Category: Meeting Notes

Fellow Homebrewers,

I woke up this morning to the first significant snowfall of the year. It wasn’t unexpected, but it certainly was unwelcome! As I was contemplating how much I hate winter, it struck me that Thanksgiving is next week. Growing up in central Indiana, we often had snow by Thanksgiving. Of course, that was in the Ice Age. If this winter turns out to be a harsh one, I’ll be thankful for my basement induction brewery. Feel free to corner Chris Norrick or myself if you’re interested in finding out more about this safe and efficient (not to mention, weather-neutral) brewing method. Anyway, since this month’s meeting kind of snuck up on me, I’ll keep this brief.

Learn to Homebrew Day was held on Saturday, November 1, in the Liquor Locker parking lot at Morgan and Stockwell. As 9:00 AM approached, I was fearful that I would be the only brewer. Compounding my concerns was that Skip Seaman, co-owner of Liquor Locker, had generously brought his mega-grill to feed the throng of brewers and bystanders. Finally, Dwayne’s familiar red S-10 pulled in the parking lot followed a bit later by Kenny Purcell. That’s it – just three hardy brewers willing to brave the elements. Although I was disappointed by the number of brewers present, I was pleased that several new brewers came to observe and stuck around for most of the day. Thanks also to those members that stopped by to offer encouragement.

The last beer festival of the year, Holy Redeemer’s Tap & Cork, was held the evening of November 8. Although the weather was a bit brisk, attendance seemed on par with past events. OVHA supporters included Don H, Dwayne, Michael J, Jeff, Cesar, and the Lancasters. I know I can speak for John Mills, the event organizer, in thanking those OVHA members that contributed their time and beer to help make this event a success. The OVHA barrel-aged stout was quite a hit as was Cesar’s funky cider.

I’d like to give a shout-out to Chef Aimee Blume for presenting at last month’s meeting. Aimee was very generous with her time and talents. The food was irresistibly good! If you get a chance, you should read Aimee’s column about cooking with beer that was published in last Wednesday’s (November 12) Courier Press.   You can also find the recipes on the OVHA website.

I’d also like to thank Sky for coordinating the three canned food drives. Sky didn’t have any precise numbers, but his car was full to the brim. Thanks to everyone for their generosity during the season of giving!

Don’t forget that your Big Turkey entries will be collected at this Wednesday’s (November 19) meeting. If you’re unable to attend, you may drop your entries off at Carson’s Brewery prior to the meeting. Judging will be held at a top secret location in early December with the winner announced at the December 17 meeting.

Also on the agenda for this Wednesday’s meeting will be the fourth and final calibration judging of the year. For this event Cesar Gonzalez, OVHA’s award winning lagermeister, has graciously volunteered to have his Munich Dunkel tasted alongside a commercial version. Thanks Cesar!

Bundle up and…

Just Brew It!

Jeff

I seem to find myself always starting these posts with “If missed the meeting you missed a good one.” but I have to say the Oct Cooking with Beer meeting was awesome. Amiee Blume, Courier Food Editor, showed up to the meeting with both barrels loaded. She prepared a pulled pork dish and some rye bread ahead of time and then cooked up some carrots during the presentation. All the dishes included some form of Carson’s beer. 

This meeting was also a can drive for the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church food pantry. Everyone did an excellent job remembering to bring a can as Sky’s car was loaded down!

For those interested in reproducing the dishes that Amiee prepared we have post the recipes below.

