Homebrew Club etiquette help

[82ABShizzle]

Being that even noobs call me a noob, and rightly so, I have a fairly noobish question about going to my first meeting. Since I have nothing ready, first brew is still in the primary, what is the general consensus out there about showing up empty handed? I don't want to be THAT guy that shows up wearing a stained wife-beater, loose shorts with one of the boys rolling out, and a sixxer of PBR under one arm!

 

[IrregularPulse]

I'd say take how ever many decent craft brews as you would take Homebrews until you have some HB to offer up. If it is standard procedure to take beer. I've never been in a club so I don't know protocol.

 

[annasdadhockey]

I would agree with IP, at least bring something. Even 1 bomber of something "different" is probably enough.

 

[ChshreCat]

Buy a 6-pack of your favorite craft brew, soak the labels off, sharpie over the caps and bring it to show them your "first batch".

 

[Yooper]

Don't listen to these guys! Their clubs have kicked them out already, since they were wearing wife beaters and had half of their boys out.

J/k!

Some clubs DO have homebrew tastings, but showing up without any for your first (or your tenth) meeting is fine. When you have some ready for analysis, then your club will help you with tasting but you don't have to bring anything now. Also, sometimes the club has a certain "thing"- like Belgian night or something. So, if you don't know what to bring, bringing nothing at this time (except your money for dues, if you choose to join) is fine!

 

[WenValley]

Well, I've been to two different "first time" Homebrew meetings. And the most important part is for you to walk in and introduce yourself. If you have something to drink, great, if you don't, that's great too.

Don't worry about what you bring, you're the most important element. As you learn, and as your pipeline comes online, you'll have an amazing array of hand crafted homebrews to share and discuss.

I pray that I don't judge a new member based on what beer he brings. If you're there to talk beer, drink beer and have fun then you should be welcome with open arms.

 

[passedpawn]

It's perfectly OK to not take anything. However, when your crop comes in, you gotta give it up.

 

[ChshreCat]

Don't listen to these guys! Their clubs have kicked them out already, since they were wearing wife beaters and had half of their boys out.

Wait... Which half?

 

[annasdadhockey]

Wait... Which half?

Are they that different from each other?

 

[82ABShizzle]

Wait... Which half?

The half the rolls!


Thanks for putting me at ease! I'm not a sociopath nor do I have any social anxieties, just want to make a good impression.

 

[beerocd]

If they're meeting at a commercial establishment you probably aren't allowed to bring in any retail brew anyway. Maybe you can buy a pitcher for the guys at the meeting?

-OCD

 

[david_42]

In the two clubs I belong to 15-20% of the members bring beer/mead/wine to any one meeting. Some people never bring any. Some people seem to have something new every meeting. Me, about 10% of the time.

 

[Bobby_M]

We don't have any hard and fast rules about showing up to your first visit with anything to share. What we definitely frown on is people that come to 12 meetings in a year and haven't brought something a FEW times. No worries.

 

[BeerNewbie]

Haven't had a problem with my club. We're usually happy just to add a person that likes to talk about beer as much as us. Don't be afraid to ask all your newbie questions, either. It gives us an opportunity to give you our advice, and may bring up questions we didn't know we had. Plus, if you ask a question that i think I've been doing the right way, the guy next to me may answer it differently, and give me a new look on things. It's all great!

If you're worried about not having anything to bring, bring something "different" like mentioned above. One of the guys that didn't have anything to bring, brought a few sierra nevada torpedo's to share, which were awesome.

One meeting, I brought some homemade rootbeer that I had, and was extremely embarrassed to present it to the guys. It ended up being the hit of the night. The people that showed up late were informed they missed out on the rootbeer!

So, as long as you're prepared to show up and talk beer, I think you'll be alright!

Edited to add: Re-thinking about this, I guess there have been a couple times that have made me think... It's when guys bring their friends to the meeting who just want to drink beer. They have absolutely NO interest in brewing... some have NO interest in the art of beer itself... their only interest was drinking "free" beer. That gets me. -- On the other hand, the guys the bring friends, that show up and pretend they are going to start brewing soon, and are coming to a meeting to see if they like it... those guys seems to sneak by, because we end up doing our best to convince them to start brewing. ;-)

 

[kornkob]

Unless you were instructed by that club otherwise, show up the first day empty handed. At that first meeting you'll learn the lay of the land and be told what the expectation is for the future. Different clubs have different cultures and you want to get a sense of how things work.

Consider this: if the club considers it important that every attendee bring beer, they'd lay that out in advance.

