The Brewsletter
December 2011
The Official Newsletter of the Hampton Roads Brewing & Tasting Society (HRB&TS)
Presidential Musings - C.J., aka. Chris Jones.
Well, the winter holidays are upon us, and all is wonderful in the beer world. I love December beers; yesterday I must have seen two dozen different winter offerings from American craft breweries and upscale Belgian ones too. Righteous!
Our next meeting will be at Erin and Phil’s Virginia Beach abode, many thanks to them. HRBTS is spring for some pizza to go with those beers you’re bringing, so we can all sip, eat and enjoy many a homebrew-related conversation in some pleasant surroundings. There’s probably no need to bring swimwear ….
We have one more judging event in our HRB Cup series, 21 Dec 2011, as we close things down with a tripel slapdown. We need to decide if we want to hold this event in 2012, and if so, how to change it, if necessary. This year it was open to HRBTS and BARF; next year, if we continue with the event, CASK wants to participate. You may recall that dropping monthly judging events and replacing those with quarterly contests and irregularly scheduled “taste calibration sessions” was done in an effort to get more club member participation in the contests. The thought was fewer contests, of popular styles of beers, would equal more entries. I’m not sure that came to pass, but the entries were typically close to the style guidelines, and the judging sessions were well attended.
We have elections scheduled, too. We have a current slate of officers that don’t mind continuing in their present positions, but we will accept nominations on Wednesday. Based on what we decide to do with our competition efforts, we may need a competition coordinator – that could be you!
Remember, 1/15/12 is the weekend for our traditional sojourn to Dogfish Head. Can’t say I need to do the brewery tour anymore, but I seem to enjoy the brewery shopping opportunities. Can you have too much DFH apparel?
See you Wednesday.
CJ
The Meeting Location by Diane Catanzaro
December 7 at 7 pm
Seasonally Speaking!
A few weeks ago your meeting coordinator was mulling (ummm... wassail...) where to have the HRB&TS December meeting. Then, out of the blue, a call from a club member...."do you have a December meeting location yet?" "Uh, no...any ideas?" "How about our place....we've been wanting to have people over!" (Fist pump....yay!!) Thanks to Erin and Phil's generous offer our December meeting will be at their home near Mount Trashmore!
This is especially awesome as there are a ton of holiday spiced ales, winter warmers, Christmas ales, and so forth available right now at places like Grape & Gourmet, The Bon Vivant, and Total Wine. Meeting at a home, instead of a restaurant, means we can bring these commercial beers to taste at the meeting. It's great to be able to try a wide range of these without having to spend a fortune, and so this meeting can be sort of like a Santa Buddy swap meet where people bring various holiday ales to share so club members can try a broad range of what's available and select their favorite stocking stuffer!
We can make this a club Christmas party kind of event, and the club Prez says the club will spring for some food! If you want to bring a no-fuss side dish that is welcomed. But, most importantly, bring homebrew (of any style) or seasonal ales for sharing. Stick an extra in the cooler for the cool host "Jingle Bell Phil" and hostess with the mostess "Erin Elf" whose kind offer of hospitality has seasonal spirit written all over it!
Competition Coordinator Corner
Our next competition will be held on December 14 starting at 7:30pm. This is a week early according to the rules but the 3rd Wednesday is too close to Christmas. The location will be announced as we get closer to the date. The category is 18C. 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 |
|
21 December |
Belgian Tripel |
18 (C) |
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2011 Hampton Roads Brewers Cup Standings |
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|
Brewer |
Club |
Robust Porter (12B) March 2011 |
Hefeweizen (15A) June 2011 |
American IPA (14B) September 2011 |
Belgian Tripel (18C) December 2011 |
Points |
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|
Chris Knight |
BARF |
4 |
6 |
|
|
10 |
||||
|
Paul Hutchings |
HRBTS |
1 |
4 |
5 |
|
10 |
||||
|
Lee Dodd |
HRBTS |
6 |
1 |
1 |
|
8 |
||||
|
Justin Crandall |
BARF |
1 |
|
6 |
|
7 |
||||
|
Chris Jones & Diane Cat |
HRBTS |
1 |
5 |
1 |
|
7 |
||||
|
Andrew Jackson |
BARF |
5 |
1 |
1 |
|
7 |
||||
|
Frank Tiffany |
HRBTS |
|
|
4 |
|
4 |
||||
|
Dan Tully |
BARF |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
3 |
||||
|
Corey Basely |
BARF |
|
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
||||
|
Doug Boyd |
HRBTS |
1 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
||||
|
Jennings Lyon |
HRBTS |
1 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
||||
|
JP Messier |
HRBTS |
1 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
||||
|
Rob Pearson |
BARF |
1 |
|
|
|
1 |
||||
|
Joe Graves |
HRBTS |
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
||||
|
Skip Sharp |
HRBTS |
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
||||
|
Elijah Roberts |
BARF |
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
||||
|
Jason Kuller |
HRBTS |
1 |
|
|
|
1 |
||||
|
Thomas Wright |
BARF |
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
||||
|
Ben Powell |
BARF |
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
||||
|
Steve Clark |
BARF |
1 |
|
|
|
1 |
||||
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This could easily be you |
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If you get brewing ……. |
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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.