2004 Meeting Notes – Archive – Joe White, 2004 SCBG President
January 2004 Meeting Notes
Greetings brewers,
The January meeting went quickly with many new appointments and ingredients for a busy year. We have $411 in the bank and more to come as members pay their dues. We started with a discussion about the possibility of a new website that would be more functional and a committee was formed under the leadership of Chuck Garst to bring a plan to the next meeting (input about the website should be sent to Chuck). Kelly will be in charge of the trophies this year and Tommy is going to look @ the possibility of getting engraved glasses @ a replacement for trophies in the future. We are planning a grain purchase so forward your requests to Doug Moyer – the man with a plan! We appointed Katie McKernan as Librarian – as she graciously accepted the challenge of recording beer and food recipes to be included on our website.
Dan Higgins has accepted the position of Social Director and has already mentioned a brewery tour TBAS. Pat Kennerly is in charge of the Microfestivus and will be keeping us up to date as the Square society has each meetings. We all applauded Ross and Pat for all their hard work last year – Ross, we will raise a glass for you in your absence. Esther reminded people that they can contact her if they have shirts that need a Starcity insignia for $5.00 each.
Kelly talked about the CAP style and gave us input from Jeff Renier (? spelling) – Thank you Kelly for coming through as Bill Owens (the planned speaker) and Ginny were snowed in on top of the mountain.
We all would like to thank Paul and Judy for being such gracious hosts. I am sure all had a good time and a safe trip home.
Brew on,
Joe
Febrewary 2004 Meeting Notes
Great idea Ross,
We can vote on the concept of scoring brewers choice
of styles in the brown category. If we have enough of
each style, they could be judged against their own
style at separate tables for points and then best of
show would be 1st and on and on. This would restrict
people from judging their own style entry and final
judges would be those that did not brew (or maybe one
judge from each style table as well as those who did
not brew). The plain bottles to the table concept and
Kegs in pitchers may be an option this time, but We
shall need a vote before going forward for this
contest. Please feel free to express yourself on-line
before the meeting. (I have no problem with it – I
will try doing both at home first and decide which I
want to bring for the competition). Some beers do
taste better out of a Keg – if we use glass pitchers.
The february meeting went very well – great
participation 27 of 31 paying members. We all want to
thank Tommy and Lucinda for their hospitality again –
GREAT PARTY ROOM! Remember to send your recipes to
timandkatie at cox.net. Pat reported that Microfestivous
will pay for 2 nights for brewers farther away than
120 miles from Roanoke, no age limits this year, the
date is August 14th, and the Microfestivous will be
from 2 to 8 PM this year, and there will be an after
party @ the Hotel Roanoke that night. Also, check out
the info sent home from Chuck and Chip about the new
website options so we can start enjoying easier
access. Again, contact Esther King for any club
embroidery to be done on clothes.
The next meeting is @ Tim and Katies Saturday March
20th @ 7PM. We may talk about a grain deal (Doug -how
about it), a club trip to a brewery (right Dr.Dan
Social Director??), definitely beer judging STUFF,
possibly counter-pressure filler (or maybe on the
April meeting- right Chuck), and we are going to have
our 1st competition of 2004. If I forgot something –
it was not in my wifes notes – so add on if there is
more.
Please try to post your brew times in advance so
others may join in and learn – I would expect those
visiting the brewing members to bring beer and snacks
as you would to a club meeting. Remember to drink
responsibly and give plenty of time after your last
alcoholic drink if you drive yourself home.
Forward to 3/2004,
Joe
March 2004 Meeting Notes
Starcity Members,
I have been extremely busy – so this will serve as a
quickie review of the March meeting from the notes
Esther sent me earlier.
Square Society – we will not be meeting jointly with
the Square Society in April, maybe at a later date,
need a meeting date and place for April – see below.
Marsha and I will be glad to host the April meeting
next Friday April 2 @ 7PM . (Easter is the weekend of
the 9th) If others want to offer to host a meeting
another day – please call me and we will give the club
a vote by this coming Tuesday March 30.
Get your replies for Amrhein’s wine festival (July
17th) for beer donations before March 29th Monday.
