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The
Chico Home Brews News
5 November
2009
A huge THANK
YOU to Bob and Joann G for allowing us to meet at the Chocolate Mystique
Cafe! Hopefully everyone got the word. A warm CHBC WELCOME to new
members, Blake and Chris.
New Business
The CHBC Membership Roster needs to be updated and will be
available at the next meeting(s). Please check your information and
annote any corrections, additions, or changes.
Annual dues ($24 for individuals, $36 for couples) can be
paid in cash (exact change if possible) or Check (payable to Chico
Home brew Club) to the CHBC Secretary starting witht the next meeting.
Dues will also be accepted by Dawn at the Home Brew Shop.
The CHBC Board will be meeting to review the bylaws. Members
are encouraged to review them as well, and submit corrections or revisions
for Board review via email to the club Secretary. Acceptance of the
bylaw as stands or revised will be voted on and members acknowledment
page signed at January's Annual Meeting.
The CHBC Christmas/Holiday party will be hosted by Chris
Lovett, December 12th, 6PM. Bring a dish for a Pot Luck Dinner and
a (optional) brewer appropriate gift if you want to play a Lively
Gifting Game!!
Daniel L is hosting a Teach a Friend to Home Brew event at
his home Saturday, November 7th. Details can be found on the CHBC
Forum.
Jim has arranged for a tour of the Western Pacific Brewery
on 17 November, 7pm. Details will be emailed.
SN has an event scheduled for our usual meeting date and
time, so Decembers meeting will be hosted by Bob and Joann at the
Chocolate Mystique Cafe, 6PM. Thanks again!
The next AHA Club Only Competition entry dead line is February
16th. The theme is English Brown Ales. We will sample and vote for
CHBC entrant at the February 4th meeting. Still plenty of time to
brew up a couple recipes!
My quest to find efficient and inovative way to communicate
with members and promote Home Brewing, CHBC is now on Facebook! Become
a Fan and keep up with club events and news!
Miscellanous Business
Did you know that the Home Brew Shop also sells locally grown
and produced Olive Oil!!Next time your there, ask Dawn about it! New
and Used Kegerators (5lb CO2 tanks included) are now for sale at the
HBS!
Sierra Nevada still has tickets available for their Brewers
Dinner, November 21st. Terrance will be pairing several of SN's ales
to a compliment a 5 course dinner designed by the SN Head Chef. Tickets
can be purchased at the Tap Room and Gift Shop and cost $50.00 per
person.
3 September
2009
Congratulations to our newly elected Board. With all candidates
running unopposed, a vote to accept all nominees won unanimously.
Jim Livingston, John Abbott, Joan Daniels and Larry Rauen have been
elected to continue serving as Chairman, Competition Chair, Secretary
and Treasurer. David James was elected as Vice-Chair, and Mike Daniels
is our new Cellar Master.
What a tremendous turn out at this months meeting. We were
especially privileged to have among us, some of the best home brewers
in the country. These American Home Brewers Association (AHA) Gold
medalists were attending a “Brew Camp” at the Sierra Nevada
Brewery and took advantage of the opportunity to sit in on our meeting.
We are honored by your presence and in awe of your accomplishments.
Welcome and congratulations to Stephen Quintana (The Brewing
Network) of Sheridan WY, for his Gold (in category 3 European Amber
Lager) with an Oktoberst/Marzen. to Gordon Strong (Saint Paul Homebrewers
Club) from Beavercreek, OH for his multiple wins and the well deserved
Ninkasi Award (awarded to the brewer with the most wins from the final
round), earning two Golds in Categories 20 (Fruit Beer with a Blackberry
Baltic Porter), and 15 (German Wheat and Rye Beer for a Weizen/Weissbier),
three Silver medals in Categories 5 (Bock with a Doppelboc), 25 (Melomel
for his Black Currant & Cherry Melomel), and 28 (Specialty Cider
and Perry with a Cherry Cider) and lastly, two Bronze in Categories
4 (Dark Lager with a Schwarzbier) and 9 (Scottish and Irish Ale with
a Strong Scotch Ale); Jimmy VerVaecke (Cary-Apex-Raleigh-Brewers-Of-Yore
(CARBOY)) from Durham, NC, Gold in Category 8 English Pale Ale with
an Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale); Geoff Hall (Tampa
Bay BEERS) from Tampa, FL,Category 12 Porter and a Robust Porter;
Jeff Sparrow, (Chicago Beer Society) Chicago, IL, Gold in Category
16 Belgian and French Ale for a Belgian Specialty Ale; Jeff and Susan
Rankert (Ann Arbor Brewers Guild) from Milford, MI, Gold in Category
19 Strong Ale with an American Barleywine; Thomas Eibner (Saint Paul
Homebrewers Club) Gold for Category 25 Melomel and (Fruit Mead and
Meadmaker of the Year Award) for his Cherry Melomel; Jeff Carlson
(Prime Time Brewers) Grand Rapids, MI, Gold in Category 27 Standard
Cider and Perry and Cidermaker of the Year Award with a Common Cider.
Gordon Strong and Thomas Eibner's club (The Saint Paul Homebrewers),
were the AHA club of the year and Geoff Hall's club (The Tampa Bay
BEERS), were this years recipient of the Gambrinus Club Award for
having the most Final Round points per the number of entries from
the club in the National Homebrew Competition. Kudos to all!
A hearty CHBC welcome to another notable guest, our Benefactor's
brother Steve Grossman. As always, we are very happy to welcome our
local guests and hope we have intrigued you to consider enrolling
with our happily chaotic bunch!
With our guests in mind (and their dinner reservations),
we conducted a very informal meeting, dispensing with most of the
business agenda. Of the business conducted, we held elections with
a motion raised and seconded from the floor to accept all nominees
on the ballot as the next years Officers and Board of Directors. Larry
put a motion to allocate funds for the NCHF festival, to go towards
decorations and food for the booth and a second allotment to be used
for the 2nd Annual Zymurgist's Dinner. The motion was seconded and
carried.
ATTENTION BREWERS ATTENTION BREWERS ATTENTION BREWERS!
The club has a new email address: chicohomebrewclub@gmail.com
please use this address to correspond with the club secretary, also,
please update your address book!
I have also created a club calendar, which will send email
notices for upcoming club meetings and social events. Still working
out some of the kinks, so feedback is much appreciated.
NCHF NEWS
With the club electing to pay for the the supplies for the
Zymurgist's Dinner, all that is needed is a firm head count. A Sign
up sheet went around the last couple meetings,and it looks like a
good showing, I will be sending out a confirmation email in a few
days, please RSVP as soon as you get it. All Brewers going to NCHF,
we need to have one last meeting to discuss supplies, set up and the
Booth on Saturday. I will sending an email with dates, times and a
meeting place. We are now sharing Hoppy hour with DOZE, apparently
they thought they were hosting this year. We will need decorative
items (nothing cherished or irreplaceable) such as steins or anything
with a German (Bavarian) theme. We will also need lots of food. We
already have goulash, and some spaztle saurbraten meat balls, and
coleslaw. The Oktoberfest began as a wedding reception that King Ludwig
put on for his bride. Below is an informative article about the origins
and growth of the festival. There are lots of websites out there with
good/easy recipes and decorative themes. If you have an idea of what
you can/will make, or need ideas please let me know ASAP via email.
Thanks
The History of Oktoberfest and the Beer
by: The Alström Bros
The official sign of fall, for us, is the beginning of Oktoberfest!
This festive celebration was established in October of 1810 by Prince
Ludwig of Bavaria (crowned as King Ludwig I) in celebration of his
marriage to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The unusual
thing was that the general public was invited to share in his celebration.
At the time, such a thing was unheard of – nobles rarely associated
themselves with the general public – however, some 40,000 Bavarians
attended the celebration in Munich on what is now called Theresienwiese
(the Teresa Meadow). Almost 200 years later, year after year, the
celebration is held at the same location. "Wies’n"
(the local term for the celebration, derived from Theresienwiese)
is truly a Bavarian event that has become a celebration of life not
only for Barvarians, but for all Germans and now the world, with some
form of Oktoberfest happening in many cities and breweries.
Although major amounts of beer were had at the very first
Oktoberfest, the event was initially built around its horse race and
state agricultural show. The horse race has since been dropped, however
the agricultural show continues and the festival has taken on many
carnival characteristics. Oktoberfest now lasts 16 days, beginning
in mid-September and ending on the 1st Sunday in October, with major
Munich breweries sponsoring the event, up to 6 million attendees packing
into mega beer halls and over 5 million liters of beer consumed every
year. For information on this year's Munich Oktoberfest, go to http://www.oktoberfest.de.
The whole beer association/craze of Oktoberfest didn't really
happen until 1818, with the introduction of food and beer stands.
The common Munich Oktoberfest beer served at Wies’n contains
only 4.5% alcohol by volume, is dark/copper in color, has a mild hop
profile and is typically labeled as a Bavarian Märzenbier in
style – an amber lager with bottom fermenting yeast at 45º-55ºF.
There's confusion as to the origin of the style; however, it mostly
likely came about hundreds of years ago, before refrigeration and
before the first Oktoberfestbier. Beers brewed during the winter were
kept in cold storage over the Spring and Summer months so that they'd
keep. Some were also brewed to contain higher levels of alcohol to
also help preserve. The label Märzen (March) soon signified beers
brewed during the last months of Spring. These beers were then consumed
over the Summer months when brewing was impossible due to the hot
weather and bacterial infections.
