We have a new process for getting feedback on your homebrews. In short, you bring your bottled beer samples and prepared feedback sheets to a club meeting, other members take them home to evaluate, and they give their feedback directly back to you. Visit Homebrew Feedback for all the details.
Lots of great updates!
May Meeting
Our last regular meeting of the season will be 7pm, Tuesday May 5th at Oxus Brewing. Steph Barten (Brat Cat Mead) will lead a Honey and Mead tasting seminar!
Annual General Meeting
The AGM will be held at Devil May Care on Tuesday June 2nd. This is when we cover club business – Executive elections, voting on club kit style / competition theme, review club finances, etc. Consider running for one of the club exec positions! Nominations can be made during the meeting as well.
Big Brew
Will take place on Sunday June 14th at Brazen Brewing. Steve Shaw was the winner of the Clone Wars competition at the last meeting with his copy of Sookram’s MacGuffin, but has he’s already had the pleasure of doing Big Brews he’s deferred selection of the Big Brew recipe to 2nd place, which was… ME! I’m already talking to Evan at Brazen about a couple different recipe options, so stay tune for that once we decide what to go with. In the meantime, if you plan to participate in the Big Brew, please Sign up here! https://forms.gle/WXAYXPmPJXCZ1mNk7
Season Windup
Saturday June 20th!
We’ve made the executive decision to have this year’s windup on private property. The location is still TBD, but being on private property gives us the option to bring and share our homebrew with each other! I’ll reach out to some locations to gauge their interest in hosting us. If you’re willing to have the club take over your yard, feel free to let us know.
Ballpark Brewfest
It’s officially happening on Saturday, July 18th and we’ve been invited!
Cheers!
Dan Molinski
The last meeting at Grain to Glass went very well and we’re all looking forward to evaluating the results of the various co-fermentations! Huge thanks to Steve, Paul, and everyone who stepped up to make the meeting a success.
Our next meeting is the second Tuesday, January 13th at Sookram’s and we’re planning to do the beer off-flavours training. This meeting is open only to paid club members.
The first batch of beer has finished aging in the club’s new oak barrel! It’s already been claimed for the next batch, but because we don’t want the barrel sitting idle with nothing in it, get your name on the waitlist (email the President) and start planning an oak-aged brew!
The Manitoba Pilsner club kit is available at Grain to Glass. If you’re a full paying member please pick your kit up ASAP so they don’t sit around the shop for too long. As in previous years, you can get the kit delivered (within city limits) if you add a note to an online order.
For convenience, the new club beer mugs are available to be purchased at Grain to Glass. There will also be mugs for purchase at future meetings as well, until they’re all sold.
That’s all for 2025! I hope you all have a great holiday season and a happy New Year.
December Meeting
We’ll be meeting at Grain to Glass on Tuesday December 2nd, and we’ll be doing a brewing experiment where we brew a Saison, split the batch, and try different co-fermentations. We’ll have a follow up meeting later in the season where we’ll be able to taste the results.
If anyone has a recipe for a basic Saison, please let me know.
Names for the snack potluck are at the bottom of this email.
NEW Oak Barrel Co-op
Last season Andre pitched the idea of a club-owned barrel that members could have access to for barrel-ageing their brews. I’m happy to announce that the barrel has been purchased and the first group of brewers will be breaking it in with a Scottish Ale. Full details of how the barrel co-op works can be seen on the club website: Co-Operative Oak Barrel Program. A couple details still need to be ironed out, but the page will be updated once that’s done.
NEW WBB Mugs
The club branded beer mugs have arrived! I’ll bring them to the next meeting where they’ll be available for purchase for $15 each.
Manitoba Pilsner Club Kit
The test brew was a success – many of you got to taste the beer at the last meeting. A couple minor adjustments were made as a result of some feedback, but the recipe is (mostly) ready Club Brew 2025 – Manitoba Pilsner.
We still have to get the kits assembled, so stay tuned for an email announcing when they’re ready to be picked up.
“Clone Wars” Creative Competition
After some input from members, we’ve decided that the creative competition will take place during the April meeting at Barn Hammer. This should provide plenty of time for everyone to plan their entries. There hasn’t been any feedback to the proposed rules from my last update, so those will be the rules we go by. Time to get brewing!
Hello Brew Bombers!
Our next meeting is Tuesday November 4th at Oxus Brewing. As with the past couple years, we’ll be running the meeting as a session on “How to evaluate homebrew”. So if you want to get some feedback from members, bring samples of your beer, cider, or mead.
Show up a bit early so we can get started at 7pm sharp. Also, since we’re wanting our senses to be sharp, there won’t be any snack potluck at this meeting.
ProAm Brew Challenge
Registration is open! Entries can be added until October 25th. Entries are to be dropped off at Oxus Brewing between October 27-31.Visit www.proam.beer for all info.
