AHA Zymurgy Live Session Helps Homebrewers Prepare for Big Brew Day

The AHA's Zymurgy Live series returned today, March 26, with a session purpose-built for one thing: getting your brew day locked in before Big Brew on May 2. The session, titled "Getting Ready for Big Brew!," was announced by an AHA staff representative and framed as an actionable primer for homebrewers preparing for National Homebrew Day.

The central message from the AHA was direct: Zymurgy Live is back, and it's all about getting ready for Big Brew on May 2 — and this year, the association heard that homebrewers want more beer on the day. The response was three official recipes, all drawn from the National Homebrew Competition winner's circle. The 2026 Big Brew lineup includes Monk's Ration Trappist-Style Single, George and Aaron's Pre-Prohibition Porter, and Dark Cellar Imperial Stout. Pick one, or brew all three.

Big Brew for National Homebrew Day lands on the first Saturday in May, which this year falls on May 2. The AHA's Big Brew event is now celebrated in all 50 U.S. states as well as at least 30 countries around the world. That's a lot of kettles to fire up simultaneously, and the whole point of today's Zymurgy Live session was to make sure nobody's scrambling for a grain bill the week before.

The Zymurgy Live series runs as an AHA members-only benefit, with a replay archive available for sessions you miss. Zymurgy Live connects homebrewers directly to the association's programming, with sessions built around timely topics like competition prep, recipe design, and — as with today's session — event planning. The series has previously pulled in voices from across the brewing world: a June 2023 session titled "Behind the Beer with Justin Crossley" featured Justin Crossley of The Brewing Network, who has spent 18 years behind the scenes at AHA events, alongside Shawna Cormier. An April 2024 session on non-alcoholic homebrewing brought in Meagen Anderson and Doug Piper to walk through NA recipes, benefits, and the evaluation process.

The May 2 Big Brew itself is a simultaneous national brew day, with homebrewers gathering at homebrew clubs, local shops, backyards, and garages to make the same official recipes side by side. The AHA holds Big Brew to celebrate homebrewing by bringing homebrewers together to make the same official recipes for side-by-side comparison. Whether you're tackling the Belgian-inspired Trappist Single, the historically rooted Pre-Prohibition Porter, or going bold with the Imperial Stout, today's Zymurgy Live session was the place to get your questions answered before the mash paddle comes out.

AHA membership is required to access Zymurgy Live sessions live, though the replay archive gives members a way to catch up on content after the fact. With six weeks between today's primer and the May 2 brew day, there's still time to source ingredients, dial in your water chemistry, and pick which of the three NHC gold-medal recipes you're taking a swing at.