Author: OVHA

Fellow Homebrewers,

Unlike many of you, particularly Dutch “McGyver”, I’m not the handiest person around the workshop. My general rule of thumb is “why make it when you can spend three times as much and buy it”. After sweltering in my brewery earlier this month I decided to take on a DIY project after happening upon a YouTube video of a bucket air conditioner. Parts include a 5 gallon bucket, a Styrofoam bucket liner, a few pieces of PVC and a small fan. If I finish the first build with all digits still attached, I’ll probably make a second. I’m hoping to bring it to next month’s meeting for a little show-and-tell. Please pray for me!

Thanks to all of you who volunteered at the SWIRCA BrewFest earlier this month. What it lacked in food, it more than made up for with beer vendors. Certainly, there were more far-flung breweries than I recall at other local beer festivals. Apparently this year’s event, the 11^th, was SWIRCA’s most successful with more than 2,000 attending. The 12^th annual event is already in works. OVHA’s support continues to be instrumental in the success of this important fundraiser.

This year’s OVHA calendar has three more worthwhile fundraising events. Next up is the Evansville Museum’s Brew Ha Ha on September 27 followed by Wesselman’s Wandering Owl in October and Tap & Cork at Holy Redeemer the following month. Please join me in supporting these worthwhile fundraisers through donations of beer and labor, or by purchasing tickets.

Thanks so much to all the folks at Tin Man for hosting our annual brewery meeting. I hate that I had to miss it, but from the pictures I’ve seen, we had a pretty fair turnout. Also, I’ve not heard any complaints from our hosts, so thanks for being on your best behavior!

Speaking of Tin Man, last month I gave kudos to Jeremy Dunn for his 1^st place showing at the Indiana Brewers Cup and to John Mills for Carson’s four medal haul. However, I was remiss in failing to recognize Tin Man for its five medal count including two golds. Congratulations to Nick and the rest of the Tin Man brewing team for an outstanding showing!

I’d like to tip my hat to Sky, not only for taking the reins the last two months, but also for his pursuit of BJCP certification. After earlier successfully completing the online entrance exam, Sky took the tasting exam in Cincinnati last month. It will probably be a couple months before he finds out the results. At an upcoming meeting we will have Sky discuss how he has prepared for this process. Hopefully a few more OVHA members will be interested in this pursuit.

Well tis the month I’ve been anticipating with much trepidation. This quarter’s calibration tasting/judging will pit a commercial Scotch Ale against my admittedly weak representation of a Scottish Wee Heavy. You can think of mine as a “wee wee” heavy either because its ABV is on the low side of the style or because it tastes like p***. Well, you get the idea.

That’s all for now. See you Wednesday, August 27.

Just Brew It!

Jeff

Fellow Homebrewers,

This past Sunday (7/20) I followed my own advice, braved the heat, and finally brewed a summer beer. Aside from a small amount of cider, I had nothing in on tap but somewhat heavy, dark beers – a Scottish, a Black RPA, and the club’s non-barreled FES. Actually only half of the 10 gallon batch is for me. The other half is for a friend’s wedding which is only four weeks away. I’m also making some hard cider for the nuptials. So, why bother you with this recount? Since I was under a time-crunch, both the beer and the cider are KISS (“keep in simple stupid”) recipes that can go from fermenter to cup in under a month. Simply take your base grain, throw in a bit of crystal malt (or other specialty malt) and maybe an adjunct, boil with your favorite hops, pitch plenty of healthy yeast, and, voila, a nice, refreshing blonde/pale/bitter in no time at all. Similarly for the cider, grab some apple juice (pasteurized and unsorbated) from the supermarket shelf, add some sugar if you want to up the ABV, pitch whatever yeast you have handy with a pinch of nutrient, backsweeten to taste and enjoy! When you get a chance, please share your favorite summer beer recipes on the OVHA forum.

Thanks in advance to all of you who have volunteered to help with the SWIRCA BrewFest on August 2, 2014. Not only does the club need a limited number of volunteers (and, of course, beer donations), but the SWIRCA staff is always looking for folks to help out before, during, and after the event. Often these assignments involve pouring for other vendors. Taking some of the lessons learned from prior events, Board Member Jill Mecklenborg has done a great job organizing and coordinating OVHA’s participation. If you’ve volunteered for the event, please visit the club’s web site to find out your assignment. If you don’t wish to volunteer, tickets can still be purchased online at www.swirca.org.

On July 9, 2014, a meeting of your board of directors was held. These meetings are held every couple months. Board meetings are open to any member wishing to attend. To this end, I will endeavor to keep you better informed of meeting dates and times. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for 6:00 p.m., September 10, at the First Federal Savings Bank Operations Center on the corner of Green River and Lynch Roads. At this most recent meeting the board discussed the merits of an affordable homebrew club liability insurance program that has just been rolled out thanks to the efforts of the American Homebrewers Association. Most of the board felt that, pending a more thorough review of the program and policy, it would be prudent for the OVHA to participate. You can find out more about the insurance program by visiting the AHA web site. Also at the last meeting, Kenny Purcell and Michael Julian agreed to co-chair a committee to explore hosting an open homebrew competition next year. If you have any thoughts on these or any other matters, please pass them along to any of the members of your OVHA board.