Microfestivus report from Patrick Welcome guests:
Rick Theiner from DEA, Joe Marks, Jon
Eisenzimmer from the New River Brewers Guild
New member Tad Seyler and rejoining of old member
Bryan Pratt financial and membership report (33 members)
Website report – club voted to pay the $15 annual fee
for a domain name and go forward with the new site,
name to be determined via email
Demonstration on counter-pressure bottle filling by
Chuck. Kelly to order trophies this week with general style
categories to be engraved (CAP, Fruit Beer, Brown Ale,
Bock)
CAP competition: 1st place – Paul Mahoney, 2nd place –
Patrick Kennerly, 3rd place – Tim McKernan,
scoresheets will be available for entrants at the next
meeting after Joe does the tally
Meet in April,
Joe
April 2004 Meeting Notes
Howdy all,
I guess that Pete’s Wicked Ale is made in America????
It is a brown ale – does that qualify it as an example
of American Brown? This has been chosen as the 3rd
quarter style of choice. Fruit beer if the choice of
the 2nd quarter – this is an open category, but will
be judged on the base beer that is presented before
the contest (ie. fruit in Hefeweisen will be judged as
a HEFE-fruit beer).
I think all had a good time at the April meeting …
We Now have 2 new members – Dave and Diana Bailey –
(Actually Diana is going to be married to Dave and I
think she will take Bailey as her last name – but I
will find out later for sure). We only had 3 stay the
night – and all had fun the next day with plenty of
new conversation over strong coffee. I lucked out by
winning the late dart match at the very last round –
though Tad was hitting the BULLSEYE 2 times in one at
bat – so I feel very lucky.
We all decided to be able to bring – 12 oz unmarked
brown bottles to the table next time for the judging
(one beer at a time of course – bring a minimum of 3
per entry) of the category of choice. The rest of us
that do not want to bottle will be able to take
advantage of the clubs glass pitchers (Dan will be
re-reimbursed) that will be wiped down between rounds
and thoroughly rinsed before accepting a different ale
or lager. We did sample about 6 different fruit beers
– donations from the Pats and Tad – thank you all the
same. The next meeting will be on May 1st at Kelley
and Esther’s for National Home brew day with all
bringing a feast (as organized by our very social
director -DAN) and as Esther mentioned the treasury
will pay for the MEAT … (to be arranged by Dan and
Esther). The talk is that the DEA from Greenville –
MAY SHOW UP??? – but I have not heard despite many
requests and offering my house to crash on Friday
night before the event. We will have fun either way –
look at Kelley’s message and decide which style you
want to brew.
The JUNE MEETING will be held at the Pat’s for the
fruit beer competition.
Dan presented an opportunity to hear about the
chemistry of beer presented by the American Chemical
society at Radford College – E-mail directions to
follow. Dan also talked about a Shrine Temple
dinner/performance (Dan is in the band and they play
Big-Band music) as well as a field trip to Calhoun
Brewery in Harrisonburg, Va. For all those interested
in Dungeons and Dragons the feast of St. Pyre will be
in Vinton June 7-9 and all will be asked to show up in
clothing of the time to participate in the beer
contest or just enjoy the Feast for $12.00 each – this
includes camping privileges, also.
The club decided to make at least a dozen hats with
our logo from the treasury (initially) to be purchased
later by those with a need to cover the cost of the
materials and labor.
Be ready to feast and enjoy May 1st – Anyone ready to
brew before May 1st? – I need ~ 8 #’s of malted wheat
if you want to split a 10 gallon batch … I have a
pitchable bavarian yeast and will be looking to brew
very soon.
Happy times are here again,
Joe
May 2004 Meeting (Big Brew) Notes
Big Brew:
It was GREAT – but the highlight was the punch … I
liked the plum better than the pineapple – but both
were out of this world. Dan did a great job on the
Beef Brisket as well as his Boston lager. Troy brought
some Blueberry beer called pinkie winkie (I think) and
a great highly hopped CAP, we all liked it – Matt Long
(DEA) brought an amber that was good and Dave. W.
brought a British Bitter that was good. As always
Kelly had 3 great beers on tap. George and Dave have
awesome CAP’s in the bottle and each deserved at least
mid forties – according to DEA judge Bob sheck. Pat
had a great red ale and brought some New river pale
that was also a hit. Other great beers were passed,
but you had to be at the right place at the right time
in order to get them.
