's handy for your non brewing needs as well.

Great idea. One of our club members is bringing a hose splitter and some extra hoses.

 

[beernutz]

All of the above. There is a HIGH chance you will forget something. Plan ahead to minimize this risk.

Best of all, relax. Don't stress. This is supposed to be a fun time. Finger food snacks are my preferred item of consumption, besides beer.

oh, and you will want to take it easy on the beer until you get done chilling. It's not fun to try to finish up while really buzzed.

Good advise on planning things out and watching consumption. I have been guilty of the latter in the past but since I'm as in charge as anyone else I'll behave.

I plan to have all my ingredients accounted for ahead of time and will mill my grain the day before so I'm free to assist others.

I really hope it is a fun event which is why I posted the question. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[InTheBasement]

You "HOPE" it's a fun event? How could it not be? A bunch of friends, beer, BBQ, music, brewing. If it is not a fun event then you may as well just give up on EVER having a fun event.

 

[Revvy]

You "HOPE" it's a fun event? How could it not be? A bunch of friends, beer, BBQ, music, brewing. If it is not a fun event then you may as well just give up on EVER having a fun event.

Yeah, reading your initial post I think you're over stressing/overthinking this. If this is a bunch of brewers coming over to brew at your place to brew it should be pretty casual.

My friends and I do this all time time- it's really laidback and causal. Usually everyone brings beer.... either the host cooks 'cause they want to, most of the time it's dogs and burgers on the grill.... or you do a potluck, or you all chip in and order pizza.

Everyone brings their own gear over.... their own propane tanks, etc.

These things are really informal because this is really and informal hobby... It's supposed to be a relaxing fun day with a bunch of like minded (at least in terms of the hobby) people.

The biggest logistical thing I think, and someone already mentioned is chilling... having a multi port where more than one person can be chilling at the same time.... and with that of course you need to think about where that runoff is going to go.... You're going to be using more water than you might on your own brewday, so you don't want to inadvertently flood out your rosebushes or your basement the runoff was higher than planned.

But otherwise... relax and have fun. Don't over think this.

 

[ChelisHubby]

Have plan and work the plan. You should be able to have fun easily!

 

[beernutz]

You "HOPE" it's a fun event? How could it not be? A bunch of friends, beer, BBQ, music, brewing. If it is not a fun event then you may as well just give up on EVER having a fun event.

I can think of many ways to suck the fun from an event.

I am not stressed, I'm just trying to foresee and counter any difficulties before they arise. I think it is going to be fun but I always take to heart the old saying, 'man plans and god laughs'.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

Make a checklist.
Follow the checklist
Check brew gear and ingredients day before at latest.
When you wake up in the morning, do another systems check so you do not start the event already behind. Make sure things are in place so you all can crack a beer when you light the flame for the strike water.

Think about water as well. We have chlorine here, so I re-fill my water jugs after my brew day and let them sit to off-gas the chlorine. I have three 5 gallon jugs - more than enough for my 5- or 10g brew days. A few friends show up and all of a sudden we need 25 or 30g of water . . .

Yeast is another thing. People can bring their own or you can make a really big starter a few days ahead of time.

Other than that, RDWHAHB.

 

[sfish]

have a quick meeting the night before. relax have a homebrew and they can drop gear off a presetup

 

[hotair]

There is a lot of waiting in the brewing process. So, have another activity-- like bottleing

 

[beernutz]

Except for a heavy one hour thunderstorm at 9 am right when everyone was trying to set up and me a few hours later forgetting to add sugar to the boil for my Pliny clone, the brew day and tasting went great.

Three other guys brewed: one in my backyard with me and two in my garage because of the rain. We had five beers tapped and several others were brought to the afternoon tasting.

We set up a pop up tent in my driveway for food, mostly German sausage and brats that several people brought which we grilled.

The only thing I would do differently is schedule brew day out of monsoon season.

I appreciate all the suggestions.