The Brewsletter
September 2009
The Official Newsletter of the Hampton Roads Brewing & Tasting Society (HRB&TS)
President’s Podium – Jonna Walker
LATE BREAKING NEWS!!!
The James River Homebrewers 16th Annual "Dominion Cup" Homebrew Competition held Saturday Aug 29, 2009 included several entries from HRB&TS. Tom Byrnes won a 1st for his English Barleywine. JP Messier won a 1st for his Hefeweizen and 3rd for his Cherry Wheat. Judges from our club include Tom, JP, Will Walker and Richard Pidgeon. Thanks guys for helping James River Homebrewers with their event and congratulations to JP and Tom for their excellent brews. That is what this is all about brewing and sharing, experimenting and learning.
Aug 21st we had our annual picnic. This year we partied at North Landing Beach Riverfront Campground & Resort. We had about 35 invited members and their families and one uninvited guest "BILL". Actually I don't really think it was Bill, but parts of the cold front which kept Bill from getting to us. So we had a little rain, but that helped cool things down. Earlier there was a lot of sunshine and we were nicely settled under a pavilion adjacent to the pool for the picnic, before the rains. Ron Jones brought his grill and served up some tasty burgers, veggie burgers, sausages and hot dogs, all provide by HRB&TS. Members provided delightful side dishes and desserts. (I did not eat all those brownies Jhoanne Allenberg brought; someone else must have had one!) We had some wonderful home brews, I drank mostly CJ’s Saison, and so I can't tell you a lot about the other selections. Cindy Cutler & Craig Haines just returned from Russia with some wonderful, wonderful meads, which they shared. If you did not get any, Diane and I can tell you how wonderful they were.
We had our monthly judging during the festivities and then we were able to sample those also. Nice! Music was provided by our own CJ along with Jennings Lyon (former club member & past president plans to rejoin us) and his friend Frank. Shawn Iman also joined in with his guitar and vocals. After dark we all headed towards the cabins, which several members had rented built a couple of bonfires and toasted marshmallows. Some listened to the Redskins game by radio. More beer was shared. Thanks to everyone who attended, you made it a very fun event. We missed those who had to work or couldn't make it for any other reason. Thank you Matt Murphy, for hosting our last meeting. Again rain barged in, but some people were able to swim in your beautiful pool prior to the storm and your family's hospitality and Rob Camlin's additional canopy kept the evening going.
Will and I are leaving next month for Munich, Sept 19th is opening day of Oktoberfest and we have already contacted our friends we met there in 2001 and 2002, with plans to meet up again this year. Anyone else joining us?
There is a nice little restaurant on Shore Drive called "H20". Will & I have been there in the past, but Rob & Jodi Sisson discovered they now have a great beer selection. This is news for Virginia Beach residents, very few establishments in our town sell anything but ... you know! Also, check out "HK on the Bay", Brian tries to keep some special brews on tap there. Please pass along info of any places you have found in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach or Hampton/ Newport News which served decent beers. We can't all live near Colley Avenue and 21st Street in Norfolk.
Keep on Brewing,
Jonna Walker
President HRB&TS
Meeting Location – Diane Catanzaro
September….the back to school month for those of you who are in school, teach school, or have school age young’uns. The month of crisp apples for teacher, new shoes, and Halloween stuff popping up in retail windows. Pumpkin beers are arriving in your local beershop. But wait!!!!!!!!! I’m not ready for autumn. I am still thinking bathing suit, sunshine, witbier, Berliner weisse, wave-catching, sandcastle-making, and porpoise-watching. How about your? Would you like to make summer fun last a bit longer? Yes, I thought so!!!
Let’s make summer last a bit longer by making a splash at our last summer-pool-party meeting of the year. We’ll meet Wednesday September 2 beginning at 7 pm at the Virginia Beach home of Erin and Phil. Ok, you may only see human porpoises (I can do a pretty decent Flipper vocal impersonation….) and imaginary sandcastles, but I hear that Phoodie-Phil will be grilling chicken with zee special sauces so we can look forward to some good eatin’ fo’ sho’! Side dishes are welcome and of course bring some of your finest homebrew or store-bought beer….after October we are back to restaurants and won’t be able to bring those special commercial microbrews to meetings. Drink ‘em if ya got ‘em!! (And share ‘em with your HRB&TS pals….!!!)
Don’t forget swimsuits and a towel to enjoy a dip in the pool as we dip into some great beer and food. Bring an extra homebrew or special craft beer as a ‘host and hostess’ gift for Phil and Erin. See you then!
Competition Corner – Tom Byrnes
We judged our unique spice beer at the picnic; it was the first time that we judged in the middle of a rain storm, while some would call it wind, thunder and rain, JP just called it the sweet sound of victory. Our 6 judges: Skip, Diane, JP, Eric, Ron and Will had a tough job as most entries appeared to be of ribbon quality. The scores ranged from 23.8 to 34 JP continued his quest for a 3-peat by taking first place with a Rosemary Rye beer which was awesome (34). CJ returned to the points race and took second place (31.4) with a Lavender Saison and JP extended his lead with third (30.4) with a Mint Brown Porter. Also thanks to JP, CJ and Tom for brewing for the picnic, the standings reflect your 3 points for picnic brewing.
Brewing points are listed below:
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2009 HRBTS CUP STANDINGS |
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|
Name of Brewer |
Points Accumulated |
|
JP Messier |
21 |
|
Tom Byrnes |
17 |
|
Doug Boyd |
8 |
|
C hris Jones |
8 |
|
Jason Kuller |
5 |
|
Gus Gustafson |
4 |
|
You could be here …. |
?? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
While JP now has some breathing room thanks to his third double beer finish, this contest remains close with three months remaining. All members are encouraged to brew and enter this contest. The more beers we have the better our competition becomes and the more homebrew we have at the meetings. The next competition, Saison, will be held one week early on September 17 @ 7:30 in order to accommodate my GABF travel schedule. The location will be determined later. Please mark your calendars with this date change.
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2009 HRB&TS CUP BREWING SCHEDULE |
|||
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Month |
Style |
Category/Sub |
AHA Event - Deadline |
|
October (Sept 24) |
Saison |
16C |
|
|
November (Oct 22) |
Belgian Strong |
18 A-E |
Nov/Dec 09 |
|
December (Nov 19) |
Smoked Porter |
22B with base style in 12 |
|
|
2010 HRB&TS CUP BREWING SCHEDULE |
|||
|
Month |
Style |
Category/Sub |
AHA Event - Deadline |
|
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 |
|
We need members who would be willing to host a judging at their home. Judging will be held on Thursday’s two weeks before each HRBTS regular meeting. Thanks to Cindy Cutler and Rob Camlin who will be hosting upcoming judging’s in October and December respectively. We are still looking for someone to host our Nov 19 session.
Several of our members will be competing in the Dominion Cup hosted by the James River Homebrewers; we wish them well and will keep you posted on their progress.
If you are willing to host future events please email me at tombyrnes@verizon.net to reserve your month.
1st Place – HRBTS Cup August 2009, Rosemary Rye, Brewer: JP Messier
2nd Place – HRBTS Cup August 2009, Lavender Saison, Brewer: Chris Jones
3rd Place – HRBTS Cup August 2009, Mint Brown Porter, 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.