Author: joe

Meeting schedule change + holiday party

Starting next month, we’re moving all of our meetings to the second Monday of the month.  Our first Mondays schedule has required us to move our meetings 2-4 times per year to avoid holidays, so this should hopefully make things easier going forward.

Our schedule for the beginning of 2017 is:

Monday, January 9: regular meeting/holiday & winter beer tasting.  Bring both homebrew and commercial winter and holiday beers.  No one’s signed up yet to start the meeting—and there are a lot of competitions coming up—so add your info (here: goo.gl/Mw6pMl) for the 7pm focused tasting.

Sunday, January 22: Holiday party.  Bring food and beer.  We’ll probably be able to put a few kegs on tap, so plan to bring one if you want.

Monday, February 13: Sours contest.  There’s ample time to brew kettle sours and even time for some faster post-boil souring.

After that, we’re pretty open, so think about what you’d like to do, and set it up.  Note the plans on the meeting plans spreadsheet.

Fruit ballots, last call for barrel

Excellent meeting yesterday.  Was our largest competition turnout in at least a couple years.  Congratulations to Paul for his winning barrel fermented apricot ale.  Ballots are online.

Today is the last day to get a share (or two) of the NY Common barrel.  Yesterday’s samples were great.  The beer’s still not tart, but it’s a lot more acidic and rounded than when we last tasted, and the rest of what that barrel does well is all present.  To reserve a share, add your info to the sign up sheet.  If you already claimed one but want a second, add that too.  We need people to claim three more shares.

Upcoming events: KCBC open house, picnic, and Rockaway

KCBC is hosting an open house for greater NYC area homebrewers Saturday, July 23, from 3:30 to 6:30.  They’re off the Jefferson stop of the L at 381 Troutman St.

Remember also to sign up for the homebrew picnic on July 16.

 And, if you’re open, swing by Rockaway on Thursday, July 28, to taste the Brewsers’ mini-batch brewed in the tap room, “Brett Eats Hawaiian Pizza.”  It’s a Brett C. version or Rockaway’s Hawaiian Pizza (created by Rockaway brewer and longtime Brewser Ray Girard).  If you can’t make it, we’ll have some at the August meeting too.

Meeting Tonight, July 11: Pilsner + Sessions

Just a reminder that our July meeting is today at 7pm at Brouwerij Lane. We are going to begin the meeting with a discussion of Daniel’s Bohemian Pilsner, so please try to get to the meeting on time.

Alex and Andrew are going to then lead a discussion on session beers with both commercial and homebrew examples. If you have a homebrew session beer you are bringing, please add it to this spreadsheet.

We will also be recapping the National Homebrew Conference.

As always, check out and contribute to the meeting schedule.

Brett Ballots, July Meeting on 7/11, + Picnic

Brett ballots are online.  Congratulations again to Jeff for his excellent saison.

Our July meeting would have been on July 4, so it’s postponed a week to July 11.  We’ll start on time (seriously) with a discussion of Daniel’s Bohemian Pilsner and then move into tasting and discussing both homebrew and commercial sessions beers.  Bring examples, and/or step up to coordinate the tasting.  (As of now, a few people were talking about it, but no one has actually signed up to lead it.  Add your name on the planning spreadsheet to do so.)  We’ll also recap the National Homebrew Conference (officially now called Homebrew Con).

The Brewnity picnic will be Saturday, July 16.  It’s (legal) park drinking and BBQing on the Hudson with homebrewers and beer fans from around the NYC area.  Save the date, and look for details in the next week or two.

Brett competition Monday + some housekeeping

Sign up for the Brett competition next Monday.  Sign up will close around 10am Monday morning.  Any beer with Brett is eligible.  Hopefully it’s there on purposes, but hey, if it tastes good…

The meeting will also include guests from Rockaway Brewing Co. and maybe some last minute details of NHC, which starts on June 9.
A few people asked for a reminder of where the spreadsheet with meeting plans is saved, so there’s the link.  Please add whatever you like, and include your name, so others know who to contact about upcoming meetings.

Andrew’s taking the lead on Instagram and Twitter.  We probably want to continue to post on our website, maybe tie social media into Facebook, and possibly improve the design of this site.  If any of that is up your alley, volunteer to help.  I’ll continue to host the website and can take care of technical aspects (including implementing a design if needed), but I’m not doing the social media or creative tasks.

The website also should probably have meeting announcements.  If you send a meeting plan to the group and want to put it on the site, I can give you access.  I can also post announcements if you send them to me ready to go.

We have a few invites to visit breweries.  We’ll talk about it next Monday.  If you want to coordinate Brewsers field trips, please take the lead.  (If we were a club with officers, you would be the Brewsers Chaperone.  But we aren’t, so you’re not.)

Finally, a heads up that the Yahoo Group is now set so replies go to the sender of a message, not the whole list.  All list memebers are still allowed to post with no moderation.  Just change the to: address when you want to reply-all.

This Monday, Brett Beers, + Group Brew

Our Amalgamation experiment/competition is this Monday.  Amalgamation is the Yeast Bay’s blend of 6 Brett strains.  If you brewed, sign up on the spreadsheet by 10am Monday.  If you didn’t brew, you still get to try some tasty Brett beers.  And, of course, after the competition, we’ll share any other homebrews that make their way to the meeting.

Our June meeting will include both our annual Brettanomyces competition and Flint Whistler from Rockaway Brewing.  Any beer with Brett is eligible for the competition.  On Thursday, May 12, Flint is hosting us for Rockaway’s Homebrew Thursday.  He’ll probably be pouring tastes of homebrew in their Long Island City tap room, and we’ll brew a 5-gallon batch of beer, half for an upcoming Homebrew Thursday and half for the June Brewsers meeting.  We’ll talk about the recipe this Monday.

See you Monday at 7pm at Brouwerij Lane.

April 4 meeting: competition winning brews

Hey Brewsers, congratulations again to Alex and Daniel for their first place beers in NHC first round.  Daniel has a few extra bottles of his beer to share with us, and we’ll talk about their beers, some other recent Brewsers beers to place in competition.  Bring whatever you like to share but especially any beers you’re working on for competition.

See you at Brouwerij Lane this Monday at 7.