The COVID-19 outbreak has forced businesses and individual the world over to become creative and to search out ways of staying in touch while physically distancing, and our True Grist Homebrew Club is no exception. Thanks to Justin & other executive members who decided to experiment and give the Zoom app a try for the club’s first virtual meeting. At its peak, we had 28 connected computers, some with two members and even some with cats! Thanks to Matt & Meaghan for snapping a screen shot of some of the participants!
Justin started off the meeting with some announcements, including a video update from Mike at Short Finger about their online ordering and delivery options, and a slide with information about Kamil Juice’s current curbside pickup and delivery options. We’re all extremely lucky that these businesses, so vital to our brewing, are still open for business, so please continue giving them your support!
Justin also let us know that most, if not all, Home Brew competitions across the country have been put on hold, including our own Blazing Paddles competition in June. We’ve gone ahead with our spring bulk hop buy still, participants should watch their inboxes for updates on their orders.
Jamie Fowler gave us a live demo of his technique for brew a raw ale in his shiny new kitchen. The Zoom format allowed members to ask questions along the way, leading to some lively discussions on many related issues. Thanks also to Chris K who was also live brewing an IPA in his kitchen!
The discussions brought up a number of good ideas for future events, including the possibility of having members join in a live-streamed National Brew day event via social media, or possibly having all club members brew the same recipe from a kit for that event, and then sharing it with each other like we do in the True Brewer swap.
All in all, our first virtual meeting was a resounding success! Thanks to Jamie and Chris for their demonstrations, and to everybody else for their questions and lively discussions! Since it looks like physical distancing is going to be the new norm for the immediate future, watch the club website or your email inbox for announcements about our May 13 meeting. Let’s see if we can surpass the turnout from this month’s meeting!