Spaten, Paulaner, Ayinger and Hacker Pschorr are all exceptional
must-tries, as they tend to be close in all aspects of flavor, smell
and color. Usually reddish amber in color, very fragrant of deep-toasted
malt, smooth, with the use of noble hops that make the beer spicy
and herbal yet sweet and grainy. Domestic versions run the gamut,
from being very close to their respected origins to brewing ale and
calling it "Octoberfest Ale." Sam Adams, Harpoon, Brooklyn
Brewing, Saranac, Beck’s and Pete’s are good examples
of the former, more traditional lagers. Some breweries, however, simply
brew an ale and call it an Octoberfest beer ... what’s up with
that? Otter Creek and Wachusett Brewing just blatantly brew ale and
slap "Octoberfest" somewhere on the label. Not to say these
ales are bad, but these brewers have some guts to claim to be brewing
one of the toughest beer styles when they're not.
For more info on these beers and beers in general, visit
our site ( http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/29/), as we will be
reviewing Oktoberfestbiers throughout the season. In the meantime,
pick up some Oktoberfestbier (or ale) while they are around. Then
celebrate your existence! You have an excuse! Celebrate beer! Prost!
Octobers meeting will mark the first year that the Chico
Home Brew Club officially reorganized and began operating as not just
a club, but as an organization. We've come along way in that year,
and while we still have a bit more work to bring our education and
other goals on board, growth in membership and increased attendance
at our meetings is an indication of the success of our new venue.
Congratulate yourselves for a great year!
Cheers'
Joan
CHBC Secretary
6 August
2009
First, Welcome to our guests, Jarrod and Kim! Wow Brewers!
Time has seemingly flown by! It was one year ago that our large group
of brewing enthusiasts determined our membership had grown to the
point that we need to bring a more solid structure for our Club. August
of 2008 we opened the floor for nominations of our first Board of
Directors, taking our first step towards organization. While we still
have some wrinkles to iron out, we have continued to grow in strength
and membership.
New Business
Treasurers report: We currently show a balance of $1775.00
in the club account
*****************
Dawn announced that the Home Brew Shop is working on putting
a CO2 filling station online, more information will be forthcoming.
*****************
Joan opened the floor for Nominations of Officers.
Jim L was nominated for Chairman
Mike D was nominated for Cellar Master by Doug
Joan was nominated as Secretary by Copeland
John was nominated as Competition Chairmen
Larry was nominated for Treasurer by Dawn
Dave J was nominated for Vice Chairman by Joan
Anyone that was unable to attend this months meeting and
wishes make a nomination, may do so by emailing the position and nominee
to the club Secretary dan_clan@hotmail.com, Chair: pridgebrewer22@sbcglobal.net,
and Dawn: homebrushop@yahoo.com. Last day for accepting emailed nominations
is 5pm August 22nd, 2009.
Dawn motioned to close the floor for nominations, Dave S
second the motion, motion was carried.
Elections will be held at the next meeting. If you are unable
to attend, email your Vote as described above for emailing nominations.
Reminder email will be sent out Email ballots will be accepted starting
August 24th. Deadline for emailed ballots is September 3rd, before
5pm. (the evening of our regular monthly meeting).
Old Business
John A opened the floor to discuss changing the date of
our annual competition back to May. Copeland motioned to change the
competition date to the third Sunday in May, commencing May 16, 2010;
Doug Second the motion, the motion was carried.
***********
NCHF is next month, Sept 18-19, ideas for food and decorations
for the club booth are needed. We have plenty in the treasury, so
we have a good amount for our budget. Joanie A will be heading up
the Hoppy Hour on Friday evening; Joan, Nena, and Joann G will be
the coordinators for the Club Booth on Saturday.
The NCHF Brewers Dinner on Friday night has been SOLD OUT!!
Tickets went really fast this year! If you wanted to go but missed
out, Joan will be hosting the “CHBC 2nd Annual Zymurgist Supper”
on Friday night (an alternative to the NCHF Dinner) .(the tentative
menu is attached). Anyone wanting to attend please let her know as
soon as possible dan_clan@hotmail.com . The cost of the dinner is,
as before, dependent upon the COST (of ingredients) DIVIDED BY (the
number of) DINERS.
Please let the club secretary ( dan_clan@hotmail.com ) know
if you are planning to attend NCHF, and if you will be camping the
weekend or attending Saturday only.
There will be an organizational and planning meeting on 26
August at 6pm for anyone going to NCHF or wanting to help (with planning
or making food/decorations, etc..., for the Club booth and Hoppy Hour).
The meeting will be hosted by Joanie A, at her school.located at 120
Mission Ranch Blvd, Chico. Please let the Club know if you will be
attending the meeting, have any questions or need information. See
map link below for directions:
http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=120+Mission+Ranch+Blvd,+Chico,+CA+95926
All members are welcome to come, you do not have to be attending
NCHF, any ideas and help are always welcome. Attendees are encouraged
to be there..
Miscellaneous Business
The Mad Zymurgist are hosting a competition October 10th
in Oakland, during the “Oaktoberfest”. The competition
will focus on German Beer only (in keeping with the “fest”
theme). Entry window opens Sept 12th and closes Sept 26th. For complete
rules, entry information or to enter online go to http://www.madzymurgists.org/
The Beer
We had another great showing of Home brews to sample, and
couple of really good Micro Brews!
We started with a Helles and American Pilsner by Bob Mc,
followed by a Pale Ale and Porter by Johnathan S. Chris L asked for
help with an Imperial Stout that has some off flavors. Temperature
seemed to be the biggest culprit. Daniel L brought in examples of
an IPA; Two variations of One recipe, the first was a dry hop addition
of Amarillo, the second a dry hop addition of Centennial.
We had several from the Mead and Cider category as well.
Cheryl broughtt an Apple Cyser (made with Knutens apple concentrate)
she made for a recent wedding. She also brought a cherry melomel made
by her honey supplier. She uses the residual “honey water”
that results from harvesting honeycomb from her bee hives. The recipe
seems to be a higher amount of honey than fruit ratio, making a delectable
sweet drink. John A followed it up with a melomel from the other end
of the taste spectrum, a really good tart and dry Pomegranate.
The meeting closed with two commercial Micro Brews...John
brought an IPA by Half Moon Brew Co. and Bob Mc let loose Pliny the
Elder!
Cheers!
Joan Daniels
CHBC Secretary
In Addendum...In my continued strife for organization, I
will be establishing a new email account specifically for the Chico
Home Brew Club. I think that this will provide continuity for the
club in maintaining communications and provide accessible storage
of correspondence and official club documents.
July 2nd
2009
Hello brewers! Hope everyone had a safe and happy Independence
Day! We extend a warm Chico Home Brew Club welcome to our newest members,
Josh A., and Don and Claudia A.! There was a lot of information put
out at this months meeting.
New Business
The next meeting we will hold open nominations for the clubs
Board of Directs. In accordance with club bylaws which states ...
“ The purpose of the Board of Directors is to provide
responsible
leadership, an administrative structure to conduct business and shall
be responsible for the
management of the affairs of the club. Officers must have been members
in good standing for
the past 12 months. The Board of Directors shall consist of five Officers,
of which will be
elected as follows:
? Chairperson
? Competition Chairperson
? Secretary/Newsletter Editor
? Treasurer
? Cellar Master
?
Details of the duties and requirements for the various offices are
described in the Bylaws. All current members have received a printed
copy, however, a copy of the Bylaws will be attached with this months
newsletter, or can be found at the clubs website. ( http://www.chicohomebrewclub.com/
)
If you are unable to attend this meeting and you wish to
nominate someone, email the club Secretary ( dan_clan@hotmail.com
), and Info: the Chairman, Jim Livingston ( pridgebrewer22@sbcglobal.net
) and Dawn Letner (homebrushop@yahoo.com )with your nominations. Elections
will be held at the September meeting.
If you are unsure of your membership standing, or wish to
become a member, contact the Secretary, Joan Daniels (dan_clan@hotmail.com
)for information.
Ken Grossman has offered to come and speak to the club about
his brewing experiences and how Sierra Nevada Brewing Company came
to be. Jim L will be coordinating with him to schedual a date.
The next AHA Club Only Competition (August) will feature
Amber Hybrid Ales. Entry deadline is Wednesday, August 19, 2009. Judging
will be held Sunday, August 23, 2009. Hosted by Ryan Thomas and KROC
(Keg Ran Out Club) of Broomfield, CO, this competition covers BJCP
Category 7 beer styles.
August 1st is Meade Day, anyone interested in hosting (cooridnating)
or attending an event contact John Abbot, (jabrew@aol.com ) or Jim
Livingston. (pridgebrewer22@sbcglobal.net )
For those unable to attend NCHF in September, the California Brewers
Fest will be held in Sacramento at Discovery Park Sept. 19th for tickets
and information go to www.calbrewfest.org
The Great American Beer Fest will be held Sept. 24th - 26th in Denver,
Co. We will be represented by Dave and Nena J, and look forward to
their report.
November 1st is teach a friend to Brew Day. Plenty of time to plan
an event with your friends and/or family and share your interest in
a rewarding hobby.
The California State Home Brew Competition will be held Nov. 7th.
