JANUARY 2010 MEETING: SUNDAY, January 24, 10 AM - 6 PM
IRON BREWER!
Bob Peak and Marty White will host the annual Iron Brewer meeting on Sunday, January 24, 2010. The brewing will be conducted similarly to previous years, but in response to popular demand, the judging will be operated differently at the March meeting to choose the Beerocrat Iron Brewer winner. Up to eight teams will be accepted: rules and entry forms are available below or on paper at The Beverage People. The fee is $40 for 10 gallons or $20 for 5 gallons and you keep all but one six-pack of your beer. The meeting will begin at 10:00 AM so the brewers can get started, but everyone else is welcome to come, also. It is a fun meeting even for those not on a brewing team, as you get to see lots of different brewery systems and watch brewer try to figure out what to do with the cockamamie "surprise" ingredients Bob throws at them. Come by any time---brewing will probably continue until 5:00 or 6:00 PM. It is chilly in Petaluma in January, so bring some warming winter potluck food to share with others (a gas grill is available) and bring your hombrews for sampling, too. The address is 500 Cleveland Lane, Petaluma (707-766-9330 if you get lost).
Robyn Rosemon and Sierra Burch will present a Style Talk on Brown Ale. If you have a homebrewed example to share with them for their talk, contact Robyn at The Beverage People. They will also have some commercial examples, as well as their own new recipe, Brown-Eyed Girls!
RULES AND ENTRY FORM as PDF. Please print it, fill out the form and turn it in at The Beverage People with your entry free.
NOVEMBER 2009 MEETING: Wednesday, November 18, 6 PM
Responding to several Beerocrat's requests, Michael Kelly has agreed to present a seminar on "Beer Yeast: the Fungus Among Us." He will tell us all the ins-and-outs of starting, propogating, and inoculating your brewing yeast. The meeting will be at The Beverage People in the classroom, Suite 15, at 840 Piner Road on Wednesday, November 18 at 6:00 PM.
OCTOBER 2009 MEETING: Thursday, October 15, 6:30 pm
Celebrate our Beerocrats who have recently turned pro! For this meeting, it will be our own Beerocrat Vice President, Tyler Laverty. Since graduating from the master brewer's program at U.C. Davis, Tyler has been working as assistant brewer at Third Street Aleworks in Santa Rosa, working with Randy Gremp. On Thursday, October 15, Tyler will host a meeting at Third Street, giving us a technical talk and a tour of their brewhouse. If we are lucky, maybe he will have a special brew or two, also. The meeting will start at 6:30 PM upstairs at the brewpub. Food can be ordered from the pub menu and we can bring homebrews to share. Mark you calender. Michael Kelly, Steering Committee Member, will present a style talk on ESB. He hopes to present it in the bright tank room, since the upstairs space is a little hard to hear in.
SEPTEMBER 2009 MEETING: Tuesday, September 15, 6 - 9 pm
Annual barbeque and potluck at Lagunitas! Tony is giving us private access to the beer loft and garden on Tuesday 15th. from 6-9:00 pm. There are two barbeques so bring something to grill for yourself. Also bring a side dish or dessert to share and of course your tasty homebrew. The beerocrats will provide plates, napkins and plastic utensils.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HOMEBREWERS FESTIVAL: September 18-19, 2009
This annual event will be on September 18 and 19 this year. As their website (nchfinfo.org) says, “Taste and share quality Homebrewed Beers from California and beyond! The NCHF has Live Music, Raffles, Nationally known speakers, club only homebrew competition, California’s only Brewers Dinner and much more! Past speakers have included Fritz Maytag, Fred Eckhardt, Byron Burch, Fal Allan, Ken Grossman, the late Dr. George Fix, Randy Mosher, John Palmer and more.” Go to the website for details. Let one of the Steering Committee members know if you are planning to attend as a Beerocrat representative and we can talk about providing some club support. Member Nate Boblitt attended last year and will be spearheading the effort this year, you can contact him at nboblitt@luminee.com.AUGUST 2009 MEETING: Sunday, August 9, 2 pm
Mead! What a great idea for a summertime meeting. Joshua Archer, owner and meadmaker of Beowulf Mead in Marin County will talk about commercial meadmaking and share samples, along with Byron Burch of The Beverage People who will cook up a demonstration mead, talk about home meadmaking, and share samples of his legendary beverages, also. (Together, Josh and Byron will cover mead as a style talk). Jonathan and Aura Morris have graciously offered to host this meeting at their house in Santa Rosa! The address is 1252 Hughes Ave, Santa Rosa 95407. If you need help with directions feel free to call Jonathan 523-3325. The meeting will start at 2:00 PM. Bring mead, or beer, to share, along with some summery finger foods for people to snack on (when tasting meads, it’s a good idea to do some eating, too. The club will provide ample water to drink, too.) Also please note that the August meeting is the deadline for dropping off entries for the August Club Only competition, Amber Hybrid Beers (BJCP Category 7). If you cannot make it to the meeting, bring entries to the store before 5:00 PM on Saturday, August 8.
