Member Profile: Aaron Van Gramberg

Aaron Van Gramberg

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

I work in the Maintenance Department for the York Region District School Board.

What got you into homebrewing?

I always wanted to try making my own homebrew. When Covid came around it became the perfect opportunity for me to try just that. I started with a Brooklyn Brew Shop Kit and then went from there.

Continue reading Member Profile: Aaron Van Gramberg

April Meeting: Lager Brewing and Tasting with Sonnen Hill!

Date: Monday April 11th, 2022
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM ET

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

This month we are exceptionally excited to have Calum and Lauren join us from Sonnen Hill Brewery talk to us about lagers! Their presentation will focus on brewing lagers and will include a guided tasting of four of their beers, so make sure you check out some ways (see here) you can get their beers before April 11th!

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren't speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the "Raise Hand" feature.

Continue reading April Meeting: Lager Brewing and Tasting with Sonnen Hill!

Pre-Meeting Post - Sonnen Hill Group Order!

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see details related to the Sonnen Hill Group Order!. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

This may be a wee bit early to be talking about a meeting that's about 2 weeks away BUT there's good reason for it! Our guests for our April meeting will be Calum and Lauren from Sonnen Hill Brewing and the focus will be on lagers!

Part of that meeting will include a guided tasting of four of Sonnen Hill's lagers (Low & Slow, Vienna, Munich and Gold). If you plan on attending the Club Meeting on Monday April 11 @ 7:30pm - and you'd like to participate in that guided tasting you can do one of the following:

  1. Place an order for these four beers direct from the brewery; OR
  2. Locate these beers yourself via one of the retailers (e.g. Toronto Brewing; Bottega Volo) that carry Sonnen Hill's beers; OR
  3. Participate in our club's group buy in order to save on shipping. If interested in participating in the group order, please email your exact order to meetings@gtabrews.ca. All orders must be submitted by April 4, 2022.
    • Payments will be settled after the order is placed w/ Sonnen Hill
    • East End pickup location (exact location TBD).
    • At this time, we do not have a West End pickup location - if you are interested in serving as a West End pickup location, please email meetings@gtabrews.ca

If you have any questions regarding the guided tasting, please email meetings@gtabrews.ca.

Continue reading Pre-Meeting Post - Sonnen Hill Group Order!

Grain Buy – Spring 2022

The GTA Brews Spring 2022 Grain Buy is open!

We're back at it again with the launch of our Spring  2022 Grain Bulk Buy!  Make sure you take a good look at the catalogue as we have some new additions (Raven from the Czech Republic and Canada's own Prairie Malting).

Thanks again to Toronto Brewing for hosting, please make sure to give them your love and make some purchases on pick up day! All questions should be emailed to grainbuy@gtabrews.ca.

Key Info:

  • Sign Up Open: Wednesday March 16, 2022
  • Sign Up Close:  April 1, 2022 (11:59 pm)
  • Pick Up Day: Saturday, April 23, 2022 (11:00 am – 2:00 pm)
    • PICKUP LOCATION: Toronto Brewing (Chesswood Location)
    • You MUST book a pickup timeslot
  • NO SPLITS - FULL BAGS ONLY

Reminders

  • Updates are sent to the email registered with your GTA Brews membership account
  • If you didn't get the announcement email or order confirmation, check your spam!
  • Reminder that some items are special order, and may be delayed
  • You can find all your gtabrews.ca orders on your My Account page

This content is only available for GTA Brews Members. Please visit our membership page to join today!

If you are already a member, don't forget to Log In!

March Meeting: Beer / Food Pairings with Lauren Richard!

Date: Monday March 14th, 2022
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM ET

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

As we March towards spring this month (you see what I did there?) we are excited to have GTA Brews Member Lauren Richard (pronounced akin to "Rocket Richard") with us to impart her knowledge on something our club has never looked at before - Beer / Food Pairings!!

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren't speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the "Raise Hand" feature.

