1) MASHOUT was held last weekend at its new location in Cumberland. About 17 CRABSters went and it was a great time as usual, with lots of food, beer, music, and jokes. Ben’s annual write-up of the event gives details. WARNING: R-rated content. The link is https://www.benbrew.com/MASHOUT/mashout2019.html
2) CRABSter John Bugert won 2nd place at the Howard County Fair’s inaugural homebrew contest on August 4 with a Belgian tripel.
3) Judging for the Maryland State Fair’s homebrew contest will be this Friday August 23.
4) The 6th annual Hometown Brewdown will take place on Saturday September 7 from 3-7 PM. There will be homebrew, food, and live music. Admission is $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Contact Rob K. at rmkst16@yahoo.com if you’d like to serve your beer (this will get you free admission). So far we have 5 or 6 beers going. Website is https://www.catonsvillecoop.com/calendar/2019/9/7/6th-annual-catonsville-cooperative-markets-hometown-brewdown
5) Crabs4CRABS will be on Saturday September 14 at Guilford Park in Jessup. CRABS membership gets you free admission, and guests cost $25 (if they eat crabs). There will be lots of other food such as brisket, pulled pork, and mac & cheese.
6) The Guild/SPBW/Zymurnauts crab feast will be at NASA’s Goddard Rec Center on Saturday September 21. More information will be forthcoming from the Guild.
7) We’re looking for a table theme for this year’s Guild holiday party. If you have an idea, please speak up!
8) BaltiBrew’s ChiliBrew XIII will take place on Friday October 11 at Zion Lutheran Church in Baltimore. If you want to enter a homebrew and/or a chili, you can purchase your competitor ticket at https://chilibrew.yapsody.com/event/index/452761/chilibrew-xiii-competitor-ticket (general admission tickets not available yet).
9) The 10th annual Homebrew Showcase will be held at Checkerspot Brewing on Wednesday October 23. If you want to enter a beer, contact Judy Neff at judyneff1@gmail.com.
10) Speaking of Judy, she will be at the September meeting to judge the entries at our hedonistic competition. She will pick her favorite and brew the winner at Checkerspot. The parameters are that the beer must be under 9% ABV and not contain funky yeast or bacteria (kettle sours are okay). But you may bring anything if you just want to enter the CRABS competition, which will be separate from Judy’s judging.
11) There were some offline discussions about possible CRABS road trips to visit breweries. The two cities that were discussed were Baltimore and Richmond. If you are interested, please bring it up at the next meeting.
12) Jay Thorpe will have a party on Saturday November 23. More details forthcoming.
13) Upcoming beer festivals:
·Saturday 9/28: Maryland Microbrewery Fest, 11 AM - 6 PM, at Union Mills Homestead, 3311 Littlestown Pike, Westminster. $20 for 6 beer tokens, then pay as you go. Info at http://www.marylandmicrobreweryfestival.com/
·Saturday 9/28: Das Best Oktoberfest, 12-6 PM at the Ravens stadium parking lot. $75 to enter at noon, $40 to enter at 2 PM. Unlimited sampling. Info at http://www.dasbestoktoberfest.com/
·Saturday 9/28: Kennett Brewfest, 12-5 PM at Kennett Square, PA. $85 to get in at noon, $50 to get in at 1:30. Unlimited sampling. Info at http://kennettbrewfest.com/
·Saturday 10/5: Hops and Harvest Fest, 12-5 PM at Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods, 10431 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia MD. $40 for unlimited sampling. Info at https://hopsandharvestfest.com/
·Saturday 10/12: Snallygaster, 12-6 PM on Pennsylvania Ave, between 3rd and 6th Streets, Washington DC. (Via Metro: Green/Yellow line to Archives - Navy Memorial - Penn Quarter.) $100 to get in at noon, $50 to get in at 2 PM. Unlimited sampling. Info at https://www.snallygasterdc.com/
·Saturday 11/2: Baltimore Craft Beer Festival 12-5 PM, at Canton Waterfront Park, Baltimore. $60 to get in at noon, $45 to get in at 1:30 PM. Unlimited sampling. Info at http://www.baltimorecraftbeerfestival.com/
14) Next meeting: Wednesday September 18. Competition will be hedonistic. Anything goes! However, if you want to be in the running to have your beer brewed at Checkerspot, must be under 9% ABV and not contain funky yeast or bacteria.
15) Go to http://crabsbrew.org for CRABS-related information. The 2019 competition schedule is at http://crabsbrew.org/competition_schedule
16) See http://crabsbrew.org/Other_Competitions for a list of upcoming local homebrew competitions.