Club of the Week: Bloomington Hop Jockeys

The Bloomington Hop Jockeys are a homebrewing club located in Bloomington, Ind., dedicated to the hobby and culture of everything surrounding homebrewing. Founded in 2004, the Bloomington Hop Jockeys are thrilled about homebrewing and sharing beer knowledge with everyone!  Both novice and experienced brewers comprise the Hop Jockeys, and they pride themselves on providing an unpretentious and welcoming environment regardless of skill level.

Quick Stats

• Name: Bloomington Hop Jockeys
• Founded: September 11, 2004
• Membership: Around 50 people
• Location: Bloomington, Indiana
• Email: officers@hopjockeys.org
• Website: HopJockeys.org
• Social Media: Facebook
• Club Motto: “For those about to hop, we salute you!”
• Membership Dues:  $20/year

Who we are and how we got started/why we got started.

We are a group of homebrewers that focus on learning how to brew better beer while growing the homebrewing community in Bloomington. Ryan Clarke and Lance McNew Jr. formed our club in July of 2004 by placing a simple sign up sheet in Bloomington’s homebrew supply shop, Butler Winery. We had four founding members show up to the first meeting hosted by Ryan Clarke; they were Lance, Matt Dunn and John Redfern. These pioneers brewed John’s first batch of beer (a hefeweisen) and shared beers throughout the night. The founding members discovered they shared a love for aggressively hopped beers, which led to naming the new group the Bloomington Hop Jockeys.

Current Club Officers

• President: Brandon Cooper
• VP: Joshua Krieger
• Secretary: Dan Schloss
• Treasurer: Jed Marshall
• Social Chair/Events Coordinator: Dave Warren

Club Vibe

We are enthusiastic about brewing and sharing beer and knowledge with one another. We have a common goal of brewing better beer at home. Both novice and experienced brewers comprise our group, and we pride ourselves in providing an unpretentious and welcoming environment regardless of skill level.

Meetings

We currently meet at Upland Brewery’s catering hall on the second Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. All are welcome to join.

Competitions

We have sub-group of members that regularly enter homebrew competitions, but we have yet to host one ourselves. Upland Brewery holds the UpCup competition each summer at their brewery, and our members serve homebrewed beer at this event, so please join us!

Fun Activities

We have several brew days, club picnics and miscellaneous club events throughout the year.

Brew Day Disaster

We have had our share of stuck sparges, a few burns and clogged air locks leading to yeast on the ceiling, but we aren't complaining. 

Club Beer or Recipe

Sour Rye Saison with Hungarian oak cubes.

 

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