Information on entering can be found at http://nchfinfo.org/StateComp/StateComp.html
Old Business
Jim, Dave, and John gave a report on the AHA National Conference
held in Oakland, Ca. Our “Pouring Man” won an award, Ken
Grossman gave the Keynote speech Some pictures of the event can be
found at the clubs website. Attendees have been asked to send pictures
and/or a brief written summery of the activities and memories they
have to the club secretary.
The Northern California Homebrewers Organiztion website is
taking registration for the NCHF event Sept. 18th -19th. The Theme
for this year...October Fest...next meeting we will discuss the clubs
booth, decore, food, Hoppy Hour, and other details. Nena brought some
samples of Pretzles baked by her daughter for concideration as a booth
or Hoppy hour item. She also came across a website that had some aprons
we could use to “costume coordinate” the clubs attendees..you
can check it out at .http://www.germanplaza.com/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=443
More ideas for food or decorations are encouraged, whether you can
attend or not. ...and... Back by Popular demand...Joan will host the
2nd annual CHBC “Zymergist's Supper” the menu is currently
being conceptulized and will not disappont!
Miscelleneous Business
The CHBC tasting glasses are in. If you did not receive yours
at the last meeting, you can pick one up at the next meeting. Any
member current with dues and in good standing are entitled to one
complimentary glass each. Guests may purchase a tasting glass for
$5.00. Glasses are also available for purchase by members wanting
replacement or additional glassses.
The Chico Farmers Market (Saturday-downtown) has Honey for
sale at $25.00 a gal.
Chocolate Mystique Cafe, 788 East Ave. in Chico now serves
Craft beers and fine wines. For the homebrew club members who show
their card they get $1.00 off of either a 16 ounce or 20 ounce beer.
Current prices without discounts are $4.00 a pint and $5.00 for 20
oz.
Only exclusion is Friday Happy Hour from 4-6 PM when beer prices will
be at $2.00 a pint, $3.00 for 20 oz.
Current beer selections on tap:
Sudwerk IPA
Sudwerk Pils
EEL River Organic Acai Berry Wheat
North Coast Brewing Company Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout on
nitro.
Our hours are Tues-Thurs 8AM-5PM
Fri&Sat 11AM-10PM
Closed Sunday and Monday during the summer
For more info on what we carry click on this link
http://chico.craigslist.org/vnn/1245584102.html
The Beer:
We had a number of home brews to sample this month. I was
unable to get many of the remarks or comments written down this time
so I will just give a summery of the styles and their brewers. Doug
brought what he has called a Barleywine Wheat, Dave J had a nice Irish
red, Paul M a Dusseldorf Alt, Tyan brought a nice Swartz beer and
an Amber Lager, Jim L shared a very nice American Pale Ale, and Bob
G had a Manderine Orange Hefewizen, a Vienna Lager and a Saison. Thank
you all for sharing! Remember, next month bring your Hybrid Amber
ales for concideration for the Club only Competition.!
Cheers!
Joan
4 June 2009
It’s Summer Time! With Graduations, Weddings, Vacations
and the kids out of school, lives and schedules are sure to be more
complicated; notably, we were a little smaller group, this month.
This is also the beginning of a busy season for the Home Brew Club;
starting with the AHA National Conference this month in Oakland and
ending with the NCHF (Northern California Home Brew Festival, in September.
Still our membership continues to grow as we welcome, Bill S. to our
roll call!
New Business
Elections for the Home Brew Club are coming up. Nominations
for officers were announced to being held at the next meeting, July
2nd. reviewing the bylaws, I discovered I had given the wrong date.
Nominations will be held at the August meeting, and election of officers
will be at the September meeting. I apologize for the mix up. Anyone
unable to attend the August meeting meeting and wish to be nominated,
or wish to nominate someone for an office may do so by emailing the
Club Secretary ( dan_clan@hotmail.com ) prior to that meeting.
Old Business
Last meeting we discussed the clubs need for another Jockey Box. Dawn
did the research and found that there was little difference in price
between building one or purchasing one. We discussed if there was
a need for a second box and concluded that was. Joan D. moved that
we use club monies towards the purchase of a jockey box for the club.
Paul M. second the motion, with no further discussion, the motion
carried unanimously.
John A gave the final report on the Home Brew Competition,
and was pleased to announce that after all expenditures the club came
out ahead by $420.00.
John also announced that CHBC tasting glasses will be in
with in the next couple weeks. (Hopefully in time for AHA). Eligible
CHBC members will receive their glass at the next meeting. Extra glasses
will be available for purchase.
Jim L has an IPA that he is bringing to AHA. He would like
to run it through a Randell, but it requires whole hops (Amarillo’s)
which are costly and need to be special ordered. He has asked if the
club would be willing to the hops. Discussion was held. Since the
IPA was to be served (representing) as a club beer at a national conference
and not for personal consumption, Dave moved to purchase the Amarillo
Hops needed for the Randell box. Mike second the motion and the motion
carried.
Miscellaneous Business
There will be a Craft Beer Festival in Chester June 27th.
There is usually about 14 stands serving 2 to 4 styles each. Cost
is $20.00. contact Doug Mc for more information.
The Beer
Even with a smallish group, and the fact that most of the
beer brewed in the past few months have been sequestered, to be used
for the various club events at the AHA conference, we still had several
varieties of home brews to sample.
We started with Bob G’s Bohemian Pilsner. A crisp,
refreshing ale, perfect for the long hot summer ahead.
The next was an American Ale, followed by a light Pale Ale.
Dave J finished the homebrew sampling with a double brown.
We sampled the sole commercial ale, A Bier d’ gard
with mixed reviews. Those who love Belgians Loved it, those who don’t
, didn’t!
Finally we ended with what John and Joanie could only described
as a “Happy Accident”. A long forgotten bottle of Pomegranate
juice found deep within the recesses of the Fridge. It had naturally
fermented, becoming a Pomegranate Cider!
Cheers!
Joan Daniels
CHBC Secretary
2 April 2009
Happy Spring Brewers! The improving weather has taken the
winters blahs replacing it with brilliant colors of the new season,
it’s time to break out and celebrate the new growth in the hop
garden! Our membership also is enjoying new growth, as we welcome
a new member, Jonathan Swisher and several new and returning guests!
New Business
Brew Your Own Magazine (BYO) is one of the leading home/craft
brewing periodicals. It has a lot of good information on brewing systems,
methods of brewing, interviews with brewers/breweries, creating/trouble-shooting
recipes and much, much more. We have learned that BYO is now offering
HomeBrew Clubs a generous group discount for 10 or more new (or renewing)
subscribers! Club members pay just $28.00 for a years subscription
(a substantial discount off the cover price of $5.00 an issue) In
turn BYO will split the $28.00 subscription price with the club, giving
the club back $14.00 for every new subscriber or renewal! That means
a one year subscription would actually cost you $14.00! That’s
a fantastic deal for a quality magazine. To subscribe, renew your
subscription or for more information and details on receiving the
group discount contact Larry at chicobrewer@hotmail.com or 894-2624.
Not familiar with the magazine, there are copies sold at
the Home Brew Shop. Alternatively, Doug, our Club Librarian also has
copies that can be borrowed. For information or to check out a copy
email him at doug_kathy1973@yahoo.com.
The California State Fair Home Brew competition (and Home
Brew Label competition) entries are Due May 5th, 2009. Information,
Registration and Entry slips are available at the following website:
http://www.calbrewers.com/state.htm
Old Business
Many thanks go out to those who were Judges and volunteers
at the 13th Annual Chico Home Brew Club Competition! It was a very
successful event. We had a number of club members that took high honors!
Results for the top winners can be found on the club website http://www.chicohomebrewclub.com/
, and will be officially announced at the Awards Ceremony to be held
April 19th, 11am-? at the home of David and Diana Satres (4591 country
road H, Orland, CA 95963). Medals and score sheets will be awarded.
There will be a silent auction and other prizes raffled off as well!
The surplus entry bottles left over from the competition will be available
to sample. Bring a Dish to pass and some home brew to share! RSVP
to the Club Secretary (dan_clan@hotmail.com). For RSVP, Directions,
or information contact Dave or Diana Satres; email satres@sunset.net
or phone: 865 7989
See below for map
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Chico&1s=CA&2c=Orland&2s=CA&2a=4591+County+Road+H&2z=95963-8112&2y=US&2l=39.787854&2g=-122.215681&2v=ADDRESS
Miscellaneous Business
The Soroptomist Micro Brew Fest is June 6th. Tickets will be available
sometime in early May. Contact Dawn at the Home Brew Shop for tickets,
information on the festival or to volunteer.
Dawn still has rhizomes available at the Home Brew Shop
The Beer
Another good round of Home Brews this Month. Unfortunately,
I neglected to get the Brew Masters Log, so I am unable to give a
full report on what we sampled. Apologies all around!
There was only one entry for the AHA Club Only Competition
to sample, brought in by Alan. All were in agreement that it would
represent our club well. The Entry is due May 2, 2009. Judging will
be held Saturday, May 9, 2009. Hosted by Michael Porter and the Knights
of the Brown Bottle club of Arlington, TX.
The next Club Only Competition will be Amber Hybrid Beers
We will judge samples for this competition at our August
6th meeting.
Entry deadline is Wednesday, August 19, 2009. Judging will
be held Sunday, August 23, 2009. Entry fee is $7. Make checks payable
to American Homebrewers Association.
