“It’s the best club on the planet–it’s about beer,” Ken Bass enthusiastically proclaimed about one of Pleasanton’s newest groups, the Mad Zymurgists. The club, as you probably gathered, is for people interested in beer, and not just drinking it, but also making it.
Pleasanton resident and homebrew-enthusiast Brian Cooper got the idea to bring together others interested in the hobby earlier this year and from there started the club. So far, there are about 40 members, but about 10 regulars who attend meetings, which are held at various brew-related venues, such as local favorite The Hop Yard Alehouse and Grill and Hoptech, a store that sells homebrew products and is also the club’s sponsor. Dan Franklin, owner of Hoptech, said he was interested in Cooper’s idea for the club, seeing it as a way to spread the word about homebrewing and share his own brews. In fact, Franklin is a bona fide club member, having attended almost every meeting.
Since the club started in March, meetings have consisted of learning different homebrew techniques and, the best part, tasting the different brews made by members, while also giving them constructive feedback. Most club members bring a bottle of their latest brew and everyone gets a taste, trying the beers from lightest to darkest, similar to a wine tasting, which goes from white to red. Overall, the club has tried 50 different brews and Cooper said all of them have been very good, with only a few minor defects found, and nothing undrinkable.
“Members will bring bottles of their homebrews to share with the group, but also to figure out what a specific defect might be and what’s causing it,” Cooper explained. “One component I enjoy is trying the different beers. It’s not about drinking yourself to oblivion–most homebrewers are mindful of beer quality, having fun and learning about different styles.”
Those new to homebrewing, or who haven’t done it, but are interested in learning more, shouldn’t feel intimidated about joining, Cooper said. The club welcomes “new brewers” and part of its purpose is to give homebrewers a place to learn more about the hobby.
“We have a mix of different levels of experience from advanced homebrewers with complicated set ups and equipment to beginning homebrewers with simpler set ups and more basic kinds of brewing,” Cooper said. “There are a lot of tips and tricks that as you brew over the years you develop and I find one of the best things that has advanced my own brewing is speaking with different brewers and having somebody who has done it before tell me what they do.”
Certainly, Cooper is one of the more advanced brewers in the group, having made 80 batches in the past five years, all of which are documented in a detailed log.
“I’m brewing once or twice a month on average,” Cooper said.
One reason he’s able to keep this schedule is because the process is a lot simpler than people think. For those starting out, most brew stores will sell starter kits, which includes a malt extract kit–the starting ingredient in beer. More advanced brewers make their own malt extract, called the “all grain process,” and Cooper said he has begun teaching the process at club meetings.
The first step in making a homemade beer is to mix the malt extract with boiling water. Once that’s done, homebrewers can get really creative, manipulating the beer’s taste by mixing in different kinds of hops or specialty grains and playing with the length of the boil.
After the wort (the term used to describe unfermented beer) cools down, it is placed in a container for fermentation. Yeast is added and after a week or less, the fermentation will have taken place, unless the brewer is looking to make a stronger beer, in which case the fermentation will go a week longer. Then it is moved into the bottles where it will ferment again for about another week.
Through the whole process, the brewer can change different elements or add ingredients to the brew, allowing him to make whatever kind of batch he wants.
“I enjoy the freedom of being able to brew not only established styles, but also a good pale ale or a good stout, and try to duplicate beers I like commercially, but also create beers you would never find out there,” Cooper said. “I experiment with recipe formulation by trying different grains or hops, treat the water differently or add different mineral contents. You have so much control–you can brew anything you really want. It’s kind of a good creative outlet for me.”
Cooper adds a whole other level of creativity to the process by making labels for all his batches.
“I kind of have my own brand of beer,” Cooper said. “I like to offer friends something I brewed when they come over and they enjoy seeing the ‘Brian Brew’ come out. It’s a lot of fun to share with other people–it’s why I started the club; to share my enthusiasm for it.”
Beyond the beer itself, club members said the social aspect of going out and sharing a beer is what they really enjoy about the club.
“It’s not necessarily the brewing I enjoy, as it is I like sharing the beer, drinking, sharing with friends,” Franklin said.
Bass agreed, saying beer is a way to bring people together.
“What I like about it is that guys from around the planet, if they’re sitting around and talking about beer, it doesn’t matter what their background is or where they’re from–it’s universal,” Bass said. “We agree this [brew] is good or not, and it is fun.”
Make your own batch
To learn more about the Mad Zymurgists, visit www.madzymurgists.org or contact Brian Cooper at brewerbrian@sbcglobal.net.
