So if you took home wort from the event, do all of us a favor and stop up at Max's with a bit of the saison to share.

The post Thursday 5-19: Max’s event and Stillwater Brew Tasting appeared first on Baltibrew.

April 10th, Baltibrew made 40 gallons of a new beer designed by Brian "Stillwater" Strumke, and sent 7 batches of beer home with members. We also debuted our rent-able starter fermentation kits. By all accounts, the event was a great success with some new members appearing, and a veritable smorgasbord of food on hand throughout the day; not to mention the excellent beers shared by Baltibrew members. Brian also brought a case of his own "white label" beers for the club to taste. Excellent stuff.

We should see some of the results of that brew at our May meeting, and more at the June meeting and brew. Speaking of June brew, we are tentatively talking with Rob Perry of the Brewer's Art about doing a similar brew, this time at John Jester's spot. We'll keep you posted on that.

This past Sunday, April 17th Baltibrew sponsored Chilibrew 3.0 at the Hampden-based Baltimore Free Farm in conjunction with the release of Baltimore's new local currency, the B-Note and Localize It. After expenses, the club raised nearly $3,000.

Proceeds will be split evenly and given to the Velocipede Bike Project, and the Baltimore Free School.

The crowd was large from start to finish, with most brewers and chili makers completely selling out by the end of the event.

Made some great contacts with prospective brewers.

Can't wait for the next Chilibrew.

Don't forget, May regular meeting is coming up on May 5th. Yes, that's Cinco de Mayo, a.k.a. Mexican St. Patty's Day. Perhaps we can get Danny to put Negra Modelo on tap that night.

The post April Events Wrap-Up appeared first on Baltibrew.

We'll be heating water by 9 a.m.to make 40 gallons of beer.

Please bring beer and food to share. John Jester will be making a chipotle venison steak, and Ryan Boddy will be bringing Jerk Chicken; both to be grilled. If anyone's worried about vegetarian options, feel free to bring 'em with!

Club members should bring a lawn chair of some type if they want to sit, and may want to consider an E-Z up or other shelter in case it rains. <More details after the jump.>

Brew Details:

Since this is the first brew at which we'll be giving away wort, a few items to bring up:

Brian has provided us with a recipe that he will lead us in brewing. The ingredients he listed for us lead us to believe it's essentially a Saison in style. The brew will be filmed for inclusion on this site, if you have specific questions for him, please email them to baltibrew.

Taking Wort Home:

You will need the following things in order to take beer home:

• Currently paid up for club dues — $20
• The single share cost of ingredients in cash or check form — $20 (This includes ingredients, and the cost of propane)
• A vessel — bucket or carboy — that will hold 5 gallons of wort for fermentation

If you don't have equipment of your own, Baltibrew has procured two new "starter kits" that will essentially allow members to take home wort, ferment it, and prepare for bottling. Bottles, caps, and a capper are not included, though members would probably be happy to lend you a capper. The cost to use one of these kits is $5 for a one month period. (More than enough time for this beer). It would be wise to arrive early if you will need to rent one.

Seven portions of wort will be available to members, with a 5 gallon portion remaining with the club for later tastings.

If there are more than 7 members interested in taking away wort, the lucky 7 will be selected using a card draw method. A sign up sheet will be presented when you arrive. Please indicate on it if you have your own vessel or will be renting one of the two club kits available. Cards will be drawn after mash-in, and matching cards from a thoroughly shuffled, and cut second deck will be drawn during whirlpool and chilling. Cardholders with a match will take home wort.

Transportation:

Please feel free to use the comment section to set up carpools if you do not have a means of getting to the brew on your own.

Also, Kevin's house is relatively close to the Cromwell Light Rail stop. We can pre-arrange a time to pick some folks up and later drop them back off if necessary. If you need to use this option, please comment on this post and leave a way to reach you to set up times.

The post Sunday Brew Day with Stillwater appeared first on Baltibrew.

We talked about Sunday's brew day with Brian "Stillwater" Strumke, and next Sunday's Chilibrew 3, amongst other things.

Minutes are here.

Full post up about Sunday's big brew sometime tonight.

The post April Minutes (Broken Attachment) appeared first on Baltibrew.

We'll be discussing the following:

• Sunday's Brian Strumke-led brew day, and what we'll all be bringing to eat, and who will be bringing it.
• Chilibrew 3.0 on 4-17
• Upcoming events, including the Spring version of the Real Ale Fest at the newly expanded Pratt St. Ale House
• Plans for BBW 11.

Bring beer, and let us know if you have other items to discuss in the comments section.

Hope to see you here.

The post April Regular Meet appeared first on Baltibrew.

• Max's Belgian Beer Fest: Starts tomorrow at 11 a.m. and runs through Sunday. Might want to get there early as a line is usually formed by 10 a.m. There are various ancillary events happening throughout. Check out the current "final" draft list.
• March 3rd — Monthly Meeting/Dues Collection: Our usual monthly meeting falls on 3/3 and will happen as always at Muggsy's Mughouse in Federal Hill. Greg Slack will be collecting dues at this event. At this point it looks like the amount to bring will be $20, but there will be a formal announcement of the official dues cost on 2/24. Additionally, we will be tasting the results of the February brew in preparation for submission to the Clone Wars competition. We will taste all four versions (all-grain open ferment, all-grain closed ferment, extract open, and extract closed) that we brewed, as well as a genuine Steve Jones version for comparison. Other items to discuss may include a workday/demonstration related to building mash tuns, and fitting keggles to expand our brewing capacity.
• March 11th — Pratt Street Ale House Clone Wars submission: The club will be submitting its 3 Lions Ale clone.
• April 7th — Monthly Meeting: Our usual monthly meeting falls on 4/7 and will happen as always at Muggsy's Mughouse in Federal Hill. Items to discuss might include the aforementioned workday/demo, Summer events, and any other pressing club business.
• April something? — Club Brew with Stillwater Artisanal Ales brewer, Brian Strumke: Not 100% sure when in April, but we hope to brew a saison with Brian Strumke of Stillwater Artisanal Ales. Gotta' get dates squared with Brian. Hopefully by then we'll have an expanded brew capacity allowing us to send beer home with some lucky folks who show up.
• April 17th-ish? — ChilbrewIII: Ian is working on the upcoming spring Chilibrew event. Details to come.
• May 7th— AHA Big Brew Day: Annual homebrew day.
• June 4th — Guild Picnic & Wheat Beer Comp: The Free State Homebrewer's Guild holds an annual picnic at Patapsco State Park. Every year I've been to it, there's been a wheat beer competition, unsanctioned, but judged in the BJCP style. There's a big BBQ and it's a great opportunity to meet other brewers in the state as well as to show off our skills as great brewers despite being a "beginner's" club.
• June 16^th– 18^th — AHA Conference in San Diego: It's the biggest homebrew event of the year, and this year it's in San Diego. Hotels are pretty solidly booked already, but that doesn't mean you can't commute.

And that's pretty much it for Springtime events to my mind. If you have other events you'd like to see posted to the club's public Google calendar, suggest them in the comments.

The post Coming Soon… Baltibrew’s Springtime Events appeared first on Baltibrew.