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April 2019 HOPS Brew Club Meeting Minutes

5/5/2019

Meeting was held at American Legion in Oneonta on 04/19/19 at 6:30pm.

16 members in attendance

Discussion topics included:

The Super Heroes in Ripped Jeans fundraiser home brew competition is scheduled for June 8 from 1:00 to 4:00 at the American Legion. Brewers are to report by noon. The style is to be open. An e-mail to a sign up for brewers is to be sent out. T-shirts will be available, $10 for competing brewers, $20 for all others.
Catskill Hops Farm, run by Mark DeGraw 607-287-0323 has hops for sale at $13.50/lb. Available hops include Cascade, Chinook, Nugget, Columbus, Triple Pearl, and Centennial. We will discuss as a club buying quantities of different hops and splitting them up amongst those you do not want to buy a whole pound themselves.
It looks like we will be having another fund raiser with the Lions Club in the fall on September 28th. More details to follow.
A very useful and free home brewer’s assistant app for your phone is Wort. Lots of free recipes as well on this app as well.
Beers shared in this open style month included:

Wes – Creamy Pilsner – unique style Czech Pilsner
George – Light and refreshing Witte
Christopher – Belgian Saison made with candy syrup
Jim – Bitter Sight, and English Bitter
Matt – Also had an English Bitter
Todd – Dortmunder – First version all grain version of this beer
Matt – Dragon Fruit Gose – Better with age as the Korean pepper paste Gochujang had some time to mellow.
Eric – Belgian Brett beer – Sweet from November 2018 and will get less sweet with time.
Alden – Extra Strong Porter
Eric – Six Pound Brown Braggot – Aged nicely.
Chris C. – Peaches and Blueberry Mead with high ABV
Chris H. – 2016 Grocery Store Beer with yeast harvested from Sierra Nevada bottles (Sierra Nevada give instructions on their website for how to harvest yeast from their beers)
Chris H. – Peppered version of 2016 Grocery Store beer – total spiciness from Habaneros, Serrano's, and other peppers
Chris H. – Imperial stout (from the December meeting)–Aged on Cocoa nibs, chocolate Bhutla (AKA Chocolate Pepper X), and Urfa Biber Chili Flake – It is a creeper and much hotter than it smells

Note: To sterilize fruit for beers, use Campden tablets.

Reminder of the beer styles for the remaining months of 2019: April: open

May: Pilsner
June: open
July: Cream Ale
August: 3% ABV or as close to 3% as you can get.
September: Dunkel
October: open
November: Brett Beer
December Belgian Dubbel
January 2020: Wheat Wine

Wes won the Legion’s 50/50 raffle with a ticket bought for him for his birthday. Congrats Wes.

The May HOPS club meeting will be held at the American Legion in Oneonta on May 17th, at 6:30

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March 2019 HOPS Brew Club Meeting Minutes

5/5/2019

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12 members in attendance

Topics of Discussion:

Super Heroes' in Ripped Jeans Fund Raiser Event ( HOPS for Hounds) has been set for Saturday, June 8th at the American Legion, from 1-5 pm. The style of beer is open, so if you'd like to brew a beer for the event, you can make what ever style you prefer. It was also an idea to name the beers you make after your pets. It would be nice to have at least ten brewers, more would be even better. We also discussed switching the monthly styles for June and July to accommodate the event. So June's style will now be open,
The Lions Club is also interested in another event for this fall. We will keep everyone updated on the particulars when we know more.
Some upcoming events include: a. 4/27-28 Tap NY at Hunter Mountain.
March style was English Bitters: there are three styles of bitters, Ordinary, Best, and Strong.
Commercial samples: Fullers ESB (strong) 5.4%, and Coniston Brewing Co. Blue Bird Bitter (ordinary) 4.2%

Members Offerings:

