First Annual TrueBrü Advent Beer Exchange

Homebrewing has always been about more than just making beer. It is about connection, creativity, and community. Running a small locally focused shop like TrueBrü comes with its challenges, but one of the most rewarding parts is creating opportunities for brewers to come together and share what they love.

We regret that it has taken us this long to start creating more of these local opportunities after our first major event. Our goal has always been to build and strengthen the community around us, but it has taken time to settle in and reach a point where we can focus on something as simple and meaningful as an exchange like this.

The TrueBrü Advent Beer Exchange is our first attempt at turning that idea into something tangible. A simple community exchange that takes a surprising amount of coordination but is absolutely worth it. This year twenty five local homebrewers are each contributing twenty four bottles of the same beer to trade, creating unique advent style cases filled with a variety of homebrewed creations for everyone to enjoy later at home.

Our hope is that this becomes an annual tradition and grows into multiple groups or seasonal groups each year, with both casual and competitive versions. There is even potential for future rounds focused on specific beer styles or seasonal themes with a more competitive mindset. The advent calendar style exchange, however, is purely for fun and is meant to capture the holiday traditions and creativity of the amazing local homebrewers in our area.

There are no rules, no style guidelines, and no judging. Just brew what you enjoy and want to share with about 24 other people. Participants meet briefly in person to exchange bottles, then enjoy each other’s creations at their own pace throughout December or during the Wisconsin winter.

It has been suggested that winter style brews are a fitting choice for the season, so many of the beers in this year’s exchange may include holiday versions or seasonal twists on recipes brewers make throughout the rest of the year.

Thank you to everyone who joined this first ever TrueBrü Advent Beer Exchange. We are already looking forward to next year. Without you there would be no us, and we truly appreciate every one of you and everyone who continues to support the shop.

A separate blog post will feature all of this year’s participant entries and beer descriptions for public viewing.