Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

We were spotlighted in Czech Village/New Bohemia Main Street District email I received today. Had our logo and a nice write-up.



#1 Local group goes nuts for beer

With all of the beer related festivities approaching, it is worth noting one group in particular who does their best to spread their love of beer through the community, the Cedar Rapids Beer Nuts.

Beer Nuts are a group of home brewers who meet to share beer and discuss brewing techniques. They consistently frequent local establishments including Main Street's very own Lion Bridge Brewing Company.

Coming off of a successful weekend hosting the 4th Annual Homebrew Festival at Benz Beverage Depot, Aug. 29, they do not currently have any major public events lined up, but keep your eyes peeled in the community as they are always working to create events in the neighborhood.

Rumor has it there may soon be a Jimmy Carter Happy Hour, where the Beer Nuts do a tap take over at a specific bar or restaurant, pouring their beer to raise awareness of their presence in the community.

For more information about how to join, visit their website. (website was linked correctly to our homepage in the email.)

Excellent.

Thank Lion Bridge for the shout-out in the District email next time you're there!

I talked to Anna about the club a lot at Bricks on Saturday. She said she had heard some people talk about the club and they thought you need a special invitation, know a hand shake, we are really tough on beers they bring, etc.... We may need to work on our public image to seem more welcoming. I did not know this perception existed before now.

Disappointing to say the least, as we have worked hard over the last few years to dispel that reputation of being cliquey and snobbish.

One thing that I learned at NHC last year was from a talk by Drew Beechum. When a newbie offers you their beer to taste, you should ask them first if they are looking for feedback/help with a problem, or are they just being social and sharing their beer? Unsolicited/unwanted critique is off-putting to new folks.

I'll throw in my .02 being as a I just joined back in June.

I haven't found the club to be unwelcoming at all. I'm not sure entirely how you'd change perception of someone who hasn't come to a meeting.

I know all of our meetings are open so to speak, but maybe we should have a meeting overtly advertised as being open so that people can come and meet us.

I could also understand how at Bricks people may not feel like just walking into the group to find out what we are about but I don't think you can really change that much.

I am new also. I've sampled great, good and okay beer, nothing terrible unless already advertised as so by its brewer... and for the most part most of the guys are nicer about it than they probably should be..

Well.. the club competitions can be a little harsh.. but then again no one is forcing anyone to do this. I probably won't bother again as I didn't think my feedback was particularly useful and I brew what I want to drink and not something at random for the competition. At least it is available, however. Maybe when I am actively trying to brew "classic styles" I'll reconsider this.

The only off perception I have received when trying to recruit other homebrewers into the group from here at work (and I'm talking like four people) is that they think the dues are too high. What they don't realize is that if you participate in the events (and if you don't you pay for those who do, which is fair IMHO) a lot of that ultimately gets credited back, as it should and that the grain buy is a great deal too. But, I've not been successful in trying to sell anyone else on even coming to a meeting, however and I have tried.

Ultimately a lot of guys like to "brew alone". I suppose that is fine too.

Events like the Benz fest will help with recruiting. I suspect that the club is at a healthy size, now however. I wish we could get some ladies involved in brewing but that is hard in any "male-oriented" hobby. And I have a few of those.

Fred

UndeadFred wrote:STUFF
Fred

Ya, I like to brew alone also, but I love to talk about it and share it with people. I've found the club to be very friendly.
As for the competitions, it was moderately amusing after my first turn-in to see the wide variation in scoring, especially between entries that came from the same base mash, wort, yeast, temperatures, etc. There really is a lot of subjectivity in beer, especially in what characteristics each person likes and doesn't like.

Best thing for competitions is to bottle a couple additional beers and keep them at room temperature in a dark place [reasonable expectation for entry storage] and sample them as you review the results. There are issues that arise in the packaging especially if the beer came off the keg or low level oxidation.
No competitions that are bjcp sanctioned allow entry of kegs. And most require drop off a couple weeks before judging. [Or require mailing entries] How they are stored and what temperature they are served is not specified and does effect the flavor. I've tasted many beers that were good off the keg but had significant flaws after packaging, and I've modified my own packaging based on this information, too.

Brewing better beer by Gordon Strong gives great insight into beer competitions and how even professionally run competitions with certified judges are extremely variable.