The OVHA was again well represented at this year’s Indiana Brewers Cup. Along with the usual army of OVHA stewards, several members served as judges. Also, Jeremy Dunn kept the club’s win streak alive with a 1^st place for his Belgian Golden Strong. Well done Jeremy! Hopefully Jeremy will have some to share at an upcoming meeting. From the professional ranks John Mills walked away with yet more hardware – four to be exact – two silver and two bronze medals. Congratulations to both Jeremy and John on a job well done!

I want to remind everyone that this month’s meeting (July 30) will be upstairs at Tin Man Brewing Company. For those living under a rock, Tin Man is located on Franklin Street, just west of Fulton Avenue. Thanks in advance to Nick and Sara for hosting our annual brewery tour meeting. Be sure to show your appreciation by giving them your business.

Finally, Sky will be filling in for me yet again this month as my wife is bidding adieu to her gall bladder that day. Hopefully nothing interferes with the August meeting since my quite pedestrian attempt at a Scottish ale will be standing, and likely falling, in judgment.

Just Brew It!

Jeff

Fellow Homebrewers,

As I write this entry, summer is still officially one day away.  You wouldn’t know by checking the thermometer.  This week we’ve been treated to a steady diet of 90+ degree days.  Just last week I was wondering why I didn’t take a jacket to Grand Rapids!  Even if you’re a backyard or garage brewer, don’t let the heat be an excuse for stowing away your brewing gear.  Follow a few common sense approaches to your brew day.  Get organized the evening before and start your brew day early.  I try to roll out of bed around 5:00 a.m. after having milled the grains and collected my water the night before.  After a couple cups of coffee to loosen the cobwebs, drink plenty of water and hold off on the beer until later (I’ll admit to having problems with this one.)  You might also try breaking up your brew session.  On a couple of occasions I’ve mashed and lautered late in the evening and did my boil early the next morning.  If you mash out at around 170 degrees and cover your boil kettle, you should still be well over 120 degrees the next morning when you start your boil.  I’ve noticed no ill effects when following this schedule.   Regardless of your brewing technique, you’ll probably want to have plenty of ice on hand as chilling your wort becomes an issue in the summer as the groundwater warms.  Maybe we can have an open discussion at the next meeting to share tips and tricks on how to beat the heat!

The highlight of last month’s meeting was the quarterly calibration tasting and judging.  Thanks to Kenny Purcell for his willingness to have his American wheat judged side-by-side with Carson’s Eville Wheat.  I think the consensus was that both beers, while quite hoppy for the style (ala Three Floyd’s Gumballhead), were tasty brews.  Thanks to John Mills and Carson’s Brewery for providing the Eville Wheat.  Our next calibration tasting event will be in August when an anonymous homebrewer will offer up a Scottish Ale for review.  Just a reminder, Category 9, Scottish and Irish Ale, is the category for this year’s Big Turkey contest.

Thanks to all of you who helped with the 2014 Zoo Brew.  I know Sky greatly appreciated your assistance.  I’d especially like to recognize Dan Mills for transporting the equipment to and from the event.  I also want to give a special shout out to Jack for allowing us to borrow his serving cart.  Seeing dual brew carts was kind of awesome!  Aside from some foaming problems and the late downpour, the event went pretty smoothly, at least to the untrained eye.  Our attentions now turn to the SWIRCA BrewFest, August 2, 2014.  Tickets can be purchased online at www.swirca.org.  Board Member Jill Mecklenborg is coordinating OVHA’s participation. so stay tuned for more information.

Well, the OVHA team (Cesar and Amelia Gonzalez, Chris Norrick, Don Heisler & Jeff Smith) made it safely back from the National Homebrewers Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  I’m only aware of one rookie mistake, but it’s hardly worth mentioning, is it A.G.?  IMHO, it was great experience and especially so when sharing it with friends.  If you get a chance, go to the OVHA forum page and check out some of the pictures.  Most are from Club Night when the OVHA was one of 70 clubs serving beer to a few thousand of our fellow Homebrewers.  The highlight of that night came when our taps were taken over by the Gnomes!  I’m sure we’ll post more pictures in the coming days.  The conference was a “who’s who” of the American homebrewing community.  Many of these notables were presenters for the numerous seminars offered.  I encourage you all to cross the NHC off your bucket list.  Your next opportunity will be in San Diego, June 11-13, 2015. 

I’m sure you remember this past March when we puckered up for Upland sour beer presentation.   We still have 18 bottles remaining – 6 blueberry, 7 raspberry, and 5 strawberry.  We paid $25 + tax per bottle. These bottles are extremely scarce and were sold by Upland via a lottery. We are proposing to sell our remaining bottles to club members at $25 per bottle through a lottery process.   Members in good standing may purchase lottery tickets for a nonrefundable cost $2 each.  Keep in mind this is a lottery, not a raffle.  A winning ticket gives you the right to purchase a bottle.  So, if you buy five tickets you could conceivably walk away with five bottles and you would be $135 poorer ($10 for tickets and $125 for beer.)  Then again you could just be $10 poorer if none of your tickets is drawn.

I want to remind everyone about the quarterly canned food drive at this month’s meeting.  Bring a canned good to receive a door prize ticket.  I’m sure Sky will be willing to accept cash in lieu of a canned good.  Either way, he will deliver the donations to the local food bank.  Thanks in advance for your generosity!

Finally, Sky will be subbing for me this month (June 25) since I’ll be in Seattle, most likely tipping back a northwest-style IPA.  If I don’t see you before, I’ll catch you at Tin Man for our July 30 meeting.

Just Brew It!

Jeff