Sonoma Beerocrats

The Beerocrats survey administered by John Arends has given us some new info about our membership. 75% of respondents have been brewing for 3 years or more. No one had trouble attending meetings due to times or locations. A few thought a fixed day every month would be easier, but 15% said maybe and 42% said no, so we will continue to mix it up. As for how-to meetings and the balance with social meetings, preference was nearly even, but with a slight tilt toward more how-to meetings. One result of that preference will be the new style presentations, to put some brewing knowledge even in social meetings. One hundred percent said Iron Brewer should be an annual event. 92% said they would like to see some kind of Big Brew Day, either on the official date or an alternative date. People are interested in every suggested activity, but a pub crawl was the most popular. So, if you have comments or questions on the survey results, corner John Arends at a meeting and quiz him!

Sunday, August 31, we will be hosted by original Beerocrat Mitch Mackenzie at Carol Shelton Winery in Santa Rosa. The meeting will start at 1:00 PM and will feature a presentation by Beerocrat VP Tyler Laverty on “Brewing for Competition” and another by Bob Peak on “Beers Brewed with Wine Grapes”. The latter talk will include tastings. Mitch will also host tasting of Carol Shelton wines for those interested. Bring homebrew and an appetizer, side dish, or dessert to share—Mitch will cook up some tasty barbeque for us! Famous winemaker (and very nice lady) Carol Shelton, Mitch’s wife, will be there too—if she doesn’t have to go to Cucamonga to oversee the harvest of this year’s Monga Zin. To help with planning, we will take RSVP’s for the August meeting at The Beverage People. Call in to get directions to the winery and tell us how many are in your party.