I am ready to brew again – because I got lazy and just
enjoyed my guests for the event. Kelly is going to
need help putting in his Hop Pole and I volunteered –
if he needs others also I am sure we can have other
volunteers.
We are going to have the next meeting June 12th at the
Pats and are going to start the competition early –
3PM – and have a BBQ afterwords. The judging will be
monitored and the stewards are going to control which
beer is going to which table so people do not have to
judge their own beers. Final judges will not have any
beers in the running for the placement. Bottled beer
will be allowed at the judging table if it is in a
plain brown bottle with no labels and markings on the
cap (use a rubber band and label your beer on a piece
of paper) – these will be popped at the table like a
real BJCP event. Thanks to Dan, we have 6 glass
pitchers to serve kegged beer (no aftertaste from beer
before adsorbed into the plastic).
Ester’s report on Amrhein reminded us that we need to
supply 10 beers for the event. We are allowed to stay
overnight, but can not set up tents until the event is
done. The event runs from 3 to 9PM. Microfestivous
report requested that we do the pouring so call Pat
for your time and brewery. PAT, I WANT DOGFISH HEAD
BREWERY PLEASE – 5-7 pm if it is still open. Dan
suggested we take a trip to Calhoun brewery after
college is out.
The cole slaw, broccoli salad, potato salad, the great
bread, the great dip, meat balls, the fresh soft shell
crab, fried chicken, brownies, chocolate chip cookies,
strawberry cake, carrot cake, shrimp and deviled eggs
as well as all the other snacks were out of this world
We needed your presence to make it right, also missed
Tommy, Tim & Katie and Tim R’s presence – as well as
all that could not come like Paul and Judy – the DEA
had a great time – of course I wore them out the night
before – I took Friday off and we went biking on the
Huckleberry trail – then drank AB all night – had bad
stomach’s after that but they came to life at the
party.
The upgraded port a Lew was a welcome addition – even
had the piped in music… all we needed was a porter
to hand out towels.
George our licensed pyromaniac created a roaring
inviting and mesmerizing fire which ended my night and
the updated late night will be reported by the VP as
time allows.
Joe
June 2004 Meeting Notes
Hello STARCITY BREWERS,
Much thanks goes to the Pats for hosting a wonderful
afternoon. We would like to welcome our newest member
-Kent – who wants to help out at everyones next brew
session to learn the tricks of the trade. Thanks goes
to all that helped cook and organize the BBQ – Dan
Chuck and others who donated the grill – nice guy, but
my mind is having a senior moment?. Hope you all are
ready for the hot summer and that means we need to
make MORE BEER! Please try to give others advanced
notice if you know you are brewing and need a hand.
Ester – thanks for all your organizational work as
well as the notes to follow about the meeting.
Everyone can pat themselves on the back for bringing
such tasty dishes and desserts. Beers were all good –
we need to remember our brewing is just for fun. I
will be absent for the next 2 meetings Kelly will be
in charge during my sabbatical- (Marsha was in the
back when the dates were discussed and I forgot about
other family matters that were already planned those
dates).
Everyone – Krogers just out on 221 is having a wine
tasting this friday June 18th at 5:30 PM for
$7.50/person – it is a good deal with food and lots of
great wines. Now back to the minutes – as received
from Esther.