Entry Shipping:
AHA COC
Beer at Home
1325 W. 121st Ave.
Westminster, CO 80234
Hosted by Ryan Thomas and KROC (Keg Ran Out Club) of Broomfield,
CO, this competition covers BJCP Category 7 beer styles.
For more information, contact Ryan Thomas at Ryan.Thomas@mindbox.com.
Cheers!
Joan Daniels
CHBC Secretary
5 March 2009
Happy St Patrick’s Day Brewers! Céad Míle
Fáilte (cade – meela –fawl – che) A hundred
thousand welcomes to our new and returning guests! This months meeting
centered around our annual competition at the end of the month. With
the number of Home Brews we sampled, we should have a good showing
and some stiff competition!
New Business
There was no new business.
Old Business
John A. brought in samples of the various styles of tasting
glasses available. A discussion of the pro's and con's of each glass
was held, and concluded with voting. The small Traditional conical
pub glass won with the majority.
The 13th Annual Chico Home Brew Club Competition is now
accepting entries. Entry fee is $7.00 per entry for non-members, or
$6.00 for CHBC members. Registration and Entry forms, details and
instructions are available online or at the Home Brew Shop. On line
registration can be done with the automated system or printed and
fill out by hand. Please read the Competition Rules and Entry Procedures
carefully. Questions can be addressed to John A. jabrewer@aol.com,
Dave S. satres@sunset.net or Dawn (at the Home Brew Shop) homebrushop@yahoo.com
( phone: 342-3768). Entries can be dropped off or shipped via authorized
courier, Care of Dawn Letner, the Chico Home Brew Shop, 1570 Nord
Ave, Chico, CA. Entries must be received by 5:00PM March 26, 2009.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1570+nord+ave&sll=39.729832,-121.849966&sspn=0.053732,0.088835&ie=UTF8&ll=39.743824,-121.862154&spn=0.053721,0.088835&z=14&iwloc=addr
Judging for the competition is 29 March. All volunteers,
Stewards, Celler Masters, and set up crews need to be at the Sierra
Nevada Big Room by 8:30AM. Judging should begin about 9am. Any questions,
contact John A, Dave S or Dawn.
Anyone wanting to go to the AHA National Home Brewers Conference
in Oakland this year is reminded to do so soon; spots are filling
up and early registration ends 31 March. After that date, the prices
increase. For information or to register go to: http://www.beertown.org/events/hbc/index.html
Those unable to go to the National Conference, there is
the Northern California HomeBrewers Fest September 18th & 19th
at Lake Francis. It's a weekend of camping and brewing seminars, with
lots of food and of course, lots of Home Brews! Registration will
be starting within the next few months, but for information you can
go to: http://www.nchfinfo.org/
Miscellaneous Business
Dawn announced the Home Brew Shop is now an authorized distributor
of Blichmann Products. She has and will be able to get V-fermenters,
beer gun bottle fillers, 3 piece ball valves, and many more brewers
“essentials” and “gotta haves”. She also has
16 and 21 oz flip top bottles in clear and brown glass. For the grocery
side of the shop, she has some new hops in, Simco, Northern Brewer,
Perle, and Liberty to name a few. Hop rhyzomes from Hop Union won't
be in until later this month or early next month. There are some locally
grown, organic cascades (already sprouting and ready to plant) available
now.
The Beer
Lot's of busy brewers! We had another good lot home brews
again this month. First up were the beers for consideration for the
AHA Club Only Competition. The theme is OG < .08. A Rasberry Barleywine
and Belgian Blonde Bier d'gard were the only entries. The Rasberry
had good aroma, started out well but didn't have the finish (too dry,
bittering), suggestions, crystal 120 for more sweetness. The Belgian
Blonde had good aroma and flavor, well balanced and an overall nice
beverage. The majority voted to have the Belgian Blonde to represent
the CHBC.
Next Club only competition highlights Extract Beers . Entries
are due May 2, 2009. Judging will be held Saturday, May 9, 2009. Hosted
by Michael Porter and the Knights of the Brown Bottle club of Arlington,
X, this competition covers all BJCP beer categories (1-23); however,
extract must make up more than 50% of the fermentables.
The COC entry decided, we continued with the non-entry samples.
First, an all grain Blonde, by Dave B. He made 10gals and split the
wort into two carboys, California Ale yeast in one and Kolsch yeast
in the other. Dave felt the Kolsch came out the better of the two,
and is the one he brought tonight.
Alan made a German Alt Bier, using amber malt and Check-Saaz
hops. His intent was to make a beer with flavor that a :”non-microbrew
drinker” would like.
Next were Tom's partial bitter, Jerry's Scottish ale, Ben's
American Brown Ale and Jonathon's Oatmeal Stout.
Greg upped the anti with a Belgian double followed by Jay's
double IPA which he hopped continuously.
Cheryl closed the evening with her five-year-old white and
freestone peach mead. It was a beautiful way to end a meeting. The
mead was smooth, mellow, melty deliciousness!
Next months meeting will be April 2,2009.
Sláinte (slawn – cha) Cheers/Good health
Joan Daniels
CHBC Secretary
February
5th 2009
Hello Brewers! We had a really good turn out at our meeting
this month. Lots of members we’ve missed and several guests.
A hearty Chico Homebrew welcome to Steve and Ray, coming from Redding,
and to Erin and John. We also were overflowing with Home Brew samples.
Unfortunately, for the first time ever, we had to turn away a few
homebrews, and couldn’t even consider any commercial selections.
It was great to have so many contributors! If we couldn’t get
to your sample this month, please bring it again next month!
New Business
New Business was a summary of the agenda from the CHBC Board
meeting held 26 Jan 2009.
The 13th Annual Chico Homebrew Club Competition:
The entry fee is amended as $7.00 for non-members and $6.00
for dues paying members in good standing. Dead line for entries (and
for members to pay dues to receive a discount) is March 24th 2009,
John spoke about using an automated entry system to help
make accounting and registering, for the competition easier. The system
used last year was a big help and well worth the expenditure
John will be on vacation the first week of March, and has
appointed Dave Satre to act as the Competition Chair during his absence.
Since the Silver Dollar Fair no longer sponsors our events,
we discussed renaming our competition and possible sponsorships. The
Chico Homebrew Club Sierra Nevada Gold Cup, seemed to spark the most
interest. The Board’s consensus was to send a proposal to Sierra
Nevada Brewing Company asking them if they would consider becoming
a sponsor or be affiliated with the competition, allowing us to use
their company name.
Joan suggested to the board, since we now have dues coming
in on an annual basis, a budget to be drafted. Consideration for the
cost of hosting and operating the Clubs competition, administrative
costs, NCHF, and other miscellaneous event expenditures need to be
realized so we can plan for and have a realistic idea of what we can
offer as a benefit. All agreed to stipulate the clubs benefits of
membership pending the outcome of the budget.
Determining what benefits of membership, aside from the Competition
entry fee discount. Suggestions included issuing the initial club
sample glass, (additional or replacement glasses can be purchased),
Club or Members only events, such as field trips, parties, grants
for NCHF/AHA events, etc…
To more easily identify a members entitlement to club benefits,
Joan has designed a membership card to be issued annually upon payment
of dues.
Jim has been elected to the NCHF Board. We will be hosting
this years Hoppy Hour. We will need to serve session beers or light
beers, so we won’t interfere with the Dinner that evening. Encourage
all members to brew for the event, even if not attending. The theme
for this years NCHF is Octoborfest, beer to brew for the Club Keg
Competition are German Alt Bier and Kolsch. The 2010 theme is Eastern
Europe, Keg Comp Beers are Baltic Porter and Pilsner.
If there is enough interest in a Saint Patrick’s Day
Party, please contact the Club Secretary ( dan_clan@hotmail.com ).
The Lovetts’ have offered to play host again.
Dawn announced she will be getting in a supply of Hop rhizomes
at the end of the month. She will take special orders, or get more
if ordered in bulk.
Tom March talked about the home brew club that they are trying
to get started up in Redding. They are having the first meeting this
Saturday and has extended and invitation to have us visit.
We are beginning to incorporate an educational forum as part
of our meeting agenda. The first subject(s) to be covered will be
about judging in accordance with the Beer Judging Competition Procedures.
Having your own copy of the BJCP Style Guide to bring to future meeting
would be beneficial for the lessons, and could be a useful tool during
the home brew tasting later. Attached is a copy you can print and
bring to the next meeting.
Old Business
John A. brought some examples of tasting glasses to give
an idea of what we could choose from for our official club tasting
cups. He also discussed the color options (one, two or three color)
more colors means more money. Most people seemed to like the idea
of and etched glass since it counted as a one color option.
John has also asked anyone interested to sign up to be Judges,
Stewards, and Cellar Master. To sign up or for more information contact
John at 345-9656 or. jabrew@aol.com .
Annual Dues are still being collected by the Club Secretary.
There is still time to qualify for the discounted entry fee. Dues
paid before the 24th of March (the deadline for competition entrees)
will still qualify for the $1.00 per entry saving. Dues can be paid
in cash or check (make checks out to the Chico Homebrew Club) at the
next meeting(s), mailed to the Chico Homebrew Club Secretary C/O Joan
Daniels, 5 Franciscan Way, Chico, Ca 95973 or dropped off with Dawn
at the Chico Home Brew Shop.
