The Dukes of Ale homebrew club was formed in January 1989 and we held our first meeting in April 1989. The Dukes of Ale is the oldest homebrew club in New Mexico. In a lot of ways it was more difficult to brew a great homebrewed beer, due to limited quality malts, extracts and hops, and available information. Many times a homebrewer would have to beg grains and hops from microbreweries, as well as a limited selection (and supply) of yeast. At that time only one homebrew/wine supply store was in Albuquerque, and that was Victor’s Grape Arbor.

Also, in 1989, National Homebrew Competitions took their show on the road, and left Colorado to have their judging at the Oldenberg Brewery in Cincinnati, and were getting small amounts of entries.

 

Here’s a few facts:

 

1989 National Homebrew Competition held in Cincinnati Ohio, had about 400 entries.

 

2014 NHC, held in Grand Rapids MI, had 8,172 entries!

The Dukes Of Ale’s original mission still holds true today, and that is:

Maintain quality in the production of homebrewed beer.

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• Promote public awareness and appreciation of the quality and variety of beer through education, research and the collection and dissemination of information.

• Serve as a forum for the technological and cross-cultural aspects of the art of brewing.

• To encourage responsible use of beer as an alcoholic beverage.

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