1) Congratulations to the following folks for winning categories in some recent homebrew contests:

·Tom Pagano and Reed Ulrich won the Brown British category in the DC Homebrewers’ Cherry Blossom competition.  See http://www.dchbcompetition.com/ for full results.

·Rachel and Craig Szczesiul won the Mead category in BURP’s Spirit of Free Beer.  See http://sofb.brewcomp.com/ for full results.

 

2) This Sunday 4/22 Ben and Les will be competing in BaltiBrew’s Brübakes at De Kleine Duvel in Hampden.  See https://www.facebook.com/events/729957173875059/ for information.  If you want to attend and eat/drink, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/baltibrew-presents-brubakes-tickets-43690968864 for tickets.

 

3) Big Brew will happen on May 5 at Maryland Homebrew.  This family-friendly event will have brats and other food, as well as non-alcoholic beverages.  Everyone is encouraged to brew.  If you don’t have a burner you might be able to borrow one; contact Maryland Homebrew at 888-BREW-NOW.  Show up as early as you want if you are brewing.  All attendees should drive around the left side of the building, all the way around to the back.

 

4) Registration for the 2018 HomebrewCon is open.  The conference website is https://www.homebrewcon.org/.  You *must* be an AHA member to register.  Go to https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/ to join or login and check your membership expiration date.

 

5) The CRABS Food and Beer Competition will occur on Saturday May 19 at Rob Kiernan’s house in Catonsville.  Pair with another CRABS member or your significant other.  Sign-up sheet is at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rM_aOqWNkZuuyWT-HpX1HfpVH1-s4-5dvkQFI0nfJTs/edit?usp=sharing

 

6) CRABS had a great Light Rail pub crawl on Sunday April 8.  We visited Checkerspot, Suspended, Waverly, and Union.  A few folks also went to Brewer’s Art and/or Pratt Street Ale House.  There is a write-up at http://www.benbrew.com/CRABS/PubCrawl2018/pubcrawl2018.html

 

7) Since there was no BJCP course this year, there will be 3 educational classes at Maryland Homebrew.  All will be on Sundays from 2 to 5 PM.  Sign-up sheet is at https://goo.gl/forms/TwrQ8Ors5a23CyyR2

 

8) A big thanks to Craig and Rachel for sharing bottles of BrewDog Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32% ABV) and Sink the Bismarck (41% ABV).  They were used to celebrate Rachel’s turning the ripe old age of 30.

 

9) This month’s competition was IPAs.  There were 10 entries.  Winners were:

 

5^th – Rob Kiernan

4^th – Bob Mosier

3^rd – Brian Kaider

2^nd – Trevor Rose

1^st – Craig and Rachel Szczesiul

 

 

10) Upcoming events:

·4/21: DC Beer Fest.  See https://www.dcbeerfestival.com/

·4/21: Bluegrass, Brew, and BBQ Festival at Red Shedman Farm Brewery.  See http://redshedman.com/events/2018-bluegrass-brew-and-bbq-festival/

·4/21: WTMD’s 4^th annual Brews and Bands at Towson Town Center, 12-4 PM.  More than two dozen beers from over a dozen Maryland breweries.  See https://events.wtmd.org/event/wtmds_4th_annual_brews_and_bands for more info and https://www.mt.cm/4th-annual-brews-bands for tickets.

·4/22: BaltiBrew’s Brübakes at De Kleine Duvel.  See item #2 above.

·5/5: Big Brew.  See item #3 above.

·5/6: Beer Evaluation and Sensory Analysis class at MDHB.  See item #7 above.

·5/6 and 5/14: FOAM’s Battle of the Bubbles.  Best of Show will be brewed at Barley and Hops.  Register beer or to be a judge/steward at http://bob.brewcomp.com/

·5/12: Maryland Craft Beer Festival in Frederick.  See http://www.mdcraftbeerfestival.com/

·5/12: Lures Bar and Grille’s 10^th anniversary celebration.  Half-price beer all day.  Their website is http://luresbarandgrille.com/ although the event is not on there yet.

·5/19: CRABS Food and Beer Competition.  See item #5 above.

·6/2: Guild summer picnic at Patapsco State Park, Hollofield area, shelter 301, noon to dusk.  Homebrew competition will be raspberry wheat, to commemorate the first Guild beer competition held at Oxford Brewing in March 1998.  Cash prizes!

·6/3: Troubleshooting My Beer class at MDHB.  See item #7 above.

·7/22: Recipe Formulation class at MDHB.  See item #7 above.

·8/16 – 8/19: MASHOUT in Fort Royale PA.  See http://www.campmashout.com for more information.

·9/8: Crabs4CRABS.

 

 

11) Next meeting: Wednesday May 16.  Competition will be malty beers.

 

12) Go to http://crabsbrew.org for CRABS-related information.  See the 2018 competition schedule at http://crabsbrew.org/competition_schedule

 

13) See http://crabsbrew.org/Other_Competitions for a list of upcoming local homebrew competitions.