Any questions can be sent to Marc and Adrian at proambrewchallenge@gmail.com
Winnipeg Brew Bombers Glasses
We’re looking at ordering some new club beer mugs. We’d like to get an idea of how many we’re likely to sell to members right away. They’ll probably be around $10-15 per mug. Fill out this poll if you’re interested (filling in the poll is not a commitment to purchasing mugs)
Club Kit Update
We have put together a recipe and have secured locally produced ingredients for our “Manitoba Pilsner”. The kit will include Cashmere and Triumph hops from Prairie Gem Hops, and Pilsner malt from Scythe Malting. I’ll be brewing a test batch this weekend and once it’s done we’ll make any final adjustments to the recipe before building and distributing the kits. If all goes well we should have them available before Christmas again.
Creative Competition – Local Clones
The Creative Competition has been done in January for the past couple years, but we’ve not yet secured a location or permit so we still have flexibility. Let us know if you’d like it to take place later in the season so you have more time to prepare… February? March?
The club executives have discussed and come up with three rules for this year’s creative competition. We’re open to hearing your feedback before we set these rules in stone, so please share your thoughts!
RULES:
Last reminder for Member Dues
A final reminder to everyone to pay your member dues if you haven’t yet. This can be done with cash/debit/credit at a club meeting, or any time by sending an e-transfer to the Treasurer. Membership tiers are outlined here.
Are you interested in making your own beer at home, but not sure where to start? We’ve teamed up with Grain To Glass for a “Learn To Brew” event, showcasing several easy ways to get into the hobby.
Join us at Grain To Glass, 1333 Niakwa Rd. and we will demonstrate some of the easiest methods, along with the equipment you need to get into it.
Saturday, October 4th. Starting at Noon (11:45am sign-in)
This event is FREE, open to non-members, and lunch will be provided.
Sign up now, and we’ll see you Oct 4.
Let’s get brewing!
Hello Brew Bombers!
The end of summer break is in sight, which means we’ll soon be kicking off our new season.
Our first meeting will be on Tuesday September 9th at Half Pints Brewing, and will feature talks and demonstrations around packaging homebrew. We’ll be highlighting the many options available to us – including both DIY and off the shelf bottle fillers, and covering all the things you need to know to be successful. Side note… if anyone packages their homebrew in cans and is willing to contribute to this meeting by talking and/or demonstrating canning, please reach out to the club executives.
As a reminder, we’ve discontinued online membership management and have gone back to the old way of simply collecting member dues by cash, e-transfer, or credit/debit on the Square; and we’ll be maintaining the member list on a simple spreadsheet. This means that if you wish to remain a member of the club you’ll need to pay your dues at the start of the season.
Cheers,
Dan Molinski
NEW Jockey Box Rental Option
The club owns and maintains two jockey boxes that we’ve used at various events and festivals over the years. They were previously only set up for Sanke kegs, but they’ve recently been re-fit with fresh beer lines and universal connections that allow easy changeover between Sanke, Ball-lock, or Pin-lock connections.
If you’re interested in renting a jockey box, you can find all the details on the Jockey Box Rentals page
Election Results
The President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Competition Coordinator positions were uncontested. Me, Tyler, Paul, and Steve will continue in our respective roles for the 2025-2026 season.
Luke Thiessen stepped up and ran for club Secretary, and won the election held at the meeting. Welcome to the team, Luke; we look forward to working with you. Thank you to Ryan Gren for doing an awesome job filling the Secretary role for last year.
Club Kit Style
There were some great options discussed and we landed on Pilsner being the style for next year’s club kit. But in a twist, it’s going to be a “Manitoba Pilsner”, with made-in-Manitoba malt and hops.
Creative Competition Theme
Continuing with the local theme, next year’s creative competition will be “local clones”. Is there a Manitoba brew you’ve always enjoyed or thought it would be fun to try to replicate? This will be your chance!
Detailed rules and guidelines will be sorted out later, the idea is that whatever you’re cloning must be produced by a Manitoba company. Also, this won’t be restricted to beer… ciders and meads will also be allowed!
Memberpress
After discussing the pros and cons of using memberpress on the website, the decision was made to stop using it for the 2025-2026 season. Instead we’ll be going back to the old-school way of collecting member dues with cash, credit/debit on the Square, or e-transfer to the Treasurer in September. We’ll manage the member list manually. Over the summer break we’ll work on disabling memberpress. Some of you who have later renewal dates which don’t align with the start of the season may be hearing from me.
Updated Club Mission
We have updated the “About” page of the website with a mission statement for the club that more clearly outlines who we are and what we strive to achieve.
NEW Membership Terms & Conditions
We’ve spent the past year defining Membership Terms & Conditions. This is partly an expansion of the existing Code of Conduct, but now covers things like member classes, joining/ending memberships, and includes a blanket participation waiver.
If you were at the AGM and have already reviewed and signed, then no further action is needed. If you weren’t at the meeting and plan on continuing as a member, be prepared to sign your name at one of the first meetings next season.
Hello Brew Bombers!
It seems like it was only yesterday that I took over as President and started planning the 24/25 season and here I am already sending the update for the final meeting and season windup.
