June 2006 Meeting: Brewing Alert!

Instead of the usual report on all the great homebrews we tasted at our last meeting, I am going to put out a call to action.

At our meeting, we mainly discussed plans for our next club brewing event. We agreed as a club to participate in the West Park Farmers Market on Saturday, July 22. Yes, we all know that date is the same as the Michigan Brewers Guild's Ninth Annual Summer Beer Festival.

There is good news for anyone who wanted to taste beer that weekend. The Summer Beer Festival is a two-day event this year, so you can go on Friday. (See related article.) And it gets even better. The West Park Farmers Market will be featuring microbreweries on July 22.

That gives us the opporunity to stay close to home, drink beer samples and make homebrews all at the same time, while also having the opportunity to try some Michigan microbrews during the same weekend. What can be better? Here are the details:

Location: Beaconsfield and Kercheval (two blocks south of Park Winery).

Space: Two adjacent 18' x 18' areas in the parking lot of the Bon Secours clinic. That is on the south side of Kercheval between Beaconsfield and Lakepointe, directly across Kercheval from Mueller's Market and Rustic Cabins.

Time: The West Park Farmers Market runs from 9am - 2pm. We may set up at 8:30am(?), brew until 2pm (or when finished). I do not foresee any reason why club members cannot show up later, but access to the location by car will be difficult.

To bring: Brew equipment, ingredients, tables, pop-up tents, snacks, grins. Officially, I do not think we can give out homebrew samples to interested visitors.

We have requested an area near electrical utility, a water supply and a street drain. John Wolfahrt is the one who will need electricy for the pumps on his new all-grain system. There is not an ideal spot in the parking lot that meets all three requirements, unfortunately.

This event will give our club and Park Winery great exposure. Contact Ed Stone about a template for DBF business cards that you can personalize and hand to interested visitors. Also the event gives everyone a great excuse to brew beer and escape from a few hours of yard work. That alone makes a great reason to join the club.