I’m organizing Paris’ first ever (maybe?) homebrewer meeting but am not sure what to talk about. I figure a tasting or two of some recent beers, but what else could be done besides that? Any and all suggestions are welcome!
Having a tasting, or other type of presentation (style, technique, etc) would certainly be a big plus and would keep people interested.
Beyond that, at a first meeting, I’d want to discuss what the attendees would like to see ongoing - frequency & location of meetings, goals of the club, upcoming events (beer festivals, pub crawls, possible brewery visits etc), get a sense of how many of brewers (or interested potential brewers) each attendee might know as possible future members, etc. Really, what you want to do is see what the attendees would like the club to do or be like.
You want to have your answer to these questions (and others that may come up) ready to help spark discussion. Do you have any sense yet of how many may attend? You don’t need a large number to get things rolling, but certainly consider how you are going to publicize the event - beer shops, beer bars, homebrew supply shops (if any), etc.
In terms of where to advertise, pretty much everybody interested in brewing goes to this one beer shop that’s pretty centrally located, and the owner’s OK with having the meeting there, as well as leaving out flyers. He’s a homebrewer himself.
Brewery tours, that’s a great idea. There’s also a maltery not too far away.
Great news phil!
Some things to do and topics of discussion:
Brewery Tours
tastings
homebrew competition
mashing
equipment
recipe development
fermentation
group grain/hops purchase
etc…
Have a meeting dedicated to actually brewing a beer if there’s a lot of people new to brewing. You can do an extract batch to keep within a reasonable timeframe (depending on the audience’s attention span). Good luck.
Well, you see, you’re allowed to BBQ on the Champ de Mars (that’s where the Eiffel tower is). My plan (seriously) is to have a ‘visibility’ club meeting in front of the tour eiffel, doing an extract batch with my electric kettle hooked up to a car battery.
My wife is going to check with the Mayor’s office to make sure we don’t need any special permits for having a CO2 canister. I hope to do it sometime this summer.
And of course I’ll post pics here afterwards.
We’ve got some ideas for new clubs posted on the AHA Club Resources wiki: Site Not Found.
What a great idea!
That’s really cool! What is the CO2 for? Are you going to be serving beer too?
Maybe. That depends on regs around dispensing. I think if I’m giving it away for free to ‘friends’ it should be fine. France is pretty damn lax about booze to being with, I think as long as I’m not serving it’ll be ok.
The real reason for CO2 is that I now ferment in cornys, and so I need to purge the keg before I rack into the fermenter.
Couldn’t you purge it before you go?
I’m jealous you can have this kind of event, I can’t imagine they’d let us brew near the Space Needle. Although maybe I should look in to that . . .
Phil–can you explain why?
This seems unnecessary (but not “harmful”) to me. Oxygen/aeration is OK when transferring the chilled wort into the primary fermenter. The Corny keg you use for fermentation needs to be sanitized, but does not, IMO, need to be purged with CO2. Aeration with air or O2 is actually good for yeast growth at this stage.
Ah, actually, yeah, you’re absolutely right, don’t need it. But if I’m dispensing…
How cool would it be to tap a corny with the Eiffel tower in the background? I’m getting psyched about this… best not to get too excited, who knows if it’s actually legal. I’d send pics to the AHA for sure though 
Definitely send us pics!
Here’s our flyer!!!
(version big: http://philliplamb.com/big_brewers.jpg)
That is awesome… history in the making.
Very cool, Phil! Let us know how it goes!
Here’s the translation:
The war against bad beer has begun!
The homebrewers of Ile-de-France (paris & suburbs, fyi) are joining together for the first time, to develop a strategy to bring better beer to the refrigerators and basements of our families and compatriots. Never again will we be subjected to the dictatorship of Stella Artois, Leffe and Grimbergen!
Homebrewing is easier than you think. Everyone can make good beer, no matter your age, income or apartment size!
Come! Even if you have only dreamed of making good beer! We will give you the knowledge necessary to join in the fight.
FYI, if you’re not familiar with the poster, it’s based on De Gaulle’s June 18 Appeal: Appeal of 18 June - Wikipedia
They were plastered all over France and England during the war, and you see these every now and then near war memorials or plaques marking where Free French were executed.
Thanks for the translation. I took French in high school, but we’re talking 20 years ago…