Matt B.: Crikey a Grockel ESB Bevy, pale malt, Maris otter, Target, Challenger, Northdown hops, Dry English Ale yeast, 4.7% overall not bad
Eric B.: did a 75 minute boil, London ale yeast, Challenger hops, sat 20 days in primary. flavor notes, vegetal, band aid, chlorine. Possible reason for some of the off flavors was the length of time in the primary.
Chris H. & Frank W.: Strong Bitter, 100% Maris otter UK Goldings, English Ale Yeast 5.4%, very butterscotch aroma, Caramel, nice bitter finish on back of tongue
Chris C.: Kit Beer, Honey Brown w/raspberry 3#'s honey, S05 yeast. Sweet
Chris H. & Frank W.: English Strong Ale: with Macha Tea Powder, intent was to produce a green beer without using artificial coloring's. Green tint in primary, but settled out in secondary. Homegrown Halltauer Hops, 9.3% abv @ 37 IBU's, was good
Todd S. & George M.: Commercial beers: Rogue 4 Hopped; clove and tomato sauce basil flavors. Rogue 7 Hopped boozy, floral, sweeter then 4 hopped
Wes A.: Stop the Madness- Imperial Stout, 4#'s brown Sugar, 12oz Choc. malt, Chinook Hops, Steeped Dark Grains, 92.6 IBU's like it a lot, Stone fruit, Cherry, Good Beer
Eric B.: 17% Mead, smooth, not hot, Good, no off flavor
Josh P.: Raisin Mead, 20#'s honey, 6#'s raisins. Sweet, raisin flavor , tart finish

Side note on off flavors. This came from Kegerator.com from an article on off flavors: Any off flavors not arising from contamination are always a result of your brewing practice such as uncontrolled fermentation temperatures, waiting to long to rack to a secondary, weak boils, poor bottling technique, or simply choosing the wrong yeast.

Next Meeting is set for April 19th, at the American Legion at 6:30 p.m. A Fish Fry Dinner will be offered for $10.00. Hope to see you there. The style is open so bring whatever you have..

Reminder of the beer styles for the remaining months of 2019:

April: open
May: Pilsner
June: open
July: Cream Ale
August: 3% ABV or as close to 3% as you can get.
September: Dunkel
October: open
November: Brett Beer
December Belgian Dubbel
January 2020: Wheat Wine

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February 2019 HOPS Brew Club Meeting Minutes

5/5/2019

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19 members were in attendance. Held at the American Legion.

Discussion topics included:

Member Dues are due for those who haven't paid yet. They were kept at $5.00 per member.
Doc's Homebrew Supplies is offering a 10% discount to Brew Club Members, just mention that you are a Hops Brew Club member when checking out. If you haven't been there before, he carries a fairly good inventory on hand, both beer and wine, ingredients and equipment. If you are looking for something particular give a call, if he doesn't have it he may be able get it. Doc's Homebrew Supplies, 451 Court Street, Binghamton, NY (607)722-2476, M-F 10:am-6:00pm, Sat:10am-4pm, www.docsbrew.com just another alternative to the local or online sources you currently use.
Reminder that some of the 2019 beer styles take a long time to condition/develop specifically November: Brett Beer, December: Belgian Dubbel, and January 2020: Wheat Wine. Its not to early to get them going.
Some upcoming events include: a. 3/9 Snommegang (Oneonta), and the NY Craft Brewers Festival at the Desmond Hotel in Albany. b. 4/27-28 Tap NY at Hunter Mountain.
February was the annual Cereal beer challenge, we had 9 brewers enter a beer this year, that may be a record !
Congratulations to Wes A., He won the challenge and has the 2019 Cereal Beer bragging rights. Way to go Wes !! The order they are listed is based on the tasting order, not a ranking. Its Just coincidence that Wes was first tasted and he ended up winning.

a: Wes A. : "Golden Grahams Lager". 2#'s Golden Grahams Cereal Chinook hops, Saflager S23 yeast but    fermented at ale temps. Very Good, the honey really came through.

