April 2018 meeting notes

We couldn’t have asked for a better day to host a meeting in April. It was a comfortable 67 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and a slight breeze in the air. Jimmy and Marisa’s home was laid out perfectly for hosting an outdoor meeting and we were able to use the guild’s tent for the first time this year. 19 members came out to Jimmy and Marisa’s place and their dog, Sam, joined us as well waiting patiently for someone to drop some food near him.

Dues Reminder- If you have not paid dues for 2018, please do so. Diane will collect dues at the next meeting if you wish to pay cash or check. If you would prefer to use PayPal, simply send money to president@starcitybrewers.org . Choose the “Friends and Family” option to avoid a fee.

  • Next Meeting
    • Big Brew/Homebrew Demo Day- Saturday, May 5th 11-6
    • Volunteers are needed!
    • Google spreadsheet going out soon
    • Carrie, Steve, Chris G., Adam, James, and Ken K. have all volunteered to brew. Please let me know what you plan on brewing and if you have not already, describe your system so we can make arrangements on equipment/water/electricity.
  • Treasurer’s Report
    • Balance: $4769.52
    • 101 paid members at the time of the meeting.
    • Club vote approved that the allocated money for GoFest ($150) go up to $250 to rent a 10×20 space to better accommodate brewing demos as well as tastings. In the meantime- we will see if we can catch a break on the pricing.
  • SCBG Work Shirts
    • Work shirts are finally in and corrected. Please pay $28 for yours at your earliest convenience. Paypal is accepted.
    • If you were not able to make it to the meeting, Rudy has your shirt. Please contact him to setup a time to pick it up.
  • Future Tech Talks
    • Please contact Allen- alphonzspe205@gmail.com if interested in organizing one.
    • Chris G. wants to host a tech talk on Kettle Souring in June. Date TBD.
    • Southern Hills is always available for us to gather during business hours- Just contact Robb ahead of time. Thanks Robb for all your support.
    • Additionally, Robb is allowing us to use his equipment at the store. Just call ahead.
  • Community Building Meeting
    •  Having set and agreed upon expectations for the Guild before events – this was spurred on by a couple of topics (Ballast Point/Pink Boots day & Throwdown/Possible Homebrew Con) but what we agreed upon was that it would behoove the Guild in future endeavors to know what the Guild needs and requires from certain events so that we can better decide what events to participate in.  This is really nothing more than a simple check-list, but it would be wise to have and do.
    • Public Tasting – we’ve been talking about co-hosting public tasting events to help people, particularly women, learn more about what flavors to expect from craft beer, how to find beers that they would like (this seems to be a big thing), and hopefully introduce them to homebrewing by opening this door.  We talked about holding such events at Barrel Chest, Deschutes, Ballast Point, Twin Creeks, and possibly even the Highland Games. — I believe Chris was taking the lead on this.
    • Guild Ambassador & What to Expect – This just needs to be implemented.  We need a simple one-page flier that we can have at meetings.  The flier should contain information for a newbie on what to expect at meetings (Steve & Adam had very good suggestions here) and also something for Guild Ambassadors just to define the roll some.  
    • Guild Participation in External Competitions – UPS is now opening every package mailed, making the shipping of bottles of beer more difficult.  We talked about other options, including possible “road trips” (this was also discussed at the April SCBG meeting and Harry said that the reimbursement would be ok/the same either way) — Steve is on this
    • Hosting some more Homebrew Events:  this one is a two parter –
          a) Host a Brew Day Demo with Twin Creeks possibly outside at the Vinton Farmer’s Market — Chris G. has been in talks with them about this
          b) Host a Homebrew Con (convention/festival) — This would possibly go hand in hand with Throwdown, in an attempt to make the event more.  We could perhaps partner with AHA and do an AHA Rally during this (this is apparently something they’ve been interested in for this area – Robb recommended we talk to Matt Bolling); we also talked about reaching out to the local Pink Boots chapter to include them in this.  We talked about the possibility of moving Throwdown from Chaos to possibly BLBC simply because of amenities around BLBC and lack of around Chaos (hotels, etc). This goes back to #1 about what the Guild needs for events.  — Chris was supposed to be following up with Rudy & Matt
    •  Tech Talks – we talked about having them more often and, at the April SCBG meeting, it was agreed that they should be done as quarterly auxiliary events.  We also talked about having one regarding “Start Up Stuff” at Big Brew (**we need someone to lead this!!**)
      Future Topics included:
      * Kettle Sours – Chris & Rodger
      * Yeast Propagation
      * Kegging Systems/Equipment – Adam & Rudy
      * Collecting Wild Yeast – Takumi
    • Barrel Project – there is another Barrel Project in the works.  This one should have a much shorter fermentation time & turn around so that your beer won’t simply be out there for several years.  Brewers participating would brew all grain, 10 gallons, brew & prime at home with the same recipe to be then added to the bourbon barrel. — Chris is supposed to be sending out an email about this
    • Spotlight Brewer – we have been talking about doing a Brewer Feature on the website.  Since the website is in need of an overall updating and a path for that hasn’t been decided upon yet, this has been implemented on our social media pages.  Carrie has taken the lead on this and anticipates doing one brewer spotlight a month.  The first one has already been done (Rudy) and she’s asking for future nominations from the Guild.
  • Next Community Building Meeting- Saturday May 12th at 2pm at Barrel Chest.  An event for this has been created and posted on our FB Group page.
  • 50/50 Raffle
    • $52 collected
    • Lynn won the $26 and spent it on next year’s dues for her and Harry!
  • Social Media Review
    • Allen and Carrie reminded folks of all the modes of social media the guild has.
    • Facebook Page vs. Facebook Group- Page is external, Group is internal.
    • Additionally, the guild’s Instagram page has been revived and has close to 200 followers.
    • Please always try and engage with the guild’s page- that’s what it’s there for. Like, Share, Comment.
    • Suggested that we look into a way of neatly consolidating and organizing all social media posts.

New Business

  • Yeast propagation project
    • Rudy read an interesting BYO article about yeast propagation as a club project and thinks it would be fun to create a house strain of SCBG yeast and bank it for club use.
    • Perhaps we could develop house strains through a future wort share.

Meeting Adjourned