The Club Secretary asked anyone who has not filled out a
membership application or received and signed their copy of the Bylaws
and Charter of the Chico Homebrew Club to do so ASAP. This is an important
part of our agreement with Sierra Nevada and is contingent for our
continuing to meet at the Brewery.
Copies of these documents will be available at all meetings,
at the Home Brew Shop and will be posted online at the club's website.
If you accessed the documents on-line, a printed signed copy for the
Secretary is required.
The Application and Acknowledgment pages can be dropped off
at any meeting, with Dawn at the Home Brew Shop, or scanned and emailed
to the secretary
The next Club Only Competition will be in March-April. The
theme for this competition is 80+ OG. Entries may be any style, with
an Original Gravity of 1.080 or higher. Check the AHA Website at www.beertown.org
for more information.
John Abbot brought up, the AHA Conference, in Oakland. We
need to get a realistic head count of all CHBC members that will be
going so we can start to planning our club booth. Any one who has
already registered, will be registering soon, or would like more information,
please contact him at 345-9656.
The Beer:
For the first ever, we had more samples than we had time
for, as well as allotted limit. We actually had to turn away samples,
mostly commercial, but sadly a few home brews had to be forfeited.
We sampled a good mix in variety of twelve Home Brews. With such a
large tasting, comments were kept fairly brief.
First up was Jim L’s German Pilsner, which he says
needs to lager. He also talked a little on the benefits of a dactyl
rest.
Second, our guest Jay, provided a blonde ale
Followed by Bob M’s American Wheat
Greg brought a pale ale made from an extract recipe.
Next came a brew Dave J is calling “Who Knows?”
He used what ever he had on hand, no real recipe, and is looking for
someone to help him define what style/category it would best fit.
Ben served an Amber ale, which gave a good example of what a “session”
beer is. Light and drinkable, what we’re looking for to serve
and the NCHF Hoppy Hour next fall.
Ryan had two home brews with him, an Imperial IPA , which
was served next, and an Oak barrel Bourbon Stout! (served last) Whoa!
Quite Spirited!
Jim Y brought and Imperial IPA which he made from Wild Hops
(added at the beginning of the boil) he harvested somewhere on Plum
Creek (location not disclosed). He then triple dry hopped, with cascades.
Bob G brought a Pumpkin Spice ale, no pumpkin, just used
a blend of Pumpkin pie spice to get the flavor.
Paul M said his Pumpkin ale’s fermentation got stuck,
so he added a package of dry brewers yeast to it and it finished up
really nicely!
Finally, Gary C brought out a well balanced and flavorful
Double English Brown ale.
Keep on Brewing! Competition is next month! If you want some
feed back or an idea of where your beer stands, bring some to the
March meeting. Remember to get there early and log your contribution
with the Cellar Master.
'Till We Brew Again!
Joan
CHBC Secretary
January 8th
2009
Happy New Years Brewers! A warm WELCOME to Tom March, who
joined the ranks tonight as our newest member! For December, instead
of our usual meeting, we gathered and celebrated the “Season”
at the Lovetts! I think it’s safe to say that everyone had a
great time! Many sincere thanks to our gracious hosts. I am pleased
to report that our negotiations went well with Sierra Nevada and as
long as we abide to the SN guidelines (and our Bylaws) as discussed
at Novembers meeting, Mr. Grossman will allow us to meet at the Brewery.
New Business
As part of our agreement with Sierra Nevada, a Responsible
Drinking Pamphlet was given to all members. The pamphlet must be made
available at all meetings.
The Chico Home Brew Club Competition will be held March 29th,
2009. Entries are due no later than the week before the competition.
John Abbot has asked anyone interested to sign up to be Judges, Steward,
and Celler Master. To sign up or for more information contact John
at 345-9656 or. jabrew@aol.com .
Annual Dues are now being collected by the Club Secretary.
This is the first year we are implementing dues; with that in mind,
and there not being a meeting in December, members will not be penalized
as long as dues are paid in full before the Chico Home Brew Club Competition.
A reminder, one of the benefits of being a member in good standing
is $1.00 off the fee per entry. Dues can be paid in cash or check
(make checks out to the Çhico Home Brew Club) at the next meeting(s),
mailed to the Chico Home Brew Club Secretary C/O Joan Daniels, 5 Franciscan
Way, Chico, Ca 95973 or dropped off with Dawn at the Chico Home Brew
Shop.
The next Club Only Competition will be in March-April. The
theme for this competition is 80+ OG. Entries may be any style, with
an Original Gravity of 1.080 or higher. Check the AHA Website at www.beertown.org
for more information.
Rich Millron is working on a new look for the Brew Club Web
site. He passed around a paper copy of his proposed changes and would
like some feedback. To check it out online go to http://www.chicohomebrewclub.com/12-3-08_Test.htm
Old Business
The Club Secretary asked anyone who has not filled out a
membership application or received and signed their copy of the Bylaws
and Charter of the Chico Home Brew Club to do so ASAP. This is an
important part of our agreement with Sierra Nevada and is contingent
for our continuing to meet at the Brewery.
Copies of these documents will be available at all meetings,
at the Home Brew Shop and will be posted online at the club's website.
If you accessed the documents on-line, a printed signed copy for the
Secretary is required.
The Application and Acknowledgment pages can be dropped off
at any meeting, with Dawn at the Home Brew Shop, or scanned and emailed
to the secretary
John Abbot talked about the upcoming AHA National Homebrewers
Conference this summer. We will have a booth for Club Night, electric
will be supplied for a fee. Prices for AHA members to attend the conference
are $175 or $230 before March 31st, $200 or $255 after, non-members
add $38. Workshops with openings left can be purchased ala carte at
the convention on a first come basis. (Note: room, board and parking
not included)
There will be a lot of interesting workshops and speakers,
Best of all our own Ken Grossman will be the Keynote Speaker! Check
out the website for more information or to register. Hotels and events
are filling up fast!
http://www.beertown.org/events/hbc/
The Beer:
Home Brews offerings fell a little short this time, with
only four contributions and very little discussion. Conversely there
were many commercial beers.
We started the evening with something a little bit different,
a gluten free Sorgam Ale brewed by Alan. It was almost like an apple
cizer and was quite enjoyable.
Next up was a California Common, from our newest member Tom.
Bob G followed with a Robust Porter, which led to a discussion
on the differences between Robust Porters and Stouts and what, how,
or when to determine which category a brew fits.
The last home brew was a Spice Porter brewed by a friend of Chris’.
It was nice, rich with a good balance of spices.
The commercial offerings also held some interesting samples.
John brought back a Tropical Lager and a Foreign Stout from
Belize.
Jim shared the latest Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale,
Tom followed with a Belgian Dubble.
Cheryl rang the Holidays back in with Moylan’s White
Christmas Ale and a commercial Sorgam Ale, quite a different flavor
than the Home Brew.
Dave presented a German Dobblebock Winter Ale that came in
a very nice and very big Growler, instigating a rash of container
envy amongst the group.
'Till We Brew Again!
Joan
November
6, 2008
This months meeting was held at Original Pete's Pizza, Pasta
and Grill. Jim opened the meeting. After Hoppily welcoming our two
guests, Bobby, Daniel, and members, he turned the floor over to the
Secretary, Joan.
NEW BUSINESS
Joan discussed the conditions, that the Sierra Nevada Brewing
Co. have asked the club to agree to, in order to resume our meetings
in the Mezzanine. A Sign in Sheet, Hold Harmless Clause, Bylaws, and
Rules of Conduct were given to all present and reviewed in detail.
Copies of these documents will be available at all meetings,
at the Home Brew Shop and will be posted online at the club's website.
All members will be required to read and sign the acknowledgment
page of the Bylaws/Code of Conduct as well as fill out an application
for membership.
Once signed, the acknowledgment page and the membership application
are to be returned to the Secretary.
If you did not turn in the signed Acknowledgment page, or
the Membership Application, at the meeting, please return them as
soon as possible.
If you accessed the documents on-line, a printed copy for
the Secretary is required.
The Application and Acknowledgment pages can be dropped off
at any meeting, with Dawn at the Home Brew Shop, or scanned and emailed
to the secretary.
A Hold Harmless Release will be signed by all members and
guests at every meeting.
With no revisions or corrections to be made, David James
moved to accept the Bylaws and Rules of Conduct as written, with Kristen
Sheehy seconding the motion. Motioned was carried and the Bylaws and
Rules of Conduct are adopted.
Larry gave the treasurers report
OLD BUSINESS
The Club Christmas Party was discussed. Chris has offered
to host the event at his home. Saturday the 13th of December at 6:00pm
was the mutually agreed upon date and time. It will be a Pot Luck
Supper and those wishing to participate are asked to bring a .brewer
appropriate gift for a game of “Steal the Present” The
E-vatations will be e-mailed with details. And of course a Home Brew
to share is always welcome..
With no other business to discuss, the regular meeting adjourned.
The next meeting is slated for December 4th 2008. As permission
from Sierra Nevada is still pending, the meeting place will be announced
closer to that date.
THE BEER:
We had a nice variety of home brews this month. We started
with the IPA's Joan, Alan, Ryan, and Bob (by Proxy) brought for the
Club's consideration to represent the Chico Home Brew Club in the
AHA Club Only competition. Bob's American IPA was the groups favorite
and will be sent on.
