Ocean County Home Brewers

03/22/2026

03/22/2026

Congratulations to OCHBA team, taking home 9 medals at GS homebrewers competition! Congrats also to all the other great brewers from across the state who medaled today!

03/22/2026

OCHBA had a fun morning at the Garden State Homebrew competition today! Thanks to Garden State Homebrew Competition for a fantastic job and thanks to Sunken Silo Brew Works for hosting!

OCHBA was fortunate enough to take home 9 ribbons so congratulations to our members:

Dave Kerr:
1st: American IPA
2nd: Black IPA
3rd: Munich Helles
(Schwarzbier HM)

Vic Sbailo:
1st: Strong American Ale
3rd: Fruit Beer
3rd: Fruit Cider

Ian Barlet:
1st: American Pale Ale

John Kuzan/Bill Sullivan:
3rd: Spiced Beer

Todd Porter:
3rd: Irish Red Ale

Congratulations to all of the amazing brewers and participants and again, special thanks to the Garden State committee and judges for running an awesome competition!

03/18/2026

It was great to visit our “home” base Icarus Brewing Co. for our March meeting.
Thanks to Jason and the Icarus crew for being great hosts!

April Meeting:
Tuesday, 4/14 7 PM
Toms River Brewing

02/23/2026

Thanks to the fine people ManaFirkin Brewing Company for hosting our February meeting! Special thanks to our Education coordinator, Ian for his presentation on water chemistry.

March meeting is:
Wednesday, 3/11 (different day) 7:00 Icarus Brewing Co.

Experienced home brewer
or new to the craft, come on by and check us out!

12/26/2025

Happy Holidays from the OCHBA!
We are looking forward to a great 2026. First meeting of the year will be at Heavy Reel Brewing Co. Tuesday, 1/13 7 pm!

09/29/2025

MOTOWN MASH

The mighty OCHBA took home 5 medals at the MOTOWN MASH Hombrew Competition

Dave Kerr
3 Gold …Black IPA, Hazy, Light Lager

Ian Barlet: 1 Gold…Pale Ale

Todd Porter: 1 Bronze…Czech Lager”

Todd’s Czech also took 1st in War of the Worts competition!

Congrats also to Dave finishing 3rd in NJ homebrewer of the year

Congrats, gentlemen!

Next meeting : Tuesda 10/21 7 pm
Oyster Creek Brewing Company

09/19/2025

Some scenes from our September meeting Thanks to Bert for hosting and sharing some brewery updates.
Next meeting, Tuesday, 10/21 7 PM at .

08/27/2025

Good evening! here are some highlights from our August meetinf. Thanks to Pinelands Brewing Co for being gracious hosts!

The main event was our Farm to Foam Competition, where brewers were tasked with brewing a beer using local ingredients.
Congrats to Gary LaFetra and Rich Hackett for taking the trophy with their Cream Ale hopped with Rich’s homegrown Galena hops.

Honorable Mentions:

Jack & Scott: Shandy brewed with Hammonton Blueberries
Jeff: Basil Ale featuring homegrown garden basil
Steve: Munich Helles brewed with Rabbit Hill malt
🙏 Big thanks to Dave, Al, Ian, Bob, and Vic for judging and organizing!

Activies:
Jeff has been working on a brewery bus trip and updated the club on some possibilities. He will continue to research and provide some updates.

Meeting schedule:
September:
September 9th, 7 PM at Last Wave Brewing.
October: Tuesday, 10/21 7 PM Oyster Creek Brewing

Current home brewer? Want to learn more about the craft? Come on by and check us out!

06/29/2025

"Who Wears Schwarz, Schwarz?" Apparently the entire nation as our own Dave Kerr secures 1st place in the American Homebrewers Association National Homebrew Championship! Congratulations, Dave, we are proud of your accomplishment! Exceptional beer, outstanding achievement!

04/09/2025

APRIL MEETING UPDATE
Thanks to all who came out to our April meeting last night and special thanks ri the awesome Heavy Reel Brewing Co. for hosting. Special shout out to George from HRBC for manning the taps!
This was our first intra club competition of the year. so congratulations to Todd Porter for taking home the trophy for the second time in a row! Todd brewed a deliciousu Mango Passionfruit sour ther scored high with the judges
Thanks to Dave for leading thee judging joined by Al and Vic.
And special thanks to our official photographer, Scott!

On the business side, the club discussed future activities, field trips and education sessionsIcarus Brewing Co. Icarus Brewing Co., Tuesday, 5/13 7 PM. New brewers, experienced brewers we would love to have you as part of our team!