May 7, 2022 was Big Brew Day, an annual event sponsored by the AHA.
SpaceCat Brewing of Norwalk had graciously offered us their side yard space in which to gather and celebrate BBD by brewing numerous batches of homebrew. They also offered us water, electricity, and access to the tap room before official opening.
The day dawned cold and raw, with forecasts of driving rain and strong wind gusts. Not great weather for brewing outside. Could that deter us? No way!
An intrepid crew of brewers braved the elements to brew 4 batches of beer using a wide variety of equipment and procedures. We set up pop-up tents to keep the worst of the rain off and weighted them down against the wind gusts. Jeff and the rest of the SpaceCat crew jumped in to help whenever we realized we’d forgotten some critical ingredient or piece of equipment.
There was hot coffee, cold beer from SpaceCat, homebrew samples from members new and old, and lots of baked goods. It was a good time.
We had handouts. But no non-brewers showed much interest in the idiots standing in the rain.
The pop-ups kept us somewhat dry.
Somewhat. A river still ran through it.
Rosie the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog was our official mascot.
Just as we were about to pack up the cars, a band of very heavy rain came through. We retreated to the tap room until it passed.
Huge thanks to SpaceCat! And to Andy Cox for organizing the entire event.