Club Posts

Our spring homebrew and baking competition returns this year as "Brübakes" unites Homebrewers and Bakers to celebrate spring, sustainable brewing practices and the DIY spirit!

Tickets available on Eventbrite!

About this event

Competition Overview:

• Brewers must design a Belgian-style Saison ale to be served with a baked good. The catch? Bakers are required to use spent grain from the brewers' mash (at least 5-10% by weight) to create their counterpart.
• Those who are up for the challenge may act as both brewer and baker.
• Competitors need to bring at least 5 gallons of homebrew and about 120 baked good samples (Expecting about 60-80 attendees).
• Recommend freezing your spent grain after brew day.
• Baltibrew will provide ice. Dump buckets and water pitchers will be available.

Attendee Overview:

• Must be 21+ years old to attend.
• All you can sample homebrew and baked goods.
• Ticket includes a Baltibrew Brübakes Belgian-style sample glass.
• Ticket proceeds will be used to fund future Baltibrew events, gatherings, and charitable donations throughout the year.

Voting:

• Popular Vote in 3 categories (Best Brew, Best Bake, Best Overall)

Location:

• Duckpin Room @ Union Craft Brewing

The club has changed our monthly meetings to afternoons on the second Sunday of each month. The club meets at Union Craft Brewing.

June 18, 2020 @ Zoom

Suspended Drops In!

• Josey from Suspended Brewing in Pigtown stopped by to show us around the brewery and talk about his journey from homebrewer to probrewer. He was also nice enough to supply the group with some samples for our Zoom meeting. Suspended will open for carry-out this weekend. Many thanks from BaltiBrew!
• Two 50 dollar gift cards to Suspended were raffled off to attendees. Congratulations to Becky and Kevin!

ChiliBrew XIV

• An offline check in with Ciaran and Jacob confirmed that nothing firm was in the works for our marquee event this fall.
• The club brainstormed some on what might work for a 2020 ChiliBrew. Ideas included moving possibly to an outdoor, moving it to Spring 2021, moving to a remotely judged competition, and keeping it charity focused.

Club Shirt Update

• If you want to weigh in on the shirt design, hit up Max’s feedback form in the next week. Everyone will order individually from the company, pickup to be arranged. Watch the listserve for an order link.

New Event Cancellations

• MASHOUT

Events Not Cancelled

• Zymernauts/SPBW/Guild Crab Feast, September 19
• Guild holiday party, Saturday December 5.

Social Events

• Evan proposed a remote Virtual Tasting and Franks was interested in assisting. Watch for updates on the listserv regarding timing, format, and potential cost.
• As restrictions are lifted and COVID metrics in MD are changing, the club discussed the possibility of an Outdoor Summer Meetup and what members might or might not be comfortable with. Consensus was approached regarding a September Group Brew, definitely outdoors, potentially at a members home. Sharing food was expressed as a concern and all plans would be dependent on how the COVID situation develops.

Inclusivity and Advocacy Support Discussion

• Being mindful of current events while also aware of homebrewing’s rather homogenous demographic makeup, an open discussion was held regarding inclusivity and the appropriate role of hobby organizations such as BaltiBrew in advocating or otherwise being proactive in supporting inclusivity or movements regarding social justice. Several members are moving the discussion forward in a small setting with the goal of bringing a more developed dialog back to the general membership at a further meeting.

May 21, 2020 @ Zoom

Bad News/Cancelled Events!

• BJCP course
• BURP’s Spirit of Free Beer
• FOAM’s Battle of the Bubbles
• AHBC’s Pints for Paws
• All BAM festivals
• Howard County Fair homebrew competition
• DC Brewers’ Cherry Blossom competition
• Wootown’s Mead Day
• HomebrewCon
• Great American Beer Festival
• National Homebrew Competition
  • Entries received were either donated to workers or distilled into sanitizer.
  • Entry fees, but not shipping costs, were reimbursed.
• Guild summer picnic
  • Even if the park lets us in, 50+ folks in one space will not be feasible.
  • Patapsco State Park should reimburse us if the state guidelines do not allow us to gather, perhaps if we don’t get reimbursed and we are “stuck” with the pavilion, a small group of us can go

Good News & Possible Events!

• Probrewer Guest - Mobtown dropped in to discuss their journey from idea to brewery.
  • Congratulations to raffle Winners Matt H and Jude. Each got a $50 gift card to Mobtown.
• Club Shirts - Max - If you want to weigh in on the shirt design, hit up Max’s google form in the next week. Everyone will order individually from the company, pickup to be arranged.
• Trivia Night - A good time was had. We are looking for ways to stay connected socially this summer.
• AHA Big Brew Report - Folks who brewed at the virtual AHA Big Brew reported in on how their beers turned out.
• MASHOUT
  • Official word from Buck: The club founders voted 12-8 to have MASHOUT. “I (Buck) spoke with the property owner and he is okay with us not yet signing a contract yet. Therefore, we have some more time to make a final decision. I feel like June 15th is the absolute latest we can wait to make a decision.”
• Zymernauts/SPBW/Guild Crab Feast, September 19
  • Right now NASA is at “stage 4” which means no one is allowed there. Stage 3 means employees only. If it gets to stage 2 (everyone allowed) the event could be held at NASA.
  • We could possibly move the event somewhere else, like maybe Centennial Park. Crabs will be available regardless.
• Guild Holiday Party, Saturday December 5.
  • It’s a long way away so we don’t know yet if/how it will happen. At any rate they will not be soliciting businesses for donations.

Whatcha up to!

April 23rd, 2020 on Zoom

Good News

• Local pickup is still available @ Nepenthe
• Jester is organizing a drop off this Saturday if you order @ MDHB. Email him to coordinate.
• Increase in interest in Homebrewing 

Bad News

• BruBakes cancelled
• Oktoberfest cancelled

Events

• Big Brew will be virtual this year. We will convene a Zoom meeting @ 10:30 on May 2nd. Look to the listserve for info.
• A decision on the Guild Picnic will be made as the event approaches. The Guild intends to follow MD guidance on large gatherings as it evolves.
• We will get a cadence going for virtual meetings.
  • Evan is going to coordinate information on a BaltiBrew Virtual Trivia team. More information to come.
  • We are evaluating possible topics for regular meeting programming, possibly Fermented Foods talk, virtual tours of our setups, and a water talk.