May  2005 Newsletter

By Bill Lynch

Sorry, there were no pictures taken at the meeting.

The Carolina Brewmasters would like to thank the entire staff of Rock Bottom Brewery for making us feel so comfortable at the first club meeting held there. About 60 members were treated to excellent service, food and Dave Gonzales’ excellent beers!

• The July 6 meeting will be held at the Mellow Mushroom on Carmel Road and Quail Hollow Road at 6:30
• A large number of beers were announced as being brewed during May, including a few imperial stouts and barleywines
• A big congratulations to Kevin Martin who took four ribbons, an honorable mention and a second place best of show in the May Mead Madness competition. His 21 points is greater than the total of all other competitors
• Next AHA club only competition will be held at the July meeting; French and Belgian Ales, Category 16 which consists of witbiers, Belgian pale ales, saisons, biere de gardes and Belgian specialty ales
• PTC news – HB392 has passed the House and is waiting until June 2^nd at which time the Senate can begin looking at the bill; please heed the advise to be very professional in any correspondence sent to representatives and stick to the facts.
• We are planning a Pop the Cap fund raiser to be held on Saturday July 9 at Bruno Wichnoski’s home. It will be a Belgian beer tasting and we will be charging $25 per person to attend. We will also be holding a silent auction which will consist of some very fine beers. The club will provide the meat (Bruno’s smoked pork butts) and side dishes are welcomed. We are limiting the attendance to 50 people. We need a couple of volunteers to pull this off; a beer coordinator (or two) and an auction organizer
• Big Brew was held at Gary Cathey’s house on Saturday May 7. For those unfamiliar with Big Brew, it’s sponsored by the AHA and on this day homebrewers worldwide gather and brew pre-published recipes. We had great attendance, great weather but only two brewers actually brewed beer.
• Billl Lynch is planning to hold his plate party at the Flying Saucer on Friday night, June 10 beginning at 6:30. The first $100 of beer is on Bill. As information, the Flying Saucer is having their 3^rd anniversary party on Saturday June 11 with $2.50 pints all day as well as live music.

• We welcomed 5 new club members. This puts the roster at 108 including honorary members

• Roman Davis will be holding a brew session at his home on Saturday June 25. He will be brewing a Schwarzbier and will be mashing in at about 9:30. Directions will be posted on the website.
• BJCP study sessions. The third study session was held in mid April; the fourth study session is scheduled for June 8; attendees, don’t forget your reading assignments
• Club will subsidize any exam takers whether first timers or judges looking to move up in the ranks
• We are looking for volunteers to hold brew sessions at their homes from July to the end of the year

Social Events

• Social events for 2005 have been posted on the website
• A last call for anyone wishing to go to the AHA national conference in Baltimore in June was made. Right now, 5 members are planning on going
• A pint night celebrating the ‘unveiling’ of Bill Lynch’s plate at the Flying Saucer will be held on Friday night, June 9^th.
• We are planning a club sponsored Charlotte Knights game in July; details to follow
• Other events such as pint nights, billiards and a croquet night will be announced in the future

• The 2005 Oktoberfest will take place on Saturday October 1. It will 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.
• An update of the site layout as well as some general information was given out
• Members were reminded that the club will once again be sponsoring a homebrew tent and we will solicit kegs from members in advance of the fest
• Sara Siedel has agreed to organize the volunteers for this year’s fest. She will be in touch with all members over the next couple of months

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