From the RRBC Founder, Brian Schlueter:

Learn and experience the art of home brewing… Whether you’re a first time brewer or seasoned brewer, there are always new things to learn…

Our meetings encourage the fellowship of brewing, tasting and developing our favorite home brew!  We have fun judging our beers and keep our talents sharp.  Usually every month we have a tasting contest. We also participate with the local breweries in brew-fests and events throughout the year.

Cheers!

It’s all about Beer!


An excerpt of an email from RRBC member, Jeff Conrad:

I've been in the club for a little over a year maybe, and I brew what I want.  I'm not a homebrewer to enter competitions and make "scheduled" beers.  I could care less about the BJCP and following any rules.  I brew what I want to drink and drink what I brew.  

I only enter into a few events and they are usually ones where the public votes and/or we are just pouring our beers for the public.  That means more to me than anything - high fives for my beer and good times with friends  That's what this club is all about and what homebrewing offers.  I don't bring a beer to all the club meetings, nor do I attend them all.  We all try to go to as many events as possible, but it's all up to you.  Heck, you can still bring mead and beer to the meeting and not enter the competition - we all like to drink, haha!!

I just like the people in the club, getting good advice on homebrewing and having a good time.  I've made some great friends and get great advice everytime we have a club meeting so it's all awesome fun!


An excerpt of an email from RRBC President & Webmaster, Vinie Jones:

I attended meetings/competitions long before becoming a member and starting to brew on my own.  I learn quite a bit by observation so that's exactly what I did.  I'd show up and observe.  From doing so, I got ideas on what kind of setup I wanted to purchase and on how to do things.  Even though brewing requires certain things to be done, everybody has their own methods of doing them and by going to brew days I was able to see the different ways of doing things and pick and choose what methods I wanted to incorporate into my style.  To me, the club is most about learning and teaching.  I want to be the best brewer I can be and there are a lot of great brewers in the club to learn from.  I can then pass that knowledge onto others that are interested.

As far as competitions go and brewing whatever you want.... that's exactly why we have two open competitions a year.  :-)  We also changed up a bit this year and made the categories quite a bit less specific.  For instance; this month's category is Lagers.  That is hugely wide open as there are many, many styles of lagers.  Of course not everybody can make lagers due to the necessity of a controlled environment to ferment them in.  Several of us do have the necessary equipment to do so and are nice enough to let others use it when we aren't using it ourselves.  <-- Another benefit of being in the club!  :-)

Above all, any club should be about getting to know people and having fun.  I think we're doing a great job of doing exactly that.


An excerpt of an email from RRBC member, Bill Harvat:

 I like to attend as much as possible and brew as much as I can.  But, I don't always get the required beer done for a meeting.  Like this next meeting, where I will not have a lager ready yet.  I have never brewed a lager but I intend on doing a Maibock very soon.  After having some of Tom's Maibock that he shared with me I am hoping I can make something that good or close very soon.  I would have never known how much I liked that style if Tom hadn't shared it with me.  Or maybe I would have tried it much later down the line.  And even though I don't have a lager for this month I will probably just bring something else I have brewed just for fun.  Exhibition beers are always welcome at meetings and encouraged because if anything it lets you share different styles with the club.  Some of the more knowledgeable members can give you tips on how to improve or change things around if you're looking for ways to better your beer.

Picking up new and better techniques, along with trying new gear out at patio brew days and group brew events, you'll get a good idea of how to do things well and have a good time doing it.