Home Imbrewment
January 2005
The Official Newsletter of the Hampton Roads Brewing & Tasting Society (HRB & TS)
The
President’s Podium – Tom Byrnes
Well, I must say this is weird. After 4 years of writing the competition section of the newsletter, I’ve seemed to move uptown!! I know you’re used to seeing CJ’s witticisms and humor with a hint of sarcasm but fear not they will be intact in other portions of this newsletter. Speaking of CJ, he has been on the executive committee ever since I’ve been a member circa 1994. CJ has tirelessly worked for this club and has helped shape it into its current form. Please let him know that you have appreciated his efforts. He has also had a supporting cast that deserves a thank you as well.
That said, Welcome to HRBTS 2005! You have elected a new and very diverse group of officers to lead this club over the next year. As your president I will assure you that I will join the other officers to work hard to make this a new and exciting year. But we realize that the “heart and soul” of this club is you, the member, so please feel free to share your ideas regarding the direction of the club this year. My email address is kmstfb2@exis.net and your opinions are always welcome.
We have put together a brewing schedule (published elsewhere in this newsletter) that I’m sure will offer the old favorites, new styles and fun activities. Let’s talk about the highlights. We will participate in all but 2 of the AHA Club only contests. We omitted 2 that did not give our members time to brew a quality product. In May we will showcase our extract brewers and demonstrate the improvements in the extract process. In September we will host a “big tent” lager contest covering four of the light lager styles. January will yield the imperials, a grouping of beers that is bold and flavorful. Our creative contest will occur during American Beer month in which members will attempt to brew an American Pale Ale that is very popular in our club. This contest will also have some surprises that you will find out later. Our last month includes two strong beers one ale and one lager.
I’m sure you will agree that our schedule is ambitious and adventurous but it’s overall success will be measured by the number of entries received. So if you want to see more of a certain style, brew them.
You will also see immediate changes in the HRBTS CUP next year. We have removed the entry point due to concerns about accumulating points through multiple entries. Also members who take the initiative to win an AHA sanctioned regional or club only contest will receive the equivalent of HRBTS points as a reward for their efforts. The point structure will revert back to 3 for first place, 2 for second, and 1 for third. I am excited about these changes and all of the officers believe that they are in the best interest of this contest. There are still two unresolved issues that will be brought to a membership vote at the January meeting. These issues involve whether or not to limit entries per sub style and whether or not to amend the current bottling rules. You will decide these issues in a written ballot. Over the last two months you have heard the issues, expressed your opinion and now it’s time to vote and move on. If you have missed several meetings and are not aware of both sides of these issues, please consult the discussion board at www.hrbts.org. You can also subscribe to our digest at digest@hrbts.org for immediate feedback to questions from members and issues facing the club. There will also be a ballot item regarding an antiquated by-law item.
The 2004 HRBTS Cup awards ceremony is also scheduled for the January meeting, providing all of the awards arrive on time. This was a tightly fought competition and I think both winners set new records for brewing beer each month. Our 2004 Brewing King is Richard Pidgeon, and our second place winners were the husband and wife team of CJ and Diane. I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate these ambassadors of home brewing for their efforts and quality beers. We all have benefited from tasting their beers over the year and are very appreciative.
With little time for rest we judged our first beer of the 2005 contest year. This yielded 4 entries of spiced beer, which will be discussed in detail in the competition section of this newsletter.
Finally I wanted to restate the desire of this executive committee to work for you. Our success will depend on your participation in club events and your ability to share your ideas and feelings with us. Together we can embark on an exciting journey into the world of beer, so don’t be shy.
The Next Meeting Location – Diane Catanzaro
Happy New Year!! The first HRB&TS meeting of the new year will be Wednesday, January 5 at La Bodega Hampton, formerly known as the Pottery Wine and Cheese Shop, at 22 Wine Street, in downtown Hampton. The meeting begins at 7:30, but show up early and get your sandwich order in, peruse the beer selection, and socialize with your fellow club members. Also, don’t forget to renew your membership (in other words, pay your dues!) so you can vote on the various issues on the agenda at this meeting.
Bodega is more of a deli-gourmet shop with seating than a restaurant, and has a variety of sandwiches and deli-type salads that should please both your palate and your pocketbook. Luis is staying open especially for us; La Bodega usually closes at 6 pm. So, buying a tasty sandwich and a beer or two is both a nice dinner and a way to show your appreciation of Luis and his staff for letting us meet at La Bodega.
http://www.labodegahampton.com/395750.html will get you the menu (it says lunch menu because they are usually only open for lunch). Examples of their tasty sandwiches include the King George… country ham, brie, red onion, and house dressing, and the Navigator… smoked turkey, sun-dried tomatoes, smoked gouda, and house dressing. Yum. They also have chicken salad, tuna salad, and so forth. You can call your order in to have it ready when you arrive if you wish (see phone below).
La Bodega has a variety of beers; English ales are most heavily represented (Mackeson, Newcastle, Young’s Oatmeal, Harp) but they also have Legend and St. George microbrews. And of course don’t forget to bring some of your homebrew!! See you on Wednesday!
Directions: La Bodega is in the cool area of downtown Hampton at 22 Wine Street (722-8466). Take Rt 64 to the County St/Hampton University exit (rt 143). Merge onto Rt 60/Settler’s Landing Road. After you cross the water (there will be a bridge under you!), just before the Air and Space Museum, take a right on Wine St. 22 Wine Street is on the right about a block down the road. There is ample parking.
Brewing Schedule for 2005 –
C.J.
