Big Brew Day: A toast to communal brewers

GRAND RAPIDS — The short version of this article is this: I am bummed I had to miss Big Brew Day at the Calder Plaza this year. Don’t know about Big Brew at the Calder? Can’t begin to fathom why I would be saddened for my absence? Read on.

Big Brew day falls on the first Saturday of May each year. The day was chosen by the American Homebrewers Association as a celebration where all homebrewers can belly up to their mash tuns and share a communal “toast,” connecting brewers from all over the U.S. in a single moment of fermented frivolity.

Three years ago, the folks at Siciliano’s Market devised a way to make the day particularly special for the homebrewers of Grand Rapids, and Big Brew at the Calder was born.

The first time I heard what Steve Siciliano wanted to do for the big brew I thought, ‘huh, sounds like a hell of a time.’ It was only after he secured the venue and began to hash out the details of what it would take to pull it off did I realize how much work would be involved in m

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