[hylander0]

Hey Homebrewers. I am looking for some input. I am exploring organization a public brew day gathering/event, perhaps on Learn How to Brew Day or National Homebrew Day though my community in Ohio.

I do like the Big Brew format where everyone gathers in the private parking lot of the LHBS or your local brewery. However, I just want to do something where we would be more accessible and visible to the public.

My first thought would be to organize in a public location such as a city park or public gathering place to brew our choice brew using our choice methods while promoting the craft.  Perhaps, it could be paired with another event like a farmers market, for example

Since it might be in a public format, I know in most instances we would not be able to enjoy each other's homebrew while brewing. I am more interested in showcasing/demoing the craft to the public. 

Have you done anything like this? I would love some input about past experiences organizing or participating in something like this, feasibility, suggestions, challenges/obstacles, event pairing suggestions. 

[smkranz]

Our club conducts a homebrewing demonstration and information tent at the annual Maryland Microbrewery Festival.  The festival is on private grounds, and we are invited by the owner/festival sponsor. 

The single biggest request we get from visitors to our tent, is "Can I have a taste of homebrew?"  Because the festival has a beer event permit from the County, and microbreweries are there serving their beers to patrons who pay to get in, we are not allowed to serve samples of homebrew.  It is frustrating, but we've gotten over it.  We have asked, to no avail, to be allowed to serve small samples.

Other than that annoyance, the venue is a large draw for several thousand guests, so we have a built-in audience that is already interested in beer.  The tent can get very busy with people walking through to get a look, and it requires several people dedicated to hovering over potentially careless guests (who have been drinking beer) to keep them safely away from hot kettles and burners.

We also used to publicize our annual Big Brew event which is held at members' homes.  We used to draw a few occasional curious onlookers, but that was pretty much it.  Because we also do the festival, we stopped trying to make Big Brew a public event.

So my suggestion is, try to hook up with a festival or other event/venue where there are already people interested in beer. 

[tommymorris]

I have had learn to brew days in my back yard. The last one had about 10 new brewers and 5-ish brewers from my club. I brewed an extract batch. My friends and I from the club served homebrew. It was great fun. Maybe a bit more low key than what you are going for, but, I thought we did great for a small town club.

[micsager]

We brewed an extract/specialty grain recipe at a local farmer's market a few years back.  Went through the entire process except adding the yeast of course.  It was well received, but a lot of work.  Lots of folks were asking for samples, but as we all know, not possible.