Your executive board put our heads together and pounded out a brewing schedule for 2005 that is steered toward our Club strengths (ales), challenges our brewing skills (Belgian & French ales; Dale’s Pale Ale clone) and provides an opportunity to compete in most AHA contests. Gentlepersons, start your yeasts!
2005 HRB & TS Beer of the
Month Schedule
|
Month (2005 unless stated
otherwise) |
Beer style name & 2004
BJCP beer style category number |
Beer judging date (2005
unless stated otherwise; usu. two weeks before Club meeting) |
Winner goes to an AHA Club
Only Contest? |
|
January |
Spiced
Beers (21) |
15
December 2004 |
|
|
February
|
Strong
Belgian ales (18) |
19
January 2005 |
|
|
March |
Brown
ales (10C & 11) |
16
February 2005 |
|
|
April
|
Fruit
(20) & Cider (27 & 28) |
23
March 2005 |
|
|
May |
Extract
(all) |
20
April 2005 |
Yes |
|
June |
Mead
(24-26) |
18
May 2005 |
|
|
July |
Dale’s
Pale Ale clone (n/a) |
22
June 2005 |
|
|
August |
Belgian/French
ale (16) |
20
July 2005 |
Yes |
|
September |
Lagers
(all) |
24
August 2005 |
Yes,
for European Amber Lagers (3) |
|
October |
Stouts
(13 A-E, not F) |
21
September 2005 |
|
|
November |
Porter
(12) |
19
October 2005 |
Yes,
for Baltic Porter (12C) |
|
December |
Holiday
ales (21B) |
23
November 2005 |
|
|
January
2006 |
Imperial
Stout (13F) & Imperial Pale Ale (14C) |
21
December 2005 |
|
|
February
2006 |
Doppelbock
(5C) and Barleywine (19B & 19C) |
18
January 2006 |
|
The “Let’s Re-name our Newsletter” Contest –
Will Walker
I’ve been editing this delightful beer rag for about a year now. It occurred to me a couple of months ago that our newsletter name is a little, well, you know…lame? It’s a play on the name of a popular TV sitcom from the early ninety’s. Are they even showing reruns of that show?
Well, now it’s the “aughts”, we have a new administration and I think its time we came up with a more contemporary name for this fine publication. Instead of just picking a name myself, I thought it would be way more fun to have the club members participate. So here are the contest rules:
Club members rack their brains and come up with clever, witty ideas for a newsletter name. E-mail your ideas to me at wnj1@cox.net or see me at the January meeting. We will vote on the submitted names at the February meeting. The winning entry will receive bragging rights as well as a sixer of Dale’s Pale Ale and a complimentary one year Club membership. Free beer, free dues, doesn’t get much better than that!
2005 HRB & TS Cup Contest
for January 2005, Christmas Ales (21B) – C.J.
The first judging session for the 2005 HRB & TS Cup was held at Tom and Kate Byrnes’ house on 15 December 2004. Six judges had four fine Christmas beers to judge. When all the dust settled, here’s how things ended up:
First Place – Victor Perotti – 36.2 point average score;
Second Place – C.J. & Diane Catanzaro – 35.4 point average score; and
Third Place – Tom Byrnes – 32.6 point average score.
Prior to the judging, we had a thinking session and came up with revised HRB & TS Cup rules for the Club to vote on at the next meeting. One of those proposed changes was to no longer grant points for entering contest, only for finishing in the top three spots, so the table below reflects this proposed change. In the unlikely event that the Club nixes the proposed changes, the table below will be tweaked accordingly the following month.
2005 HRB & TS Cup
Standings
|
Name of Brewer(s) |
Total Points Accumulated |
|
Victor Perotti |
3 |
|
C.J. & Diane Catanzaro |
2 |
|
Tom Byrnes |
1 |
|
You could be here …. |
GET BREWING |
Treasurers Report
– Mellissa Pensinger
First, I'd like to say I am excited about being Secretary/Treasurer
again! In the 10 years Mike has been brewing beer he's only made one that
is close enough to my taste buds that I will drink! So being Secretary/Treasurer
will keep me busy during the meetings.
I am excited about the New Year with the club. And on a personal
note, Mike and I want to wish all of you a wonderful New Year!
See you in 2005
LIBEERIAN Mike
Pensinger
Hello for your friendly neighborhood libeerian! Victor dropped off the complete libeery (minus a couple check outs... you know who you are) and I organized it and racked it. Additionally Andy Rathmann from St. George Brewing donated around 10 years of back issues of New Brewer, Zymurgy and a couple trade magazines. You can stop by and browse the library at HomeBrewUSA. Make sure your dues are paid up before you ask to check something out, as I will be monitoring that!
Commercial Corner
Wine & Cake is currently having an after Christmas Sale. Many of the books and Liquid Malt extracts are currently on sale. On behalf of the club we also want to thank Annabel for her recent donation of 33lbs of liquid malt extract.
Upcoming Events from HomeBrewUSA: January 15th - Basic
Extract Brewing Class - Free
admission. Requires advance sign-up. January 20th, Monthly
Tech Presentation. Make Better Beer Using Yeast Starters. Join us for our
free technical presentation at 6:30 p.m. Tasting afterwards so bring some
beer! May 7th 2005: Big BREW... Mark your calendars and joins us for a
group brewing event like no other
I would like to remind members that both Homebrew USA and Wine and Cake offer HRBTS members a 10% discount when you pay by cash or check. A similar discount is available at Homebrew.com. In order to qualify for these discounts you must have your dues paid up and be on the member list that Mellissa provides to these retailers.
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.