Last week, our local homebrew club, the Cloudy Town Brewers, met at the downtown, St. Cloud, location of The House of Pizza with about 15 members in attendance. Jason Fitch, the manager of this location, was an awesome host – going as far to make sure we were well taken care of as 30+ frat boyz moved in at 8:00 for their $5 All You Can Eat and $4 taps special. Thanks Jason and bartender Adam!
President Joe Luether said there wasn’t much to cover today but after looking through my notes, there was a lot to look forward to in the next couple of months. From fall apple pressing for ciders to Learn To Brew Day, it’s going to be a busy fall as a club.
Apple Pressing
First on deck was the seasonal topic of apple pressing for ciders. Member Tim Furstenberg offered facilitate a pressing day with his modern equipment. Nothing concrete for dates or locations were worked out yet as Aaron Guck needed to check with his wife to see if his offer of his driveway and two trees of sweet apples are a go. End of Sept. is the target as the apples won’t last for long. I’d see the Facebook page for the group to see when/where the event will take place. Remember: Most likely you will need to arrange to have your own pulp taken with you.
Barn Party and Hop Picking
Dan Lieser is having a barn party this Friday, Sept. 4th with a live band (STIFLE: Band of Brothers), beer for drinking, sloppy joes, and bring stuff to share. Check the Facebook page for details. Dan is also offering attendees to take pick of he excess crop of Kent Goldings and Cascade hops for free. Great deal, and thanks, Dan!
October Meeting Time and Location
As this is my first year in the club, I learned that it’s tradition for Dan Leiser to host the October meeting at his apparently well suited barn on Mayhew Lake in Sauk Rapids. The date will be Oct. 7th at 7:30 (as usual). Keep yer eyes peeled on Facebook for details as we get closer.
The Other Barn,
12350 35th Ave NE Sauk Rapids
Fall Taproom Crawl
Once again, the Cloudy Town Brewers are organizing a Twin Cities taproom crawl, this time, on Oct. 10th. Adventurers will be taking The Link bus from St. Cloud to Big Lake, then catching the Northstar train to the Twins Target Stadium in the heart of Minneapolis (and right next to Fulton Brewing). Here’s the list of breweries they expect to visit on the tour:
- Fair State Brewing Coop
- Sociable Cider Werks
- Indeed Brewing Co
- Bauhaus Brew Labs
- 612 Brewing
- Fulton Brewing
Three others are on the available for those on a mission:
See the event page for all the details!
On the radar: Stuff to keep in mind for a later date.
Things in the planning stages with more details to be worked out.
October 31st is the Halloween Homebrew Contest for the folks up in Fargo.
November 8th will be Learn to Home Brew day, run by the Cloudy Town Brewers and hosted by Baker’s Hobbytown in Waite Park. Expect demonstrations on whole grain, brew-in-a-bag (BIAB), and extract brewing all day.
Tentative planning will begin soon on the March Mashness Homebrew Competition as well.
Thanks again to Jason Fitch and Adam of The House of Pizza for hosting us this month and look forward to having more meetings there in the future.
