The Grand Rapids beer scene can’t resist getting more love — not even the homebrewers.
The American Homebrewers Association confirmed the 2014 National Homebrewers Conference will be held in Grand Rapids from June 10-14, 2014.
The conference will bring an estimated 3,500 visitors to Grand Rapids and its bustling beer scene for seminars and workshops at DeVos Place, said Eric Fouch, president of the Primetime Brewers Association, a Grand Rapids homebrew club.
AHA Director Gary Glass said the association first researched Grand Rapids for the 2010 conference but passed, now settling on the 2014 date. Michigan hosted the conference in 2000 when it came to Livonia.
Grand Rapids beat out several cities for the event, including Austin, Texas, which was knocked out by strict liquor-control laws that prevented further consideration.
“Michigan has a really great brewing community,” Glass said. “Both home and microbrewers are very much involved in the community, and that’s certainly a drawing point.
“And people across the country consider Michigan as a great beer state.”
Glass said one of the major draws was DeVos Place and how willing the hotels are to offer great deals.
Fouch said there has been talk of a seven-city rotation for the conference, and he hopes Grand Rapids would be included.
“One of the main goals for the 2014 convention is to make Grand Rapids stand out above the rest of the cities,” Fouch said.
To do that, he said Primetime Brewers will plan events for the weekend that showcase the special features of Grand Rapids many visitors don’t get to see such as Founders Brewing Company’s aging facility at the gypsum mines.
Although Grand Rapids is rapidly growing in notoriety for its beer, the conference will help showcase the new and lesser-known brewpubs of the city, many more of which will be open by 2014.
“It’s gonna be huge,” Fouch said. “It’ll really help put them on the map.”
AHA Learn to Homebrew Day
Join our homebrew club to celebrate this annual event where we bring together experienced local homebrewers to share their knowledge with new aspiring brewers. Watch brewing demonstrations and have your brewing questions answered by award winning brewers including our special guest 2011 Midwest Homebrewer of the Year, Phil Sullivan.
If you are a brewer feel free to bring your own equipment and brew onsite with us (Both City & Well water available on site). Bring your own homebrew or craft beer to share. Bring a dish to pass. Bring a folding chair. This is an outdoor event so dress for the weather. Plan responsibly with a ride home if you plan to sample beers.
When: Saturday, November 3rd Time: Noon- 6PM
Where: The Hoffman Brewing Company, 900 Wendover Blvd., Muskegon, MI 49441
Questions? ericjhoffman@gmail.com
If you are a brewer feel free to bring your own equipment and brew onsite with us (Both City & Well water available on site). Bring your own homebrew or craft beer to share. Bring a dish to pass. Bring a folding chair. This is an outdoor event so dress for the weather. Plan responsibly with a ride home if you plan to sample beers.
When: Saturday, November 3rd Time: Noon- 6PM
Where: The Hoffman Brewing Company, 900 Wendover Blvd., Muskegon, MI 49441
Questions? ericjhoffman@gmail.com
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| 2011 Learn to Homebrew Day |
Unruly Brewing Co. Found a Home
Two of our members have found a home for their new brewery called Unruly Brewing Co. Mark Gongalski and Eric Hoffman, along with their partner Jeff Jacobson have settled on a facility in downtown Muskegon at the Russell Block Market, 360 W. Western. The brewery will take up nearly half of the 5,000 square feet of space on the Russell Block Market's first level.
Read more about this exciting development by clicking here.
Congratulations to Eric, Mark & Jeff! The MOB is very happy for you and will support you 100%!
The MOB is Dominating the Home Brew Scene!
For the second year in a row, The MOB has taken the Best Of Show at the Siciliano's Home Brew Contest. In 2011, Ross Ziegenthaler (Ziggy, The Hauler) won the honors with his Extra Special/Strong Bitter. This year the top honors were won by Russ Smith (The Masher) with his Northern German Altbier.
Russ's winning entry not only entitled him to have his name etched on the prestigious Siciliano's Cup, it also granted him an all-expense-paid trip to a future Sierra Nevada Beer Camp in Chico, California.
As usual Jimmie Stagger and his band rocked, the dinner prepared by Three Men and a Grill was great, and all the happy party goers went home with armloads of wonderful gifts.
The game is on now for sure. The MOB is making a big splash in the West Michigan Craft Brew community. I think we can pull off three in a row.A huge thank you to Siciliano's Market for helping foster this craft brew community and for providing all of the home brewers in the area with the best possible supplies.
Russ with Jim Macielak, the rep from Sierra Nevada
The MOB Rocks!
