So I recently relocated to San Diego from San Jose. In San Jose I had tons of friends and several industry people I'd brew with, share, etc and I never really bothered with a club. Not that I didn't want to, I just never really had a need big enough to spend the time and effort. Now, I don't have much of that anymore so it feels like joining a club is a no-brainer. I know some people have the issue where there's a lack of options, but I have the exact opposite issue where I have dozens of possibilities and I'm not even sure where to start in terms of criteria. Most appear to meet monthly at different locations around the county. A good number have some great industry folks involved. What should be my criteria? Should I shop around? Should I go for the one closest to home? Given how many prestigious clubs are here with industry pros should I look for ones with brewers from breweries I admire and want to emulate?
What do you want to get out of club membership? Answer that question and it might help you pick a club. Are you looking for educated feedback critiquing homebrew you brought to share? Are you looking for camaraderie? Will it be a very social club or a real technical geeky club? One of the biggest reasons I am in a club is for the feedback on beers I share.
Probably more technical and feedback than anything. Have you experienced differently with big clubs vs. small? Not asking for recommendations, I can do that research. I'm trying to figure out what I should be looking for and what other people's experiences have been. I've homebrewed for a long time but I have zero experience with clubs.
Not really big versus small but more experienced versus not. There are people in my club who have been brewing 20-30 years and I find their feedback to be valuable. They are also good people I consider to be my friends. Luckily there are no a-holes in my club. It’s a small club, we had 15 at last nights meeting out of a membership of maybe 30-40, but to me that makes it more personal and friendly.