Continue reading March Meeting: Beer / Food Pairings with Lauren Richard!

Annual General Meeting of GTA Brews - March 6, 2022

Please RSVP using the form below to help us track expected attendees and make sure we hit our required quorum!

Date: Sunday March 6th, 2022
Time: 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM

Special note: When joining the Zoom meeting, please ensure your display name is your first AND last name! This will assist with attendance.

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

The annual GTA Brews AGM will be conducted from 8:00PM-9:30 PM on Sunday March 6th, 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic this will be hosted virtually using Zoom, however we hope to make this an exciting annual in-person event in the future. To reach the quorum required to hold the meeting we need 43+ members to attend, so please mark your calendars and plan to attend!

The meeting will be chaired by current President, David Larocque.

Continue reading Annual General Meeting of GTA Brews - March 6, 2022

February Meeting: The (REAL) Garage Brewery with Stephen Rodermond

Date: Tuesday February 15th, 2022
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM ET

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

It's February and this month we are happy to have GTA Brews Member Stephen Rodermond to give us a presentation on opening up a brewery (yes... a legal brewery) in his garage!

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren't speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the "Raise Hand" feature.

Continue reading February Meeting: The (REAL) Garage Brewery with Stephen Rodermond

Member Profile: Luke Van Oort

Luke Van Oort

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

Software engineering at Wave Financial working on our small business banking offerings.

What got you into homebrewing?

The short answer is mirin and Merit SVP.

The long answer is that I made a bit of wine in university and helped my then-roommate Jesse with his meadmaking for a while (some members might remember Jesse’s excellent bochet from the bottles he was wandering around with at the Brew Slam 2019 award ceremony), but I only really got into homebrewing seriously was when I got frustrated with the poor availability of hon-mirin in Ontario and started making choujiu (a Chinese style of rice wine that’s sort of like nigori sake) in the hopes of eventually being able to make a decent substitute. Eventually I progressed into also making fruit wines for turning into vinegar, but I held off on beer due to the equipment requirements.

Luckily, I eventually stumbled upon Lars Marius Garshol’s blog and realized that I could adapt some of the techniques and ingredients that Norwegian farmhouse brewers were using to allow me to brew beer in my condo with absolutely minimal equipment. The final kick to start was having Merit SVP and wishing that I could have something that was similarly low ABV, complex, and quaffable available to drink without having to make my way to Hamilton to acquire it.

I haven’t really chased the SVP flavour profile consciously since my first few brews, but when I brought a can of it home from the Toronto Brewing bottle shop earlier this year, my girlfriend commented that she could taste a definite common thread between it and a lot of the things I brew, so perhaps it made a greater impact than I thought!

Continue reading Member Profile: Luke Van Oort

January Meeting: The Shape of Water Chemistry with Eric Cousineau!

Date: Monday January 10th, 2022
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM ET

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

HOPPY NEW YEAR! This month we are happy to have GTA Brews Member (and former club President) Eric Cousineau back to give us a presentation this month on water chemistry!

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren't speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the "Raise Hand" feature.

Continue reading January Meeting: The Shape of Water Chemistry with Eric Cousineau!

December Meeting: Holiday Gathering

Monday December 13th at 7:00 PM
People's Pint Brewing Company
90 Cawthra Ave, Unit #101, Toronto, Ontario, M6N 3C2  MAP

This month come hang out, swap homebrews, and mingle!

This December we are being hosted by People's Pint Brewing Company. Thanks for hosting us! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. They have plenty of beer-to-go in their bottle shop!

What's Different From The Last Time We Met?

As we are still within a global Pandemic, and we want to ensure safety for our members and for People's Pint staff, please note the following:

  • Capacity Limits: a maximum of 40 fully (aka double) vaccinated members will be allowed to attend.  "Purchase" your free ticket at the end of this post to reserve your spot!
  • Vaccine Passports: Please ensure you have downloaded your Ontario Vaccine Certificate (QR Code) from the Ontario Government's website as you'll be required to present it in order to attend.
  • Physical Distancing: While only fully vaccinated members will be in attendance, please remember to treat others with respect and, if someone's uncomfortable, provide them the appropriate personal space.

