A group of students is attempting to brew up a new club at Ball State. The focus is beer.
Graduate student Chase Lenon and three of his friends set out last semester to start a club dedicated to home-brewing beer.
The club would teach members the processes and different options available when creating different beers. It would also help members understand and navigate through the multitude of different beers available.
The main goal is education, Lenon said.
“It’s mostly for fermentation knowledge,” Lenon said. “Just get in a room, talk about the science behind it, maybe even grow some hops.”
Lenon said enjoying the beers is a part of the mission, but it will not be an environment in which anyone feels forced to drink.
Among the social events the group would like to plan are visits to area breweries, including the Heorot in downtown Muncie, which will be making its first microbrew available for purchase in early February.
As of right now, the group cannot become an official club because it does not have a faculty adviser.
“Everyone we asked is like, ‘Oh, I can’t be affiliated with that, because it’s alcohol related,’” Lenon said.
He hopes that a member of the faculty will recognize the goal is not to promote inappropriate drinking, but to educate on brewing processes.
Lenon said people should be interested in the club “if they like chemisty, [and] if they like really good-tasting beer.”
Students under 21-years-old would be able to join, but the club would not allow them to taste the beers.
There would be no cost to join. Brewing kits usually cost $35 to $50, making approximately five gallons of beer.
For more details, contact Lenon at chase.lenon@gmail.com.
