Fellow Homebrewers,
I hope everyone is staying warm this month in the wake of winter storm Octavia, it looks like that darn groundhog got us again! It can be hard for us outdoor brewers in these winter months. I am an outdoor brewer, and with my brewery blanketed under a layer of snow and temperatures in the single digits as I write this, I find my attention shifting from brewing outside to tinkering inside. My kegerator improvements have been completed, the hop infuser has gone through its first initial test rounds, my brew space have been tidied, and all the beer has been bottled and kegged. I think it might be time for another extract batch on the stove soon!
My journey to become a full-fledged BJCP judge has finally come to an end. I received my exam results back this month and I am now officially part of the BJCP! It took seven long and anxious months of waiting but I think it was worth it. The purpose of the Beer Judge Certification Program is to: Encourage knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the world’s diverse beer, mead, and cider styles; Promote, recognize, and advance beer, mead, and cider tasting, evaluation, and communication skills; and Develop standardized tools, methods, and processes for the structured evaluation, ranking and feedback of beer, mead, and cider. I’d like to encourage anyone who is interested in becoming a BJCP judge to take the plunge.
Remember, at the February meeting we will be taking our annual club photo. Make sure your membership dues are paid up, and don’t forget your orange shirt! We will have a fresh batch of orange shirts including ladies cut for sale at the meeting if you are in need of an OVHA shirt.
As a reminder, starting at this February meeting we are asking all members to bring one canned good in order to receive a ticket for the door prize. I know it may be a mild inconvenience to some of us to remember to have to bring one more thing to each meeting but I really feel that a club our size has a responsibility to the community and that this is going to make a positive difference in someone’s life. I want to thank everyone for being so generous in contributing to this cause; you all never cease to amaze me!
Save the date! March 28th we are holding our annual OVHA “Big Barrel Brew” at Carson’s Brewery. The recipe we will be brewing has yet to be decided so if you have a recipe you think would age great in a bourbon barrel please reach out to one of your board members.
And finally, the results are in! This year the Big Turkey contest was held to a vote and your voices were heard! We will have two categories and.. drum roll please… the two categories will be: Category 12 Porter, and Category 14 India Pale Ale. These will include sub categories 12A Brown Porter, 12B Robust Porter, 12C Baltic Porter, 14A English IPA, 14B American IPA, and 14C Imperial IPA.So get those mashtuns heated up and dust off the bottle capper, it’s going to be a good competition this year!
Cheers!
Sky