Continue reading December Meeting: Holiday Gathering

2021 Homebrew Advent Begins!

A few months ago we opened sign up for our 8th annual GTA Brews Homebrew Calendar. The participation fee was $10/person, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). We also included the option to donate extra (in $10 increments) to CAMH to help us on our fundraising efforts.

We're pleased to announce that (as of writing) we have raised $370 for CAMH! There's still time to donate using the following item. Donations will be accepted until Tues Dec 14th.

As is tradition, James Kennedy has designed a custom advent graphic showing each beer that is part of the calendar. As is also tradition, he has taken artistic liberty based on the name given to the beer, at least for the members that gave their beer a name.

Advent Calendar

Recording: Those Czech (and now Italian) Pilsners with Annie Johnson!

Presentation: Those Czech (and now Italian) Pilsners with Annie Johnson

Annie Johnson

We are fired up to have the 2013 American Homebrewers Association Brewer Of The Year winner, Annie Johnson, here this month to give us a presentation on Czech and Italian Pilsners and to do some Q&A with us on these styles! Not only is Annie a winner of the AHA's Brewer Of The Year award but she also won Pilsner Urquell's Master Homebrewer competition in 2012 and has been actively involved in professional brewing since 2014. Annie is also a BJCP Nationally Ranked judge, the current president of the Seattle chapter of The Pink Boots Society and was elected to the AHA's Governing Committee in 2020.

Recording:

Recording from the November 2021 meeting of GTA Brews Homebrew Club in Toronto, Canada.

In November we were exhilarated to have Annie Johnson, an American Homebrewers Association Brewer Of The Year award winner, give us a presentation this month on everything pertaining to Czech (and now Italian) pilsners!

November Meeting: Those Czech (and now Italian) Pilsners with Annie Johnson!

Date: Monday November 8th, 2021
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM ET

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

This month we are exhilarated to have Annie Johnson, an American Homebrewers Association Brewer Of The Year award winner, give us a presentation this month on everything pertaining to Czech (and now Italian) pilsners!

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren't speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the "Raise Hand" feature.

Continue reading November Meeting: Those Czech (and now Italian) Pilsners with Annie Johnson!

Club Barrel Fill #5

Time to announce the sign up for our fifth club barrel fill for this new bourbon barrel! The barrel will stay in its current home at Peoples Pint Brewing Co.

We will be filling the new bourbon barrel with a Russian Imperial Stout. Want in on this fun members-only project? Log in, then click the link below and apply for the barrel. We will randomly pick applicants to participate in the barrel fill.

This content is only available for GTA Brews Members. Please visit our membership page to join today!

If you are already a member, don't forget to Log In!

2021 GTA Brews Advent Calendar

Exchange Date: Sat. November 27th, 2021 @ 11:00 AM (Don't be late!)Exchange Location(s): Common Good Beer Company (475 Ellesmere Rd, Scarborough, ON M1R 4E5)Participation Fee: $10

The Annual G...

This content is only available for GTA Brews Members. Please visit our membership page to join today! If you are already a member, don't forget to Log In!

October Meeting: Yeast Q&A with Dr. Richard Preiss of Escarpment Labs!

Date: Monday October 18th, 2021
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

This month we are over-the-moon to have Dr. Richard Preiss, co-founder of Escarpment Labs, give us a presentation this month and take a Q&A on all things yeast related!

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren't speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the "Raise Hand" feature.

Continue reading October Meeting: Yeast Q&A with Dr. Richard Preiss of Escarpment Labs!

Member Profile: Guillaume Couture-Lévesque

Guillaume Couture-Lévesque

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

I'm a tech lead at Prodigy Game, where I work on making tools for people making the game that teaches kids math.

What got you into homebrewing?

