On a brisk autumn day, 24 club members (plus two latecomers), two guests, and three children, for a total of 31 people gathered together for food, friendship and fine beverages, at the lovely house of James and Joan.
General Business
- Treasurer’s report: 77 members, $1,678.83 in bank
- Princess of Propaganda report: Cups and remaining shirts will be available for purchase at Teach a Friend (Nov. 1st)
Future meetings
- November 22nd – Justin & Carrie
- December 13th (to be confirmed) – Chaos Mountain (Munich Dunkel competition)
- January – ??
Discussions
- Science of Beer – Tasting, exhibit @ Science Festival – While the weather was perhaps a disincentive for attendance, we felt that we had excellent exposure, estimating that around 200 people voted on their favorite draft homebrews (from 8 selections provided by John Merten, Bryan Summerson, Harry Montoro and myself). The winner was John Merten’s brown ale and he received a growler and $25 gift certificate from Soaring Ridge.
- Jeff Drinkert brewed a batch of beer. Blue Ridge Hydroponics supplied the ingredients and Jeff also received a gift certificate to Soaring Ridge.
- Soaring Ridge ALSO gave a gift certificate to me for organizing the club’s participation, which I donated as an extra prize for the 50/50 raffle.
- This is expected to be an annual event, which should be a very good way to reach a different type of person than Microfestivus and Teach a Friend.
- Tom Roller, one of the directors for the Science Museum, tentatively offered us meeting space in the Center in the Square. A fixed location could provide impetus for growth. Some members suggested that we could meet there every other meeting since many people enjoy hosting meetings. We will continue to explore the possibilities!
- Learn to Homebrew Day (AKA Teach a Friend) – November 1st – We have sufficient brewers and will still need volunteers to pour.
- We will monitor the weather to decide whether we want the tent, but if we do, we will need a good method (buckets of water and ropes?) to keep the wind from throwing the tent on Alex…
- Group brew at Chaos – Tentatively scheduled for 15 December (Brew HaHa on the same day).
- Beer will be loosely based on a California common
- Cost per 5 gallon carboy should be less than $10 (based on the previous Yeast Experiment), not including yeast and any adjuncts/additives that you choose to use.
- Sweatshirts/hoodies/long-sleeved t-shirts – Carrie looked into prices at Spartan, using the same design that we put on the t-shirts earlier this year. There seemed to be enough interest, so Carrie will visit Spartan to check out the quality of the material, etc. The following prices are estimates at this point.
- Sweatshirts – $18
- Hoodies – $21
- Long-sleeved t-shirts – $15
- Minimum order 24 shirts, but can be a mix of the three different types
- VOTE: dues – In a unanimous vote of 21 members in person and 26 members in absentia, the club voted to increase the dues by $5 ($20 per individual membership and $25 per couple/family membership)
- VOTE: dues – In a unanimous vote of 21 members in person and 26 members in absentia, the club voted to approve the new bylaws. (Note: the 26 in absentia votes were NOT the same 26 as voted in absentia for the dues. Some people voted for one but chose not to (or forgot to) vote for the other. The fact that the quantity of votes in absentia was the same is a coincidence…)
- Open floor:
- The Big Lick Oktoberfest (German style beer & brats) will be held in the City Market Building on October 25th from noon – 6 p.m.
- The Blacksburg Brew Do will also be on the 25th from noon – 6 p.m.
- Blue 5 will have an “all local” tap takeover starting this Friday (24th)
- There will be a Brew-HaHa! beer/comedy event in the Salem Civic Center on November 15th from 2 – 8 p.m. WROV, one of the sponsors, would like to incorporate a homebrew contest next year. (So much going on during this month, it would be difficult to organize a homebrew contest, in my opinion…)
- Chaos provided the bottle caps used for voting for favorite draft homebrew at the Science Festival. Lots of them were left over and are free to anyone that wants some…
50/50 Raffle
- Dan won the $40 Soaring Ridge gift certificate
- Jeannie won the 50/50 pot – $29
Munich Dunkel style presentation
- Thom provided a very detailed presentation on the history, ingredients and techniques associated with the style. Some details:
- Style 4B
- Traditionally decoction, but you can use some melenoidin malts as substitute.
- 4.5-5.6% ABV
- 14-28 SRM
- 12-28 IBU
- Noble, German hops preferred but should not be very noticeable in taste. Nugget is a good substitute for noble hops
