Yankee Brew News Archive

New England Homebrew Clubs: Brew Free or Die

Originally Published: 06/97

By: Gregg Glaser

New Hampshire's first and most active homebrew club is Brew Free or Die (BFD). The club started in early 1991 when several area homebrewers decided to band together to be the host club for the June 1991 American Homebrewers Association (AHA) annual conference planned for Manchester, New Hampshire. John Welch of Pembroke, New Hampshire, sent out a letter to New Hampshire AHA members asking them to meet at his home on February 16 to discuss the idea of forming a club. The letter worked, and by the end of 1991 BFD had 49 members.

Today, BFD has about 75 members. Meetings are held on the second Saturday of each month, usually in the southern New Hampshire area, from 3-6 pm. The meeting format covers club business such as competition announcements and taking orders for bulk purchases of supplies and equipment, followed by discussions of brewing techniques. Meetings end with socializing and sampling of homebrewed beers.

Special events for BFD include an annual bus trip to craft breweries, a fall cider picnic for the entire family and a December holiday party. Past bus trips have included journeys to central and northern Vermont in 1992, western Massachusetts, southern Vermont and Hartford in 1993, a three-day trip to Montreal in 1994 and Maine in 1995. The 1997 trip will be a two-day event visiting the Vermont breweries Seven Barrel, Catamount, Otter Creek, Vermont Pub & Brewery, Magic Hat and McNeill's. The fall cider picnic is held at an orchard in Westford, Massachusetts. This event attracts more than 100 people, and over 600 gallons of pre-ordered, custom-blended cider are distributed to club cider makers. BFD also hosted the AHA Club-only Bock-Is-Best competition in 1995.

BFD has many members in the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP), including several Master- and National-level judges, as well as BJCP officers and administrators. Professional brewers and homebrew supply shop owners also make up the BFD ranks, and several members have published articles in Brewing Techniques magazine.

The club newsletter, The BFD, is published monthly, usually at a length of ten pages. Current officers are Michael Fairbrother, President; Jim Snow, Vice-President and Janet DiPalma, Treasurer. Annual dues are $12 per year for individuals, and $18 per year for couples. BFD can be reached by writing to Brew Free or Die, PO Box 1274, Merrimack, New Hampshire, 03054-1274. They also have an Internet Web page, http://www.bfd.org/.