A friend bought me John Palmer's How To Brew, and Beer and Philosophy for my birthday saying I might like it. Read both books and learned a lot, but then did nothing until my wife bought me one of the Brooklyn Brew Shop 1 gallon kits. I had fun and kept at it after that.

Continue reading Member Profile: Guillaume Couture-Lévesque

Member Profile: Tina Lineman

Tina Lineman

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

I am the General Manager at Folly Brewpub! We were recently purchased by new owners and have undergone some major renovations in the restaurant and brewhouse. I would love to show you what we have going on, so come on by and say hi!

What got you into homebrewing?

I have always worked in restaurants and started off in the back of house cooking. When I took the step into bartending, I loved developing cocktails as it combined my love of people with my love of creating culinary delights. The deeper I got into working at beer bars, the more I knew that brewing was going to be my next step. Being able to create something so delicious is magical and brings me excitement and joy every time. I also love the freedom I have to create anything I want, so I am not just limited to what's available on the market.

Continue reading Member Profile: Tina Lineman

September Meeting: Making Hoppy Beers with Scott Janish!

Date: Monday September 13th, 2021
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

This month we are honoured and excited to have author and brewer Scott Janish give us a presentation this month! He'll be talking to us about making hoppy beers!

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren't speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the "Raise Hand" feature.

Continue reading September Meeting: Making Hoppy Beers with Scott Janish!

Grain Buy – Fall 2021

The GTA Brews Fall 2021 Grain Buy is open!

We're back at it again with the launch of our Fall 2021 Grain Bulk Buy!  

We hope everyone has had an amazing summer and is staying safe and healthy. Please make sure you read the instructions carefully this year as we have a new homebrew shop partner (The Homebrew Beer Academy) and a new pickup location (Brunswick Bierworks) for this bulk buy. This isn't goodbye to Toronto Brewing, but an effort to partner with both GTA area homebrew shops on these bulk buys. We plan on partnering again with Toronto Brewing for the spring buy in 2022.

All questions should be emailed to grainbuy@gtabrews.ca.

Key Info:

  • Sign Up Open: Friday, August 27, 2021
  • Sign Up Close:  Wednesday, Sept 15, 2021 (11:59 pm)
  • Pick Up Day: Sunday, Oct 3, 2021 (11:00 am – 2:00 pm)
    • NEW PICKUP LOCATION: Brunswick Bierworks
    • You MUST book a pickup timeslot
  • NO SPLITS - FULL BAGS ONLY

Reminders

  • Updates are sent to the email registered with your GTA Brews membership account
  • If you didn't get the announcement email or order confirmation, check your spam!
  • Reminder that some items are special order, and may be delayed
  • You can find all your gtabrews.ca orders on your My Account page

This content is only available for GTA Brews Members. Please visit our membership page to join today!

If you are already a member, don't forget to Log In!

August Meeting: Pastry Stouts with Bebo & Chris from Third Moon Brewing!

Date: Monday August 9th, 2021
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

This month we are thrilled to have Bebo and Chris from Third Moon Brewing! They'll be talking to us about a topic we have not yet had tabled at our meetings; Pastry Stouts!

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren't speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the "Raise Hand" feature.

Continue reading August Meeting: Pastry Stouts with Bebo & Chris from Third Moon Brewing!

Member Profile: Nicholas Cole

Nicholas Cole

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

I work in account management for a tech company that helps small businesses with their marketing and operations.

What got you into homebrewing?

Aside from the occasional Guinness or Duvel, I drank macro beer pretty exclusively in university and probably didn't know the difference between an ale and a lager. I also probably would have told you that Guinness was very "heavy." Then I went away for a few years, and when I came back all of my friends were obsessed with craft beer. I caught the bug pretty quickly after that and figured that the only way to be more into it than they were was to make the stuff myself.

Continue reading Member Profile: Nicholas Cole

July Meeting: Sour and Funky Beers with Michael Tonsmeire

Date: Monday July 12th, 2021
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

This month we are SO excited to have author, brewer and the authority on sour / funky beers, Mr. Michael Tonsmeire as our guest presenter!