W.E.B. Homebrew Contest Results
The results for the 2012 World Expo of Beers homebrew contest are in and The MOB has once again earned the respect of the homebrew community!
Joel Kamp's Strong Scotch Ale took gold out of 34 entries and his Oatmeal Cream Pie took bronze out of 59 entries.
Chris Carr's Saison took bronze out of 42 entries.
Congratulations to Joel and Chris for an excellent job! We're proud to have you guys as members of The MOB!
For a complete list of the medal winners click here.
Joel Kamp's Strong Scotch Ale took gold out of 34 entries and his Oatmeal Cream Pie took bronze out of 59 entries.
Chris Carr's Saison took bronze out of 42 entries.
Congratulations to Joel and Chris for an excellent job! We're proud to have you guys as members of The MOB!
For a complete list of the medal winners click here.
Starters
A starter is a small batch of wort that yeast use to multiply and get ready for fermenting your batch of beer. It's main purpose is to create enough clean healthy yeast to ferment your batch of beer under optimal conditions. Your main focus when making a starter should always be yeast health. It is better to pitch a smaller number of healthy cells than it is a large number of weak cells. A starter should always be made if you are concerned that your yeast viability or vitality might be low. For example if your yeast is not very fresh or if it has been exposed to high temps during shipping. A starter will also be required if you don't have the recommended amount of healthy yeast cells to ferment your batch of beer. There are several tools out there that will help you determine the proper amount of yeast that you will need for your specific batch of beer. I like to use Mr. Malty and Yeast Calc
You should not make a starter if you can't handle the steps required in a sanitary way. If you can successfully produce a batch of beer free of contamination, then you should be able to make a successful starter. You should also not make a starter when using dry yeast packets.
Making a starter is like making a mini-batch of beer with a starting gravity between 1.030 - 1.040. The yeast calculators I posted above will help you determine the correct volume for your starter. Typically the size will range from 1L -2L for a 5 gallon batch of ale. Lagers will require a higher number of yeast cells, so your starters volumes will be larger.
Starters can be "Stepped Up" to achieve higher numbers of yeast cells. This is a process of adding fresh starter wort to your already completed starter. For example in my pictures below you will see that my first initial volume was 2.5L. My next step was an addition of 5L of fresh wort to the finished 2.5L starter. After 24-36 hours the 2.5L starter was chilled to 38f to allow the yeast to drop out of suspension, then the wort was poured off (decanted) leaving only the yeast in the vessel. Then 5L of fresh starter wort was added to the starter vessel which contained all of the yeast from the initial starter.
Oxygen plays a crucial role in yeast health and growth. Oxygenating your starter will allow you to build a larger amount of healthy viable yeast. This is why many of us use stir plates. If you do not have a stir plate you can simply shake your active starter as much as possible.
To make a starter you will need a clean sanitized vessel large enough to hold your starter plus some head space. I use 6 qt rubbermaid containers with loose fitting lids, but I started out using 1/2 gallon growlers. You will want to use aluminum foil to cover the mouth of the growler. You do not want to use an airlock on your starter vessel as it will hinder oxygenation. Many home brew suppliers sell foam stoppers which will allow oxygenation. You will also need DME and water. It also beneficial to use a yeast nutrient.
Below is my method for making a 2.5L starter.
Step 1. Weigh out 1/2lb of dme.
Step 2. Add 3L of water to stock pot. I anticipate loosing 1/2L to boil-off / evaporation.
Step 3. Bring water to a boil. If you are using a stir plate throw your stir bar into the boil.
Step 4. Stir in dme. I also like to throw in a few pellet hops.
Step 5. Boil for 15 minutes.
Step 6. Chill in ice bath to below 70f.
Step 7. Add wort, stir bar (if using one) and yeast to your sanitized starter vessel and cover.
Step 8. Place on stir plate if you have one. If not try to shake the starter whenever you walk by it.
Step 9. Let the starter ferment for 24-36 hours.
Step 10. You can either pitch the entire starter into your beer or chill for 18-24hrs, pour off the spent wort and pitch only the yeast at the bottom of your starter vessel.
Remember to practice good sanitation throughout the process.
Cheers,
Ross
You should not make a starter if you can't handle the steps required in a sanitary way. If you can successfully produce a batch of beer free of contamination, then you should be able to make a successful starter. You should also not make a starter when using dry yeast packets.
Making a starter is like making a mini-batch of beer with a starting gravity between 1.030 - 1.040. The yeast calculators I posted above will help you determine the correct volume for your starter. Typically the size will range from 1L -2L for a 5 gallon batch of ale. Lagers will require a higher number of yeast cells, so your starters volumes will be larger.
