The Brewsletter
March 2011
The Official Newsletter of the Hampton Roads Brewing & Tasting Society (HRB&TS)
Presidential Pontifications – C. J., aka. Chris Jones
Well, February was a good month for beer, with the Taphouse hosting a beer dinner, O'Connor Brewing introducing their dry session stout, and Grape and Gourmet continuing to accept credit cards for beer purchases.
It was a big month for HRBTS too as we had our first commercial beer tasting in preparation for our March 16 robust porter slapdown (see J.P.'s article). Bring your bottles and let's pour some porters in a couple of weeks.
What else is new? Diane and I were empanelled as judges at the Wynkoop's "Beerdrinker of the Year" contest, where after two plus hours of demonstrating his beer prowess, Phil Farrell of Cummings, GA, walked away as the winner; for additional information, see www.wynkoop.com. We have multiple club members that could do well in this event, and Diane and I will tell you how in a few days.
Well, that's all my thumbs can handle this morning, so "skol”, and see you Wednesday.
C. J.
Meeting Location Diane Catanzaro
Greetings from Denver! The HRB&TS meeting on Wednesday March 2 will be held in a new location for club meetings, conveniently located near Mount Trashmore. We will be able to bring not only homebrew but also commercial beer is welcomed….some tasty craft beer, Belgian ale, or whatever…it’s all good for the March meeting! We’ll meet in the training room at Support Services of Virginia (SSVA) thanks to Chip Dodd. When Chip first offered his training room I thought it might be unusual but has a lot of benefits…we can bring in any type of beer, we have the whole joint to ourselves, and there is ample space, tables and chairs that can seat 25 and additional space for mingling. There is a fridge, sink, and microwave, as well as a sound system and projection (creative ideas for how to use this during the meeting are welcomed!)
We can start at 7 pm! You are welcomed to bring a covered dish (don’t forget any utensils or serving spoons needed). Club will provide napkins, forks/spoons, and paper plates. And of course, bring beer! Big thanks to Chip and Lee for hosting the HRB&TS!
Competition Coordinator Corner – JP Messier
Brewing Competition
Our first joint competition for the Hampton Roads Brewers (HRB) Cup between HRBTS and BARF is coming in just a few weeks! We hope many of you all have broken out your brewing equipment and have concocted some awesome entries for this new venture. We/HRBTSers need to put our best foot forward and come away each and every month sweeping the competition, especially the first one.
The judging for the Robust Porters will be held on Wednesday, March 16th. Judging will start at 7:30pm promptly. The Event gathering will start at 7:00 pm and will be held at HomeBrewUSA, located in the JANAF Shopping Center in Norfolk. All entries must be received at the location prior to the start of judging and can be dropped off days prior or more if needed. A secure and refrigerated space is maintained for us for the event. Thank you very much to Neal and Elizabeth for all their continued support of our club events! We would encourage you to come on out and judge with us. A side dish/appetizer to share with all participants is always welcomed as is the bringing and sharing of homebrew and commercial beers at this location.
Below is the schedule for the year. Plan ahead and brew with us. There are many great brewers in our ranks and we need you to make this competition successful.
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2011 HAMPTON ROADS BREWERS CUP SCHEDULE |
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Month |
Style |
BJCP Category and Sub Category |
|
16 March |
Robust Porter |
12 (B) |
|
15 June |
Weizen |
15 (A) |
|
21 September |
American IPA |
14 (B) |
|
21 December |
Belgian Tripel |
18 (C) |
Commercial Beer Judging
We had another first of its kind last month for the club! A commercial beer judging was conducted of Robust Porters; ok Porters at the home of Diane and CJ – thank you guys for opening up your home for this event! However, by judging the other Porter sub categories (i.e., Brown & Baltic), this was a way to learn about the Porter category as a whole and better be able to differentiate and calibrate our skills. A total of six (6) commercial Porters were judged and discussed. These included Sierra Nevada. Flying Dog, Legend, Kona, St. Georges, and Southern Tier. Our highly trained group of judges chose the Kona as the best representation with Sierra Nevada coming in 2nd. Many comments of where’s the roast, too little mouth feel, not enough complexity was heard consistently with many of the other beers.
The month prior to each of the HRB Cup events, we will conduct a commercial beer tasting as was done last month but in the style of that next event. So look ahead and come on out and join us learn about the styles, hone our judging skills and share in a club event.
For the month of April, we are brainstorming on what we could do to enhance our participation in these events, help our club members learn about the art of homebrewing, and bolster participation. We would like to open that slate for you and hear back your thoughts on what types of events, training, and gatherings we could have in for the April, July, and October months?
Step up and actively help us out with our Club and make it what we all want!
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.