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren't speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the "Raise Hand" feature.

Continue reading July Meeting: Sour and Funky Beers with Michael Tonsmeire

Member Profile: Darrell Kelly

Darrell Kelly

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

I have worked for Air Canada Jazz as an aircraft mechanic since 2004. I hold an M2 A.M.E license and currently maintain Dash 8’s, Q-400’s CRJ 200,705,900 and Embraer 175’s.

What got you into homebrewing?

After spending so much time traveling the world, a part of every trip I take is always sampling as much local cuisine as possible. This grew into also seeking out local breweries, which in turn got me more into craft beer locally as well. One year I got a Brooklyn Brewing 1 gallon kit for Christmas and the rest is history.

Continue reading Member Profile: Darrell Kelly

Announcing Summer Showdown 2021 - Homebrew Competition

Click Here to go to the main competition page and register!

Our popular seasonal homebrew competition is back for 2021, in virtually judged format! As usual, we will be accepting all styles of beer, mead, and cider. Since this is our small competition, entry will be restricted to GTA Brews members only.

This seasonal competition is designed to be a “low stakes” introduction to BJCP competitions for club members to enter their beers for feedback and fun. The focus is on providing excellent feedback, so we keep the entry cap and fee low. Our hope is that lots of first-time entrants will find themselves on the winners list and be motivated to continue entering competitions. This competition will be judged by BJCP Judges according to the 2015 BJCP Guidelines.

If this if your first competition, please read our BJCP Competition Guide for tips on entering. If you aren’t sure which category to enter your beer, bring it to a club meeting, or email: comp@gtabrews.ca

Continue reading Announcing Summer Showdown 2021 - Homebrew Competition

June Meeting: Yeast Best Practices, Propagation and More with Nina Houts from Imperial Yeast!

Date: Monday June 14th, 2021
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

This month we have Nina Houts from Imperial Yeast to talk to us about yeast propagation, yeast handling best practices, a virtual tour and more!

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren't speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the "Raise Hand" feature.

Continue reading June Meeting: Yeast Best Practices, Propagation and More with Nina Houts from Imperial Yeast!

Member Profile: Andrew McCready

Andrew McCready

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

I am an audio engineer for a post-production house that does sound and picture for tv shows and commercials.

What got you into homebrewing?

As a lover of craft beer, I was looking into getting a keg fridge so I could buy kegs from breweries. All the places for info on buying/building kegerators were home brew sites, and I thought “hey, maybe I should just make beer instead”. So I ordered the equipment to do extract brewing, after 3 batches I was hooked. Ordered a Grainfather from Toronto Brewing and never looked back.

Continue reading Member Profile: Andrew McCready

Canadian Homebrew Day 2021

Yet again our annual Canadian Homebrew Day (CHD) tradition of running Learn2Brew has been cancelled due to COVID-19. But CHD is about much more than just running L2B, and COVID-19 sure won't stop us! CHD is an opportunity to take a moment out of what has been a hectic 12+ months for all of us an enjoy our hobby and craft. Similar to last year, we've organized a virtual brewing session on Zoom:

Join On Zoom (link)
Password: gtabrews
Date: Saturday June 5th, 2021
Time: 10:30 AM - 3:00 PM

If you're free, get a brew going and join us on Zoom to talk all things brewing and some regular old banter. If you're looking for something to brew, there are a few official Canadian Homebrew Day recipes from our friends at the Canadian Homebrewers Association:

David Chang-Sang, Eric Cousineau, and Colin Green will be hosting the virtual brew session:

  • David will be brewing the Tropical Stout
  • Eric will be brewing the Kolsch
  • Colin will be brewing a Triple IPA and partigyle'd Session IPA

If you are indeed brewing that day, please take some pictures and share it with our community and beyond by tagging GTA Brews and #CanadianHomebrewDay in your posts!