Pulled Pork with Blackberry Beer-B-Q Sauce
Serves 15 – 20 as an entree
INGREDIENTS
20 pounds pork butt, in 5-6 pieces
½ cup mustard
1 cup mild chili powder
Sauce:
¼ cup fat drippings from smoked or roasted pork shoulder
½ cup chopped onion
¾ cup ketchup
1 quart or all de-fatted drippings from pork
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 bottles Carson’s Brown Cow Brown Ale
2 bottles Carson’ Harlot Honey Blond
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
½ small bottle Louisiana hot sauce (Franks, Crystal, Louisiana brand. Not Tabasco unless you want it really hot.)
9 ounces malt vinegar
1 ½ 12-ounce jars Smucker’s seedless Blackberry jam
1# light brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon applewood smoked salt
Additional smoked salt and black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
1. Rub the pork shoulder with the mustard and then sprinkle liberally on all sides with chili powder. Arrange on a rack over a baking pan, pour 1 cup water into the pan and bake for 4-5 hours in a preheated 375 degree oven. Occasionally add more water to keep drippings from burning. Alternatively, smoke the pork the way you like to smoke, using a drip pan to catch drippings.
2. Cool the pork and pull the meat. Toss fat scraps in a wide skillet and render, if you like. You can add these “cracklings” back to the pulled pork, and save the rendered lard to add flavor to Mexican or Cajun dishes later.
3. Remove the fat from the pork drippings. Heat ¼ cup of the fat in a large sauce pot and add the onion. Cook 10 – 15 minutes, or until the onion is soft and golden. Push the onion to one side and add the ketchup. Cook the ketchup, stirring occasionally, until it has caramelized and is dark reddish-brown and clumpy. Pour off all the oil you can.
4. Add the defatted drippings, beer, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and vinegar and bring to a busy simmer. Cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, or until sauce has reduced a bit. Add the blackberry jam, brown sugar, molasses, salt and pepper to taste. Cook another 30 minutes to reduce and blend flavors. Taste again for salt.
5. Pour sauce over pulled pork and reheat. If you rendered the fat into cracklings, chop them finely and add to the pork and sauce.
6. Feel free to play with the flavors of this sauce. This is a dark sauce. For a lighter version, use all light beer, leave out the molasses, and change the blackberry preserves to apple, apricot or strawberry.


Honey Blond Rye Bread
(Modified from a rye bread recipe from Martha Stewart)
Makes 2 loaves
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (two 1/4-ounce envelopes)
2 1/4 cups warm Carson’s Honey Blond beer (110 degrees)
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for bowl, pans, and brushing
2 1/2 cups rye flour
4 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for surface and dusting
1 cup spent pale malt
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 egg white
DIRECTIONS
1. Sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup beer. Add 2 teaspoons honey. Whisk until yeast dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle or dough-hook attachment. Add butter and remaining 1 3/4 cups beerr and 3 tablespoons honey.
2. Whisk flour with salt; add 3 cups to yeast. Mix on low speed until smooth. Mix in 2 tablespoons caraway seeds. Add remaining 4 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing until dough comes away from sides of bowl and forms a ragged, slightly sticky ball. Add spent grain and mix until incorporated. Butter a large bowl.
3. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball. Transfer to prepared bowl; cover with plastic wrap.
4. Let dough stand in a warm place until it doubles in volume (it should not spring back when pressed), about 1 hour. Butter two 4 1/2-by-8 1/2-inch loaf pans. Punch down dough; divide in half.
5. Shape 1 dough half into an 8 1/2-inch-long rectangle (about 1/2 inch thick). Fold long sides of dough in to middle, overlapping slightly. Press seam to seal. Transfer dough, seam side down, to pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Brush tops of loaves with egg wash (beaten egg white mixed with water), not butter, and sprinkle with caraway seeds. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drape loaves with plastic. Let stand until dough rises about 1 inch above tops of pans, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Bake, rotating pans after 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer to wire racks. Let cool slightly; turn out loaves. Let cool completely before slicing.

Red Dawn Glazed Carrots
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 pound baby carrots
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons butter
½ cup Carson’s Red Dawn Red Ale
¼ cup dark brown sugar
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Blanch carrots until just tender. Drain and rinse under cold running water to stop the cooking.
2. In a wide skillet, add the butter and melt. Add the carrots and cook until beginning to caramelize. Add the red dawn and cook 5 minutes to reduce. Add the sugar and continue to boil until the sauce is thick and clingy.

Fellow Homebrewers,

As I was going through my morning routine, besides thinking, “man, I wish today was a bank holiday”, I thought to myself, “oh yeah, BYO magazines come out monthly this time of year” and “it must be time to turn up the temp on my water heater”. What do these two seemingly random thoughts have in common? IT’S BREWING SEASON!! That’s right; no more lame excuses like, “it’s too hot in my garage” or “the water’s too warm to chill the wort”. So, those of you who stowed away your equipment in May, it’s time get down to some serious brewing. Learn to Homebrew Day on Saturday, November 1, would be a great time to rinse off the cobwebs. So, please join me in the Liquor Locker parking lot (Morgan and Stockwell) at around 9:00 AM. With this in mind, please consider the following cautionary tale…