Treasurer’s report
Welcome new member Kent Blazier (total of 36 members
now)
Discussion of new website, Chuck wants everyone to
create an account, he will set the accessibility
levels to allow people to post to the site, problem
with Cox.net users is not fixed yet, but Chuck knows
some people who may be able to help, need to find out
the instructions to add new email addresses to the
Club list (Doug is the administrator.), Chuck will set
the old website to re-direct to the new one, once
everything is copied
Amrhein’s – 7/17/04, need 10 beers or more, ABC
license is on the way by mail, the New River Guild
will be participating with a few beers, and they will
have their own tent
Next meeting – 7/10/04 at Troy’s, welcome home party
for Schmeez and Melanie, Bryan Pratt will talk about
the American Brown Ale style, Bryan Summerson will
search for commercial examples, August meeting will be
at Bryan Pratt’s
Bock style for December – voted to accept any of the
Bock sub-styles, entrants must inform stewards which
sub-style they are entering
Microfestivus – volunteer form is available on-line,
with SCBG members having first dibs at their preferred
volunteering area and time, need members to bring
their jockey boxes for the event, in case there are
not enough dispensing units for the beers
Road trips – Calhoun’s is open to a visit from us in
July or August, possible dates will be discussed
Fall camp out – Esther & Kelly will host, the
September Brown Ale competition meeting will be held
on that day, exact date to be determined
Cynmar – Kelly will be placing an order for items from
Cynmar, specifically flasks, if anyone needs anything,
catalog was passed around at the meeting
Club approved E&K using Big Willie the weekend of
August 13 thru 15 for a non-club event
Fruit beer competition – 13 entries, 1st place to Ross
Angel for Cherry Porter, 2nd place to Bryan Summerson
for Raspberry Red Ale, 3rd place to Ron Clark for
Raspberry American Ale(?), leader for BOTY is Patrick,
with Ron and Ross tied for 2nd, and David Fisher next
Bylaws update – after much discussion, decided to vote
on bylaws changes at next meeting
By the way, the bylaws update is only a technicality.
Whether we add this to the bylaws is up for
discussion, but the club voted at the April meeting to
the following, which is a quote from your meeting
minutes:
“We all decided to be able to bring – 12 oz unmarked
brown bottles to the table next time for the judging
(one beer at a time of course – bring a minimum of 3
per entry) of the category of choice. The rest of us
that do not want to bottle will be able to take
advantage of the clubs glass pitchers (Dan will be
re-reimbursed) that will be wiped down between rounds
and thoroughly rinsed before accepting a different ale
or lager.”
Brew on SCBG,
Prez – Joe
July 2004 Meeting Notes
All- many thanks to Troy and Sharon for hosting the July meeting and providing super burgers and dogs to complement the great appetizer foods provided by the other club members. We had about 17 members in attendance, who during the course of the afternoon and into the evening managed to get entwined into many interesting as well as lively conversations. Dan and Linda provided all with a super slide show from their recent trip to Italy. Thanks to the 2nd Lady, Treasurer, Membership Coordinator, Past President for providing the following meeting minutes:
Welcome home to the Schmeezes – Paul gave us a few pointers on brewing good beer:
Use good quality malt
Keep your yeast happy
Use good sanitation/disinfection techniques
Use fresh hops
Treasurer’s report indicates that we are getting low on funds, but we will be augmenting our Treasury with a generous donation in the near future… Our projected expenditures for the foreseeable future include cups for the Amrhein event ($40), portajohn rental ($78) and main dish purchase ($40) for the Fall campout, and commercial examples for the Bock style for October/November ($35.) Then, we start all over again for 2005. Current membership stands at 36.
Amrhein’s Sip-n-Shag event is this coming Saturday, from 4 until 9 p.m. We should plan to arrive around 2 p.m. to get set up. E&K will bring the Club tent, banner, 3 tablecloths, and most important, the ABC license. Troy will take care of cleaning Big Willee and will bring him on Saturday. Each beer contributor is responsible for providing some sort of label or displayed description of his/her beer. Of course, you can talk about your beer, but it is helpful to have a simple description of your brew for people to read. Esther has asked Amrhein for ice to be provided, we have already asked for a portajohn on our hill, and the area is supposed to be sprayed to prevent the fly problem that we had last year. Remember, camping is allowed this year (and highly recommended, as barrel samples were generously offered last year into the wee hours of the morning.)
Patrick gave us an update on Microfestivus, which is Saturday, 8/14, from 2 to 8 p.m. The club voted to pay for a room at the Hotel Roanoke for both Friday and Saturday nights. The majority of the participating breweries’ reps will be arriving on Friday, and the Club would like to have a hospitality room available for meeting and entertaining these folks, as well as sharing homebrews and generally having fun. The rate is very inviting, at $66 per night, including tax, and any members who wish to book their own rooms at this rate must inform Patrick ASAP, as the deadline is July 15th. These rooms need to be pre-paid by August 1st. Contact Patrick Kennerly for details.
