February 2005 Newsletter

By Bill Lynch

Sorry, there were no pictures taken at the meeting.

As I stated at the beginning off the meeting, ‘Holy shit!!!’ We had a record 60+ members and guests including some ‘old timers’; Gary Ackerman, Mike Weeks and Jim Carroll it was great to see you again! Tom Lockhart and Oscar Wong of Highland Brewing Company were also in attendance. And again I want to reiterate how impressed I continue to be over the quality of the homebrews this club makes.

• 2005 dues are due. You will be dropped from the active roster if you don’t pay by the end of February. No more club-only emails. Still the best 15 bucks you’ll ever spend
• When asking how many beers that members made during January, I counted about 30!
• Kevin Martin took 3^rd place with his Whispering Raspberry at the Meadlenium held in late January. This is the largest home mead making event in North America. Congratulations Kevin!
• Please check out the club website. A few new features related to education have been added and all updates have been made. Thanks to Gary Cathey for his usual excellent job!
• The Gambrinus Cup will be judged on Saturday February 19 at CB&B at 2 p.m. All CBM members that have either Oktoberfest or Munich Dunkels are encouraged to enter. There is no entry fee. See Ale Clayson for full details
• The club board of directors met on January 26 in which we discussed the direction of the club in 2005, expenses, Oktoberfest and the new club bylaws
• The 2004 officer’s dinner was held on January 21 at Presto Bar and Grill; all 2005 officers, US Open and Oktoberfest committee members are eligible to attend this year’s dinner
• I received an email from Pop the Cap in which they stated their strategy for presenting their legislation to the legislature. There is a beer event (the movie American Beer) on February 20 in Asheville and a Legislative Beer Tasting in Raleigh on February 9. Visit www.popthecap.org for details. As info, we are looking at hosting American Beer in Charlotte, possibly in March. More details later.
• Garrett Oliver of the Brooklyn Brewing Company will be holding a beer dinner at the Providence Bistro in the Ballantyne section of Charlotte on Wednesday February 9. The price is $55.00 per person. I understand there are a few tickets still available. Details at http://www.providencebistroballantyne.com/BeerDinner.html
• Douglas MacKay has proposed forming a subcommittee that would investigate the feasibility of establishing a competition that would judge only highly hopped beers. An initial meeting was held on January 26.

• Sara welcomed all new club members and guests
• Sara is in the process of determining exactly which members have not signed up for Brewnet. She will be contacting those members shortly. It’s easy, an effective means of communication and instructions can be found on the club website

• Kim Garnett, Marlond Meadows’ girlfriend, has agreed to allow Marlond to hold a brew session at her home on Saturday February 12. He will be brewing an extract barleywine and will begin at 12 noon. Directions will be posted on the club website
• BJCP study sessions. The next exam will be held in July in the Triangle area. Bruno has contacted everyone that expressed interest in attending study sessions to get a reality check. The group is basically split up into two groups; one that feels with a little additional studying they would be prepared to take the July exam; one that feels it needs more time. We will address each group’s needs individually
• Club will subsidize any exam takers whether first timers or judges looking to move up in the ranks
• Please check the club website for all study related material under the Education button on the left side of the screen.
• We are looking for volunteers to hold brew sessions at their homes. We’re shooting for the 3^rd Saturday of each month but that date is not set in stone. We would like as many extract sessions as possible. Those holding the sessions will be reimbursed up to $20.00 for ingredients, food etc. You will need to present a receipt. Please email Bruno Wichnoski at bruno@bruski.com if you are interested in holding one. We have a session lined up for April but all other months are open

• No sour beers were judged for the AHA club only competition in BJCP category 17
• Clay is in the process establishing an organizing committee for the US Open. We need a registrar, head steward and a judge’s coordinator. We will be holding our initial committee meeting shortly
• The first CBOY competition is the Carboy competition in Raleigh on March 12. You can begin on line entries on February 12; entries must be received by March 6; info at http://hbd.org/carboy/shamrock.htm
• Also, please consider entering one of your best in the AHA national competition
• Clay covered exactly what is involved in entering a homebrew competition
• Passed around a copy of the new BJCP categories, judging scoresheet and entry form
• On line entering makes it very easy; most competitions will even print out bottle labels
• For all CBoY competitions, members need only to register and pay by the deadline of the competition and drop their beers off at Homebrew Adventures; no mailing costs are involved!
• Reminder: The schedule for 2005 AHA Club Only Competitions is:
• May – Extract Beers – All categories; minimum 50% extract used
• August – French and Belgian Ales – Category 16
• September/October – European Amber Lager – Category 3
• November/December – Baltic Porter – Category 12C

Social Events

• Checkers game on February 11. The hardcores will be able to make it to Marlond’s brew session the next day!
• Social events for 2005 have been posted on the website
• Other events that we decide on will be announced as far as in advance as possible
• AHA national conference in Baltimore in June; so far about 20 people have expressed interest. We will be looking to get the ‘definites’ together shortly so we can determine how much and what the club will subsidize and to what extent our club will participate in the festivities
• Hickory Hops festival will be held on Saturday April 9
• If anyone has any ideas for possible club sponsored events, please let Tony Profera know

• The 2005 Oktoberfest will take place on Saturday October 8. We expect it to be held at the same site as last year and we will be incorporating a series of changes to the event as suggested at the committee’s post-fest meeting. We will be looking for committee members shortly so please consider joining us

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