Dear Zymurgy, I never thought this would happen to me. This year’s pumpkin ale brew session ended up being particularly challenging. The brew day started like most others, I fired up the mash tun (having remembered to collect and treat my water the evening before), pulled up the recipe on my iPad, and set about measuring out my grains. This is where my day started going downhill. I thought I had plenty of pale malt, so much so that I had sold a bag to another brewer just days before. “Not a problem”, I told myself, “I’ll just make it a wheat beer”. Genius! So, I simply substituted half of my barley for wheat. Keep in mind that, unlike barley, wheat has no husk, so a grain bill high in wheat may not filter as effectively. Add six pounds of pumpkin and you essentially create cement! Oh, why didn’t I throw in a couple pounds of rice hulls! Idiot! So, after dealing with channels in the grain bed, a stuck sparge, and clogged values and pumps, I finally got the wort in the kettle. Turns out, my efficiency suffered. Of course, I didn’t make this observations until after the wort was in the fermenter. No big deal, right? It’ll just be a bit more “sessionable”? Well, without proper balance, adding two pounds of maple syrup and two pounds of honey can really dry out a beer. Bottom line, remember the eight “P’s” of effective brewing – Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Potent Potables!

Thanks to all of you who volunteered at the Evansville Museum’s Brew Ha Ha and the Wesselman’s Wandering Owl events. In terms of attendees, these events are the two smallest on our calendar, but both host organizations are treasures in our community. I expect these events will be held around the same times next year, so plan (there’s the p-word again) your brew schedules accordingly.

So then there was one! The 2014 beer festival season is coming to a close.   The last scheduled event is Tap & Cork at Holy Redeemer on Mill Road. The event runs from 6 PM to 9 PM on Saturday, November 8. As we have been doing recently, a donation of beer AND labor will gain you complimentary admittance to this event. John Mills, the event organizer, may need additional volunteers, so keep an eye on the OVHA chat room. Of course, the purchase of a ticket is always greatly appreciated.

Carson’s Brewery continues to collect the hardware. At the annual Great American Beer Festival held earlier this month, Carson’s Red Dawn, an amber wheat beer, took the gold medal in the American wheat beer category. To my knowledge, this is the third prestigious award that Red Dawn has earned this year following silver medals in the World Beer Cup and the Indiana Brewers Cup. Congratulations (again!) to John Mills and Jason Carson!

This month’s meeting promises to be very memorable. The topic for the meeting is Cooking with Beer. John Mills has managed to wrangle Aimee Blume as our guest presenter. For those of you who don’t know, Aimee is a trained chef, culinary instructor, and food correspondent for the Evansville Courier and Press. I believe that Aimee’s recipes will feature several of the beers from Carson’s lineup including the aforementioned Red Dawn. Yum!

Please remember that this month is the last canned food drive of the year. In order to gain a door prize ticket, you will need to donate a canned good. We will probably also accept monetary donations. With the Thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, please give generously. Sky will deliver the donations directly to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. St. Paul’s runs one of the largest soup kitchens and food pantries in the Evansville downtown area. Thank you!

Well, that’s all for now. See you Wednesday, October 29. Pumpkin Wheat anyone?

Just Brew It!

Jeff

Fellow Home-brewers,

As I write this entry, I’m reminded of the opening monologue in the Star Trek shows.  However, rather than being on a starship headed for a galaxy “far, far, away”, I’m aboard  a 737 bound for Las Vegas.   Unlike many travelers to “Lost Wages”, I eschew the strip (unless traveling with my wife) in favor of downtown and the Fremont Street experience.  Besides a lot of free entertainment, there are three breweries/brewpubs in the Fremont district within walking distance – Triple Seven Brewery, the Chicago Brewing Company, and Banger Brewery, the newest of the three.  Although Chicago Brewing Company doesn’t brew on site, their brewery is in the Vegas area.  All three establishments offer quality suds, so next time you’re in the area, venture off the beaten path.  You’ll be glad you did.

Last month I mentioned a DIY project I hoped to complete by the September meeting.  Well….I got busy (I.e., lazy) and I’ve not completed the bucket air conditioner.  However, with the arrival of somewhat cooler air, I don’t have the same sense of urgency.  Also, good luck finding a 7 inch fan this time of year.  I’ll have to let my fingers do the walking to find one.  Anyway, I ended up buying six styrofoam bucket liners, so if anyone needs one, I can hook you up.