 

[Noleafclover]

Some clubs DO have homebrew tastings, but showing up without any for your first (or your tenth) meeting is fine. When you have some ready for analysis, then your club will help you with tasting but you don't have to bring anything now. Also, sometimes the club has a certain "thing"- like Belgian night or something. So, if you don't know what to bring, bringing nothing at this time (except your money for dues, if you choose to join) is fine!

Each month our club has a tasting of specific style that we plan for each month (found on our website). There are a handful of us that actually produce the beers, and then the rest of the folks on our e-mail list come out and taste what we make. So we have 7 guys brewing for 50 people on a monthly basis. We don't mind though - we want feedback prior to submitting brews to regional competitions and we want to encourage others to brew.

All that to say show up, relaxdon'tworryhaveahomebrew.

 

[Catt22]

OK, here it is. Relax. Don't worry. Have a home brew. You need not bring anything at all except a desire to join the club. I cannot speak for all clubs, but in our club nothing is demanded of anyone anytime. You are a desired asset. Without members, a club is nothing. New members are always in high demand. Always remember the golden rule which is, "don't be an *******". That's it! When you brew something, bring it to share and be prepared for a point blank evaluation. Anything less would be an insult anyway. Don't expect undeserved praise for your beer. If it's bad beer, you want to know it and you will want to know why and what you can do to avoid the problem next time. There will always be a next time and everyone fuks up a beer now and then. OTOH, they may love your beer and if so, you will be stoked. Bring something to share if you can. Beer, whether home brew or craft brew will always be welcomed. Edibles are also good to bring along to share. Join the club and pay the dues if any right away if you want to make a good first impression. Find the club president and introduce yourself. Don't be shy about it. The president will likely introduce you to everyone and if he is worth his salt, he will go out of his way to make you feel at home. Home brew clubs are about comraderie, sharing and having fun. True alcoholics wont' be tolerated for long and neither will moochers. Fortunately, both have been exceedingly rare in our club. So long as you are a good person, you will make some good friends and you will have a great time. I would also suggest that you volunteer for some of the chores as soon as you can. Running a club requires members to participate. Don't put all the burden on a few members. Help out when you can no mater what it is that needs to be done. You are in for a very good time. Enjoy!

 

[Conodor]

I went with no beer in hand for the first 5 or so meetings until i had something i though was worth having some serious Homebrewers wouldn't laugh at.

When we had meetings at someone's home i brought something to eat. Hooters wings was my food of choice. pick up a 50 pack and everything was fine.

 

[BeerNewbie]

I went with no beer in hand for the first 5 or so meetings until i had something i though was worth having some serious Homebrewers wouldn't laugh at.

When we had meetings at someone's home i brought something to eat. Hooters wings was my food of choice. pick up a 50 pack and everything was fine.

...Bringing a few of the Hooters waitressess along with you probably wouldn't have hurt either...

 

[FattyJLE]

Since we're on the topic of homebrew etiquette, I was wondering if there is anything wrong with joining more than one homebrew club. I live right in the middle between Jacksonville, FL and Savannah, GA and thought it would be nice to attend both clubs' meetings since they are held at different times of the month. I figure the more education the better. However, I was worried that this might be frowned upon. Any experience out there with this? I mean, I'm pretty sure it isn't like a Greasers versus Socs scenario, but I wouldn't want to cause trouble right off the bat. Thanks in advance.

 

[Catt22]

Since we're on the topic of homebrew etiquette, I was wondering if there is anything wrong with joining more than one homebrew club. I live right in the middle between Jacksonville, FL and Savannah, GA and thought it would be nice to attend both clubs' meetings since they are held at different times of the month. I figure the more education the better. However, I was worried that this might be frowned upon. Any experience out there with this? I mean, I'm pretty sure it isn't like a Greasers versus Socs scenario, but I wouldn't want to cause trouble right off the bat. Thanks in advance.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with joining more than one club. Many of our club members are also members of another club. There is zero animosity between the clubs. Quite the contrary. We collaborate on a number of activities throughout the year. There really are no fences between us at all.

 

[bosco_NJ]

Since we're on the topic of homebrew etiquette, I was wondering if there is anything wrong with joining more than one homebrew club. I live right in the middle between Jacksonville, FL and Savannah, GA and thought it would be nice to attend both clubs' meetings since they are held at different times of the month. I figure the more education the better. However, I was worried that this might be frowned upon. Any experience out there with this? I mean, I'm pretty sure it isn't like a Greasers versus Socs scenario, but I wouldn't want to cause trouble right off the bat. Thanks in advance.

We have brewers from a few different clubs that attend our meetings and it's all good the more the better. I say join as many as you like and remember... "stay gold FattyJLE"