b: Matt D. : Trix Cream Ale, 3#'s if Trix Cereal 4.3% abv, Very Sweet and Fruity, Grape was prominent, comments    were I like it, and good.
c: Todd S.: "Luigi's Dolce Grano", 1.5#s Super Mario Cereal, Maris Otter, Belgian wheat yeast, was fruity with spicy    notes attributed to the yeast, not bad
d: Brian G. : "Super Mario Rye Beer", using Super Mario Cereal, Rye malt, 4#'s sugar, US Goldings hops. Finished Fruity, not bad.
e: Chris H. & Frank W. : "Double Dry Hopped Dippin Dots BananaSplits Milkshake IPA", 54 oz of Dippin Dots BananaSplits cereal, 1# lactose, only 7 IBU's, Ariana & Mosaic Hops. as the name suggest this was dry hopped    twice. 6.6% , Definite fruitiness, and Banana forward. Delicious.

f: Pete A. : Chocolate Cheerios Porter, 3.5 #'s Choc. Cheerios, black malt, choc. malt, fuggles hops and Safale S 05 yeast. Finishes dry, but not bad.
g: George M.: "StoutChocula" Chocolate Milkstout, CocoPuffs & Count Chocula Cereal, Choc. malt, carafa, Coco Nibs soaked in Vodka, 1# lactose, S04 yeast. very good, some mineral/irony note, slightly bitter on the backend.
h: Eric B.: "Chocalification" 5#'s & 4 different Cereals, Coco Crunchies, Coco Crisp, Choc. Chex's, Choc. Cheerios, 9#'s 2 row, Cascade hops, S05 yeast. Chocolate/sweet, very good.
I: Matt B.: "Puff Gose the Dragon" 2#'s Puff Wheat Cereal, Wheat malt, Dragon Fruit, smoked poblano peppers,    Hibiscus , Gochujang. Smokey, not getting Coriander, heat on the backend. not bad.
J: Eric B. : this was Eric's last year cereal beer entry: Raisin Bran Wheat beer, 4.8 abv, aged well, still tasty.

k: Brian G.: Elders Rye, a rye beer with elderberries. nice, spicy, elderberry notes.
l: Topher : Belgian Drk. Strong Ale: 8.4%, Belgian Candi Sugar, Falconer's Flight hops. Well Balanced, very good,    will age well.
m: Jim G.: Blackberry Plum Wine, mild, very good
n: Alden B.: Mead, 13#'s honey, 1 yr. old, honey notes, a little hot.
o: Alden B.: Mead, Same base mead with added Cherry Extract to mellow the heat. Very Cherry forward, nice.

Well Done everyone.. nice to see us reaching out and trying new ideas...

6.There was a mention of Green Apple flavors at some point. Club President Chris H. noted that incomplete fermentation can cause a green apple flavor.

7.Next months style is English Bitter.

8.The March Meeting is confirmed for March 15th, at the American Legion. No special dinner scheduled as of yet.

9.Reminder of the beer styles for the remaining months of 2019:
March: English Bitter
April: open
May: Pilsner
June: Cream Ale
July: open
August: 3% ABV or as close to 3% as you can get.
September: Dunkel
October: open
November: Brett Beer
December Belgian Dubbel
January 2020: Wheat Wine

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January 2019 HOPS Brew Club Meeting Minutes

5/4/2019

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JJanuary 2019 HOPS Brew Club Meeting Minutes.

17 Members were in attendance.

Discussion topics included:

Member Dues. They were kept at $5.00 per member. One of the benefits of membership is insurance. Dues are also sometimes used to purchase commercial beers for style representation/comparison.
The Lions Club Charity event held in October at Deer Haven Campground, "Hops for Sight" was a success. They are considering doing it again this year.
Also mentioned was another "Hops for Hounds" event for the Superhero’s in ripped Jeans Animal Shelter on Winney Hill Road.
Reminder that some of the 2019 beer styles take a long time to condition/develop specifically November: Brett Beer, December: Belgian Dubbel, and January 2020: Wheat Wine. Its not to early to get them going.
February is the annual Cereal beer challenge, looks like we have 7 brewers entering a beer this year.
Financial report from Chris C. the Brew club has $1785.41 in our account, not including the $70.00 collected in member dues at this meeting, so @ $1855.41 total.
Some upcoming events include: a. 2/2 Central NY Brew Fest in Syracuse. b. 2/23 Binghamton on Tap, and the 8th Saratoga Beer Summit, Saratoga NY.
c. 3/9 Snommegang (Oneonta), and the NY Craft Brewers Festival at the Desmond Hotel in Albany.
d. 4/27-28 Tap NY at Hunter Mountain.
January beer style was open, so we had quite a variety of samplings:

