End of Summer Recap

Summer has fled, and with it, the last of my light, effervescent English Bitter. The time has come for more robust brews: Oktoberfests, doppelbocks, strong ales, porters and stouts -- and for and end-of-summer recap. In addition to numerous impromptu weekend brew sessions in recent months, we grew our membership to 15 and provided a variety of brews to sample at Catholic Man Night with Archbishop Nienstedt in August. The men in attendance were highly complementary of the selection and brews themselves, and I believe we are on tap to do something similar in November

A gathering of Catholic men for Catholic Man Night in August.

Archbishop John Nienstedt speaks on
the topic of "Jesus Christ, Defender of the Family."

Another first for the club: we supplied a homebrewing sampler and Introduction to Homebrewing prize package for the Silent Auction at the St. Michael Catholic Church Fall Festival. The winner, St. Michael parishioner Joe Donlon, received a locally brewed sampler -- two bottles each of Honey Nut Brown Ale and Cream Ale by Karl Becker, two bottles of my English Bitter, and a large bottle of Mike Engel's Scottish Light Ale -- plus the opportunity to brew two cases of the ale of his choice with Bottomless Pint Brewers -- we supply the ingredients, the equipment, the bottles, everything. (We said we would even brew it for him, but it turns out, Joe is interested in brewing and was looking forward to trying it out without the expense of buying equipment and bottles.)

Our first Silent Auction prize package...

The Fall Festival was pleased with the results of this first BPB foray into the Silent Auction -- now all we have to do is brew great beer for Joe! The date for his brew session (the next club session) has been set for Saturday, Oct. 13, at Butch Nielsen's house -- we'll likely start in early afternoon. Anyone who wants to brew is welcome, so come on out!

Club Launch!

Well, it's more or less official: St. Michael and Albertville, Minnesota, have a Catholic men's group/homebrewing club called Bottomless Pint Brewers! We are finalizing a draft charter -- our preliminary mission statement is below.

Mission
Bottomless Pint Brewers seeks to create lasting fraternal bonds among its members by:

• Encouraging the art and science of homebrewing, improving the knowledge base of aspiring brewers, and fostering the responsible enjoyment of well-crafted beer;
• Reinforcing the joy and vitality of manhood and the essential role of men—husbands and fathers; sons and brothers—in preserving our families, communities, and country; and
• Deepening the faith of its members through shared activities and casual conversation with other Catholic men, as well as other more formal opportunities for evangelization and catechesis.

We hope to ramp up slowly through this spring and summer. Activities under consideration for the club include:

• Club brewing sessions,
• Homebrewing-related discussion groups or guest speakers,
• Beer tastings and club socials for members and their spouses or guests,
• A “Theology on Tap” guest speaker series, with beer (of course) and topics relevant to Catholic men and their spouses or guests,
• Pub outings, brewery tours, or brewing courses in the Twin Cities and the surrounding area,
• And competitions or other special events.

We are in the process of being recognized and listed by the American Homebrewers Association -- that, and official membership cards should earn members a discount at Midwest Supplies and other local brewer stores. We are considering modest annual dues (on the order of $10) to help offset the cost of producing membership cards, to pay for shared supplies like cleaner and sanitizer, etc. We hope the discount and camaraderie will more than make up for this charge, but please feel free to weigh in with a comment.

If you think you may be interested in the brewing process, in brewing your own beer yourself, or even in just trying homebrewed beer, we would love to hear from you! Email us at bottomlesspint@gmail.com or find us on Facebook at Bottomless Pint Brewers. Cheers!