liquid assets
THE BREW CREW
A craft-beer evangelist creates a group for like-minded enthusiasts.
WRITTEN BY MELISSA SIIG
PHOTOS BY KEVIN DRAKE
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A midst the tents of well-known microbreweries — such as Lagunitas and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. — doling out samples of their beer at the Truckee Brew Fest in June, one tent in particular drew some curious looks. The tent housed a propane burner, a 15-gallon brew pot, a carboy fermenter, and a 32-year-old fresh-faced Kings Beach, Calif., resident named Kevin Drake who, along with three others, was pouring samples of his Belgian Saison, Imperial Raspberry Porter, and India IPA.
“A lot of people had no idea what we were up to when they saw the propane burner and the 15-gallon jug,” Drake says.
What Drake was up to was brewing his own beer — which on that day happened to be an English Brown — and trying to recruit members for the group he founded in 2009, the North Tahoe Brew Crew, the area’s first home brew club. The group’s mission is to spread the word about the benefits of making your own beer, convert non-believers over to microbrews, and find kindred home brewing spirits.
BREWER BACKGROUND
Drake has been an active home brewer for 14 years. He developed a taste for craft beer in his hometown of Portland, Ore., the brewery capital of the country. By the time Drake graduated high school, he was something of a micro-beer connoisseur. For his 19th birthday, his mom gave him a home-brewing kit.
“I love that it’s an art and a science,” says Drake, who compares making beer to cooking. “There are certain rules of the game you have to understand, but there’s no end to the raw ingredients you can use.”
Over the years, Drake had a couple steady brewing partners, but in recent years he has been brewing solo in his garage. He started to get lonely. That’s when the idea of a home brewing club began fermenting in Drake’s head.
GROUP THERAPY
Today, North Tahoe Brew Crew has 40 members. Its purpose is both social and educational. It has held events such as a beer and cheese slam, where people had to come up with beer and cheese pairings (the winner coupled Deschutes’ Hop Henge Experimental IPA with Cambozola blue cheese), and a sour beer tasting at FiftyFifty Brewing Company in Truckee. The club also helps novice home brewers get started with home brewing demos.
Drake has represented the NTBC at national and state conferences. In June, he attended the American Homebrewers Association National Homebrew Conference in San Diego, which featured more than 50 homebrew clubs. The NTBC also has had a booth at the Northern California Homebrewers Festival for the past two years. Last year, they brought their own Cascadian pale ale and an English-style rye beer.
Ultimately, Drake’s broader goal with the NTBC is to create a larger brew culture and appreciation for craft beer in the region.
“I’m a craft-beer evangelist,” Drake says. “I take it upon myself to dispel the myths and preconceptions about beer and help people become more informed consumers of beer.”
Maybe one day, with the help of the NTBC, everyone will have a bumper sticker like the one in Drake’s garage that reads: “I brew the beer I drink.”
Melissa Siig is a freelance writer based in Tahoe City, Calif. She has never brewed her own beer but will happily drink the homemade libations of others.
RESOURCES
For details about the North Tahoe Brew Crew, visit Groups.google.com/group/north-tahoe-brew-crew