The Fall Campout will be held on the weekend of September 11th at Kelly & Esther’s house in Elliston. Details will be worked out later.
The MASHOUT event in western Maryland (sponsored by the BURP club in the DC area) is 8/20 thru 8/22. This is an event that we highly recommend, as we will be attending for the 5th time this year. You will never be in the midst of a bigger and better group of homebrewers, and the available beer and food is never-ending. These people know how to throw a party. Let us know if you will be attending, as we will be going up on Thursday, 8/19 to claim our camping area and will save an appropriate space for the Club participants. Believe me, you will have a great time! There is an American Brown Ale competition on-site for those present. It is a great opportunity to participate in real judging, as well as to submit your brew at no charge for the competition. For those who do not wish to camp, there is cabin lodging at the State Park 2 miles away or at the Holiday Inn about 6 miles away. The Pats suggested that they will have enough green tomatoes available if we would like to replicate our well-received effort of 2 years ago, which was fried green tomatoes for almost 200 hungry brewers as appetizers before the Saturday evening meal.
Thanks to George Stein for repairing Big Willee, after he had been neglected for a few weeks/months and was not doing too well at all (Big Willee, not George.) After new tubing was fitted and proper cleaning, he is good as new.
There is a good bit of interest in yeast-ranching, and we will plan to have a session (separate from the monthly meeting) in the Fall. Thanks to Ross for proposing this idea.
The next meeting will be hosted by Bryan Pratt on Saturday, 8/7/04 at 4 p.m. Directions will be provided later.
Bryan Pratt educated us all on the brewing techniques, ingredients, and history of Brown Ales, specifically the American Brown Ale style. Thanks to Bryan for his efforts. He also informed us that the BJCP has been revamped and will include different styles, effective Jan. 1st, 2005, with the next 6 months as a cross-over period. We will need to take a look at what has changed prior to making our decisions on next year’s competition styles.
There are only 2 more club caps available at a cost of $8.50 each. Let Esther know if you want one, as they may be gone soon. If anyone has a shirt that they want to have embroidered with the Club logo, bring it to Amrhein’s, and Esther can probably have it to you before Microfestivus.
Bryan Summerson supplied us with 4 varieties of commercial examples of American Brown Ales that were recommended by the BJCP. After tasting them, Club consensus was that they were all more malty than the guidelines described. Thanks to Bryan S. for picking up these selections.
Sincerely your vp kelly
August 2004 Meeting Notes
All – Just a quick couple of notes regarding Saturday’s brew club
meeting. Many thanks to Bryan and Sue (yes she really does exist and is
much neater than Bryan) for all the snacks, homemade bbq, and the sharing
of their beautiful new abode. Business was pretty much kept at a
minimum, as most upcoming events have been burned into our brains for
some time now.
1 – Microfestivus this Saturday – report from
Patrick basically stated that all is
moving pretty smoothly. don’t forget the hospitality suite at the Hotel
Roanoke Fri. and Sat. The hospitality starts at 7 p.m. Fri., so bring
homebrew and food if you want to participate and network. The only bone
of contention seems to be whether or not the erection of the tent is a
worthwhile endeavor (see separate emails from Patrick, etc.) As E and I
did not attend last year at Elmwood, I was surprised by the lack of
interest in manning the tent for educational and recruitment purposes.
In the past it seemed to me that these were integral parts of the Microfestivus
experience as far as the club participation was concerned. I realize, of
course that securing the brewers and providing volunteers is extremely
important, but it seems that these other factors, if ignored, will leave
something lacking in our club’s thrust. This came up when the tent
erection subject reared. Any comments are welcome. At any rate, when
trying to find the hospitality room, ask for Joe White’s room because the
room # will not be assigned until check-in. Those who are volunteering
at Microfestivus should report to the volunteer tent upon arrival by the main
entrance and to your station 15 minutes prior to start time. Also, bring
CO2 if you have extra, just in case the brewers run out. Don’t forget a
subtle drinking vessel.
