Fellow Homebrewers,
As I’m writing this the temperature is 60 degrees! Hopefully the brutally cold days are behind us. So, forget the excuses and get brewing! To kick off the spring brewing season we are having our third bourbon barrel club brew day. We will be meeting at Carson’s Brewery on March 15 at around 8:00 am. Don’t sweat it if you can’t make it until later in the day, but you may miss the ceremonial Twinkie dunk. Since Carson’s is providing preheated mash water, your brew day should be relatively short. Carson’s is graciously making two fermenters available, so we hope to fill them both up and have barrel-aged and regular versions. Shout outs to Liquor Locker for providing the Four Roses barrel and to Carson’s for hosting and making their equipment available!
I don’t know about you, but I thought last month’s chocolate and beer pairing was fantastic. It was great to see such a large crowd with so many significant others in attendance. Thanks to Carrie Crowe for making this a truly special event! Thanks also to Carson’s, Tin Man, and Turoni’s for providing the beer.
The countdown is on for the first calibration tasting of the year. This quarter’s taste-off is between Michael Julian’s Vienna Lager and, I believe, Negra Modelo. Really, it’s not an attempt to clone a particular beer, but rather to judge (that’s where you come in) whether Michael’s Vienna Lager meets the style guidelines and, of course, is tasty. Michael will be wearing his big boy pants, so don’t pull any punches!
I hope everyone has been making regular visits to the OVHA web site. Michael Julian has been busy keeping it updated with all the latest announcements, news, pictures, etc. Did you see the special event added to the March 26 meeting? No spoiler alert here, go check it out yourself! Also, if you’re interested in contributing content, please let Michael know.
Also, the 2013 SMaSH beer challenge was a rousing success. Any interest in a 2014 challenge? Let me or the other board members know.
Of course I can’t let an opportunity go by without mentioning the 2014 National Homebrewers Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan beginning June 12, 2014. Registration for the ticket lottery is currently open and runs through February 26. With nearly 4,000 seats available, your odds of getting a ticket are excellent. So, don’t miss out!
Finally, this month is club picture month, so reschedule that honeymoon in Hawaii or whatever scheduling conflict you might have and I’ll see you on February 26 with your orange shirt on.
Just brew it!
Jeff
