BetterBeerBlog

San Jose has a new homebrew club. It’s called The Grain Trust.

But wait, doesn’t San Jose already have the Silicon Valley Sudzers? Why yet another San Jose based club? Don’t these guys get along or something?

Far from it. In fact, one of the founders of The Grain Trust is currently sitting Vice President of the Sudzers.

Then why?

Well, truth be told, the Sudzers don’t actually meet in San Jose. Their regular venue is in Los Altos. (Where else would you meet if one of your club members had a basement pub big enough to host club gatherings?)

But wait, doesn’t Los Altos already have the Worts of Wisdom? Don’t these guys get along or something?

Well, yes… In fact, I’ve found that homebrewers are some of the nicest, most easy going people you’ll ever meet. After all, we all drink beer, right?

The simple answer is that every club has something different to offer. The Grain Trust was founded to offer San Jose homebrewers a venue in San Jose. Not that there’s anything wrong with Nick’s basement pub, but when you’re part of the Silly Valley 24/7 work ethos, it’s hard to find time for everything else in life, especially when it comes to family and homebrewing.

To quote Dan (the aforementioned founder) “The Grain Trust is a San Jose based homebrew club.  And the primary reason for it’s existence is location.  I spend 70 minutes minimum driving (round trip) to attend a Sudzers meeting.  Not ideal.  So TGT is another option for folks in the South Bay.”

So, if you’re a San Jose homebrewer looking for a local club, check out The Grain Trust. Meetings are held on the second Saturday of the month and are (of course) in San Jose.

The Grain Trust First Annual Brew-In

I recently attended their First Annual Brew-In. Having never met any of The Grain Trust members, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The invite assured that it would be a family friendly event with “toys, a sandbox, possibly sprinklers, that kind of thing. Movies if they get bored.” Having responsibility of my own two girls (2 and 4) for the day, this would be a nice change of pace from the playground.

Now, I’ve been to family friendly brew-ins before, but this was the first time I was actually able to forget the kids for a while. Along with other younger children, there was plenty of age appropriate fun in a safe, home-oriented environment.

Dan brewing a Baltic Porter (photo courtesy B. Gartin)

Planning ahead to the Northern California Homebrew Festival club competition, a Baltic Porter was bubbling away in the kettle. Excellent homebrew was poured from both bottle and tap. A huge pot of chile verde was simmering on a spare burner. There was plenty of finger food and other refreshments. The World Cup match between the US and Ghana was on the big screen. (Too bad the U.S. didn’t advance!) And, there were homebrewers of every skill level.

All and all, it was a great day. Congrats to The Grain Trust for a successful first brew-in. Lot’s of friendly folk, good beer, and a family friendly environment. What more can a father / homebrewer ask for?

Brian, the Rabid Brewer

This entry was posted on Friday, July 23rd, 2010 at 10:56 am and is filed under Homebrew. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.