Club Information

History

In the fall of 1992 several young men who worked at Thomas Kemper Brewing in Poulsbo, Washington, decided to found a homebrewing club. Don Spencer was the main influence. These were true beer lovers who wanted to share their knowledge with others in the area who were constantly in search of the perfect brew. They hung flyers in the brewery's tap room and posted a sign up list for the club. To their surprise and gratification about 18 eager brew lovers showed up for that first club meeting. It was at Don Spencer's place, and the name West Sound Brewers was decided upon and purposes of the club were discussed. The purposes of the club have never been set in stone but they've always included the desire to spread the knowledge of the art of brewing and to pool resources and experience to help make homebrewing even more affordable and enjoyable than it already is.

Since that time all the founding members became head brewers at microbreweries and brewpubs. Pete Jones was with Pyramid/Kemper in Seattle, Tom Chase brewed Fish Tale Ales in Olympia, Don Spencer brews his award winning beers at Silver City Brewpub, and Don Wyatt has created Hood Canal Brewery in Kingston (originally Poulsbo). All these brewers made great homebrews and it was just a matter of a quantitative jump up to commercial brewing. They've retained the high quality of their best homebrews, or exceeded them. Most of our members make decent brews in their very first batch and make world class brew within just a few tries. With guidance from fellow homebrewers it is that easy to create the beer of your dreams and West Sound Brewers is dedicated to helping you get there.

Club Benefits

The club and its members are dedicated to helping each other and the community learn how to make excellent beer. We have meetings once a month rotating from one member's house to another, and occasionally we meet at local breweries or pubs. At the meetings we ask and answer questions about the brewing process, ingredients, equipment, and brew related events. You'll find lots of brewing knowledge in the pooled experience and imagination of our club members. We share our mistakes and our successes as well as equipment, expertise, and ingredients. We always bring samples of our homebrews to the meetings for tasting and evaluation, and we'll share the occasional craft brew (for education's sake).

The club has often maintained a supply of basic malted grains at a very low price. We also arrange bulk malt and hop buys from time to time and members order pounds of leafy ambrosia or their favorite malts/grains for a nice discount on the retail price. Brewing is cheap as it is, and Olympic Brewing Supplies in East Bremerton might just have the best prices in the state.

Meetings and Dues

We meet monthly, usually later in the month. Meetings are held at member's houses on a rotating, volunteer basis, and the meeting day is selected by the host (usually Thursday, Friday, or Saturday). Occasionally we will meet at a local beer/brewing establishment, such as Hood Canal Brewery in Kingston.

There are currently no membership dues. It costs very little to run the club. Special events such as bus tours are paid for by the attendees.