The Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild is a nonprofit organization, located in Madison Wisconsin, which was created “to aid and educate members in the appreciation and legal production of fermented malt beverages, including those brewed at home and those brewed commercially.”
A lot of our effort throughout the year goes into producing The Great Taste of the Midwest beer festival. We are justifiably proud of this event. It is a massive undertaking, and is a highlight of the summer for many of the brewers attending. We make it attractive to them, so that it’s attractive to beer devotees too. If the brewers come, then their fans will follow! Attendance is capped at 6000, and the number of brewers is usually a little over 190. Each summer, we look forward to sampling some of the approximately 1400 beers that are usually displayed.
Beer education is also a large part of what we’re about. We love beer, we love to learn about it and we love to teach about it. We tour breweries to see how people are making the great commercial beer that’s driving the current brewing revival here in the USA. We organize The Great Taste of the Midwest so you, the beer consumer, can learn about styles and breweries with which you’re unfamiliar. We help other groups with their beer festivals for the same reason. We hold brew-ins so homebrewers can learn from each other. There’s nothing like brewing a batch as a group to foster the exchange of techniques! Many of our members are BJCP-certified beer judges. We hold competitions and informal judging sessions so that we all can learn more about the many nuances of flavor, aroma, and other characteristics of our favorite beverage.