We sampled Joan's Bass Ale (an English Pale Ale) clone. The
beer was smooth with a good flavor. The effort was very successful
and met all the criteria for a traditional English Pale.
Next came David's Pale Ale next. It had a nice flavor. Dave's
concern was with the carbonation. His attempts to get the carbonation
up were working. Recommendations and a discussion on force carbonation
ensued.
The brews that followed were unexpected and unique. First
was Doug's Experimental Herb Pale Ale. He found Jasmine growing wild
and after researching to ensure it wasn't toxic, infused it to make
a nicely floral beer. The beer had a nice flavor and was surprisingly
not over powering. Definitely a drinkable brew, to complement the
beginning or the end of a meal. The conversation turned to the importance
in researching non-traditional ingredients, especially from wild plants.
John's Orange blossom Blonde came next. The aroma put you
in the midst of an orange grove and the flavor was surprisingly light
and refreshing. A nice departure from the traditional fruit beer.
John said that instead of putting the fresh orange blossoms in the
boil or during fermentation, he waited until he kegged it and added
the bag of blooms then. Infusing flavors by making teas or using concentrates,
became the topic for the discussion.\
John also brought a Pumpkin Porter. The spices he used was
a prepared blend, and gave it a nice pumpkin pie flavor. John was
pleased that the subtle note of smoke from a small amount of smoked
grain was evident to those with a good palate.
A Dry Stout by Joan was the next offered. It was a nice richly
flavored brew, and rounded out the home brewed beers nicely.
Kristen shared her Apple Cider. It was still young, but still
nicely crisp and dry. Aging will only improve it,
The last brew for the night was a commercial beer brought
by Gary. It was introduced as a Double IPA, but it had a rather funky
taste to it. After double checking the bottle it was discovered it
was actually a Belgian, not the best Belgian, but thankfully not a
skunked IPA!
'Till We Brew Again!
Joan
October 2,
2008
This month we are “hoppy” to welcome Mike Davis
and his fiancée Kristen to our club.
NEW BUSINESS
John recognized and congratulated our newest BJCP Judges:
Jim L., Dave J., Copeland, and Ed.
The committee formed to research a date to hold our competition
has selected the last weekend in March. John will approach Ken Grossman
on the availability of facilities for the judging.
OLD BUSINESS
The Northern California Home brewers Festival 2008 is now
but a warm fuzzy memory! It was a fantastic event with an abundance
of British Fare, Ales, activities and seminars. There were more than
20 clubs represented and all had a good variety of beer styles, and
meads to try. The Chico Home Brew Club was well attended with 26 members
and their families. Our booth consisted of two sides, The Scotsman
on the Lach Pub and The Austin Powers Tap room. The Pub offered a
game room with card games, and darts. While the main room served up
an array of old and new style traditional foods. There were Shepard's
pie, chicken curry, smoked salmon, cheddar cheeses, a homemade “spent
grains” bread, Bangers, fried fish and slaw, mini sausages in
beer, and a variety of chips, dips and fresh veges', so much food
it is almost impossible to list it all! We earned lots of complements
from the other clubs. The Tap Room served about 20 of our clubs home
brews, with a very convincing Austin Powers as the Pouring man dispensing
a London Ale.
The most exciting news from the festival is the honors we
received. Our Tap Room won best Club Booth Beer(s) for the event!
In the NCHF competition Chico Home Brewers were represented by Bob
G for the Wee Heavy Scottish Ale category, and Paul M for the Irish
Red category. Both beers won for their respective categories and Paul's
took best of show!
Next year's Fest will be September 18th & 19th, 2009.
The theme is Oktober Fest...the styles for the competition are a German
Alt bier and a kolsch. Mark your calendars, it is an event worth attending!
MISCELLENEOUS BUSINESS
Dawn announced she will be down sizing her White Lab yeast
products and up sizing the Wyeast products. If there are any WL products
you use often let her know and if there are enough interest she will
keep it in her inventory. WL products will still be available but
require prior notice to be included with her regular shipped order
(to avoid higher prices from individual shipping fees)
Joan thanked all who her attended the “Ales for Supper”
dinner at the NCHF. It was deliciously fun to host and is glad all
enjoyed the event. If there is enough interest, a similar dinner can
be planned for next years festival.
There will be a meeting of Officers TBA.
Next months Meeting we will be deciding on an IPA to send
off to the AHA Club only competition. There's still time to brew a
good one!
December will be here soon. Bring ideas (dates, places, times,
etc) so we can plan a successful and fun party. If you are unable
to make the next meeting or have ideas now, email me (dan_clan@hotmail.com)
and I will present it.
THE BEER
Brew Master Doug was unable to attend this meeting, so Alan
quickly filled in. We started with a Kolsh brewed by our newest members,
Mike and Kristen. Feed back on style and grains were discussed along
with advise and encouragement. All agreed it was a very good tasting
beer. Our next sample came from Derek, a Düsseldorf Alt. Next
was Larry's Harvest Ale, brewed with his home grown hops ( Mike D
and Derek helped with this brew). He spoke a bit about growing hops.
Paul brought a Wet Hop American Pale that he had just brewed (bottled
8 days old). Feed back was given on fermentation and hopping. Jim
brought two versions of his Scottish Import. The first one he said
was problematic the second one he was very pleased with. Evaluation
of the problematic beer led to a discussion on “off flavors”
and sanitation. Bob G brought his prized NCHF Scottish Wee Heavy,
however he added Coriander to it. Regrettably the addition was so
overpowering it changed the beer from award winning to awful. After
a palate cleansing we sampled Alan's two year old Prickly pear mead.
It was a unique flavor, beautiful color and the discussion on making
meads from fresh fruit yielded a lot of good information and technique.
John's Spiced Cysor was dry, crisp and refreshing. (and actually helped
clear out some of the back lingering coriander. Last was an IPA which
we will sample again next meeting when we decide on an IPA to send
in for the AHA Club only competition.
Thanks again to all who brought (samples) and all who gave
(info) !
'TIL WE BREW AGAIN!
UPCOMING EVENTS/COMPETITIONS
November 1st is teach a friend to home brew day! For more
information: http://www.beertown.org/events/teach/index.html
11/08/2008 30th Annual California State Homebrew Competition San Francisco,
CA Entry Deadline: 10/04/2008 Contact: Mike Riddle Phone: (707) 259-1421
http://www.bjcp.org/apps/comp_schedule/competition_schedule.php
01/18/2009 AHA Club-Only Competition, Belgian & French
Ales Warrenville, IL
Entry Deadline: 01/09/2009 Contact: Doug Newberry Phone: (630) 482-3075
Entry Fee: One entry per club, $7 (make check payable to AHA)
http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/schedule.html
POST MEETING NOTE:
A reminder to our members, our club is a forum for home brewers
to explore their hobby through the promotion/education of home brewing
and by exchanging recipes, ideas and techniques. We are not a “drinking
club”, nor do we promote irresponsible drinking. Styles of home
brews are brought for the purposes of competition, evaluation, feedback,
and problem solving. At the conclusion of each meeting, all beer (glasses,
opened bottles, growlers, etc...) must be consumed or disposed of
prior to leaving the meeting room. A designated driver should be arranged
prior to any meeting should a member become impaired. We are fortunate
to have the support of Ken Grossman and the use of Sierra Nevada's
facilities for our meetings and competitions. Please show consideration
and respect for the rules and staff of our benefactor, as well as
the Laws of the ABC and the State of California.
Due to an incident that occurred after the October meeting,
and after meeting with Ken Grossman, the Officers of the Chico Home
Brew Club are in the process of drafting bylaws and codes of conduct.
Our meetings at SN are temporarily suspended until Ken has consulted
with his insurance, and we have a mutually agreeable set of bylaws/COC
and the proper releases of liability. The officers are working in
earnest to complete this prior to the November meeting. Information
on next months meeting will be posted on the web site, forum and emailed
as timely as possible.
4 September
2008
Our usual mezzanine meeting area being occupied by another
group, we had to search the back of the brewery for the back entrances.
The new route meant we had to pass through security points and navigate
the unfamiliar back passageways and catwalks, but we eventually found
our way to the “Big Room”. Even with this challenge, we
had 28 members attending this month meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
Jim opened the meeting with his first item on the agenda
to talk about the American Home Brewers Association (AHA). He began
by explaining that we were an AHA Club with dues paid up for the next
2 years. He suggested as an AHA Club, we should start participating
in more AHA activities such as the local rallys and competitions.
He also promoted individual membership and it's benefits, such as
various discounts, classes, other events and a subscription to Zymurgy
magazine. He announced the AHA Conference which is held in different
states each year, is June 18-20 2009 and will be held in Oakland this
year. With the conference being in our backyard it would be great
to see our club well represented. There will be lots of good seminars
on brewing, guest speakers, and club activities. There is an AHA Rally
November 1st from 1-4pm in Truckee. More information about the AHA
and membership can be found on the following website.
http://www.beertown.org/
In the absence of Larry, Jim gave a brief treasury report.
To date, there was one expense, $70.00 for our web/domain fee, leaving
a balance of $1659.69.
OLD BUSINESS
Joan re-announced the results of the election held at the
last meeting for those that weren't in attendance last month and asked
that all check the new members roster for corrections and additions.
