The first Capital Brewers brewday will be held on Saturday December 8th from 10:30 a.m.
All are welcome regardless of experience, so please feel free to sign up here. TOG (www.tog.ie, Chancery Lane, Dublin 8) have very kindly offered to host the first brewday.
TOG is a shared space where members have a place to be creative and work on their projects in an environment that is both inspiring and supportive of both new and old technologies. They share a similar DIY ethos with homebrewers which provides a perfect location for a brewday.
On the day there are plans to demonstrate the three homebrew methods (kit, extract and all grain). Using a similar recipe for each method will focus the brewday so that everyone will be able to see how each method can produce a similar beer.
The kit will be hacked a bit to make it taste better, the general consensus amongst the better kit brewers is that the first step is to throw the instructions in the bin. There will also be a brief talk about kit brewing and sanitation as this is one of the most important skills that a brewer should have.
The extract batch recipe was posted on our website yesterday. Extract brewing is a step up from kit brewing but should not be a huge leap for those who have some experience hacking kits. There will also be a small talk about extract brewing on the day.
The all grain batch will be based on a recipe that Jacob put together and is a great example of a Pale Ale. The all grain process is another step up from extract in that grains are mashed as opposed to using extract liquid or powder.
At the end of the day there will be three brews fermenting that will need to be bottled or kegged a couple of weeks later. It is hoped that the beers will be conditioned and ready for drinking in January and that a blind tasting will be held to see if people can guess which brews are the kit, extract and all grain batches. It is hoped that all going well we will find a permanent base where we can brew at least once a month and undertake some projects like barrel ageing an imperial stout and having a yeast bank for members use.
There will be plenty of time for chatting on the day and everyone will be able to learn from each other. There may be a couple of extra talks on the day and maybe a small workshop, if anyone would like to suggests a workshop for the day. Please feel free to add to the suggestions topic on the forum.
The last thing that will need to be decided on the day is the format the club will take. Please take some time to think about what the club can do for you: Will we try to pitch in together and have a big kit for group brews? Would we prefer to just bring out on equipment in and brew in a more social environment? Would we like to organise talks and other education initiatives? Maybe workshops on how to build equipment? Possibly all of the above and a lot more.
The sign-up page can be found on the forum. If you have any queries please email Padraic at capitalbrewers@nationalhomebrewclub.com or find him on Twitter @capitalbrewers. Please everyone sign on to the forum and update the list so that we have a good idea of numbers to ensure the day runs smoothly.
