Melbourne Brewers is Victoria’s longest-established homebrewing club, founded in 1972. Members range from complete beginners to experienced competition brewers, and everyone in between.
Come to a meeting first
You don’t need to be a member to join us at a monthly meeting. We welcome visitors and newcomers to come along and meet the club. It’s a great way to soak up the atmosphere, chat with fellow brewers, and decide if you’d like to become a member. Bring a mate if you’d like — the more the merrier!
Monthly meetings are held on the last Thursday of each month. Check the events page or subscribe to our Substack for dates and details.
What’s included
The Melbourne Brewers Committee organises and runs a range of activities including:
Monthly meetings
Meetings are held on the last Thursday of each month. Activities vary — we may taste and discuss a particular beer style, demonstrate equipment, discuss brewing techniques, run intra-club competitions, or sample and provide feedback on members’ beers.
Communications
Monthly newsletters containing details of the next club meeting, upcoming events, and competitions are distributed by email a few days before each meeting.
Members are also advised of upcoming events by email. The members’ email list is used as a forum to discuss topics of interest and share brewing information.
Brew days
Periodically, members volunteer to host a Brew Day at their brewery and invite club members to watch how they brew and discuss the equipment used. Brew Days are a great way for novice brewers to learn all-grain brewing. Beers made at Brew Days are usually consumed at the Annual Dinner in June/July.
Activity days
From time to time, days are organised for members to build or assemble equipment — converting kegs to boilers, making immersion chillers, yeast stir-plates, counter-pressure bottle fillers, temperature controllers, and more.
Events and excursions
The club periodically organises trips and events — visits to maltings, Melbourne microbreweries, weekends away at country pubs.
Annual club events include the Annual Dinner, Christmas party, Steinbeer weekend, and Beerfest weekend.
Competitions
There are six main homebrewing competitions in Victoria each year:
- Melbourne Brewers Beerfest
- Merri Mashers IPA Comp
- Yarra Valley Brewers Belgian Comp
- Westgate Brewers Stout Extravaganza
- VicBrew
- Bayside Brewers Oktoberfest
For more details, see VicBrew competitions.
Entering competitions is a great way to get feedback on your brewing. The club allocates points to members who place in competitions — these count towards the Club Brewer of the Year award.
Club buys
Bulk buys of equipment and ingredients offer significant savings to members.
Annual fee
Membership is $50 per year.
How to join
Click the button below to pay your annual membership fee via PayPal. You’ll receive a confirmation email within a few minutes of your payment completing, and a committee member will be in touch to welcome you to the club.