Author: joe

Thanks to everyone who brewed a single hop beer.  Tasting sheets are online.

Our October meeting will focus on German beers, both homebrewed and commercial, so brew/bring what you like. November’s meeting is a stout competition.  Make any style or stout, small or large.

A few schedule updates

We decided at the meeting last week to swap months for our annual sour and brett meetings.  Sours will be in January; Bretts will be in June.  This should generally help people who have limited temperature control options.

Our next hop tasting will feature lighter hops, moving away from bold IPA flavors to session ales, maybe lagers, and other beers where hop flavor remains important.  Stay tuned for the date (or suggest it and put in on the meeting schedule).

If you’re interested in helping plan what the Brewsers will do for next year’s National Homebrewers Conference in Baltimore, write Jeff Lyons at jefflyonsnyc@gmail.com.  Passes go on sale in the late winter, but the Brewsers—along with other NYC groups, through Brewnity—are already talking about what we can do, both to facilitate getting as many of us down there as possible and to make a strong showing for NYC.

Finally, fellow members of Brewnity, the Brewminaries, are holding an Prost, an Oktoberfest.  This Saturday at Industry City Distilling.  It’s $35 or $40 at the door.  Follow the link for tickets and more details.

We’re not meeting on Labor Day but will meet the following Monday, September 14. A number of us brewed a (slightly modified) version of Hop2It, the “Hops R&D recipe” from Russian River’s Vinnie Cilurzo, so we’ll taste those, talk hops, and more. The sign up sheet is on Google Drive. If you signed up to brew Hop2It and changed any plans, please update those. If you brewed but didn’t sign up, please add your info. It’s not a competition, but we’ll have tasting sheets and rate our favorites.

We have a lot of plans to take us through the fall and even parts of next year, but before those is tomorrow’s Brewnity Picnic. See who’s going and add yourself on the sign up sheet. The basics are at the bottom of this message. There’s also a charity raffle, benefiting the Young Survival Coalition, so bring a little extra cash.

We had a great meeting this Monday. Thanks to Daniel for bringing his Pilsner along with commercial comparisons. He both kicked off our summer beer comparison and continued our competition-oriented feedback sessions. We have meeting plans through next January (more on that below), but we have time left at each meeting for one or two people to bring a beers you’re trying to ready for competition and get some feedback. As always, add that—or anything else you’d like to organize—to the planning spreadsheet on Google Drive. Be sure to include your name, so we know you’re coordinating.

Next year’s National Homebrewers Conference (NHC), which includes finals of the National Homebrew Competition (also NHC), will be in Baltimore. We’ll coordinate entry into the first round of NHC (competition) and have a meeting at which Brewsers can drop their bottles. Stay tuned for the details, and bring your beer for feedback in the meantime. This year’s NHC was June 11-13 in San Diego. Congratulations again to Matt Chan for his third place finish in the sours competition, and thanks to Steve for his recap of highlights at this month’s meeting.

In addition to preparing for regional and national competitions, we have a few in-club experiments and competitions coming up.

Sign up now to claim your hop(s) for the September 14 comparison. We’ll brew a (slightly simplified version of) Hop2It, the “Hop R&D” recipe by Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing.  The recipe we’re using is corrected for NYC water and is on the sign up sheet.

Also, start brewing anytime for upcoming in-club competitions. These include November’s stout competition (enter any stout), January’s Brettanomyces competition (enter any beer made with Brett, whether all Brett or blended), and June 2016’s sours competition.

Outside of competitions and experiments, we’ll focus on German beers in October and winter/holiday beers in December. Our holiday party will be in January, likely on Sunday, January 10.

The Brewnity Picnic hosted by the Bronx Homebrewers

Where: Croton Point Park (google map), Pavillion 2
When: Saturday, Jul 11. From late morning (11am) until sunset
How to get there: Car of MetroNorth to Croton Harmon station (www.mta.info/mnr)
Parking Fees for drivers: $5 for residents, $10 for non-residents
What to bring: Homebrews, tasty dishes to share, $5 per person, outdoor fun things, games, etc.
Sign up here

Add yourself to the sign up sheet by 9am Sunday for next Monday’s sours competition.

Also, if you can come early, a few of us are going to talk about our web and social media presence starting at 6:30. At 7, we’ll taste three beers I’m bringing that were started from my sourdough bread starter, identical except for their primary fermentation temps, which were 40°, 58°, and 78°. It should help show not only the effect of temperature on yeast character but also how temp affects the balance of bugs and yeast.

The Brewnity benefit for the East Village is one month away, on Sunday, May 17 from 1-4pm (with a Jimmy’s No. 43, Burp Castle, and Standings crawl afterward).

You can:

1. Brew for the event, and sign up at the link below by 4/23
2. Buy tickets
3. Donate to the auction (includes opportunities to help Jimmy’s No. 43, Burp Castle, and Standings)

Brewnity presents Suds in Solidarity: A Homebrew Benefit For The East Village

Sunday, May 17
1pm – 4pm
Sixth Street Community Center
638 E 6th Street between Aves B & C

$25 in advance, $30 at the door
Your donation gains you entry to the 3-hour event and a plastic cup for samples.

All event proceeds will be donated to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City to aid those affected by the East Village explosion.

Tickets on sale now at: brownpapertickets.com/solidarityinsuds

Your donation grants you entry to the event and a plastic cup for free homebrew samples.
Event is indoors, rain or shine, and will expand outdoors if weather permits.

