Anybody NOT in a homebrew club or have one available?

[the-adjunct-hippie]

I have tried reaching out and several clubs are either not taking members or are just too busy with the next major grain mash party that they're fairly uninterested in doing a bottle share or introducing a new member.

Right now I'm Just getting opinions from friends and family on my homebrews. I have asked for honest feedback and I believe I've been given it. I think my homebrewing is pretty decent but I want more opinions and tips.

Just wondering if anybody else homebrews and really only distributes it to close friends/family bc there's no homebrew clubs nearby. And if anyone wants to swap homebrews via trade.

Can a guy really judge his own homebrews fairly ? Like if you have Ten FIDY and your own RIS next to it and compare honestly. Is that good enough?

 

[JimRausch]

It Sucks that your local homebrew clubs are bad. We have a good one up here, but up here is Maine, so that's not very helpful. Sorry.
But, a good way to get great feedback is enter some of your brews in competitions. Join the AHA and check out their calendar of competitions.

 

[-DELETED-MEMBER-]

There are no brewclubs or anything like that near me. Been brewing close to 15 years and probably have only hung out with five other homebrewers. Three of those folks were brewing cuz I loaned or gave them brew gear. None of those folks still currently brew.

I freely share beer with anybody that wants to partake and get the full gamut of feedback. Realistically, I think I’m harder on my beer than the people I share it with, though. I do have a few close friends who have good taste in beer (not just my beer) and I appreciate their feedback.

What it comes down to for me is that brewing beer is just a thing I’m gonna do, whether anyone else does or not.

 

[d3track]

That's a bummer about the clubs by you. Do you travel at all? I know our club is very welcoming to visitors, we even did a nice sized exchange with a group that were here from a NY club.

 

[mongoose33]

I agree...too bad that they aren't taking new members. There's one where I live that's closed....I find that very odd.

Don't draw too much inference from what others in a HB club can give you as to feedback. I've made beers that I've thought were terrific--and they don't even gain honorable mention when we have throwdowns. The people judging them have been drinking beer (nothing wrong with that), but when I compared a beer that 'won' and has extract or some other twang, and my own, which has none.....well, you pays your money and you gets your feedback.

I like a different system for feedback, and like you, it comes from friends and family. I see if they have a second and/or third one. Everybody is nice about the first one...but the real test, IMO, is whether they pour another.

If you're pleasing yourself, it probably doesn't matter what others think. I just finished a second glass of my Amber. I'm sitting here contemplating whether I should have a third, or go to bed. Decisions, decisions.....

I think I'll have just a touch more...

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I have never been to the homebrewers club near me, but I get the impression that they are very open and welcoming. I live in Phoenix. The big problem I have with clubs is that almost by definition they seem to have an accepted style. I like to do things my way and it makes me uncomfortable and diminishes my recreation when someone wants me to change my ways unsolicited. People think they are just trying to help, but when they come at it from their paradigm without considering my personal goals, it just isn’t fun for me to have that interaction. Case in point, a brewing podcast that I genuinely enjoy listening to started talking about how everone needs to be open to new brewers and not be elitist and 2 minutes later they are spouting elitist brewing rhetoric. I like these guys, but wouldn’t want to interact with them in person.

 

[gunhaus]

I think AZ came pretty close to summing up my feelings as well. My beers and ciders and wines make ME happy, my friends happy, my family happy, what more is there? I guess that my beers have always been recreation and relaxation, and i don;t have much interest in turning them into competition of any sort - I have other avenues for that. My friends and family have widely varied tastes and preferences, so I feel i get a range of feed back that matters. Clubs always felt a little clique like to me, at least the three or four I was a guest at. And i will be honest - the one my brother frequents seems to be afflicted with "trend-o-the-day" syndrome. I do not care how trendy it is, I have no interest in brewing a kumquat, avocado, coffee, toffee, watermelon, citrus, IPA, clear Stout for next months bottle share! Closest thing i can bring myself to club wise is in late Sept, when a few other brew guys I know come over for the Oktoberfest shindig. Beer, cider, sausage, venison, debauchery, once a year - good enough.

