“I’ve basically painted the ceiling of a Senior Fauver with beer that exploded.”

Though this might sound like another example of stereotypical college antics (like the bottles filled with urine discovered in Freshman Fauver last April), Sky Stallbaumer ’12 was actually referencing an experience from his involvement in the Wesleyan Homebrewer’s Alliance, a student group who treat brewing beer as a culinary art.

“Basically, we’re a group of really dedicated kids interested in the craft and creation of beer and understanding what goes into making it,” said Co-President Will Schragis ’12. “What I love about brewing is that you don’t have to be an expert, certified, or pay thousands of dollars to do it.”

Although officially founded by Jacon Mayer ’10 and George Bennum ’09 in 2007, Schragis and his fellow co-president Stallbaumer believe that students have been unofficially brewing on campus since 1962.

As of now, the club has five brew-houses, units of students who brew a different type of beer together each week in a designated location on campus.

“Each house has a head,” Schragis said.  “We know who’s capable of brewing and who’s going to do it. We have one of the highest people-to-work ratios for clubs. What we do requires many of hours of collective work every week.”

“We know how it works and how each other member works,” Stallbaumer said.  “We have the responsibilities pretty much established.”

Managing, cleaning, and running the brew-houses takes an incredible amount of dedication and expertise. Still, the leaders take special care to welcome and educate new members.

“We try to educate the younger kids,” Stallbaumer noted.  “It’s like a system with training wheels.  I really train everyone; it’s part of making it fun and exciting.”

However, the level of commitment may turn some away: the club starts out with about 130 people at the first meeting of the year and reduces to about half the size as the members realize that brewing is a serious endeavor.  However, the passion and dedication of those who stick with it creates an enjoyable, almost fraternity-like atmosphere for its members.

“It’s rare when you can get four to five people to commit to one thing for a few hours a week,” said Fielder Jewett ’11, an active club member.  “Plus, brewing is a great way to kill a Saturday, procrastinate, and not do work.”

The members are close, as they spend plenty of time together during the long brewing process.

“Making beer is halfway between making tea and baking bread,” Schragis explained. “First, you have to steep the grains in water and lots of sugar called malt extract.”

This is only the beginning; each batch takes about five hours to brew initially, depending on how many people are working on it, and about three to four weeks to sit and complete. But the process doesn’t always go according to plan.

“There are some good brewing snafu [stories],” Schragis said. “We’ve ended up with bottled beer with extra carbon dioxide that have pretty much exploded.”

Even with such a positive group dynamic, the club also focuses on being involved with the rest of the Wesleyan community.

“Most people on this campus like beer so we’re doing our best to reach out and appeal to everyone,” Stallbaumer said. “Everyone is welcome, granted they are on time and willing to put in some hours. We also know that there are some independent brewers on campus who we would love to join the club.”

The Homebrewers maintain a positive, responsible relationship with the University, even giving President Michael Roth a taste of what they do.

“I think President Roth even tried our beers – at least, I hope so. We gave them to him,” Jewett said.

To be part of the Homebrewer’s Alliance, get more information, or purchase merchandise email wesleyan.homebrew@gmail.com.