Jim turned the floor over to John for the latest on competitions.
We will be voting on a “Imperial” anything to send in
as the next club entry competition. John asked for ideas for some
dates for our next club sponsored competition. With Silver dollar
no longer sponsoring the event, we can hold our competitions anytime.
The discussion was becoming lengthy, with the need to move the meeting
forward it was decided to form a committee to research dates that
will be beneficial and not conflict with other competitions giving
us better access to judges and entries. The Committee will consist
of John, Dawn, David and Doug.
Dawn shared the results from Alan's Mead that we elected
as our club entry for the Mead competition in July. She passed the
judging sheet around for those interested to review, noting that there
was a national judge and a Grand Master Judge on the panel.
MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS
Dawn spoke on behalf of Cheryl M about the need for a mead
judge certificate, especially since most of the AHA/BJCP judges are
not as familiar enough with mead to properly judge them.
Dawn wanted to point out some of the other resources available
to homebrewers, such as various magazines. She brought one issue of
Brew magazine as an example, which had articles on different ways
to use hops, gave detailed descriptions on Mouthfeel, what makes a
Dry Stout, and lots of recipes.
Doug reminded that the club “Library”, consisting
of an assortment of back issues of Periodicals such as Zymurgy and
Brew, are available and can be signed out from him.
Rich Milliron talked about the updates to the club web page,
including the addition “The Chico Brews News” highlights
from the previous meeting and the Chico Home Brew Forum designed by
Ben Doney. Ben then spoke about the forum, and encouraged all to join
and share ideas, ask questions, chat, and buy or sell! Links to the
forum are on the club web and the Home brew shop web pages.
With the Summer Coming to a Close and Fall Fast upon us...Christmas
drawing near. Time to start thinking about a Holiday Party. Give it
some thought (place, time, date, dinner/snacks, gift exchange...etc)
and bring ideas to the next meeting...
THE BEER
We had a good variety of home brews to sample, three of
which were for consideration for the clubs entry in the next competition.
Doug offered and Imperial Baltic Porter, Bob G gave us an Imperial
Stout and an IIPA. All were very close, however it was felt that the
IIPA just missed meeting the requirements, leaving the stout and the
porter. Congratulations go out to Bob on the Selection of his Russian
Imperial Stout to represent Chico Home Brewers.
Other beer sampled was a Jerry's Scottish Strong, and Paul's
Irish Red. We only had time to sample two Commercial beers, Eric's
Hemp, and Greg's Honey. Unfortunately we needed to adjourn before
we could get to everyone. Hopefully, if they last, we can sample them
at the next meeting!
NCHF
Joan is offering to cook a ”Club Brew Dinner”
Friday night for those not going to the NCHF Brewers Dinner (after
Hoppy Hour). The menu will be simple, but good consisting of appetizer,
salad, home made bread, Beef, potato, veg, and a black and tan dessert
(Chocolate Stout Cake and Bass ale Ice Cream) Please let her know
if you will be attending and if you have any dietary restrictions
(food allergy, no dairy, no shellfish, vegetarian/vegan) by Friday
the 12th so the menu can be finalized.
Discussion for the theme of the booth for the NCHF were held
during and after the meeting.
We decided on a Scottish (British) Pub theme. We will be
looking for props and other items for the booth, ie...electronic or
magnetic darts, a Skittle table/board, chess/checkerboards, dice games,
other pub games, pub snack ideas...
There will be another meeting for the NCHF attendees on Tuesday,
16 Sept. at 6pm at Joni's School on Mission Blvd (behind Raleys East
Ave and the Bowling alley) complete directions and further information
to follow in future email.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Redding Beer and Wine Fest, Downtown Redding, Sat. Sept 20,
4-8PM Cost $35
Orland Beer and Wine Fest Sat. Sept. 27 4-8 Cost is $30 in
advance and $35 at the door, See Dave Satres for tickets and details
AHA Rally November 1st from 1-4pm in Truckee
The next meeting is October 2nd 2008, 6pm at Sierra Nevada
Brewery Mezzanine.
If you a bringing a beer for tasting please come early to
log your beer with the Cellar Master. If you are bringing a home brew
for tasting, Please Bring Your Recipe, notes, questions and comments
'Till We Brew Again!!!
The Chico
Home Brew Club's August 2008 monthly meeting was hosted by Bob and
Joann Girolamo at their East Ave shop, Chocolate
Mystique Café. We had a good showing with 23 members in
attendance. The theme for the evening was Stout’s and Porters,
which were paired with Joann’s fabulous truffles.
The first
order of business was the election of the first Chico Home Brew Club
Officers. Nominees were:
Chairperson- responsible for the content and
order of monthly meetings.
Jim Livingston
Co-Chairperson- responsible for coordinating
and managing club sponsored competitions.
John Abbott
Treasurer- responsible for the accounting of
monies held and used in the name of the
Club in accordance with club bylaws.
Larry Rauen or Mike Roth
Secretary- Responsible for club administrative
needs and correspondences.
Joan Daniels
Cellar Master-Responsible for collecting and
organizing beer tastings at meetings and club events.
Doug McLendan
All nominees running unopposed were unanimously
elected to their respective positions.
Larry Rauen was elected by a majority of 13
votes for the position of treasurer.
Other business discussed was the upcoming NCHF
September 19th-20th. This year’s theme is the Beers of Britain.
The club voted to allot $100.00 towards the
club booth for the event. All are asked for ideas and input for decorating
the booth and in the reincarnation of “Pouring Man”. There
will be a NCHF attendees meeting after next months meet to finalize
things.
 There
was a good sampling of several home brews and some unique commercial
offerings as well. Bob Girolamo shared his Russian Imperial Stout,
paired with Joann’s bittersweet chocolate truffle. He also served
a coffee stout paired with an espresso truffle and his final offering
was his spiced holiday porter. Cheryl brought her 3year old Baltic
porter, which she confessed was a recipe she played with by using
Trappist yeast.
John Abbott shared two commercially brewed Saison’s,
a west coast and one sent from his Uncle in Missouri, and Mike Daniels
shared a 2006 Big Foot Ale.
There were several other Home Brews and Commercial
Brews sampled, however, acoustics were not always favorable and I
was unable to hear the names of the brewers or the styles of beer.
At future meetings, (upon arriving) samples
should be brought to the Cellar Master who will determine the proper
order of the tasting. Samples should be enough for a 1-1.5 oz serving
for 35-40 members (usually five12 oz bottles is enough). Smaller samples
will be poured by the brewer to ensure all interested in trying it
will have an equitable chance to taste.
John Abbott announced an open competition being
held by Tulare County. There is no entry fee, only two bottles are
required per entry and cash prizes will be awarded. More info can
be found at http://www.tchops.org
Kudos’ go out to the following State Fair
winning entries: Dave Satres’ Brown Porter won third in category,
John Abbott’s Meade placed third and Joni Abbott’s Meade
took an honorable mention award! Congratulations to all!
The newly elected officers in attendance gave
a short summery of what their goals were for this year for the club.
Jim Livingston’s focus is to bring a more
order and structure to meetings,
John Abbott’s goal is to see more growth
in the club sponsored competitions as well as club and individual
competition entries. He also hopes to act as a BCJP Liaison for the
club.
Joan Daniels goal is to establish a more effective
and open line of communication for the members, through e-mail and
the website. To best accomplish this, all members should provide contact
information consisting of Name, Home address Phone, and Email, All
members privacy will be respected and no personal information will
be shared without that members permission or knowledge. There will
be a roster set out at the next few monthly meetings and at the Home
Brew Shop on Nord Ave, or you may email your information to dan_clan@hotmail.com,
Subject: “Chico Home Brew Club Members info” to ensure
our membership information is up to date so all members can stay current
to the events of our club.
The next meeting of the Chico Home Brew Club
will be 6PM Thursday September 4, 2008 at the Sierra Nevada Brewery
Big Room (for this meeting in the Big Room, enter on the side of the
brewery, not through the Gift Shop entrance). ‘Till we Brew
Again!
Chico
Homebrew Club Past Meeting Notes & Some Pictures
Here's
Dawn's Recap of our 6/2/05 Meeting,
The Chico Brew Club
meeting was held Thursday at Sierra Nevada Brewery. Ribbons, judge sheets,
etc.
were handed out to the attendees who had entered the competition. If
you entered and didn't pick up your
paperwork/ribbons,
please stop by the Home Brew Shop and get your 'stuff'.
The competition was
discussed and the Northern Home Brewers' Fest at Lake Francis was also
discussed.
A number of club
members expressed interest in participating in another judge training
session(there will be a fee).
If you are interested,
please contact the Home Brew Shop.
Rafael Ortiz volunteered
to lead next months meeting with a presentation on the 15 minute mash.
This is a technique
that Rafael has been using, and he is going to share more information
about this with the club.
He will also bring
samples of beer produced using this mash technique.
As usual, all attendees are invited to bring beer to sample at the meeting.