 

[Miraculix]

I have so much important stuff to do in my life and brew for myself and for friends. As long as we like the product,I honestly don't care about feedback from people who might be a bit stiff and won't get that I am just brewing to please my own taste buds and not to be within guidelines.

Therefore, no need for a club for me!

 

[S-Met]

I attended a spring and fall camp trip with a bunch of home brewers. Maybe a few inbetween bike-n-brews or other semi-plan gatherings. Thats about the extent of "club interest" for me. Never any beer snobbery, but lots of juvenile debauchery.

 

[waldoar15]

I don't belong to one. I think one of the shops near me has a beer judge on staff though. Probably useful if you're having some sort of problem you can't quite figure out.

 

[Shwagger]

I don't care for clubs because of a lot of the reasons above. Everyone has their opinion on how things should be done and that's the final answer. No thanks. And Homebrewers are quite curmudgeon and anal. I'll pass

 

[ancientmariner52]

"I would never join a club that would accept me as a member" Groucho Marx, I think.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I literally just joined a local club this morning after attending a meeting last night. I had a great time meeting people, talking about brewing, and learning what the club is about.

I've been brewing for about a year and, up to now, I've just been sharing with friends and family plus one county fair competition. I took a couple of my brews to the meeting last night, but didn't really get much feedback other than that they seemed well-received. I was hoping for more constructive criticism or general comments about the good, bad and ugly.

Like many brewers, several kind of turned up their noses at my NEIPA, but I've learned that there are still people who feel it's not a legitimate style, have issues withe the haze, or resent it being called an IPA. That's OK with me. I'm not too hung up on brewing "to style", I just like to brew stuff I like or that I think might be tasty to drink.

Overall I'm looking forward to attending more meetings and hopefully brewing with some of these people.

 

[deadwolfbones]

I had a great time with the club I joined in Santa Fe... really wonderful people who are pretty open-minded and interested in helping a new brewer get going. (The club president is the owner of a local sour/farmhouse brewery, which might help the acceptance part.) I tend to make, umm, wacky beers, and the first one I brought was a lemongrass/Thai basil gose--went over great and got lots of compliments despite many members expressing skepticism at the style/adjuncts. I dunno, maybe I lucked out, but my club never felt less than welcoming, and it was full of knowledgeable, skilled brewers who made tasty beer.

 

[bleme]

My club is very welcoming and I like getting their feedback that's not my main reason for joining.

When I first started, I'd have issues now and then (like no head or too foamy) and they were great at helping me nail down where the issue came from. While HBT is great, there is really no substitute for sitting down with an experienced brewer and troubleshooting your beer. Of course, now that I've been brewing for a while and nailed things down, I'm more likely to be on the other side of the table, helping a new brewer figure out why he got 55% efficiency, etc.

However, my main purpose for going to meetings is to try what everyone else is brewing. Over a 2 hour meeting, I can try 10 different beers and if one really hits the spot I can sit down with the brewer and figure out why I like it so much and brew something similar in the future. While my club is IPA heavy, there are still a wide variety of beers to try and there is always someone trying out the latest hop, which means I'm not wasting my money on hops I don't like.

I also have enjoyed doing joint brew days with other members. It's cool to see how different someone else's process can be and still make beer. I do BIAB on the kitchen stove but by brewing with friends from the club, I can tell I would NEVER invest in a propane set-up. I might consider a Natural Gas system. But there is a lot of appeal in a e-BIAB system (either induction or immersion) if the funds appear.

Another benefit is that we participate in about 10 brewfests a year. If I donate a keg of something, I and my wife can get into the brewfest ($60-$100 value) for free. All members can get their grain at cost from a couple of local breweries and if you have donated to at least 1 brewfest in the year, you get one 50lb bag of grain free.

