January 2018 meeting notes

Despite the NFC and AFC Championship games, we were still able to bring a nice crowd of 30 regular members and 5 guests to Blue Ridge Hydroponics for a total of 35. We also had a dog in attendance!

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. There is a convenient PayPal option on the website here: http://www.starcitybrewers.org/pay-dues/

To avoid a $1 fee choose the “Friends and Family” option.

  • Next Meeting
    • Scott and Martha’s- Saturday February 17th 4:00-7:00PM
    • This meeting will also be the Czech Lager Presentation Led by Rudy L. Thanks Rudy for doing this!
  • Treasurer’s Report
    • Balance: $4,612.06
  • 2018 Budget: Harry M.
    • Discussion Points
      • Expense Increase for BOTY Plaque (Discussed Later).
      • Possible Tent Repairs
      • BJCP reimbursement was lowered and more money was put into categories such as PR materials, educational opportunities, and the plaque.
    • The Budget was approved with no opposition (Dilly Dilly).
  • Beer Land TV Show – Rudy
    • Reminder to check out the TV series and apply if you are interested in appearing on the show.
    • An email was sent out with the application attached for anyone interested. Ken and Jen Sharp-Knott seemed to be interested. Will follow up with them.
  • Community Update 
    • Takumi was not present so no updates. Future updates to come as the committee will rejoin to begin discussion soon. Hopefully we will have something to report at the February Meeting.
  • SCBG Branded Gear
    • Work Shirts – Alternate colors may be available
    • Tee Shirts
    • Magnetic Name Tags
    • Hats
  • Twin Creeks Collaboration
    • Andy Bishop of Twin Creeks Brewing has graciously offered to collaborate with the guild.
    • This will entail brewing small (15 gallon) batches with the quarterly style competition winners.
    • The beer will be sold onsite only at the brewery.
    • This will possibly be opened up to small groups of guild members outside of the comp winners.
    • We are still working on logistics but will keep you posted on new details.
    • A huge thanks to Andy Bishop & Twin Creeks for supporting the guild.
  •  Industry Membership
    • Local Commercial Brewery Memberships
    • Chris G. & Rudy L. have reached out to Deschutes and other local breweries. But the idea seems like a foreign concept to folks in Bend, Oregon.
    • Still need to talk with folks from Ballast Point as San Diego has a huge homebrewing community.
    • Board will continue to research to come up with some sort of deal to get industry members active in the guild. Their knowledge of is very valuable.
    • We hope to coordinate education and collaboration opportunities with the members.
  • New Business 
    • Highland Games Brew Demo– Mario C. raised in an email that we should pursue having a presence at the Highland Games at Green Hill Park in Salem.
      • Allen- Keep in mind that demos most likely need to be bare-bones setup, jugs of water and an ice bath for chilling- much like GoFest.
      • The club seemed to like the idea of having a presence at the games.
      • Allen and Mario will coordinate with those in charge of the games to see what we could possibly do there.
      • Games are in August, so it will most likely be very hot (and there’s no shade).
    • BJCP Follow Up
      • Congrats to Matt Klump, Ken Sharp-Knott & Darin Pearson for passing the exam.
    • Go Fund Me Page for Mushroom Exhibit
      • This is a mushroom and mycology exhibit in honor of our fellow guild member Skip Taliaferro at the Science Museum of Western Virginia.
      • The latest update is that the goal of $2,500 was exceeded.
      • We will keep everyone up to date on the progress of the exhibit and hope to have members present for the unveiling and ribbon cutting.
    • Throwdown Changes
      • Due to changes in Throwdown leadership, no Throwdown this calendar year.
      • Resume Throwdown as a Spring Event in 2019.
      • Rudy stepped up as the new coordinator for Throwdown. Thanks Rudy for taking on this role.
    • Charity Fundraiser
      • looking for local charity opportunities (Meals for Students, Children’s Hospital, ect.)
      • Upon discussion, we decided that it’s much easier to have a brewery host an event rather than supplying homebrew at an event due to alcohol licenses and so-forth.
      •  Doug Moyer and Chris Gray will work to move this forward.
    • LTHB Day/May Meeting/BigBrew
      • Should we keep the Big Brew Event and May Meeting as a single event?
        • The general guild opinion was to keep it all together.
        • This will be a busy day, so we’ll need as much participation as possible to move things along and help get setup.
    • BJCP – Off Flavor Kit
      • The kit is un-used from the BJCP testing so we are looking at a future tech talk(s) to use these.
    • Rudy L. – Tech Talk
      • Electric Brewing Tech Talk Saturday, February 10 at Rudy’s House (Time to be determined by Rudy).
      • Rudy will give a presentation followed by a brew day to show off his fancy electric brewing system.
  • Open Floor
    • Twin Creeks – Creek Fest 
      • We have been invited to do a demo event/guild tent at no cost. 
    • 50/50 Raffle
      • Congrats to Bill Z., our visitor all the way from West Virginia, who won the 50/50 raffle.
      • $35.00 earned from the raffle.
    • Brewer of the Year Plaque
      • Due to the cost of a matching plaque, we asked if any club members would be interested in designing a new plaque for us to showcase Brewer of the Year.
      • James Brown stepped up to do this. Thank you James for taking this project on. The board is currently discussing options for this.
    • Brewer of the Year T-Shirt Presentation
      • Rudy and Darin received their BOTY shirts. We got them each a shirt so they don’t have to share.
    • Style Presentation – English Brown
      • Thank you Darin P. for the excellent presentation 
      • The consensus was that Newcastle was skunked due to clear glass bottles. Fan favorites included Sam Smith’s Nut Brown Ale and Abita’s Turbodog. Sam Smith’s Nut Brown is cited on the BJCP Guideline, so if you missed the meeting and want to try a BJCP cited example, that one is accessible around town.

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