Fellow Homebrewers,
With March Madness behind us and Major League Baseball in full-swing, it’s time to get outside and become one with nature. And what could be more natural than brewing beer while enjoying the company of other brewers. We will be doing just that at Tin Man Brewing Company on Saturday, May 3, 2014, for the annual AHA Big Brew. To date, about a dozen members have signed up to brew. The event will be held in the paved parking lot on the east side of the building. Water and electric will be available. Also, you’ll be greeted with coffee and donuts. The club will provide ingredients for two five gallon batches of each of this year’s AHA-sanctioned recipes to brewers who agree to donate half the beer for club events. The two pale ale’s have been spoken for, but one or two of the others, an imperial stout and a schwarzbier, may still be available. Check the OVHA forum to be sure. Otherwise, bring your own ingredients or at least stop by and hang out. Be sure to bring your current OVHA membership card and take advantage of Tin Man’s OVHA discount. It promises to be a great day!
A couple weeks ago, John Mills, Michael Julian, Dutch and I met at Carson’s Brewery to rack 50 gallons of the 2014 OVHA Barrel Brew to its new home, a Four Roses barrel donated by Liquor Locker. You may recall that last month 13 brewers divided 105 gallons of Foreign Extra Stout between two fermenters. On barreling day we put approximately 25 gallons from each fermenter into the barrel. The remainder was recently kegged. We will have both versions on tap at Zoo Brew on June 7, 2014, although the barrel-aged may still be a bit young (although Dwayne thinks it’s perfect now.) We will be putting out a call for volunteers to keg the barrel contents, so stay tuned.
Just a quick recap from last month’s OVHA meeting:
- Sky donated 71 pounds of canned goods and $25 in cash to the Evansville Food Bank. Thanks, Sky, for coordinating this worthwhile endeavor! Just a reminder, we will be doing this again in June and each quarter, thereafter.
- After last month’s Upland sour presentation and tasting, the club has 18 bottles remaining. Our cost for each 750ml bottle was $25. These will be made available to the membership either through outright sales or via raffle. Either way, it will be an opportunity to get your hands on a unique product.
Congratulations to John Mills and Jason Carson for taking home a silver medal in the 2014 World Beer Cup, a competition that takes place every other year. Folks, this is a huge deal! It’s always great to see one of our own succeed on a grand stage.
Congratulations also go out to Chris Norrick, the OVHA’s estimable secretary, and Amelia and Cesar Gonzalez. Both Chris and the Gonzalez’ advanced there entries to the final round of the National Homebrew Competition to be judged in Grand Rapids, Michigan, during the National Homebrewers Conference in June. Alas, yours truly come away empty handed in the regional round, but I couldn’t be happier for the Chris, Amelia, and Cesar!
Finally, Zoo Brew is just six weeks away and, so far, we only have about a dozen beers committed. This event is one of Evansville’s premier beer tasting festivals and it offers the greatest visibility to our club. So, please consider donating a beer, either kegged or in bottles, to show support for the Zoo and the OVHA! Thanks.
Just Brew It!
Jeff
“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” ― Ayn Rand