 

[TwistedGray]

@the-adjunct-hippie and everyone who wants feedback on their home brew, check out our thread here! https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/fothb-iii-coatee-cha-tu-yub-nub.643587/

 

[mongoose33]

I'm a "member" of the LHBC, but there are no membership requirements, no dues. Just a bunch of people getting together, organized by the owner of the LHBS.

It's clear there are different purposes in joining a homebrew club. Originally, I went to see what I could learn, and was disappointed in finding out that it's more about trying different beers than learning how to brew better. That's OK, people have a right to want what they want, just that....I didn't get a lot from it.

I've found I'm pretty different from most of the 20 or so members who show up regularly. Most have never heard of homebrewtalk. Most don't go online. Many just brew kits put together by the LHBS. When I'm looking for ways to improve my process, unfortunately, there aren't many to consult on that.

I'm doing the second round of the Brewtan-B experiment tonite, to see if we can detect any advantage in storage from it. When I first mentioned this idea, and Brewtan-B, at a homebrew meeting, nobody else had ever heard of it. It wasn't long before I realized I was out on a limb with what I was doing, and few locally might serve as either consultants or character references.

If I want advice or suggestions on something, this--HBT--is where I turn.

 

[GPP33]

I recently joined a club, the meetings are fun because they do official stuff as quick as they can and then we sample beer. If you want feedback there's some well seasoned guys/girls there that can provide it but if you just want to share and sample that's fine too. I've had some amazing beers that otherwise I would have never experienced and a few I'd rather not have again. They also open the door for things like group barrel projects, finding more experienced brewers who may be able to help you with something and giving you an opportunity to teach someone about your passion (someone who actually cares, not your spouse/friends who are just there for free beer). My limited experience is that they aren't full of stuck up beer elitists, you'll get a few of them, but most are just people who want to talk about and drink homebrew.

 

[tmendick]

I see you're in Omaha, Check out the Homebrewers Local 402. That's the club I'm in, and we always like to meet new people.

http://local402brewers.org/Home/

We have a facebook group as well

 

[Miraculix]

My club is very welcoming and I like getting their feedback that's not my main reason for joining.

When I first started, I'd have issues now and then (like no head or too foamy) and they were great at helping me nail down where the issue came from. While HBT is great, there is really no substitute for sitting down with an experienced brewer and troubleshooting your beer. Of course, now that I've been brewing for a while and nailed things down, I'm more likely to be on the other side of the table, helping a new brewer figure out why he got 55% efficiency, etc.

However, my main purpose for going to meetings is to try what everyone else is brewing. Over a 2 hour meeting, I can try 10 different beers and if one really hits the spot I can sit down with the brewer and figure out why I like it so much and brew something similar in the future. While my club is IPA heavy, there are still a wide variety of beers to try and there is always someone trying out the latest hop, which means I'm not wasting my money on hops I don't like.

I also have enjoyed doing joint brew days with other members. It's cool to see how different someone else's process can be and still make beer. I do BIAB on the kitchen stove but by brewing with friends from the club, I can tell I would NEVER invest in a propane set-up. I might consider a Natural Gas system. But there is a lot of appeal in a e-BIAB system (either induction or immersion) if the funds appear.

Another benefit is that we participate in about 10 brewfests a year. If I donate a keg of something, I and my wife can get into the brewfest ($60-$100 value) for free. All members can get their grain at cost from a couple of local breweries and if you have donated to at least 1 brewfest in the year, you get one 50lb bag of grain free.

That sounds actually pretty nice.

 

[allanmorgan]

When I first mentioned this idea, and Brewtan-B, at a homebrew meeting, nobody else had ever heard of it.

Never heard of it before either. I found the info on Wyeast's website, but I don't see a way to purchase. Where might one be able to purchase Brewtan-B? I'm interested in using this product.

Edit: Apologies to the OP. No attempt to hijack the thread.

 

[homebrewer_99]

My tip: Go down to the local brew pub and introduce yourself to the brewer. I don't know of any brewer that does NOT like talking about beer. Tell him your situation and ask if they'll critique your beer and give you some tips.