Grizzly Growler

I need to apologize to the homebrewing community. I’ve left you out of this blog far too long. Part of that is because homebrewing is so rich in things to talk about it can overwhelm the simpler world of buying craft beer from a brewery or store.

Also, it’s been more than a year since I last brewed a batch of beer in my garage, so I’m more than a little out of practice.

But I want my homebrewing brethren to know that my thoughts are always on the mash tun, the boiling of the wort and copious hop additions.

Here then is this week’s beer column, dedicated to all of my homebrewing friends.

Brew Review – Homebrew hopping in the Garden City

By TIMOTHY ALEX AKIMOFF of the Missoulian

I left one thing out of last week’s “Missoula is a great beer town” column – the local homebrew club.

But I left it out for good reason.

The homebrew community in Missoula is so vibrant, so healthy, so happy and full of life that I couldn’t lump them in with everyone else.

They get a column all their own.

If you even need a reason to check out the Zoo City Zymurgists, I have several.

Imagine a homebrew club where members pay all of $5 for a yearly membership fee.

For that $5, members get to participate in Community Brew, a fundraising event where they compete in a homebrew contest, the winner of which then brews a 600-gallon batch of his or her creation at Big Sky Brewing Co.

The beer is sold in Big Sky’s taproom, and the proceeds are split between the club and a charity picked, in part, by club members.

But that’s not all.

Club members brew together throughout the year.

The beer they brew is then available to club members at the next meeting, which usually happens every other month.

And in December, when the club has its annual party, the club actually supplies the food.

All this and you’re only down $5.

But wait, there’s more.

In May, when it comes time to celebrate the Garden City Beer Festival, the Zoo City Zymurgists actually get to judge the competition.

That means tasting a lot of good beer.

And club members compete in and help organize the beer and wine competition at the Western Montana Fair.

Not a bad list of events to get you through the year for only $5.

And did I mention the beer?

Granted, your brewing equipment could set you back a bit, but there might not be another value-added club or hobby association like the Zoo City Zymurgists.

Over the course of the last year, I’ve had the privilege of meeting many members.

They also asked me to help judge the Garden City Beer Festival this year.

This is a quality group of people about as diverse as you can imagine.

Let me prove it to you.

Ryan Sutherland and I sat in the Bodega across from his church, All Souls, the other day.

That’s right, Ryan is a homebrewing pastor who is not afraid to hang out in a bar and talk theology or homebrewing over a pint or two of Guinness.

Besides homebrewing brethren, the club has an abundance of college-age brewing enthusiasts and more than ample representation in the computer and tech industries.

Take John Masterson for example, the affable co-owner of Modwest and co-creator of the Internet startup Grupthink.

He not only won this year’s Community Brew with his Pure Soul Porter, he and Big Sky head brewer Matt Long brewed a batch so good that when it sold out there was a collective cry of disappointment from Missoulians that you could hear in Hamilton.

“My little homebrewing story begins in 1994,” Masterson told me. “When I heard somehow that you could make serviceable beer that was cheaper and stronger than anything you could buy in the store.”

Though he quit for a while in the late ’90s, Masterson’s wife bought him a new brew kit for Valentine’s Day in 2004.

“Last weekend, I brewed my 120th batch,” Masterson said.

For batch No. 100, Masterson decided to play around with a barley wine style beer.

“I used four different yeasts,” Masterson said of the brew, which at 16 percent alcohol by volume, is strong enough to store for several years.

Then there is brewing wizard Bill Ruediger, also of the high-tech industry.

Ruediger won five awards at this year’s Western Montana Fair, including Best of Show for a Weizenbock he brewed, and which, thanks to his generosity, I have a bottle of in my beer refrigerator.

“Painfully brewed according to German tradition using a triple decoction mash with all the rests and stops,” is how Ruediger describes that creation.

Sutherland, Masterson and Ruediger are only three of many club members who brew exceptional beers.

In short, Zoo City Zymurgists is a great club if you find yourself on the fascinated side of the brewing process rather than just being thankful for the miracle of fermentation.

And last, I must not forget to mention the place where many of Missoula’s brewing enthusiasts get their ingredients.

Brewing is just cooking after all, and all good cooks know where to shop.

Lolo Peak Winery and brewing supply has been serving Missoula brewing enthusiasts for almost 20 years.

Current owner Judy Chapman has seen a slow and steady surge in homebrewing interest.

“There’s always an influx of college students when they get back into town,” Chapman said of this time of year.

With the availability of Internet shopping for brewing supplies, brewers have access to more specialty supplies than ever before.

“There is an advantage to being able to pick something up here,” Chapman said. “As far as pricing goes, I’m going to be fairly comparable once you add in shipping.”

And to showcase the creative side of homebrewing, I thought I’d end with a poem John Masterson wrote to commemorate his 100th batch of homebrew.

Brewing for years,

Ninety-nine beers,

And now it has come to this.

Proudly I thundered,

“Batch one hundred!”

A brew session not to be missed.

Prost!

Reporter Timothy Alex Akimoff can be reached at 523-5246, at tim.akimoff@missoulian.com or through his blog, GrizzlyGrowler.com.

Copyright © 2008 Missoulian