Also join the after party—a single building East 7th Street pub crawl at Jimmy’s No. 43, Burp Castle, and Standings lovingly known in the beer community as the “Brewmuda Triangle.”

For more information, please visit brewnity.com

Brewers, Volunteers, Additional Donations, Raffle Tickets

Brewers donating 5 or more gallons of beer may request complimentary admission. Brewers must sign up in advance at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hfCPJateqKw70ua0U6gbQPbsIeD8H8CQYoFYl9mESxo/viewform. Complimentary admission will be limited to a maximum of 18-20 brewers. Interested brewers should sign up no later than 10am, April 23. Complimentary tickets will be distributed evenly between clubs, and stores and clubs will be notified of their allowance by April 25.

Volunteers are needed to help with light work in half hour shifts on the day of the event. Volunteering guarantees the warm and fuzzy feeling of being a good person helping a worthy cause. Volunteers will also receive a complimentary Brewnity branded glass. One-hour and longer shifts are available for those seeking additional self-satisfaction. Interested volunteers should obtain a ticket and email Shannon Bowser shannon@bowser.org and Jon Luton jezcoe@gmail.com for details and to schedule a time.

Jimmy’s No. 43, Burp Castle, and Standings have long been a hub of NYC homebrewing and were closed for two weeks following the explosion. We hope to collect donations from homebrewers to buy gift certificates to those bars and to then include those certificates in the Suds in Solidary raffle. Money raised for the purchase of the gift certificates will support the bars, and all raffle ticket proceeds will be donated to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City; East Village Building Collapse fund. If you’d like to contribute toward the purchase of these gift certificates, please contact Alex Kalaf alex.kalaf@gmail.com.

Congratulations to Jeff for winning the Whitbread competition with his English Mild. Ballots and tasting notes are on Google Drive.

Our next competition is our second annual in-club sours contest at the June 1 meeting. There’s still plenty of time to brew a kettle sour, so get planning!

We’re continuing our brewery visit/social nights on the third Monday of the month. April 20, we’ll gather at Dirck the Norseman/Greenpoint Beer and Ale Co. around 7:15 or 7:30 before a 7:45 or 8pm tour with Chris, Erik, and/or Jeff.

Brewnity at the Bell House is happening on February 22, with all proceeds going to City Harvest.  One month in advance, January 22, is the deadline to sign up to bring beer before the Brewsers comps might be given to another club.  So far, we have 6 people signed up to pour at the Brewsers booth.  At least a few more people have told me they’re planning to bring something, so sign up soon!  Bring 5+ gallons to get a full comp, or sign up to bring less, and as long as a few people do that, we can work that into a discount by sharing a comp.

If you or your friends aren’t brewing for the event, you can buy tickets now, starting at just $25.

Represent the Brewsers at the Brewnity Benefit, 2/22

The Brewnity event is fast approaching. There is a group of us already committed to brewing for this but we have space for more of us to join in. If you brew 5 gallons to pour at the event then you will receive a free ticket. Please sign up with the event coordinators directly, but also add your name to our club list so that we can coordinate equipment needs. These events are always a blast and I hope we can have a strong presence!

Additional tickets can be purchased via Eventbrite.

Greetings Brewsers!

Hopefully everyone is enjoying their festive season. Whatever you choose to celebrate, even if it’s just time off work, here’s hoping it’s safe, fulfilling, and filled with great beer.

January Meeting, 1/5

When we all emerge on the other side in the new year, we will gather for our monthly meeting at Browerij Lane on Monday, January 5 at 7pm.  Greg Doroski will be joining us to get us up to speed on his new brewpub Threes and share some of his vast experience with us.

January 5th is also our Brett meeting. Bring anything that has been in contact with the lovely yeast, whether that be primary, secondary, or bottled with Brettanomyces. Add your info to the signup sheet by January 2.

Holiday Party, 1/11

Our annual Brewsers holiday party will be at Browerij Lane on Sunday January 11th from 1-5pm. If you have a keg or some bottles to share, set them aside and we will coordinate the details closer to the date.

February Yeast Experiment

We’re trying a new yeast experiment in February. Everyone brews the same recipe and chooses a different yeast. Visit the sign up form to claim your yeast(s) and for the recipe.

Single malt/single hop ballots are available on Google Drive.

The Brewnity club night benefit for City Harvest was postponed from early November to either February 15 or February 22.

As always, anyone can update the spreadsheet of upcoming meeting plans.  We don’t have much planned for our November meeting, so if anyone wants to add a speaker or lead a discussion or tasting, please add it.  The following few months have plans, but no one has signed up to get feedback on a beer.  Add yourself if you like.  We’ve started having a feedback session at 7pm or even a few minutes before, so that meetings start on time but people running late don’t miss speakers, contests, etc.

Other upcoming meeting plans include:

• December – winter beer focus.  We’ll taste a variety of winter beers, from dark lagers to spiced stouts, both commercial and homebrewed, and talk about how to make winter styles that taste more like beer than like pastries.  Talk to Jeff or Joe if you want to contribute beer, lead part of the discussion, or suggest a commercial beer.
• January – Brettanomyces contest.  Enter any beer fermented in full or in part by Brett.
• February – Yeast experiment. Not a contest with a winner, so we’ll take notes but talk about our beers and yeast more than we would in a competition.  We’ll do a group buy for grain and hops and then everyone who wants can make beers identical except for the yeast strain used.  Mlore info and a sign up coming soon.
• June – sours contest