Homebrew clubs are cautiously coming out of hiberation after a few years of dormancy during the peak of COVID-19. While the pandemic is still ongoing in our lives, we’ve gotten better access to information, vaccinations and medications to help deal with the new reality of living with COVID-19.
However, clubs are realising that previously engaged club members may have moved on from the hobby during this hibernation period due to a variety of reasons like family commitments or lifestyle changes, and they’re having a challenging time returning to previous levels of club engagements with new members that they start going back to in-person meetings.
Hopefully this list of activities help!
Bulk Buys
Cost of existing has increased all across the board, and brewing ingredients and supplies have not been spared. Running club bulk buys is a great way to help elevate the cost of brewing. Here are some ideas on things to bulk buy:
- Malt
- Hops
- Yeast
- Cider
- Honey
- Wort
- Brewing Chemicals
- Hydrometers
Sensory training
My favourite part about being involved with a local homebrew club, is access to in-person sensory training events. There’re tons that you can do, and it’s great to tap into the more experienced judges and tasters in the club to help with that. Part of getting better with sensory training is being to articulate what you’re experiencing, so the more sensory vocabulary you can acquire, the better you will be at picking out and articulating that you are sensing.
- Off-flavours training
- Malt tea sensory training
- Hop sensory training
- Fruit sensory training (especially tropical fruit)
- Floral sensory training
Exposure to other fermentation
There is a lot of overlap in fermentation sciences, so if there is an opportunity, try a variety of fermentation. Encourage your members to bring in their cider, meads and wines and learn the lexicon that comes with them. Maybe do a special presentation on lacto-soured pickles.
Local forage sessions
Sometimes foraging is lonely, and it’s nice to do with some friends (responsibly). There are a ton of great things we can find outside that would work great in a future brew.
- Spruce tips
- Dandelions
- Crabapples
- Wild berries, grapes, hops, rosehips
Barrel-aging Program
How cool would it to be able to share a barrel-aged beer that you made yourself? But with standard barrels holding about 200L, it can be challenging to brew (and then drink) all the barrel-aged beers. Find a barrel (whiskey, bourbon, tequila, rum, wine), grab some fellow club members, pick a base style, brew it and combine your efforts for a delicious group project. Make sure to check it periodically and top it up as needed.
Internal Homebrew Competitions
Folks might find submitting beers to be critiqued at a national competition daunting (and expensive at times), so a good way of drumming up some confidence is by running some local competitions that are be free to enter for members. It’s a great way to help provide feedback to your members, give new judges an oppourtunity to practise good judging etiquette and drum up interest in the judging program. You can plan it to be something structured with scoresheets written up, or have it casual and sampled at an upcoming meeting. Here are some ideas for your internal competition:
- Seasonal style competition
- Mystery box challenge
- Specific ingredient brewing challenge (a great way to learn how a specific malt, hop, yeast or adjunct ingredient can manifest in different styles)
- Have a regional battle-off with neighbouring homebrew clubs, and crown a reigning homebrew club in your area
Brewery Bus Tours
If you’re in an area that has breweries popping up like dandelions after a good spring shower, you might not have time to check them all out. Rent a bus and map out the breweries folks want to check out. It’s a fun social event for club members, and a great and safe way to check out and support your local breweries.
Special Events
Run a special event like a club BBQ or club retreat. This is a great way to meet and hang out with some club members, and make it a family-friendly event so folks can bring their obligations along with them.
Obviously, there are a lot more things you can do with your homebrew club (and the more niche/ specific it is to your club, the better), but here are just some ideas to hopefully help attract new members and retain the ones you already have.