The line for hot coffee stayed long Saturday morning as chilled Farmers Market visitors huddled in patches of sunlight.
The city’s first outdoor market of the year at 8 a.m.
The temperature outside was a frosty 36 degrees.
But things were warmer in the Bloomington Hop Jockeys’ tent.
“We’re fine,” club member Jed Marshall said. “We have four burners back here.”
The Hop Jockeys heated up the beginnings of a cream ale, saison, English pale ale and improvised beer using basil from a market vendor.
The home brewing club meets the second Tuesday of each month to taste each others’ beers and give feedback, club President Rod Myers said.
“In general, we try to raise people’s awareness about home brewing,” Myers said. “It’s a hobby we really love, and we want to share it.”
Myers and the rest of the club answered questions about home brewing and displayed different hops and grains they use.
“We gain a lot of experience, usually, in particular beer styles, then can share that knowledge,” Mike Kersulov, another member, said. “It’s really nice to come together in our monthly meeting and taste each other’s beer and get notes.”
Myers said a beginning brewer can get equipment for about $100, and, depending on the type of beer and alcohol concentration, a five-gallon batch will cost between $20 and $40 for ingredients.
“There are aspects of it that are pretty exact,” Myers said. “But you can experiment quite a bit with the ingredients you choose.”
As one needs a liquor license to sell home-brewed alcohol, Myers said the club members tend to trade their beer or give it away to friends.
“I throw a lot of parties so friends will help me drink my beer,” Myers said.
At the Naturalist in the Market tent, Parks and Recreation employees Claire Beavers and Autumn Brunelle beckoned families in to stroke a beaver pelt and learn about the river-dwelling rodents.
“Do you want to feel the beaver pelt?” Beavers asked one small boy. “It’s really warm.”
The Naturalist in the Market tent is open on the first and third Saturdays of each month, from April through November, Beavers said.
Brunelle said the two chose to open the outdoor market season with a lesson on beavers because they wanted to use their visuals — the pelt, part of a tail, a beaver skull and two gnawed pieces of wood — to help people connect with the animal.
Although the weather remained chilly, Brunelle and Beavers said the temperature had not dampened the market-goers’ enthusiasm.
“It’s a lot of enthusiastic people wanting to learn about nature,” Beavers said. “The weather’s never really affected us.”
The Bloomington Farmers Market is open every Saturday until November, according to the City of Bloomington website.
For those who can’t make the market during the weekend, there is one every Tuesday afternoon June to September.
