1) Great turnout and beer selection.

2) Congratulations are in order for several CRABSters:

• ·Craig Bryant took 2^nd place in the Spirit of Free Beer’s IPA category.
• ·Joe O’Keefe took 3^rd place in the Spirit of Free Beer’s British Bitter category.
• ·John Jester took 2^nd place in the NHC first round’s category 7, Philadelphia center.
• ·Joe O’Keefe took 1^st place in the NHC first round’s category 6, Philadelphia center.
• ·Rob Farrell took 2^nd place in the NHC first round’s category 5, Nashville center.

Full SOFB results: http://sofb.brewcomp.com/

Full NHC first round results: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/competitions/national-homebrew-competition/winners/

3) Want a CRABS shirt?  Contact Joe at jfo363@verizon.net

4) For the National Homebrewers Conference:

• ·Registration is still open – go to http://www.homebrewcon.org/
• ·Joel would like to arrange a beer bus tour on Wednesday as a pre-con event.  Stops might include Heavy Seas and MDHB.  Proceeds would go to charity.
• ·CRABS will pour Thursday night, during Pro Brewers Night, with a dozen other Guild/DC clubs.
• ·We have the option to do informal pouring (maybe bottles?) on Friday night as well.
• ·14 CRABS kegs are signed up so far.
• ·See Google doc https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XMTGVhw9a5k2EbPcfkiTgFaqqe9dhcHaowDiBEyZ8XY/edit#gid=0 to let everyone know that you’re going, where you’re staying, and what you’re bringing.
• ·If you’re looking to split a room with other folks in order to cut lodging costs, see https://goo.gl/6cy1r9
• ·There will be a meeting at MDHB tentatively next week for folks who want to help coordinate.  If you’re interested, email Joe at jfo363@verizon.net or Jeff at jeffade@me.com

5) Now that the weather is getting warm it’s time for beer bike rides.  One will be coming up sometime this spring.  Stay tuned.  You can also contact Matt at macatlantic@gmail.com

6) Big Brew will be on May 7.  Maryland Homebrew will have its annual multi-club brewing event.

7) The CRABS food-beer pairing will be at Rob Farrell’s on May 21.  Sign up at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pvQxf12gOCIBIexGGDy5pTjade5d0DRq8cdBKkq9PQs/edit

8) The Guild picnic will be on May 28 at Patapsco State Park, Hollofield Area, shelter 300 (the one with the sink).  There will be a wheat beer contest so bring your best wheat beer.

9) Upcoming events:

• ·Maryland Craft Beer Fest in Frederick: May 14.  See http://www.mdcraftbeerfestival.com/
• ·FOAM’s Battle of the Bubbles: May 15.  See http://bob.brewcomp.com/
• ·SAVOR: June 3-4.  See http://www.savorcraftbeer.com/
• ·Milkhouse Brewery’s Brewfest at the Farm: June 4.  See http://www.milkhousebrewery.com/pec-events/brewfest-on-the-farm/
• ·MASHOUT: August 18-21.
• ·Union Mills fest: September 24.
• ·Baltimore Beer Week: October 7-16.
• ·Das Best Oktoberfest: October 8.
• ·Guild holiday party: December 3.

10) This month’s competition was Iron Brewer.  Each beer contained at least 2 of the following: grapefruit, cumin, tamarind.  There were 9 entries.  Winners were:

• 5^th – Zach Keim
• 4^th – Tim Paulin
• 3^rd – Brian England
• 2^nd – Trevor Rose
• 1^st – Bob Mosier

11) Go to http://crabsbrew.org for CRABS-related information.  The 2016 CRABS competition schedule is at http://crabsbrew.org/competition_schedule