DC Homebrewers Club Celebrates 10 Years

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DC Homebrewers Club

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The DC Homebrewers club turns 10 on Jan. 15, 2018, and is celebrating the milestone with the release of a collaboration beer brewed with Right Proper Brewing Co. The beer, a dry-hopped Berliner weisse, will be available for sale around the region starting in mid-January.

The club began in 2008 when Mike and Brian Dolan pulled together some friends (and soon-to-be friends) who were interested in brewing. Mike also founded DCBeer.com in 2008. The club email list quickly grew and now includes over 1,200 people. It boasts more than 1,000 members in its Facebook group and over 2,000 Twitter followers.

The club gathers for monthly meetings as well as special events, providing a space for homebrewers to talk about their craft and share knowledge. Club members range from beginning brewers to brewers with decades of experience. More than a dozen DC Homebrewers members have gone on to start craft breweries or other craft beer businesses throughout the country.

(MORE: Register your homebrew club with the American Homebrewers Association)

A group of club members met for a brew day with Right Proper head brewer Nathan Zeender in December to make the collaboration beer, which should be ready by the club’s 10th anniversary meeting from 5 to 9 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 14 at Right Proper Brookland (920 Girard Street NE).

DC Homebrewers hosted its 6th annual Homebrew Barbecue in October, where the public sampled homebrew and voted for their favorite beers. It holds homebrew demonstrations in conjunction with DC Beer Week, National Homebrew Day and Learn to Homebrew Day.

The club is set to run its 5th Annual Cherry Blossom Homebrew Competition in March. The competition, which is sanctioned by the American Homebrewers Association and Beer Judge Certification Program, draws almost 300 entries from across the country. Participants’ beers are evaluated by trained beer judges, who provide feedback and select winners in more than two dozen categories.

The club is dedicated to the art and science of homebrewing. Its mission is to educate its members and the community at large, and provide a social atmosphere for its members. Membership is free and open to anyone (of legal drinking age) who would like to join by signing up for the email list via the club’s website, dchomebrewers.com. Follow the club on Facebook or Twitter (@dchomebrewers).

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Have new or a story about your homebrew club that we should cover on HomebrewersAssociation.org? Email John Moorhead at john@brewersassociation.org.

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