Starters can be "Stepped Up" to achieve higher numbers of yeast cells. This is a process of adding fresh starter wort to your already completed starter. For example in my pictures below you will see that my first initial volume was 2.5L. My next step was an addition of 5L of fresh wort to the finished 2.5L starter. After 24-36 hours the 2.5L starter was chilled to 38f to allow the yeast to drop out of suspension, then the wort was poured off (decanted) leaving only the yeast in the vessel. Then 5L of fresh starter wort was added to the starter vessel which contained all of the yeast from the initial starter.
Oxygen plays a crucial role in yeast health and growth. Oxygenating your starter will allow you to build a larger amount of healthy viable yeast. This is why many of us use stir plates. If you do not have a stir plate you can simply shake your active starter as much as possible.
To make a starter you will need a clean sanitized vessel large enough to hold your starter plus some head space. I use 6 qt rubbermaid containers with loose fitting lids, but I started out using 1/2 gallon growlers. You will want to use aluminum foil to cover the mouth of the growler. You do not want to use an airlock on your starter vessel as it will hinder oxygenation. Many home brew suppliers sell foam stoppers which will allow oxygenation. You will also need DME and water. It also beneficial to use a yeast nutrient.
Below is my method for making a 2.5L starter.
Step 1. Weigh out 1/2lb of dme.
Step 2. Add 3L of water to stock pot. I anticipate loosing 1/2L to boil-off / evaporation.
Step 3. Bring water to a boil. If you are using a stir plate throw your stir bar into the boil.
Step 4. Stir in dme. I also like to throw in a few pellet hops.
Step 5. Boil for 15 minutes.
Step 6. Chill in ice bath to below 70f.
Step 7. Add wort, stir bar (if using one) and yeast to your sanitized starter vessel and cover.
Step 8. Place on stir plate if you have one. If not try to shake the starter whenever you walk by it.
Step 9. Let the starter ferment for 24-36 hours.
Step 10. You can either pitch the entire starter into your beer or chill for 18-24hrs, pour off the spent wort and pitch only the yeast at the bottom of your starter vessel.
Remember to practice good sanitation throughout the process.
Cheers,
Ross
The 4th Annual FOX Brew Ha Ha
The 4th Annual FOX Brew Ha Ha is two nights of non-stop laughs on from hilarious comedians AND a Craft Beer Festival featuring more than 100 different beers for tasting and trying. And it’s all happening at the Deltaplex, 2500 Turner Northwest in Grand Rapids on Friday, January 20th and Saturday, January 21st. So it really is a Brew Ha Ha! Look for one large room filled with Craft Beers from Michigan and another large room filled with Craft Beers from the U.S. and the world!Hours are from 3 p.m. – 10 p.m. Friday, January 20th and Noon – 10p.m. on Saturday, January 21st. Admission is $15 in advance or $20 day of the show and includes 5 beer sample tickets and a souvenir beer mug, while they last. Only those 21 and older will be admitted. In addition to comedians there will also be a number of live bands from throughout the Midwest performing.
For more information, visit the DeltaPlex Brew Ha Ha website.
Michigan Craft Beer “Enthusiasts” Offered Brewery Tours
(LANSING, Mich) – One of the benefits of membership in the Michigan Brewers Guild “Enthusiast” program is special VIP tours and tastings at member breweries around the state. To participate in one of these special tours, one must be a current Enthusiast member – a group dedicated to celebrating the growing craft beer industry in the Great Lakes State. Enthusiast memberships are $35 each and are available online at MBG Enthusiast Membership. There is no additional charge for the tours, but reservations are recommended and attendees must show their Enthusiast card.At just $35, a Michigan Brewers Guild “Enthusiast” membership is a great value. Benefits include VIP status at our various festivals with early admission, discounts at participating membership brewpubs, special VIP brewery tours, and a free t-shirt proclaiming your Michigan Beer Nuttiness. Purchase your Enthusiast membership online at MBG Enthusiast Membership.
Michigan’s thriving brewing industry contributes over $24 million in wages with a total economic contribution of more than $133 million. In terms of overall number breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs, Michigan ranks #5 in the nation – thus supporting its claim as “The Great Beer State.”
The Michigan Brewers Guild exists to unify the Michigan brewing community; to increase sales of Michigan-brewed beer through promotions, marketing, public awareness and consumer education; and to monitor and assure a healthy beer industry within the state.
For more information, including a list of Michigan microbreweries, log on to http://www.michiganbrewersguild.org/. (www.facebook.com/michiganbrewersguild | www.twitter.com/mibrewersguild)
The Winter 2012 schedule includes tours thru April 2012 and can be found on our Events page.
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