Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
LEESBURG – If you’ve ever wanted to know how to make your own craft beer, HopLore Brewery & Restaurant in Leesburg is the place to be Nov. 3 when it hosts “Teach A Friend To Homebrew Day.”
Brewing kicks off at noon and will go until about 5 p.m., but the Colorado reggae band Zollopht will perform at 8 p.m. as part of HopLore’s “Occupation Day” event also on Nov. 3.
“We have a number of brewers that are coming – the Marshall County (Homebrewers Club) as well as the (Kosciusko) Kettleheads are both coming out. And it may be a situation where we’ll have to stagger their brewing just because of cooling water,” said HopLore co-owner Stefan King.
Other brew clubs that may be on hand will include the Goshen Homebrew Club and MASH, a club out of Fort Wayne.
Kettleheads President Jason Rich explained, “This will be a good showcase of, start to finish, how to make a batch of beer at home. There’s very simple ways to do it, which will be on display, which is what I’m going to demonstrate. There will be people with very complicated systems that will show you how fancy a set-up and how professional of a set-up you can make.”
“And I’d say how fun it is as well, because people have a blast when they’re homebrewing. It’s a nice social occasion. It’s like tailgating while you’re cooking, basically,” King said.
Rich said people just need to come, watch and learn and “most definitely have fun.”
A normal batch of beer takes two to four weeks to brew, but some brewers might have some small samples to share, Rich said.
The event is free and will be outside of HopLore, 100 Old Ind. 15, Leesburg, under a giant tent and will be held rain or shine. “There will be plenty of room for people to walk around, brewers to hang out, all that fun stuff,” King said.
However, Occupation Day is a ticketed event, with tickets available at the door or online at EventBrite.com. When a person purchases their first round of tickets, they get their own souvenir glass to drink out of throughout the day and then take home at the end of the day. By prepurchasing tickets, a person also gets a carry-out of the Soviet Occupation Russian Imperial Stout and its three variances. Availability will be very limited, with people who prepurchasing getting first dibs.
“Occupation Day is our celebration of the two events – the Teach A Friend to Brew Day and All Stouts Day. They both fall on the first Saturday in November every year,” said King.
“We really wanted to make this day an all-inclusive experience for people. There are no beer fests in this area, so it’s an opportunity for people to have the experience of a beer fest, the experience of what it’s like to brew at home as a hobby and ultimately just enjoy the day and celebrate beer,” he said.
This is the second year HopLore has hosted Teach A Friend To Homebrew Day, and King estimated they had about 1,000 people through the doors in 2017. Since it’s the beginning of November, Rich and King suggested attendees dress warm.
Since a large number of people is expected, King said they’ll be bringing in food trucks to serve everybody, including Lawney’s Barbecue and JB’s Cuisine Machine.
“We like those guys because they kind of mirror what we do in the kitchen. We do obviously some traditional barbecue, but we also do some eclectic fusion as well. Lawney’s is the traditional barbecue, JB’s is the fusion,” King said.
HopLore will offer its own dark chocolate chili throughout the day.
“Be ready to experience new things,” King said. “I think having been here now for going on two years, in an area that is more rural, a lot of people have not experienced beer as more than the macros – the Millers, Coors, Buds. If a person is ready to experience new things, we’ve got a lot of interesting stuff going on.”
HopLore will have 10 of its own stouts on tap for the events Nov. 3, including the Rise ’N Roll Doughnut Stout, Chocolate Milk Stout with a Banana Split and a hot stout like a cappuccino.
“So in experiencing new things, that’s what I mean when I say that, is that it’s a day that people who want to try new things can see a lot of different aspects of what beer can be,” King said.
Rich said, “Most of what you drink here can be recreated on the homebrewing level as well, just much smaller batches.”
He said people should come to the Nov. 3 event and “be prepared to learn as much as you want. You’ll see everything, from start to finish if you like.”
Learn more about American Homebrewers Association and Teach A Friend To Homebrew Day on its website at www.homebrewersassociation.org.
