The Brewsletter
November 2009
The Official Newsletter of the Hampton Roads Brewing & Tasting Society (HRB&TS)
President’s Podium – Jonna Walker
Elections are coming!
You have received those endless phone calls asking you to vote for this person or that person. Well, that will end after you vote on Tuesday Nov. 3rd. So celebrate with us at our next meeting on Wednesday where we can discuss our club's elections for next year's officers. We need members to step up and throw their hat into the ring. As an officer you will have say in the direction the club is going. If you have any ideas, speak up. We are very open to any suggestions from all of our members. The more each member puts in to our club, the more each of us will receive from our membership. I feel like the members of HRB&TS are my best friends and I enjoy spending time with them all. We do not only see each other at our meetings and brewing sessions, but we get together for various music venues, dinners, parties, cookouts, camping, touring breweries, festivals, kayaking, watching football (really bad this year), going to the beach and some of us even got together to go Christmas Caroling. We all have very busy lives and we do not think we have time to dedicate to being an officer of HRB&TS. Last year I was voted as being the least busy, since I am retired, so I was nominated President. Attending the two monthly meetings (regular meeting and judging/officer's meeting) only takes a few hours a month to fulfill your obligations. Like passing along interesting information received from other organizations and brewers and reading emails from people interested in joining our club and replying to them. Also, as a bonus, people in Africa are always willing to share billions of dollars with you, as president of HRB&TS if you only send them certain identification information. If this interests you, nominate yourself for President. Our elections will be in December, so start thinking now how you could spend those billions waiting for you in a bank in Africa.
Other club positions are also available. Treasurer Raffle Coordinator; this was one position, but appears to be too overwhelming for one person. I think two people should do this job. Competition Coordinator; Tom is one of three judges and we really need to have him judging instead of coordinating competitions. Last but not least, is the Editor’s position.
Jonna-Dawn Walker
President HRB&TS
Meeting Location – Diane Catanzaro
November is here, or so the calendar insists. The clocks have been set back an hour, gold and russet leaves are whispering ‘rake me’ with the promise of backaches and blisters in return, and just as inevitably the HRB&TS returns to restaurants for our monthly meetings. I am excited about our November 4 meeting, to be held at the Bangkok Garden Restaurant on 21st street in Ghent.
Delicious Thai food, exotic décor, and a separate meeting room where we can gather to extol the virtues of Belgian strong ales and sample homebrews brewed by club members. Of course, this is only possible if club members bring homebrew! While Bangkok Garden has not featured microbrews in the past, they are ordering some for our meeting, and hopefully will keep some on the menu in the future. However, in ‘case’ the ordered cases don’t arrive in time, be sure to bring homebrew! The club will provide the little plastic sampling cups. Remember, we cannot bring any commercial, store-bought beer to restaurant meetings!
While the meeting ‘officially’ starts at 7:30 pm, feel free to arrive at 7 or so to get a head-start on trying some of the Bangkok Garden’s wonderful dishes, with ingredients like fragrant lemongrass, basil leaves, coconut milk, green and red curry. Stir fries….. noodle dishes…aromatic fresh soups. Some think Thai food is spicy. While it certainly can be, many dishes like the wonderful and famous pad thai (add chicken, beef, pork, tofu, and/or shrimp) are not spicy at all. Almost any dish can be made non-spicy to your specifications when ordering. For those who prefer more familiar foods, there are ample choices as well, such as sliced chicken breast, grilled meat, broccoli and beef stir-fry, chicken soup, and fried rice.
What type of beer pairs well with Thai food? Of course, many people think of Thai beer such as Singha, a pale lager. This style is of course not “Thai” but originally from the German brewing tradition, and today brewed to be very light in flavor to appeal to those who want something wet and mild to wash down their food. Thai beer, similar to the “Chinese,” “Japanese,” and “Indian” beers at many ethnic restaurants, is not much different from the majority of mass-marketed light lagers produced in the U.S. and elsewhere by global brewers.
Garrett Oliver, in The Brewmaster’s Table, suggests saison, German hefeweizen, American pale ale and IPA, and witbier as good matches for Thai food. I’ve always thought that witbier, which contains coriander and orange peel notes, was a good compliment to Thai dishes made with ingredients like lemongrass (green curry, many soups), cilantro, lime, and basil leaves. Oliver agrees, however he makes a strong case for saison as the overall ‘star’with Thai food, due to the cuisine’s bright (citrus-lemongrass-cilantro-lime-chiles) and dark notes (soy sauce, fish sauce, mushrooms) complimenting saison’s combination of bright and dark-earthy flavors. If anyone has homebrewed saison, or one of other styles noted above, why not bring it to the meeting to test these important theories?
Directions: (map and menu available at web site at http://www.bangkokgardenva.com/)
Competition Corner – Tom Byrnes
Our Belgian Strong Ale contest treated a very small number of members to some really good examples of the style. We want to thank Craig and Cindy for hosting this competition. Also thanks to CJ for stepping-up to run this contest while I was away. Our 3 judges: Craig, Cindy, Diane, eagerly accepted the challenge of evaluating our entries. The scores ranged from 25 to 37 JP dominated this competition by taking first place (37) with golden strong ale and third with a darker version (30). CJ took second place with his triple (34.5)
Brewing points are listed below:
|
2009 HRBTS CUP STANDINGS |
|
|
Name of Brewer |
Points Accumulated |
|
JP Messier |
28 |
|
Tom Byrnes |
19 |
|
Chris Jones |
11 |
|
Doug Boyd |
8 |
|
Jason Kuller |
5 |
|
Gus Gustafson |
4 |
|
You could be here …. |
?? |
We have one more contest left in our current cycle which will be the smoked porter scheduled for November 19 @ 7:30. The location will be determined later. Please watch your emails for further details.
.
|
2009 HRB&TS CUP BREWING SCHEDULE |
|||
|
Month |
Style |
Category/Sub |
AHA Event - Deadline |
|
December (Nov 19) |
Smoked Porter |
22B with base style in 12 |
|
|
January 2010 (December 17) |
English Brown Ale |
11 A,B,C |
February 16, 2010 |
|
February 2010 (Jan 21) |
American Ales |
10 A,B |
March/April 2010 |
|
March 2010 (Feb 18) |
Braggot |
26B |
|
If you are willing to host future events please email me at tombyrnes@verizon.net to reserve your month.
November Winners:
1st Place – HRBTS Cup November 2009, Golden Strong Ale; Brewer: JP Messier
2nd Place – HRBTS Cup November 2009, Triple; Brewer: Chris Jones
3rd Place – HRBTS Cup November 2009, Brewer: JP Messier
About the HRB&TS
The Hampton Roads Brewing and Tasting Society is dedicated to promoting the enjoyment of home brewing. The annual dues are $20 per individual and $25 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. Visit the HRB&TS online at www.hrbts.org.