Fellow Homebrewers,
2014 promises to be another exciting year for the OVHA. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a certified cicerone will lead us through a beer and chocolate pairing at first meeting of the year on January 29, 2014.
In February we will be holding the first of our quarterly calibration tastings. Michael Julian will be the sacrificial lamb for the quarter. We will be comparing his Vienna Lager to a commercial example. For this first calibration tasting a panel of the club’s more experienced judges will lead us through the exercise so those of us with limited experience can gain insights into the judging process. This format may evolve over the course of the year, so your input will be greatly appreciated. Also, calibration tastings for American Wheat and Scottish ales are planned for later this year.
Registration for entries into the National Homebrew Competition will open for a week beginning Monday, January 27, 2014, with first round judging in late March. Details can be found at www.homebrewersassociation.org/competitions. Final round judging will be held during the National Homebrewers Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Speaking of the National Homebrewers Conference…. The conference runs from June 12-14, 2014. The “Mashing in Michigan” conference is the closest to Evansville since the 2008 Cincinnati conference. I hope you will join me this year. Registration for this year’s conference opens in February and will be lottery-based. However, with 4,000 slots available, everyone registered will likely have the opportunity to attend. Go to http://www.ahaconference.org/ for more info. So, let me know if you are committed to attend. I plan to signup the OVHA to serve at Club Night and it would be awesome to have a strong contingent of orange shirts! Even if you can’t attend, a contribution of beer would be greatly appreciated.
Some of you may be wondering “where’s the newsletter?” Our perpetual secretary, Chris Norrick, has always done a yeoman’s job with the newsletter. In fact, I don’t recall a missed issue in the five years I’ve been a club member. However, this takes quite a toll on Chris’ time. Thanks to Michael Julian tech savvy, practically all the information that was included in the newsletter is now available on the redesigned OVHA website. So, the board has decided to discontinue to newsletter so Chris can devote more of his free time to hugging trees and making beer. Thanks Chris!!!
Finally, I want to give a shout out to our outgoing president and three-peat Big Turkey winner, Don Heisler. You’ve always provided great leadership and support to the club. I hope your recent surgery went well!
Until we brew again…
Jeff