2 – Mashout 8/20-8/22 – Club voted to pay for 5 gal. of peanut oil to be
used for the fried green tomatoes (if we do them) and for campout. Cost
about $23. In exchange, recipes for moutarde, hummus, and fried chicken
will be posted to the website.
LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE GOING TO MASHOUT. AT THIS POINT, IT IS DAN &
LINDA, ESTHER & KELLY.
3 – Campout/Sept mtg 9/11 – The meeting at campout will start at noon to
allow us to proceed to american brown ale competition with a minimum of
palate fatigue, we will invite Rick from the BURP club to join us in the
judging and other festivities, all are welcome to camp, fish, play in the
river, relax at the bonfire, and drink good homebrew. More details on
this later.
4 – Potential Calhoun trip will be postponed until the fall with
appropriate schmoozing done at mf.
5 – Next meeting (after campout) will be Oct 2nd. Dan volunteered, with
Tim offering if his schedule works for that time frame (yes they are
pregnant- that’s Tim and Katie.)
6 – Bramwell has been changed BACK to Oct 9th (see Pats’ email.)
7 – Yeast meeting will be in the winter, possibly at Ross & Nancy’s.
There were only 12 folks in attendance but the food, beers, and setting
made it a really relaxed affair.
Thanks, Kelly
September 2004 Meeting Notes
Hello All,
The camp-out was a total blast! We all had a great time eating our way to NIRVANA! The BEER wasn’t bad either!! We started with our meeting to show that we have $400.00 in the bank and a great crew of 38 members to be working toward more and better membership! All our members are very high quality and friends till the very bitter end. One only needs to get to know them to appreciate the real LOVE. The Micro fest went well and we made the Square Society ~8000 dollars to boot. I guess Patrick is still fired up about leading this event, because He is able to convince the Brooklyn Brewery with Greg Wiggins to possibly get Garret Oliver to do a Beer tasting for the Roanoke area (Names Right Pat?).
We all want to thank the Kelly’s for all their work and preparation for this event. The campfire was OUT OF THIS WORLD! We do not want you to leave this area, and Hope you will keep us in mind and if you decide to move on…. We will come to your Beach house to celebrate with you in your new endeavors.
The World Beer festival is September 25th in Durham, NC and the beer is served from 12 till 4 and 6 till 10 PM for ~25$ a head for all you can drink. I will be going to the 12 to 4 shift if any one else wants a ride, let me know @ 540-520-4964.
Bramwell is also coming October 9th in a place close to Bluefield W.Va. So don’t be shy and attend a really good party with Kelly’s, Pats and Dan and Linda.
There was plenty of talk about a new brew shop coming and all will want to contact Chuck Garst and Bryan Summerson about possible new orders so they can relay our thoughts about supporting this new store.
Next meeting will be in Oct. at Dan and Linda’s, details later, and the Pat’s have volunteered for the Dec. Meeting.
=====
LIFE IS AN ADVENTURE – WHY NOT LIVE IT TO THE FULLEST?
JOE AND MARSHA
October 2004 Meeting Notes
Howdy all,
We had a fine time at Dan’s house on the 2nd but were missing a few members??? Our meeting started talking about Bramwell and made me jealous that I could not attend. We had members of the Lynchburg brew club in attendance (that brought very nice offerings of homebrew – I may add) and all seemed to enjoy the fantastic feast made by Dan with sauerkraut and brats with many fine side dishes for all. Dan had plenty of nice dessert drinks as well from many places – Italy and Franklin county – so too bad if you did not attend.
We will now have to direct our attention to new officers for the next year – start thinking about Prez, V. Prez, Secretary, and Treasurer for the 2005 year. Next meeting is at the Pat’s and the Christmas party seems to be headed to the Mahoney’s. Remember that the next BJCP category is BOCK – all included.
Hope you all will have a nice weekend and the next weekend I am home October 23rd if you want to have a mini meeting just to have some drinks together – call me after 6PM – 389-5233.
Party on,
Joe