a: Jim G. : Nut Brown Ale, this was a kit beer, 4.5% ABV
b: Eric B. : Gose with .5 oz. of Hallertauer hops, and 6 tsp of Lactic Acid came in at 4% abv
c: Frank W.: a commercial beer from New Mexico: Marble Brewing's Passionate Gose 4.8% with passion fruit
c: Eric B. : Commercial Beer: Duvel Strong Belgian Golden Ale 8.5% abv
d: George M. : Commercial beer: Ommegang 21st Anniversary Farmhouse Saison fermented with NY State Apple    Cider 6.8%
e: Matt B. : Strong Belgian Golden Ale 9% abv brewed 2/13/17
f: Todd S.: commercial beer: Stone "Todd Haug" 9%: Ground breaking collaboration #9 sour Berliner Weisse with Ginger and Hystrix leaf ( from the kaffir lime of south east Asia)
g: Matt D.: Porter, with Marris Otter, Black Patent, Drk Choc. Malt, Madagascar Vanilla Bean in secondary, 6% abv
h: Chris H. & Frank W. : 9.6% 2017 Dopple bock, brewed 8/2017 kegged & cellared for 9 Mo. 2 row, Vienna malt,    New Zealand Dr. Ruby hops had a classic European malt flavor
i: Alden B. : Gorby's Ghost kit beer: Russian Imperial Stout with 1# Crystal 120, Choc. Malt, Roasted Barley, 6#'s light DME, Chinook and Brewers gold hops @ 8% abv
j: Matt D. : Stout with 2#'s molasses, 1# Maple Syrup, 1# honey, crystal 80 and Drk Choc. Malt. 12% abv.    comments included an irony or metallic taste, possibly from the amount of molasses used
k: Matt D. : Choc. Orange Stout: Same base as #11 with Orange peel and cacao nibs 12 % abv the orange was prominent, but the metallic taste was not as detected. So the simple addition of the orange and cacao nibs may have resolved that issue.
l: Matt B. : 2017 Imperial Stout (again)
m: Topher H. : Double IPA, Brewers Best Kit 9.9 #'s DME, Amarillo & lemon Drop hops.

In the fermenter:
a. Jim G. : Wee Heavy, Choc. Orange wine
b. Matt D. : Cereal Beers, 2 meads using Dr. Pepper & Fresca Soda
c. Alden B. : Porter and a Mead
d. George M. : Cereal Beer
e. Todd S.: Cereal Beer
f. Chris H. & Frank W.: Cereal Beer & English Bitter
g. Matt B. : Cereal Beer
h. Eric B.: Mead with a stuck fermentation, added a gallon of water and it took off, Cereal Beer, and a Pilsner

Reminder of the beer styles for the months of 2019:

February: Cereal Beer – Needs to have at least 25% of the grains from off the shelf cereals.
March: English Bitter
April: open
May: Pilsner
June: Cream Ale
July: open
August: 3% ABV or as close to 3% as you can get.
September: Dunkel
October: open
November: Brett Beer
December Belgian Dubbel
January 2020: Wheat Wine

February Meeting is 2/15 starting at 6:30p.m. at the Legion, Ziti dinner will be offered, hope to see you all there.

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April 2019 HOPS Brew Club Meeting Minutes

March 2019 HOPS Brew Club Meeting Minutes

February 2019 HOPS Brew Club Meeting Minutes

January 2019 HOPS Brew Club Meeting Minutes

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