Bruegala 2009

September 13, 2009 · Posted in Events · Comment

The club had a great time at Bruegala this year. We served about 50 gallons of homebrew, sold a dozen T-Shirts, and collected 38 email addresses from people that stopped by and were interested in more information on our club and how to brew your own beer. Several club members helped the Jaycees by serving at other tables as well.

Once again, our ticket box was packed full from everyone wanting to try our beer. Considering the beer that we served was donated by individual club members (vs. purchased from the commercial distributors), the Jaycees make more of a profit which then gets passed on to their chosen charity. This year they selected the Boys & Girls Club. We shared a corner of the room with DESTIHL and HOPS and enjoyed hanging out with them.

A big thanks to those who both donated AND served beer:

Adam Shake
Andrew Boyd
Chad Bevers
Tom Pankonen
Heather Morrisette
Jim McClure
Michelle Aspbury
John Chubick

The following people helped at our booth or other tables:

Shawn McVey (and Debbie)
Ben Reiniger (and Meredith)
Ed Embree
Tony McCauley
Peggy McCauley
James McCauley
John Yoder
Carol Yoder
Max Bateman
Mark Hill
Troy Hill
Josh Smith
Jim Hubbard
Kyle Karraker
Robert Abeyta

If I’ve left anyone out, please let me know!

Jaycees International Beer Festival in Peoria

April 21, 2009 · Posted in Events · Comment

We would like to report on our achievements at the International Beer Festival on April 17 and 18. The weather was nice and we had fun with the other homebrew clubs and attendees. The Jaycees reported setting a new attendance record on Saturday.

We served over 60 gallons of homebrewed beer brewed by 11 different club members.
We had 19 different volunteers that helped with the set up, serving, and clean up of our very popular booth.
We gathered contact information from 25 people interested in getting more information about our club.
We helped to serve at and clean up the DESTIHL booth.
We provided judges for the HOPS Black & Tan Competition.
We submitted entries into the HOPS Black & Tan Competition (results to be announced).

Thanks to the following people for serving and donating beer to the event:

Jim Nettleton
Adam Aspbury
Max Bateman
John Yoder
Shawn McVey
Dan Taylor
Tony McCauley
Jim McClure
Chad Bevers
Kerry Counts
Heather Morisette

Thanks also goes out to these additional servers/helpers:

Joe McCauley
Jim Hubbard
Michelle Aspbury
Janice Bateman
Carol Yoder
Debbie McVey
Peggy McCauley
Fred Morisette

Big Brew

April 16, 2009 · Posted in Events · Comment

Big Brew is a worldwide event celebrating National Homebrew Day by brewing and giving brewing demonstrations. This is YOUR chance to observe and participate in the brewing of BEER.

In 1988, May 7 was announced before Congress as National Homebrew Day. The American Homebrewers Association created Big Brew as an annual event to celebrate National Homebrew Day not only in the United States, but around the world. Big Brew is held each year on the first Saturday in May.

Last year, more than 10,500 gallons were brewed by almost 4000 participants at 242 sites on six continents worldwide. Sites were registered in 42 states in the US, as well as in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Israel, Kenya, The Netherlands, Russia, and Uryguay.

If you are from Central Illinois but are not a member of our club and would like to participate in our Big Brew, please use the Contact Us form.

Check out the AHA’s website for more information on Big Brews in your area: http://beertown.org/events/bigbrew/.