JULY 2009 MEETING: JULY 10-12
This will be the annual camp-and-brew trip. It will be at Bodega Dunes State Campground---arriving Friday, July 10 and departing Sunday, July 12. We have three sites reserved, each of which can sleep 8 (but only three vehicles each). The Club will subsidize the fees, so costs to campers will be minimal. Please sign up at the store or email here if you are interested in the camping trip.
Results for the 2009 NORTHBAY HOMEBREW COMPETITION
BEST OF SHOW: TYLER LAVERY (AMERICAN PALE ALE)
GOLD:
Robert Sabrowsky (American Amber Ale)
Greg Rasmussen (Southern English Brown Ale)
Tyler Laverty (American Pale Ale) - BEST OF SHOW WINNER
Steve Vantassel (Belgian Dark Strong Ale)
SILVER:
Larry McCullough (Irish Red Ale)
Greg Rasmussen (Robust Porter)
John Arends (Imperial IPA)
Greg Rasmussen (Old Ale)
BRONZE:
Tyler Laverty (American Amber Ale)
Greg Rasmussen (Sweet Stout)
Greg Rasmussen (American IPA)
Jim Bohn (Biere de Garde)
HONORABLE MENTION:
Greg Rasmussen (American Amber Ale)
MAY 2009 MEETING: TUESDAY, MAY 19
Gabe Jackson pulled some strings for this one, and it promises to be unique. On Tuesday, May 19, at 6:30 PM, Don Payne of Sweetwater Distilling in Petaluma will host us at his distillery and will give us a talk on his processes. Sweetwater is located at 611 2nd Street, Petaluma. Our brewing technique talk will be to compare mashing for brewing as compared with mashing for distiller’s wash. Mike Kelly will give a Style Talk on California Common (aka, steam beer). For food on that Tuesday night, the club will bring in deli sandwiches, so we ask members to bring chips, side dishes, salads, cookies, etc. to go with them. And, of course, bring homebrews to share.
APRIL 2009 MEETING: SUNDAY, APRIL 26
Sunday, April 26, we will hold a Big Brew at The Beverage People. The object will be to make beers that Beerocrats will donate for the AHA conference. The meeting will start at 11:00 AM in the BP Classroom (suite 15) next to the store. Before that, for one hour only, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, we will open the store privately just for Beerocrats brewing that day who have not previously had the chance to buy their ingredients. We will cook up and cool the worts, then each member will take them home to ferment and bottle or keg. Bring some snack foods and homebrews to share, along with all your brewing equipment. We will be able to hook up a few hoses for chillers, but bring yours, too, if you have a spare one. If you form an AHA Conference Brew Team for this occasion, we will feature your team name and profile with your draft beer at Club Night. India Pale Ale and California Common are the featured styles for club night, but we don’t really want just those in our booth, so go ahead and get creative!