November 7th: Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day @ Amsterdam

Homebrewing is something that I've always wanted to get into but for various reasons I just haven't been able to get it together. Maybe it's the fact that I live in an apartment in the city that is already packed with beer from different parts of the country, or the fact that while I enjoy the idea of making my own beer I might prefer to avoid all the hard work and just enjoy the products made by the talented men and women out there brewing for a living. It is something that I intend on doing in the very near future however, so I was intrigued when I received the following email from George Leet the other day about an event coming up on November 7th.

November 7th - The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) formally runs something call "Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day". In the past, I have had a couple of friends over, and brewed up a big batch of something for us all to share.

This year, I wanted to do something a little bigger!

We will bring our brewing gear to the Amsterdam Brewery for a day of public demonstrations. We're still somewhat in the planning stages, trying to pull this together, but for now we have 12 different brewers (room for 16) who belong to "Are You An SOB? (Southern Ontario Brewers)", bringing their gear down and helping with the big event. Jamie Mistry, the Brewmaster at Amsterdam, has offered us yeast (ale and lager) and hops, and he will also be brewing with us. On top of that, we have grain donations from Weyermann Malts in Germany, and Gilbertson & Page in Fergus. I'm hoping that we will attract members of the public who have an interest in homebrewing or enjoy the taste of unique beers. And who knows, perhaps it will become an annual affair?

The Amsterdam Brewery will also be open, with public tours of the brewery, and Amsterdam beers will be available to sample. Better yet, buy a case to take home!

Other items available for purchase include "Are You an SOB?" T-shirts, items from Craft brewers Recycled Art Project (CRAP), and brewing kits and other supplies from homebrewersretail.com

Sponsors:
Amsterdam Brewing
Weyermann Specialty Malts
Gilbertson & Page
Amara Studios Photography
CRAP - Craft brewers Recycled Art Project
homebrewersretail.com

P.S. Amsterdam Brewmaster Jamie Mistry will be handing out a recipe for home-brewing "Amsterdam Nut Brown"... Look for a clone contest in the next couple of months!

The Facebook page for the event is here

http://www.facebook.com/thatleetboy#/event.php?eid=148676432887&ref=mf

Do it, go check out the Facebook page and make sure that date is free on your calendar. This certainly sounds like a great way to learn about the brewing process, meet people who have been homebrewing for years, taste some beer from Amsterdam, and take a tour a working brewhouse. The event starts at 10am and runs until 6pm. Judging from the Facebook page, it seems that the homebrewers who have committed to brewing on this day are going to be producing barley wines, porters, stouts, and more.


A little about these SOB's: Southern Ontario Brewers - a group of homebrewers from Toronto (and beyond) who are not only passionate about homebrewing, but are a bunch of SOBs! - We are informally pulling together this group, with the intention of sharing our knowledge, group purchasing power, and stage the occasional gathering to brew together and perhaps share our beers. - The SOB mandate is to be inclusive, not elitist. We hope to have a little fun, and perhaps break some of the rules along the way. You can contact the group at - thatleetboybrews@gmail.com