What's the deal with brewing clubs?

[gratefuldisc]

I searched but didn't find anything except people looking for local clubs in their area. I've been brewing about 10 months and I am starting to get curious about joining a club. There are a few local ones that I know of and my LHBS is unaffiliated.

What are the pros/cons of being a member of a brewing club? Also what is a typical time/$ commitment for a club?

 

[Beer_Guy]

Our dues are $10 a year and I have so far gotten 3 cases of Homebrew leftovers from the entries in our annual comp. Not a bad deal at all.

 

[chriswilkes33]

Time/$ commitments vary widely from club to club. My club costs zero dollars per year and requires no commitment. Mostly its just a group of like minded people that get together x times per month or year to share brews with each other.

Our club hosts a competition every year and competes in several others. We meet once a month officially at a local pub that allows us to bring our own brews in for tasting/feedback. We also have a weekly roaming happy hour where we meet to drink at a few different local bars. We also have a picnic at a local park in the summer and a Christmas party every year, usually a few other type gatherings. We also host a table at the NHC on club night usually.

They are a good way to meet fellow brewers and learn things that you may have known otherwise. Going to fellow club members houses on their brewdays has helped me streamilne my own processes.

I cant think of any cons...

 

[Beer_Guy]

The ONLY con we have is we adapted a stretch of highway to keep clean. No big deal to me since I am out of town a lot. Hehe!!!

But if I am ever home on cleanup day, you can bet I will be there to support the group. (and of course do the green thing.) ( I do recycle though. I put ALL my trash in this big pile the city is collecting outside town.)

Oh, and another con is sometimes you have to help judge in the competition and a few brews are just sent in to get feed back on what went wrong. Of course that is countered by the wonderful variety of fine brews you get to sample.

 

[Brewer_Bob]

For some reason I heard Jerry Seinfeld's voice in my head when I read the thread title. I tried to find a brew club here in Libya but no luck.

Seriously though, I think joining one is a great idea. At the very least it is a chance to trade beers with other home brewers. I have thought about starting one here but I could only allow diplomats in. Not sure how many takers I would have.

 

[passedpawn]

All pros, no cons. Do it. If you don't like it, don't go.

 

[Airborneguy]

For some reason I heard Jerry Seinfeld's voice in my head when I read the thread title.

For some reason I had his voice in my head as I read your post...

...oh wait, that's because I'm watching him right now!

 

[KevinW]

I searched but didn't find anything except people looking for local clubs in their area. I've been brewing about 10 months and I am starting to get curious about joining a club. There are a few local ones that I know of and my LHBS is unaffiliated.

What are the pros/cons of being a member of a brewing club? Also what is a typical time/$ commitment for a club?

Sounds to me that you need to start one!!
Start rounding up those that are in search of one and just DO IT:rockin:

It easy to find info on how to start an "official" club if you want to otherwise just meet and have fun!

 

[trevor_b]

Time/$ commitments vary widely from club to club. My club costs zero dollars per year and requires no commitment. Mostly its just a group of like minded people that get together x times per month or year to share brews with each other.

Our club hosts a competition every year and competes in several others. We meet once a month officially at a local pub that allows us to bring our own brews in for tasting/feedback. We also have a weekly roaming happy hour where we meet to drink at a few different local bars. We also have a picnic at a local park in the summer and a Christmas party every year, usually a few other type gatherings. We also host a table at the NHC on club night usually.

They are a good way to meet fellow brewers and learn things that you may have known otherwise. Going to fellow club members houses on their brewdays has helped me streamilne my own processes.

I cant think of any cons...

What is your club called? Website?

 

[hamiltont]

Our club Kearney Area Brewers is pretty active. We host an AHA/BJCP Sanctioned event every year and have great a turn out at the AHA BIG Brew Day and Learn to Homebrew Day. I couldn't be prouder to be associated with such a great bunch of brewers. Cheers!!!