The Brewsletter
October 2010
The Official Newsletter of the Hampton Roads Brewing & Tasting Society (HRB&TS)
Presidential Musings – C. J., aka. Chris Jones
Well, well, we’re three days away from our annual Oktoberfest shindig at Will and Jonna’s, three days from great beer, German food, fine fellowship, and an occasional visit from a crotch-sniffing dog. That’s one thing I like about cats – they leave your lap alone. They may leave a hairball or two in the middle of your midnight path to the restroom, but they shy away from uninvited waist-whiffing.
So we have a few things to discuss on Wednesday, all having to do with where we are headed as a Club. No, it’s not all heavy, but for starters …. Elections: We vote for new Club officers in two months. Want to nominate someone for higher office, or want to self-nominate? Ping an email to me.
The HRBTS Cup: Continue it, change it, alter it in some fashion? We don’t exactly have a gazillion entries per month. Rather than continue what appears to be a “battle royale” between four or five brewers, maybe we can tweak it a bit to get more participation. Maybe we need to give it a rest?
HRBTS Cup Judging: We have three active BJCP-credentialed judges in HRBTS, three folks who have the credentials to back up their opinions when assessing ales. Time and time again, our credentialed judges find themselves on the opposite end of a whopping score differential from a noncredentialed judge, with the noncredentialed judge exhibiting a high degree of inflexibility on assigned score. If Will, Tom, or Diane, BJCP judges all give a beer a 25 and I give it a 40, it is incumbent on me to move the most, not them. Perhaps we need to ponder the practice of parsing points?
Road trips: Where do you want to go? Eric is greasing the wheels for a trip to Williamsburg trip, to the Alewerks and the Greenleafe Café, and we make our annual January pilgrimage to Dogfishhead, but where else should we be headed?
That ought to get the ball rolling; see you on Wednesday. Don’t forget the Club’s Silent Auction is Wednesday, so bring your checkbook.
HRB&TS 2010 Oktoberfest Party! – Diane Catanzaro
October 6 at 6:30 pm
Heute gehen! That's German for 'tonite we party!' This Wednesday the HRB&TS October meeting will celebrate the Party Formerly Known as the Wedding Reception of Konig Ludwig and his Bride Theresa, perhaps you know it by its other name, Oktoberfest. We'll have German food, a silent auction with cool stuff to bid on and perhaps win, and lots of kameradeschaft (camaraderie). Will and Jonna Walker have often joined the home team in Munich for this celebration of German beer and culture. This year they could not attend the 'real' Oktoberfest, but the HRB&TS will bring the party to them at their lakeside heim (home) at Chick's Beach. We start earlier than usual, at 6:30, to have ample time to get our German groove on and hopefully have some competitive bidding at the silent auction (a fundraiser for the club summer picnic, next year's Oktoberfest, etc.)! Please bring a beer as a 'hospitality gift' for Will and Jonna who are so gracious to host this annual party for the HRB&TS and not make us clean up afterwords!
So, don’t let your weiner schnitzel….Will and Jonna’s spacious kitchen/living room/porch/yard will be transformed miraculously into the Hofbrau Haus (provided you taste enough reinheitsgebot-inspired malt beverage) and before you can say “leider-hosen” you’ll be
schuhplattling (shoe-slapping) to the volksmusik. The party often spills out of the house into the lake-lined backyard, so you may wish to bring a sweater or light jacket in case we get some festive autumnal nip in the air. The club will supply brats and other German foods (potato salad, sauerkraut). There will be some type of veggie sausage for those who prefer their meal sans fleish (without meat).
Bring some German beer, non-German beer, homebrew or commercial brew. Looking for some German beer to share? The beer styles of Oktoberfest, dunkel, hefeweizen, dunkelweizen, schwarzbier, rauchbier, Berliner Weiss, helles, kolsch, german pils.. and the bock family (bock, dopplebock, eisbock) may be calling your name. Looking for something unique and seasonal? There are quite a few seasonal pumpkin ales in stores right now. My favorites are the Williamsburg Ale Works Pumpkin Ale, New Holland's Ichabod Pumpkin Ale, Weyerbacher's Imperial Pumpkin, and Schafly's Pumpkin Ale. If you can find the one from Williamsburg Ale Works, it is like a delicious nutmeg-crazed pumpkin pie in the kisser....and I mean that in a way-good way......my next one I may try with whipped cream on top. Or maybe a pumpkin parfait. A dollop of pumpkin pie filling on the bottom of the parfait glass. Then a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a heaping spoonful of dark rum-marinated raisins and mincemeat. Drizzle a bit of the Ale Works Pumpkin Ale down the side of the glass. Top with crumbled pumpkin bread, an almond cookie, or perhaps baked, crumbled pastry crust, and maybe that squirt of whipped cream. I'm thinking this sounds pretty good. If you try it, or some variation, let me know. I'm making myself hungry just writing this!
Competition Corner – Eric Gold
Jennings and Patti Lyon hosted the latest competition at their home in Hampton. We tasted 3 different old ales and on American Barleywine which both belong to the style called Strong Ale. First place went to me with my Old Ale. Second place went to JP for his Old Ale. Third place went to Chris Jones and Diane C. for their Old ale! I feel like Old Ale is sort of an underappreciated style (as many malt foward styles are) and it is one of my favorite. Traditionally, this was a mostly young beer that was mixed with old ale to give it a more complex taste. These beers generally contain a touch more alcohol which help them age well. It will be interested to taste these beers again in a few months or a year!
Updated Brewing points are listed below! I may have missed someone who brought 5 gallons of homebrew to the picnic. If you would let me know, we'll be sure to keep track of the points that were earned! I corrected the points assigned from the picnic (3 instead of 5)
|
2010 HRBTS CUP STANDINGS |
|
|
Name of Brewer |
Points Accumulated |
|
Chris Jones & Diane Catanzaro |
22 |
|
JP Messier |
20 |
|
Eric Gold |
16 |
|
Tom Byrnes |
9 |
|
Chip Reich |
3 |
|
Jason Kuller |
3 |
|
JL Lyons |
3 |
|
Mark Johnson |
3 |
|
Ron & Jeannine Jones |
1 |
IT'S STILL NOT TOO LATE to reserve the month matching one of your favorite styles! If you are willing to host a monthly judging competition, please email me at egold@vt.edu to reserve your month. We bring beer to your house :)
Below you will find our brewing schedule for 2010/2011.
|
2010 HRB&TS CUP BREWING SCHEDULE |
|||
|
Month |
Style |
Category/Sub |
AHA Event - Deadline |
|
November 2010 (Oct. 20) |
Tupper's Hop Pocket Ale |
10 A |
|
|
December 2010 (Nov 17 ) |
Christmas Winter Spiced Beer |
21B |
|
|
January 2011 (Dec 22) |
Imperial Stout |
13F |
|
|
February 2011 (Jan 19) |
Belgian and French Ale |
16 A-D |
|
|
March 2011 (Feb 16) |
Bock |
5 |
March/April 2011 |
October Winners:
1st Place – HRBTS October 2010, Old Ale, Brewer: Eric Gold
2nd Place - HRBTS October 2010, Old Ale, Brewer: JP Messier
3rd Place – HRBTS October 2010, Old Ale, Brewer: Ron & Jeannine Jones
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.