April 1st, 2009
North Shore Brewers . Peak Organic . Topsfield Fair Homebrew Competition
Local homebrewers splashing into the local media
For those who are not familar with the 2Beerguys, we are involved with the Local homebrew club – North Shore Brewers. It’s great for anyone that wants to learn about hombrewing. Sure, you can read a book or two — but you have to get in and learn from experience. Dive in and give it a try.
The homebrew club hosts brew camps, tasting sessions and a regional homebrew competition (Topsfield Fair Homebrew Competition).
Tim and Danielle, memebers of the North Shore Brewers Club, are having a great April. They were featured in an article today (below) and have one of their homebrews created by a local brewery.
Peak Organic Brewery, out of Portland Maine, have selected Danielle/Tim’s homebrew IPA as their newest release. The recipie might have been modified slightly, but they used Tim and Danielle’s homebrew as inspiration.
Here is the description that was recently posted Peak Organic’s website:
A unique India Pale Ale, showcasing our favorite hops. The Amarillo, Simcoe, and Nugget hops give this beer a bounty of hop flavor and aroma without too much bitterness in the finish.
Citrusy and luscious nose and front palate from these unique aroma hops.
7.2% abv and 74 IBUs.Inspired by a recipe from our good friend and fellow homebrewer Tim from the North Shore Homebrewers Club.
If this IPA is anything like their Pale Ale (very comparable to the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale) or their Espresso Amber (amazing amazing brew), then everyone should rush to the stores to pick it up. Once we snag a 6 of our own, we’ll make an official review.
To quote the North Shore Home Brewer’s Motto: “GO BREW YOURSELF”
Sean
2Beerguys.com
p.s. Danielle/Tim congratulation!!Â
Something brewing right at home
North Shore club about more than just beer
By Larry Claflin Jr.
Since people began home-brewing beer, at the start of the Agricultural Revolution, it has had an interesting story. In Colonial America, it was a household chore often performed by women; some of our founding fathers — including Thomas Jefferson and George Washington — brewed their own beer; it was outlawed in 1919, with Prohibition, not to be federally legalized again until 1978. In succeeding years, home-brewing morphed into a male-dominated hobby, pursued on stove tops and in garages around the country.
Now, an estimated 500,000 to 750,000 Americans brew beer at home at least once a year, according to Gary Glass, president of the 18,000-member American Homebrewers Association. A vast majority have college degrees, and most fall into the middle- to upper-middle-class income range, according to the association, and a growing number are women.
“It’s still a guy thing, but I have noticed an increase of women interested in trying new beers,” said Danielle Broderick, a floral designer from Hamilton, who since 1996 has brewed with her husband, Tim, a software-sales analyst.
Since then, the Brodericks have attended craft-beer festivals around New England.
According to Danielle, women who used to serve as designated drivers for boyfriends or husbands, are now taking an interest in well-made beer.
“Many women like any aged beers — more wine-like — and fruity beers,” said Danielle, a member of Northshore Brewers, a club she and her husband joined five years ago.
Northshore Brewers — with approximately 40 members — is made up of couples and friends who brew with advanced equipment and experiment with local ingredients. The bounty is savored, stored or shared with friends and family, and some brewers even make custom batches for special occasions.
Originally, the Brodericks joined Northshore Brewers to learn technique (they wanted to advance from kit-based, extract brewing to all-grain brewing) but found the club was about more than just beer. As much as members pass on recipes and equipment, hold tasting parties and brew camps, they also host annual canoe trips and barbecues, volunteer together and have men-only poker night and women-only dinner outings.
“We have members that don’t even brew; some don’t drink beer at all,” said Tim Broderick, the club’s Webmaster.
In fact, the members of Northshore Brewers get together so often, they even have a social director, Katie Duggan.
“We started with a beer group, and we’ve turned it into a social group,” said Duggan, an educator from Danvers.
When Duggan first joined the Northshore Brewers 14 years ago, she said it was 80 percent male; now it’s 50-50, a statistic she attributes to the club reaching out to brewers’ spouses.
Although Duggan and her boyfriend, Ed Hutchins, a pharmacist, no longer home-brew, they are both active members of the club. Duggan said she used to brew hard cider, for which she won ribbons in brewing competitions, but no longer has the time. The club keeps her busy: She also organizes the annual Topsfield Fair Homebrew Competition, which the club has sponsored for eight years.
Last year, the Brodericks took three ribbons home from the competition — second place in the lagers category, and first and second place in the spice and herb category, for a maple porter with grade-B maple syrup and a Christmas spice beer with apples, cinnamon and nutmeg.
The Hamilton couple make a point to use locally produced ingredients, like honey made by North Shore beekeepers and four different varieties of hops Danielle grows in her backyard garden. She also grows lemon balm, an herb she uses to make ale, and they brew cyzer (hard cider and honey), as well as nonalcoholic root beer.
Danielle said she enjoys the company of other club members, some of whom make cheese, wine, mead and grow their own vegetables.
“Since we started brewing and joined the club, we’ve met a lot of interesting, different people, good people who enjoy friendship, good beer and a taste for better things,” she said.