September 2015 Meeting – Notes

On a lovely late summer day, we had an action-filled meeting and then we all went to Big Lick for their anniversary party. A very good day!

We had twenty three members, three new members (Peter G.; Matt & Rachael), four guests (Jason Horn, Rudy’s friend, John; Jim D’s friend, Allen; and Bailie’s mother), and four kids, for a grand total of thirty four humans.

Before the meeting started, Jim D. presented The Grainfather brewing system (http://www.grainfather.com/). Amazingly compact! Everyone was riveted. Perhaps we can convince Jim to brew with it at Teach a Friend so we can see it in action!

General Business
Treasurer’s report: 84 members and $2438.20 in the bank
Future meetings:
  • October 10th – Peter G.
  • November 21st – Justin & Carrie C. (Nominations for president & VP, voting on beer styles)
  • December – Chaos Mountain (Voting, Belgian Dark Strong Ale competition)
Discussions
  • President and vice president nominations/elections
    • We had a consensus to move forward with the process to change the bylaws to allow for independent voting of prez & VP. Candidates can run for both offices or either one. We will need to send out the proposed modification for a discussion period of at least 30 days, so we will have to vote online or at the November meeting, since the October meeting is less than 30 days away.
  • 2016 internal competition styles
    • We agreed to use the same method of voting as last year, where we first select the major category through online voting and then the subcategories at the November meeting.
  • Enter the BREWniverse – September 26th
    • 2 – 6 p.m., setup starting at noon
    • Beer is needed! Kegs are preferred, but bottles accepted. If you can bring at least a twelve pack you can be part of the people’s choice voting…)
    • Rudy will bring a keg of Hefeweizen & I will bring my Scottish Heavy, wheat IPA, and hopefully the chocolate vanilla stout. John M. donated a couple six packs. It’s not enough!
    • Volunteers are needed to pour and talk about beer and science!
    • Jeff D. will brew
  • Blacksburg Brew Do & associated homebrew competition
  • Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day – November 7th
    • Volunteers are needed!
    • Beer is needed!
    • Brewers are needed!!
  • Star City Homebrew Throwdown – November 14th
    • We passed around the Best of Show tap handle that will be mounted on a base and used in place of a trophy.
    • James B. is making the bases. (Thanks, James!)
    • The first place trophies will be similar to the best of show trophy, but shorter and a lighter wood.
    • The site is now available for registration! http://throwdown.starcitybrewers.org
    • Limit of 75 entries
    • Best of Show brewed at Chaos Mountain
    • Categories will be collapsed into 8 combo-categories
    • Subterranean Throwdown category – if you like, you can have your beer also judged in the Subterranean Throwdown, which means that it is possible to win Best of Show AND the Subterranean Throwdown. More details in the rules page of the website.
    • I have extra posters that you can ask to be displayed at your favorite beer-related establishment (I have taken them to Big Lick, Barrel Chest, Mr. Bills, Wine Gourmet & Southern Hills.) (Some of you already grabbed posters and told me where you were going to take them, but I don’t recall. Please fill in the blanks!)
  • Fall campout
    • We will ask for number of people interested and try to narrow this down.
    • WildManDan’s did not meet the needs
  • Virginia Craft Brewers Fest – August 22nd
    • Held near Wintergreen (and Devil’s Backbone). Only 4000 tickets sold so there were very short lines. Brewers and brewery employees poured (no volunteers) so all questions were answered accurately and completely. Definitely worth attending – especially if you are staying at WildManDan’s…
  • Open floor (local beer/brewery updates, brewing tips/questions, etc.)
    • Jeff & Debbie shared details about their trip to Ireland. Most of us were visibly jealous…
    • Jason Horn, originally from Roanoke and now returned, talked about some of his TV pilot projects like Brü Appetit, and his YouTube video project, The Dive Whisperer. Jason is planning to purchase a local landmark restaurant (name withheld!) and convert it to a brewpub, with future expansion plans to include a larger brewery and a distillery. He is interested in working with amateur brewers for his brewpub brews.
    • Favorable reports from people’s on visits to Right Proper Brew Pub, Washington, D.C.; 3 Notch’d Brewery, Charlottesville, VA; Yee-Haw Brewery, Johnson City, TN.
Scottish Heavy Competition Results and Gift Certificate Drawing
  • Scottish Heavy Competition
    • 11 beers entered
    • Winners:
      • 1st place – Paul M.
      • 2nd place – Barry, Jason & Andy
      • 3rd place – Rudy L.
    • Thanks to Kathy and the judges & stewards!
  • Gift certificates:
    • Brewers ($40 gift certificate to Blue Ridge Hydroponics) – Barry, Jason & Andy
    • Judges & Stewards
      • $15 gift certificate to Barrel Chest – Peter G.
      • $15 gift certificate to Mr. Bill’s – Doug M.
50/50 Raffle
  • Light turnout, perhaps due to your president waiting until after everything else was finished and people were already leaving…
  • Winner: Chris B. (who bought the winning ticket at the last minute while John M. & Alex were trying to figure out how to split up the cash)
  • $19 to Chris & $20 to the club!

 

Doug Moyer