Here's
Dawn's Recap of our 5/5/05 Meeting, with
some pictures:
The brewers' meeting
was held at S.N. as usual. The focus was on the Silver Dollar competition
to be held
on May 15th.* Stewards were told to come at 9:00 to the Big Room to
set-up for the judges. It is important to keep
every one moving along because there is a time limit on the use of the
room. If possible, some of the
judges can/will start early with their flights. * Local judges should
come before 10:00 to get checked
in and if possible get started before 10:30. This is pushing the schedule
forward, but it is necessary with
more entries than ever before in the competition. * The awards gathering
will be at John Schlieper's house
The time is set for May 22nd (Sunday)12:00- 4:00, with the unopened
bottles of beer entries available for
tasting. Please bring your own chairs(we will be outside), food to share,
and meat for the barbecue(if
you want it). Please be helpful with clean-up and food prep. John and
Donna are kind to let us use their
home, we need to make it painless and fun:) * After the awards gathering
on May 22nd, the list of
entries and awards will be placed on the club web site. Out of town
entries will receive their judging sheets,
ribbons, awards etc.
after the Silver Dollar Fair closes (6/1) and we can collect the ribbons
from
the competition display. Locals should drop by the Brew Shop for their
'stuff'.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL HOME BREW ENTRIES!
Here's
Dawn's Recap of our 4/7/05 Meeting, with
some pictures:
At our very busy
April meeting, Doug presented information on extract brewing. Bruce
Coupe shared his
IPA as an example of extract brewing. Club members practiced judging
on the extract IPA, over all it scored as a
good brew. The Silver Dollar Home Brew Competition was discussed. Larry
shared the exciting news of a Sierra
Nevada pilot brew for the winner of BOS. David Westphal took sign-ups
for stewards, currently it looks like we will have enough for our competition.
If you want to be on the back-up list, email him at eastrise@earthlink.net.
*In May, Ron Hartt will lead the meeting. The focus will be on the competition
and judging held May 15th at Sierra
Nevada in the Big Room. Pay attention to what is coming up at the meetings,
so you could have some brew made to
style and get feed
back.
Here's
Dawn's Recap of our 3/3/05 Meeting, with
some pictures:
The March meeting
was lead by John and Richard. We studied Kolsch style beers with an
excellent tasting
and discussion. Congratulations to John and Richard for doing a great
job and providing so many good
examples. Jim gave us an update on the NCHF at Lake Francis, it will
be held Oct. 7&8. Our club has agreed to host
'Hoppy Hour' this year. Further discussion and plans will be made in
the up coming meetings. If you have
questions, or want to participate in Hoppy Hour, call Jim 877-8311.
* In April, Doug will lead a discussion of
all extract brewing
and Bruce will present an IPA as an example of extract brewing. *In
May, Ron will lead the
meeting. The focus
will be on the competition and judging held May 15th at Sierra Nevada.
Pay attention to
what is coming up
at the meetings, you could have some brew made to style and get feed
back.
Here's
Dawn's Recap of our 2/3/05 Meeting, with
some pictures:
The focus style for
the meeting was Barley wine. Dan led the discussion and tasting. A number
of
commercial and home brews were tasted prior to the Barley wine examples.
We discussed the up coming
Silver Dollar Fair competition. Tentative date for judging is May 15th,
hopefully this will be firmed up
by the next meeting. There also may be something new for the Best Of
Show, perhaps that will be firmed up
by the next meeting also. Welcome to our visitors at the club meeting.
Please come again:)
* In March, Richard and John will feature Kolsch beers.
* In April, Doug will lead a discussion of all extract brewing
and Bruce will present
an IPA as an example of extract brewing.
Pay attention to what is coming up at the meetings, you could have some
brew made to style and get feed back.
Here's
Dawn's Recap of our 1/6/05 Meeting, with
some pictures:
At the Jan. 6th meeting,
the featured beer was Calif. Common. Ernie lead the discussion and gave
us a surprise when
he served a habenaro
pepper/Calif. Common as the first beer, Wow, ooops. Over all, we liked
this beer very
much, but other brews
were put in the shade by its powerful flavors. The club voted to purchase
a large
canopy for future
use at the N.C. Home Brew Fest and other events. Doug did a great job
in hunting down
a super deal and
ordering it for us, Thanks Doug! Members practiced judging a brew at
this meeting. It should be
mentioned that the
new guidelines are quite different from the old ones. To obtain your
own copy of the revised
guidelines, go to
our club website: www.chicohomebrewclub.com and click the link to the
AHA. I recommend that a
binder with tabs
for the categories would be really handy. For February, Dan Moylan will
lead the discussion of
Barley Wine. In March, Richard and John will feature Kolsch beers. Pay
attention to what is coming up at the meetings,
you could have some brew made to style and get feed back.
~~~~
Christmas Party 2004 Pictures ~~~~
Here's
Dawn's Recap of our 12/2/04 Meeting, with
some pictures:
The December meeting
was held at S.N.B. on Dec. 2nd. The featured brew was Red Ale, presented
by Jerry. Jim
Livingston followed with a tasting of Xmas beers. In the new AHA guidelines,
Xmas beer has its own category, check it out.
It has been suggested
that at future meetings we judge the second beer poured to practice
our skills. Our group will try this
at the next meeting.
**The Brewers meeting in January will feature Calif. Common. The meeting
will be led by Ernie.
For those of you
that remember, Ernie choose Fruit beer for the featured brew, he has
changed to the C.C. instead.
For February, Dan
Moylan will lead the discussion of Barley Wine. In March, Richard and
John will feature Kolsch beers.
Pay attention to
what is coming up at the meetings, you could have some brew made to
style and get feed back.
Here's
Dawn's Recap of our 11/4/04 Meeting, with
some pictures:
The Nov. Brewers'
Meeting was held 11/4 at Sierra Nevada. There was a large turn out for
Sour Beer tasting
led by John Abbot. John provided a good overview of the styles in this
category,
and we tasted several
to learn more about these unique beers. There were also some good
home brews to sample
too! John also gave a report about a field trip to Hop Union,
his pictures were very interesting and he recommends the trip to club
members.
Next Brewers' meeting is Dec. 2nd. The theme beer is Red Ale (find this
style in Scottish & Irish ale,
cat.#9). Jerry Worswick
was volunteered (group pressure) to lead the discussion on Red Ales.
Please
check in your brew
with him when you come to the meeting. Bonus style for this meeting
is Christmas ales,
Jim Livingston will
lead the discussion and tasting of this seasonal style.
There will be a Christmas party for the Brewers' Club on Dec. 17 at
7:00 P.M. John Schlieper
volunteered his home for this gathering. Please mark your calendar and
hang on to some brew to share.
A more detailed invitation
will be provided at the next meeting and in the Dec. recap newsletter.
This party
will have the Xmas 'steal' game as part of the activities, keep in mind
that you should bring a beer
related gift worth around $10.00. Everyone really enjoys this gift 'exchange',
it is more fun when we
have unique gifts, start looking :)
Dawn's
Recap of our 10/7/04 Meeting:
Here's
some meeting pictures, including
Jim Livingston's Hop-A-Later
Oct. meeting was
successful and fun. The members voted David Satre's IPA
as the club entry
for the up coming November competition.
The Nov. 4th meeting
will focus on the new AHA category of Sour Beers. John Abbot
will lead the tasting
and help members review the style. The club provided John with $19.00
from the Oct. raffle
to purchase some example sour beers. Members are encouraged to go
to the AHA web site
and look at the new guidelines for beer styles.
Upcoming events: A date will be set(Oct.-Dec.) for a Brew Club Demo
meeting to be held at
David Richer's home.
The purpose of the gathering will be to educate new brewers and experienced
brewers in basic
to advanced brewing techniques. There will be brewing demos for extract
and all grain, counter
balanced bottling, kegging, more? If you would like to be part of the
planning
for this event, prepare
food or would like to demonstrate a brewing technique,speak up.
This would be a good
time to bring a newbie to the gathering.
The Xmas party is tentatively planned for Dec. 17 at John Schlieper's
house on 11th Ave. in Chico.
More information
will be available later.
For those of you that missed the meeting; we had a good time, wished
you were there.
Please come to the
Nov. meeting, we have lots to plan and lots of beer to study:)
Rich Milliron is
our website master. He would like members to contact him with favorite
recipes,
interesting stories, web sites to link to ours, and pictures we could
use on our site. Any other ideas?
Email Rich: rmilliron@csuchico.edu Don't forget to let him know if you
win competitions
with your brew, we want to post that on the site too:)
Dawn's
Recap of our 9/3/04 Meeting:
We had smoked beers
as our focus, but many other brews were tasted. Club brewers are becoming
more
adventurous and skilled
at creating many interesting and delightful beers!
Many thanks to Sierra Nevada for providing us with pitchers of
the special 20th Street Ale
made from the experimental
hops grown next to the brewery. It was a treat for us to share this
first batch!
Next month we are
focusing on IPA because the club competition deadline for entry into
IPAs is early November.
Jim Livingston will
lead the tasting and discuss the style. We hope to pick a club IPA to
send in for the competition.
The new Sour Beer
category will be explored at a later date.
Remember Oct. 1-2
is the Northern Calif. Home Brewers' Fest at Lake Francis.
At the meeting, Jim
announced that 14 club members are going to participate.
If you want to be
included, contact Jim and get signed up.
Rich Milliron is
our website master. He would like members to contact him with your favorite
recipes,
interesting stories,
web sites to link to ours, and pictures we could use on our site. Any
other ideas?
Email Rich: rmilliron@csuchico.edu
Don't forget to let him know if you win competitions with your brew,
we want to post that
on the site too:) Many thanks, Rich!
If you want to make
a IPA for next months meeting, get going:)
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