The people who brew beer are quite easily some of the most popular people on campus. Especially when the beer is good.

And then there’s the stuff that comes out of Anthony Benjamin’s garage-turned-laboratory. Benjamin, a University employee in the College of Engineering, is the current president of the Boneyard Union of Zymurgical Zealots, or BUZZ, which is just a fancy way of saying that he leads a motley bunch of homebrewers.

But the University-based club is not just any homebrewing group; they’re a collection of serious critics, judges, students and connoisseurs of the ancient craft of beer and mead brewing.

They may be serious when it comes to their craft, but they also know how to have a good time.

“You should see us when we tailgate,” said club vice president Britt Weiser, an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture, pointing to a cooler with several taps poking out of the side. Weiser has been crafting beers for eight years and has been a member of BUZZ for six.

But make no mistake, these club members aren’t just friendly ol’ townies with a keen nose and good conversation. Some of their members are quite distinguished academically and professionally.

“I found that homebrewing draws a certain kind of people – the kind that have the mental capacity to craft beer. It’s more of a science,” said Benjamin.

The group is quite diverse and features a wide range of ages.

“Brewing circles are generally cool people. It’s not just about the craft, it’s about the people,” said Joshi Fullop, a supercomputing system engineer at the University and former vice president of the club.

Students and University employees constitute a large bulk of the campus-based group, but some locals take part as well.

“The president and the treasurer have to be either University students or employees. The rest of the officers are just club positions. The students come in and out of the organization … they usually don’t join until they’re 21, and then they move on when they graduate,” said Benjamin.

What can a new member to the Zealots expect to encounter?

“We tend to split things up. Our meetings tend to be educational, and then we have social events,” said Benjamin. However, it was duly noted that October was a month they spent engaged in the art of crafting mead, a very old form of honey fermentation that produces a strong by-product.

“Everybody at the meeting had something to sample, and although we were sipping slowly, the alcohol content can be 12, 14, 16, 18 percent in volume. It was rough,” said Weiser.

Aside from the meetings, the club hosts several activities that incorporate different parts of their craft. For instance, each month they have a “Happy Hour” at a particular establishment in Champaign-Urbana. Last month they gathered at Radio Maria, and the month before that they met at the Blind Pig. They’re also hosting a Halloween party for the members.

The Zealots do some larger-scale brewing on campus, producing hundreds of gallons of beer each year.

“We go to the pilot plant I’d say about six to eight times a year to brew a large batch at the AESB (Agricultural Engineering Sciences Building),” said Benjamin.

That’s also where the group’s adviser, Dr. Bill Artz, works. Dr. Artz also teaches a class on fermentation, which includes a lesson on brewing homemade beer.

More importantly, the club takes part in contests and competitions, and many members have been quite successful.

They have hosted a series of “Brew-Offs,” most recently in Bevier Hall, where real judging and scoring took place. Next summer will be the 15th annual “Brew-Off.”

Weiser and Fullop are certified beer judges, and there are only about 3,000 across the nation.

“It’s a very hard test,” said Weiser. “It’s about three hours long … you have 10 essay questions, (and) you have to judge four beers with a scorecard.”

“For a total of over 10 pages of writing,” Fullop added.

The average score of a beer judge who passes the difficult test is around 67 percent.

To be recognized as a judge, applicants must score 60 percent. At 70 percent, they are certified, and at 90 percent, they are honored as master judges.

With two certified judges in the club, there is certainly a lot of scrutiny and attention to detail. Weiser, for instance, judges at competitions all around the Midwest, from Indianapolis to Chicago to St. Louis.

Another endearing fact about the club is that they are community advocates.

They buy their honey for their meads from a local beekeeper, and co-op with a farmer who has recently been growing barley and hops on his land.

The farmer has been getting some great advice on brewing as part of the symbiotic benefit that BUZZ is known for providing.

New members don’t have to be veterans like Weiser, Fullop and Benjamin.

In fact, they don’t have to have any equipment, just a hunger for knowledge, and an attitude for enjoying the craft and benefits of beer.

They can also be any age, although they must be 21 to partake in “experiencing” the final products. Starter kits are also relatively inexpensive.

“For about a 100 bucks, you can get one that really has it all to get anyone started,” said Marco Boscolo, a doctoral student in kinesiology.

“We work with anyone, from beginners and beyond,” said Fullop.

And when Fullop says beyond, he really means it.

Benjamin showcased some of his chemicals that he adds to water to recreate certain water patterns that can be found across the world, all for the sake of brewing the perfect ale, porter, pilsner, stout, and the list goes on.

“You can alter the water we have here to mimic, say, the water in a German town, approximately,” said Weiser.

But that may be a story for another day.

“That’s a whole different sub-area to get into. You sure you want to go there?” said Fullop.