June AGM
The June meeting will be at 7pm,Tuesday June 3rd at Trans Canada Brewing in their upstairs room. It’s going to be the club’s first official “Annual General Meeting”. It’s all about club business, so it’s only open to active registered club members. No snack potluck. This is an important meeting where we’ll discuss many topics and make decisions that impact the club and all members. If you want to have a say in any of this then you must attend in person. The current agenda topics are listed in your email.
Elections
Nobody has stepped up expressing any interest in running for any of the positions…
…copied and pasted from my last update:
It’s the time of year when we start asking members to consider putting their name in the hat for the club executive positions. It’s important that we regularly change up club leadership because as we grow and our member base changes, what our members care about also changes. By having members like you step up and play a greater role in club operations, we make sure that the people running the club are in touch with the membership and understand what matters to them.
If you are interested, please send me a message with the position you would like to run for.
Windup BBQ
The season windup will take place at Half Pint’s Brewing on Saturday June 21st. The exact start time is still TBD but plan for mid-afternoon.
As usual, bring your own chairs, coolers, beverages, etc. The club will purchase a keg of Half Pint’s beer for everyone to share. If you have some fun games, please bring those too for entertainment. If you have a pop-up sun shelter, folding table, or other useful stuff you’re willing to bring, let me know! If you have a spouse or partner, they are also welcome to join us.
Also, as we’ve done the past few years, there is a potluck signup so we don’t all just bring bags of chips, ha ha.
If you have any other thoughts or ideas for the BBQ feel free to share! or be ready to discuss at the AGM.
Cheers!
Hello Brew Bombers!
Our next meeting is at Devil May Care Brewing on Tuesday May 6th at 7pm. As usual, show up a bit early to have a pint or two and socialize before things get started.
The guys from Grain to Glass will be doing an “Introduction to Kegging” presentation/demonstration. If you’re bottle conditioning your brews and have been considering making the leap to kegs, then you won’t want to miss this meeting!
Big Brew 2025:
Adrian’s Coffee Porter “Grimmer Jitters” is available on tap at TCB. Head down there and grab a pint before it’s all gone!
2025-2026 Executive Election:
It’s the time of year when we start asking members to consider putting their name in the hat for the club executive positions. It’s important that we regularly change up club leadership because as we grow and our member base changes, what our members care about also changes. By having members like you step up and play a greater role in club operations, we make sure that the people running the club are in touch with the membership and understand what matters to them.
The election will take place in-person during the AGM meeting in June – there will be no online voting.
Below are the elected executive positions and their associated responsibilities. Also remember that club executives get their membership fee waived for the year they hold their position! If you are interested, email the President with the position you would like to run for and a brief write up about your ideas/goals for the upcoming year.
President:
Vice President:
Treasurer:
Secretary:
Competition Coordinator:
Competition Updates:
Monin Gourmet Flavorings Competition entries must be dropped off at Grain to Glass by closing time on Friday May 2nd. See the Monin Gourmet Flavorings Competition page for all the details.
After the Cowtown Yeast Wranglers competition, the first of the BOTY circuit, our club is only 2 points shy of being in the top 5. Let’s get there! Visit the Upcoming Homebrew Competitions page for the latest info.
Hello Brew Bombers!
April Meeting:
Our next meeting is at Low Life Barrel House on Tuesday April 1st at 7pm.
This meeting will be all about calibrating and using measuring devices. We’ll be preparing solutions with known, highly accurate values that you can use to calibrate your measuring devices. So if you have a PH meter, we’ll have containers of water at specific PH levels. If you have refractometers, tilts, pills, etc. you can calibrate them in containers at various gravity levels. If you have thermometers that can be calibrated, bring those too! We’ll also be talking about using scales on your brew day.
If you plan to bring devices to the meeting, there’s a few things to remember:
It should be an interesting meeting, so I hope to see a lot of you there.
Club Kit:
If you haven’t picked up your club kit yet, please do that soon. Remember, if you place an online order with Grain to Glass, you can request they deliver your kit with your order as long as you’re inside Winnipeg.
We also encourage everyone to try to finish brewing their club kits in time for the Annual General Meeting in June. The hope is that we can do a big bottle swap that day, then spend the rest of the week evaluating each other’s Weissbier’s, and share all the feedback at the Windup BBQ the following Saturday.
Big Brew 2025:
The Big Brew at TCB is done! Thanks to everyone who participated. It was a long day, so extra shout out to those who stayed the whole 12 hours. The beer will eventually be available in their tap room. Keep an eye on the club social media for details.
Pro/Am 2025:
We’re happy to share that we’ve found the new Pro/Am Director and Coordinator!
Marc Molet-King and Adrian Zetner have both agreed to take over planning and preparations for the 2025 Pro/Am Brew Challenge. Who will have which title is still TBD… I heard talk of a beer drinking contest to find out.
While this will be something new for Adrian, Marc has the experience of two competitions under his belt, and they’ll be joined by Kyle Dyck and Neal Foy, both of whom helped out with last year’s competition planning and are staying on the team again this year.
If you’re interested in helping out with this year’s competition as a steward, judge, volunteer or otherwise, reach out to proambrewchallenge@gmail.com
