Beer Weekend

This Friday I started my beer weekend with a trip to my Local Home Brew Store for our monthly Home Brew Dudes meeting. The store is located at Nacodoches and Judson Roads on the northeast side of San Antonio. They have all sorts of beer, wine, and cheese making equipment and knowledgeable staff that can help you with your home brewing needs. I've been going there for about a year and a half and I've been a Home Brew Dude for about a year.

The membership costs $20/year but it's worthwhile to anybody interested in craft and home brewing. Each month the club brews a beer and everybody brings food, craft beer, and home brew to share. It's not structured per style (except the monthly recipe which is chosen in advance) so everybody just brings and tastes what they have. We also taste home brewed wine, mead, and sake when someone makes it available (including an interesting broccoli wine that tastes like steamed broccoli). You can also volunteer to do the brewing for the month and Stu/Bret usually do an educational portion where they go over the monthly style, equipment, technique, and recipes.

Last night I tasted everything from Cherry/Blackberry Ale from Craig, a Shiner Bock clone from Jason (his first brew!), Chocolate Mole Stout from Nick, and I gave out samples of my Devon White Ales (sour!) and my Mint Chocolate Stout.

Visit their website and stop in the store! This is the best homebrew store in San Antonio and the guys and gals are always helpful. Or give them a call at 210-650-9070.

Saturday I caught wind of another beer group meeting up from my friend Nick. They are the San Antonio Cerveceros and they are committed to creating a craft beer community in San Antonio. "We are a welcoming, friendly and teaching club" says their mission statement. I met with them for the first time today at Freetail Brewing Company (pictured above) including a representative from Boston Beer Company (i.e. Samuel Adams) named Meagen. I told her and the founders of the Cerveceros about this blog so let's see if they find it and enjoy. Welcome!

Go to the link above for their Facebook page and click "Like" to follow their activity. They have meetings once a month, different locations each time, and they usually discuss craft brewing, home brewing, and how to build our craft beer community in San Antonio. Membership is $50/year and the next meeting is next Sunday, August 15 at 1PM. It will be held at Blue Star Brewery in downtown San Antonio. They welcome members and visitors alike.

I had a great brew weekend! Share your weekend beer stories in the comments!