Brewing TV is celebrating May Day with homebrew. BTV associate Joe Giambruno drops some knowledge and history as he goes old-school on a double-decocted maibock at Northern Brewer Minneapolis. Joe and Chip then join homeboy Andrew Bartelson for tasting notes at his annual May Day Parade party in South Minneapolis. Brew, Share & Enjoy!

This episode of Brewing TV finds the guys in Aurora, CO living it up with the folks at Dry Dock Brewing Company. Talk about a brewery with a close ties to the homebrewing community – Dry Dock grew out of small homebrew shop to become one of the country’s most awarded small breweries. Find out what makes this place so special as BTV rides along for a brew day and Dawson puts our Pro Series beer kits up against Dry Dock’s commercial beers. Beware: Epicness ensues.

Brewing TV is getting ready for St. Patrick’s Day with stout on the brain! For the occasion, Jake and Mike brew two beers. One is a Dry Irish Stout on par with the modern Guinness Draught, which we serve on nitrogen through a stout faucet. The other beer is a Single Stout Porter, based on a beer Guinness produced back in the 1880s. We put the beers up against each other in a taste test… and find out the secret to Chip’s Chocolate Stout along the way. Get viewing… and get brewing! (Recipe blog and more here.)

Alongside classes on homebrewing and winemaking, Northern Brewer Minneapolis is hosting several events in February that may interest all craft beer lovers.

Town Hall Brewing Company
Feb. 11th / 1-3 p.m.
Round Table Discussion with Town Hall Brewer Mike Hoops and crew, topics include going professional, Pro Series collaboration, barrel aging.

Briess Malting Company
Feb. 25th / 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Join Penny Pickart of Briess as she talks about the history of Briess, their malting facilities, rye extract collaboration and the Maltster Reserve Series.

Northern Brewer is hosting several events this month that may be of interest to craft beer fans and homebrewers in the Metro area. All events take place at the Northern Brewer Learning Center inside Northern Brewer Minneapolis (6021 S. Lyndale Ave.). These events are free and open to the public.

Fulton Brewing Company
Saturday, January 14th, 2012 / 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Ryan Petz and Brian Hoffman from Fulton Brewing talk about their beers, the path from homebrewing to commercial brewing, and their new brewery location.

Gordon Strong & Nathan Smith
Thursday, January 26th, 2012 / 2-7 p.m.
Join Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) president/author Gordon Strong and award-winning Bay Area homebrewer Nathan Smith. Smith will be brewing a Double IPA and leading a discussion on the style from 2-5 p.m. Strong will be on hand for the brew session taking questions as well and will be signing copies of his book, Brewing Better Beer, from 5-7 p.m.

Wyeast Laboratories
Saturday, January 28th, 2012 / 1:00-3:00 pm
Owen Lingley from Wyeast Laboratories will lead a discussion and Q&A about yeast as it related to home and pro brewery.

Northern Brewer Homebrew Supply hosts a discussion with Jerrod Johnson, brewer at Surly Brewing Company. Brewing TV‘s Jake Keeler moderates the discussion/Q&A in which Johnson talks about how he got into the brewing business, brewing at brewpubs vs production breweries, his role at Surly Brewing Company, and the brewery’s future. And also – red flannels. [Recorded December 3, 2010]

Northern Brewer hosts a discussion with award-winning homebrewer and soon-to-be professional brewer Kristen England. Brewing TV’s Jake Keeler moderates the Q&A in which England talks about his time spent building recipes for Northern Brewer, the origin of Patersbier, considerations to make between extract and all-grain, fine-tuning your palate and your homebrew, going pro, and we get a look at what beers Pour Decisions Brewing Company will be hitting the market with in the first half of 2012. (Shot December 4, 2011 at Northern Brewer Minneapolis)

Look for more special guests and pro brewers to appear at Northern Brewer Minneapolis, most of which will be recorded and posted on Northern Brewer’s “Connect” page and YouTube channel including one from Surly’s Jerrod Johnson in the next week or so.