The Official Newsletter of the Hampton Roads Brewing & Tasting Society (HRB & TS)

The President’s Podium – Chris “C.J.” Jones

Whoa, what a wicked wench hurricane Isabel was. Power out everywhere for one or more weeks, cold showers all over town, and beer lovers having to scramble all over Tidewater looking for ice. I heard many a malt maven had to switch to red wine! Hopefully you got through the storm with minimal damages and tolerable inconveniences.

That brings us to the good news / bad news stuff. Will and Jonna Walker have been our October hosts for the last decade or so, but they have been without power until the Redskins beat the Patriots (yesterday). It is too much to ask for them to spring into “hosting” action after being in a dark house for almost two weeks, so we won’t be having an Octoberfest Party at the Walker’s this week. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that we will meet at the German Pantry in Norfolk, and still be able to enjoy fine German food and beverages. The game plan is to have three entrees to select from, plus the wursts, appetizers, and side dishes that are usually there, and of course, have access to a huge variety of German beers. So, sorry about the late notice, but this all came together last night. See you Wednesday.

Our last general meeting was at the Dodge home, land of the Potato Bazooka. It is amazing how much fun you can have with PVC pipe, some White Rain hair spray, an ignition source, and some spuds. We couldn’t tell which version had the greatest travel distance, Yukon Gold or Idaho White, but tubers were flying everywhere. It was definitely worth traveling through a flooded Norfolk to get there. Thanks again to the Hickman family.

We had scheduled a lager contest for judging earlier this month. We are just swimming in very competitive lager lovers. because we had no entries. On the plus side, it made the contest easier to judge. We have had two lager contests so far this year, with one entry, period. It appears to me that this is an unmistakable message from you, the members. Hopefully this minimal participation in lager contests will result in more traditionally popular contests (wheat, stout, porter, pale ale, mead, etc.) being scheduled for 2004, with less attention paid to the sometimes-esoteric styles embraced by the American Home brewers Association.

The Next Meeting Location – Diane Catanzaro

The Wednesday, October 1 Octoberfest meeting will be held at the German Pantry in Norfolk. The German Pantry has graciously agreed to accommodate us in the aftermath of mean old Hurricane Isabel, who left Will and Jonna without electricity for well over a week! So this called for an eleventh hour change in plans. Will and Jonna folks had no time to construct their Beer Hall (the power tools would not work), oompah music was hard to find on the battery-powered radio, and without doing laundry it was feared the lederhosen would not be fresh. So it is Wallace and Sieglinde to the rescue and we can celebrate this Octoberfest with homemade German food, German beers, and German atmosphere at this wonderful local restaurant. The Pantry has over 35 German beers in the bottle and also one or two on tap. The menu includes a variety of wursts, sandwiches, and appetizers, and we will have 3 entrees to choose from, including a schnitzel and smoked salmon.

The location is only minutes from I-64 and I-265, and is very easy to get to. 5329 Virginia Beach Blvd, Norfolk, 461-5100.

From the Peninsula: Take I-64 East to Military Highway South exit. Follow Military Highway a mile or two. Turn right onto Rt 58/Va Beach Blvd. German Pantry is on the left in about a minute.

From Norfolk, VA Beach, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, etc.: Take I-264 toward Military Hwy. Take Military Hwy North exit. About a mile down the road is the big intersection with Rt 58/Va Beach Blvd. Take VA Beach Blvd west, toward Norfolk. The German Pantry is on the left in about a minute.

HRB & TS Contest Judging – Tom Byrnes

This months contest was cancelled due to lack of entries. This is the first time this has happened in the three years that I have held this position. The CJ/ Diane Ginger Lime Pale Ale represented our club in the AHA Club-Only contest, which was held last Saturday in Williamsburg, VA, by the CASK Club. No results at press time.

Remember any member is welcome to come to the judging’s. This is a way to learn about the styles and help your brewing. Besides you get to drink good homebrew two days per month. We do, however, ask members to be sure their entries conform to the BCJP guidelines. These can be accessed at www.beertown.org. We do need other locations for judging meetings to spread these around a little. So if you would like to hold a judging meeting at your house, please let me know. Also I would like to see those members participating in the BCJP study group participate in the club judging’s. What better way to apply your knowledge of styles and to practice offering your fellow brewers feedback on their brewing craft.

Here are the current Briess Cup reflecting that no member earned additional points over the last month.

BRIESS CUP 2003 STANDINGS
BREWER CUMULATIVE POINTS
CJ/Diane 55
Victor Perrotti 29
Doug Boyd 24
Rich Sens 20
Tom Byrnes 17
Mike Pensinger 7
MikeQuanty/Rob Sisson/John Hoover. 2
Bruce Parker 1

Speaking of Briess, this is the time of the year when we solicit feedback about the possible rule changes. If you have some concerns or suggested changes in this contest please mail me kmstfb2@exis.net or post on the club discussion board (I think it’s still alive). We will discuss these and bring the proposed changes to the membership for vote in the December meeting. This is your chance to have some influence on the contests and to make your opinion count.

Our Club contest schedule is listed below along with the AHA Club Only Dates and Club Judging Dates:

Month Beer of the Month BCJP Category Club Only Contest HBBTS Judging
November Kolsch and Altbier 8 Nov/Dec Oct 22
December Barley Wine 12 January 04 November 19
January Holiday Beers December 24?

Currently the AHA has announced a mead club only contest in April 2004 and an Extract Only contest in May 2004. The new officers should be developing a brewing schedule early next year.

Saturday November 1st is Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day where home brewers around the world are encouraged to invite non-brewing and brewing friends and family to celebrate Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day and brew a batch of beer together. Last year our club sponsored a site at Virginia Beach Homebrew hobbies, which was successful. If you are a business and are interested in sponsoring this event, please contact Tom Byrnes at kmstfb2@exis.net. Club members also let me know if your are interested in attending this group brew session. This would also be a good recruiting venue for the club.
Welcome New Members I wanted to welcome Catherine Wilson and Randy Gore who joined our club in September. We look forward to seeing you at future club events. Please let me know if you have any questions and/or problems with your memberships.

Flights at the Colley Cantina – C.J. Jones

Ever want to travel, but find yourself short on funds? Want to take flight for about eight bucks, and find yourself in another place, filled with more hops that a rabbit farm?

Then brothers and sisters, you need to get to the Colley Cantina in Norfolk’s Ghent and grab a flight of pale ales. Eight dollars gets you three eight-ounce glasses of three of the fines draft pale ales made in the USA. The first leg of your journey, Three Floyds Alpha King Pale Ale, 5.8 % ABV, made with ten malts, two yeasts, and about a fist full of hops per glass. Your second stop, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, a whopping 9% ABV, a huge beer with more hops that you thought would go into solution. And finally, the last leg of your lupulin-powered trip, Three Floyds Dreadnaught IPA, a monster, around 10% ABV, it has more hops than the Redskins had penalties against the Giants two weeks ago. Hokey Smokes Bullwinkle, three great beers, one low price. How do they do it? Volume! Or something like that.

About the HRB & TS

The Hampton Roads Brewing and Tasting Society is dedicated to promoting the enjoyment of home brewing. The annual dues are $15 per individual and $20 per family. Members are encouraged to support the reasonable enjoyment of beer and observe the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Federal government, and the Golden Rule. Persons attending HRB & TS meetings and events are solely liable for actions attendant to their participation. HRB & TS maintains a NO SMOKING policy during all meetings so that members may better enjoy fine beers. Smoking is permitted in meetings held in restaurants in the facility’s designated smoking areas.

Visit the HRB & TS online at www.hrbts.org.