Lest you think I’ve been a total couch potato, I have spent some time since our last meeting putting together a electric nano-homebrewery in my basement.  The system is built around an induction cooktop.  So far, I’ve brewed two small batches and I’ve quite enjoyed the experience.  Chris Norrick has built a similar system.  At this month’s meeting, Chris and I will share our experiences and showcase some of our equipment (WARNING, WARNING…a bag may be involved).

Thanks in advance for those of you who have committed beer and your time to the Evansville Museum’s Brew Ha Ha which takes place September 27.  I believe we have enough beer to occupy all 12 taps on the OVHA brew cart and enough volunteers to set up, serve and tear down.  I know Dwayne Delaney, OVHA’s event coordinator, appreciates your help.   Also, please show your support for Wesselman’s Wandering Owl in October and Tap & Cork at Holy Redeemer the following month.

I’d like to remind everyone that the November meeting has been moved to Wednesday, November 19.  That will be an especially eventful meeting.  Besides conducting the final calibration tasting/judging for the year (Caesar’s Munich Dunkel), it will also be time to drop off your Big Turkey contest entry.  In case you’re unaware, the style for this year’s contest is Category 9, Scottish Ales (includes Irish ales).  Isn’t it ironic that the selection of this style coincides with the referendum for Scottish independence.  Coincidence or fate?  Anyway, if you haven’t already done so, get brewing!

Well, I just finished a Fat Tire (amazing how good it tastes when your only other premium selection is Heinekin) and my flight is entering Denver airspace.  In just a couple weeks the Great American Beer Festival will be taking place in the Mile High City.  If you haven’t been to the GABF, put it on your bucket list.  I know that several of our members and other familiar faces in the Evansville craft beer scene will be venturing to this year’s event.  Safe travels!

That’s all for now.  See you Wednesday, September 24!

Jeff

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

Fellow Homebrewers,

Earlier this month about a dozen OVHA members came together at Tin Man Brewing Company for the annual AHA Big Brew.  Including the 10 gallons each of this year’s AHA-sanctioned recipes, around 70 gallons, or about two barrels, of beer was produced that day.  My hat is off to all of you who braved the early sprinkles.  Tin Man was a terrific host providing all the essentials – electric, water (including pre-heated brewing liquor), and curb-side wait service!  Thanks Nick, Sarah, and the TM gang!  Let’s hope we get invited back.  If you weren’t able to join your OVHA brethren, no problem.  Your next opportunity will be November 1, 2014.  Our friends at Liquor Locker will again play host.  So, please mark your calendar!

The May 28 OVHA meeting is just around the corner.  The highlight of the meeting will be this year’s second calibration tasting as Kenny Purcell’s American Wheat will square off against Carson Brewery’s Eville Wheat.  Your homework assignment is to study up on the BJCP style guidelines for category 6D.  The guidelines are available online and free apps are available for all of the common mobile devices.

A couple members have asked when the club’s bourbon barrel-aged beer will be ready for kegging.  In the next few days we will be preparing kegs for Zoo Brew and the National Homebrewers Conference.  After Zoo Brew we should have a solid consensus on whether it’s ready.  I’ll keep you posted.

Speaking of Zoo Brew, June 7th is fast approaching.  As usual, our call for volunteers was well-heeded and the Orange Army will be in full force.  I thank you for your help making this one of the premier beer festivals in southwest Indiana.  I’d like to give a special shout out to those who have donated beer for the event.  I recognize that this is really a contribution of your personal time and expense.  At last tally members had committed over 20 beverages for the event, so the taps should be flowing.  Just an FYI, as I write this, both general admission and VIP tickets are still available online at www.meskerparkzoo.com.

Yet again kudos go out to John Mills and Jason Carson.  Carson’s Pagan Pale was covered in the current issue of Draft Magazine and received a “Very Good” rating of 86 out of 100.  The evaluator’s comments were very favorable.

Finally, I’d like to wish good luck to Chris Norrick and Amelia and Cesar Gonzalez at next month’s final round of the National Homebrew Competition taking place during the National Homebrewers Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  How awesome would it be to see one of our own walking across the stage and picking up some hardware?  Regardless how they fair in the finals, I hope their good showing to date will inspire more of our members to participate in next year’s competition.

Just Brew It!

Jeff

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”  ― Ayn Rand