Brewery deems local homebrewer’s Kellerbier a stellar beer
For a homebrewer, brewing your recipe at a commercial brewery is a dream come true. For Joe Domm, it’s a dream that’s come true several times now.
Domm won the brewery’s Rein Stein competition, which is an award given out by The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery as part of the annual U.S. Open homebrewing competition. Every year the competition is held at the brewery, with the Carolina BrewMasters homebrew club fielding and judging entries, then giving out awards for a number of styles.
For the Rein Stein, the focus is on German beers. That makes sense, since the winner of the Rein Stein gets to brew their beer at OMB, which specializes in those styles. This year, homebrewers were asked to brew their best version of a Kellerbier (translated “cellar beer”), an unfiltered German-style lager that is seldom seen here in the states.
The brewery will tap Domm’s winning Kellerbier this Friday when it opens at 11 a.m. Since the beer is often quaffed from earthenware mugs in Germany, the brewery will be selling its own 20-ounce steins for $18 (which includes your first beer). The brewery describes the beer as “a more hoppy Mecktoberfest,” and it will only be served at OMB (4150 Yancey Road).
This is Domm’s second time winning the Rein Stein. His Kölsch garnered top marks in the 2013 competition, which was the first one he ever entered. A homebrewer since 2010, Domm heard about the competition when he began attending meetings with the Carolina BrewMasters, Charlotte’s local homebrewing club. As a fan of German styles and OMB’s beers in particular, he jumped at the chance to have his beer brewed at the brewery.
In addition to his Rein Stein wins, Domm brewed a Belgian blonde ale with D9 Brewing Co. in Cornelius and a rye porter with Triple C Brewing, both in 2014.He’s also taken several ribbons in other homebrew competitions, and last year he won the Beer and Branding event put on by NoDa Brewing and AIGA Charlotte.
To what does he owe his success? Here are just a few tips Domm offers to homebrewers.
Find fellow homebrewers: Though he started homebrewing in 2010, Domm didn’t join the Carolina BrewMasters until 2013. “I think I lost about two years ago worth of progress just not doing that,” he says. “Then there’s the social aspect. The club has led me to a wider group of people and friends in Charlotte.”
Brew and brew again: While some homebrewers make it a point to brew a new recipe every time they brew, Domm brews the same beers over and over, tweaking the ingredients or process just a bit each time. “I think this year I brewed like six Dunkels,” he says. “You just keep nudging them where you want them to be.”
Follow your passion: Domm suspects his German styles do so well at competitions because those are the ones he most prefers drinking. “I kind of came to a realization, like ‘Who am I kidding?’ ” he says. “This is what I like. Probably 80 percent of my beers are German, maybe 90 percent this year.”
More info: www.fermentationnation.net.
Event of the week
Sticky When Wet Release at NoDa Brewing Co.
When: Noon Monday.
Where: 2921 N. Tryon St.
What: The India pale ale is the brewery’s first wet-hopped beer to be brewed at the production level, and it uses Citra and Mosaic hops that were harvested on the West Coast and then shipped overnight to be used in the beer. The Tin Kitchen food truck will be parked outside serving food from Somethin’s Brewing, their new menu featuring dishes made with the brewery’s beers. Sticky When Wet will be available on draft and in cans; a four-pack of 16-ounce cans is $13.99.
This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Brewery deems local homebrewer’s Kellerbier a stellar beer."