Hey All!

Just a quick note to check the website. I have added pages about our upcoming Big Brew Day, an Oktoberfest Gathering potential, and feeling out any interest in a Trappist Class. Click on the links at the top and give us your input!

Brr…. Brewers!

It looks like fall has fallen.. and then some. The only good redeeming quality about brewing outside in these temperatures is the ground water temp! hey-oh! Hopefully, your robust porters, cream stouts, and Trappist quadruples are fermenting away and ready to be racked! If not, and you’re still waiting on the perfect recipe, come to brew club this Friday and bang around some ideas with your fellow brew club members! That’s right… Nov. 1st was a Friday, so that makes this month’s club meeting on the 15th (the earliest possible) at 6:30 pm @ Bear Pond Winery on Rte 28 halfway between Oneonta and Milford. 

For those of you who missed last month’s meeting. I’ll pause so that you can kick yourself……….Our mini Oktoberfest was anything but mini. Boasting one of our largest turnouts in months, we dished out 64 Brats, 30 side dishes, and 17 rounds of tasty home-brewed elixirs. And while the dropping temps kept our attention, the boozy brews and brew-ha banter kept us all warm. This month’s meeting, however, Mark would like to move it inside with a few long tables next to the pellet stove and 40 different hop varietal shelves. (I told him, we’d have NO problem with that kind of ambience!). For those of you hoping to attend, we have a few items to discuss and solidify: 

Grain Order
Chris Cleveland sent out an electronic spreadsheet for those who might be interested in making a bulk grain order at a less than retail price. Unfortunately, not as many individuals voiced a need for grain. So, Chris will be sending around the sheet one more time as we need to get this order soon (ahem…some of us need Maris Otter, like it’s our job!). The more bags we purchase, the less the cost. So, do a quick inventory check before Friday’s meetings. 

Cereal Beer? Brewkfast Ale? 
After round 7 of last month’s meeting, VP Wes Nick began to discuss his experience with cereal beers. And no, I’m not using the term “cereal” as in “cereal grains” (e.g., oats, wheat, etc…). Rather, Wes proposed an idea that willing club members might brew a style of beer of their choosing, but the caveat would be that 10% of the grain bill be comprised of an ACTUAL BOX CEREAL. Yes, that’s right; pick your favorite General Mills Box cereal from the supermarket aisle.. and mash in with the rest of your grains. Quick ideas began to bubble: Golden Grahams Bitter, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Porter, Lucky Charms Lager, etc… As we discussed, this tasting would be reserved for February’s meeting. Nothing formal, but rather, an internal club tasting to see what happens when experimental ingredients are mashed into certain styles of beers. We’ll have an official tasting during that meeting to crown a cereal beer winner. As ideas become solidified, tell Wes Nick what you’ll be bringing!

SMaSH Beer Event: (Bangers and SMaSH)

Another idea we had discussed at the meeting was the challenge of the SMaSH beer (Single Malt and Single Hop). Giving our brewers a challenge and some guidelines, we wanted to encourage our members to try and brew a SMaSH beer in the next few months so that, as a club, we would become more aware of specific hop profiles, as well as, specific malts. To the average brewer, SMaSH beers may seem uneventful or even boring given how many malts and hops are out there to choose from and combine to add to your beer, but this task truly forces the brewer to focus on process, all the while, educating the tasters as to what specific hops can do when combined with specific malts. Rather than loosely invite brewers to brew and bring in their SMaSH beers at their convenience, we thought it would be nice to have an event in the early spring where SMaSH beers, brats on the grill, and friends and family can come to taste and learn about specific hops and malts. Tentatively, this event will be held during March or April’s Monthly Meeting. More details will be discussed this Friday. 

Big Brew Day

Brewmaster Roger Davidson of the Council Rock Brewery and I will be sitting down this week to solidify a day to dough-in–Big Brew Style! The date and sign up sheet will be available at the meeting. 

Well, I hope to see you all Friday. Don’t forget: 

1. Brews if you got em
2. Favorite Glass
3. Ideas about Cereal/SMaSH event
4. An idea of which and how much grain you’d like to buy

Cheers!

—josh