
Happy New Year Brewers,
A reminder that our meeting will be on Tuesday, January 28th, at the McCall Brewing (Susquehanna St) location in Allentown, PA. They're open to the public that day, so their kitchen will be open for those who want food.
A new year means it's time for dues, and we have some changes this year. The officers voted to raise dues to $25 for new and existing members for 2025, bringing us in line with the dues charged by other local clubs. Moreover, the AHA offers a group discount for membership purchased before March 1, with a minimum of 25 members. So, this year you can pay $25 to cover your club dues, or pay $45 and get an AHA membership (normally $49 by itself) which will also cover your club dues for 2025. If you've already renewed, this will add an additional year to your AHA membership. The website will be updated shortly to reflect the new structure.
The club is offering RAMP training at no cost to members at Hijinx Sports Factory Taproom on February 8th from 9am-12pm. RAMP server/seller training is required to serve at some of the local festivals, including ArtsQuest events. For those of you who took this course when we first offered it in 2023, note that the certification course completion is only valid for two years, so this is a great opportunity to renew that.
Malt Madness is coming up! No you're not crazy, we've decided to move the event to May 10th in conjunction with Lehigh Valley Beer Week! Best of Show will be judged at Spinnerstown Tavern, followed by a free to the public homebrew festival co-located with Keystone Homebrew's Club Barrel Brew Judgement Day! It's shaping up to be a great event, so start brewing now. See Dan Miller or one of the officers if you're interested in helping organize.
We're still waiting on Valhalla results to close out Homebrewer of the Year for 2024 and will be pausing the competition for the first couple months of 2025 while we look to revisit the format. If you have ideas, let us know.
Finally, the usual reminder that we've been looking for an alternative with a low barrier to entry for notifying those interested in news, festival opportunities, or event reminders, etc. outside of the monthly newsletter cycle. To this end, we've created the "LVHB News" Google Group. If you're interested, you should be able to search for lvhb-news@googlegroups.com in the Google Groups search and request to join.
See you Tuesday,
Steve Anthony
LVHb Club President
Future Meetings:
Meetings are open to anyone (21 and older) who home brews (beer, wine, cider, mead) or is interested in learning about home brewing. Our club has over 30 certified judges and several members who have "gone pro" by opening their own brewery, meadery, or distillery! - So bring your latest craft creation and get some constructive feedback and/or accolades!
UPCOMING CLUB EVENTS
PALCB RAMP Training - Sat, Feb 08 | Hijinx Sports Factory Taproom
Bucks County Beer Bash - Sat, Mar 08 | The Fuge
Steel Stacks Spring Beer Fest - Sat, Mar 29| Steel Stacks
OUR BREWERS (are awesome!)
Thanks to everyone who came out to the Pocono Winter Beerfest! The club was a highlight for attendees, as usual!
CLUB COMPETITIONS
Lehigh Valley Homebrewer of the Year
We're still waiting on Valhalla results to close out Homebrewer of the Year for 2024 and will be pausing the competition for the first couple months of 2025 while we look to revisit the format. If you have ideas, let us know.
UPCOMING BJCP COMPETITIONS
Full list is available here.
Recommended Local Homebrew Competitions:
Competition | Date | Registrations Due |
3/8/2025 | 3/1/2025 | |
3/23/2025 | 3/7/2025 | |
5/10/2025 | 4/10/2025 |
OTHER CLUB INFO
The details for most of our happenings (news, events, etc.) will either be included in the monthly newsletter or will be found on the LVHB Website Club Info page. More random thoughts, photos, and links will be shared via the club Facebook page. Find photos of our brewing activities on Instagram! @lehighvalleyhomebrewers
Are you an AHA member? As we prepare to do club membership renewals, it's a good time to consider adding or renewing an AHA Membership for yourself or your brewing buddy. Use our link (click the image below) and the club gets credit for your membership!
Member Benefits
Keystone Homebrew Supply offers 10% off online and in-store purchases for LVHB members as well as a points based loyalty reward program. They offer weekly local delivery on Saturday at Bonn Place in Bethlehem (just place your order by Thursday). Keystone offers full sacks of grain as well as a large selection of brewing and wine making equipment. Also, for most local competitions they provide a drop off point so you don't have to mail in your entries! https://www.keystonehomebrew.com/ Hop and Grain offers members 20% off purchases on their online store, free shipping and flexible local pick-up options. You'll find them very accommodating, even if you require a special order. https://hopandgrain.us/
Brew Hardware offers members a 5% discount as well! https://www.brewhardware.com/Default.asp
GrogTags offers members 15% off with the code on the member page - get creative with your labels and prepare for the 2024 label competition!
There's no excuse not to brew because you can't get ingredients or equipment! Thank you to the local shops that support our club!
See all the benefits of membership as well as how to join here.

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