1) Get your 2019 dues to Don Zwach. $25 for individuals and $40 for couples.
2) Ribbons were given for 2018 Brewer of the Year to those that were in attendance.
3) We will pour beer for the third time at the annual Brewers Ball on March 2 at the Builders Museum in DC. About 30 breweries and homebrew clubs combined, including yet-to-open Farmacy Brewing (owned by CRABSter Craig Bryant), will be serving beer. If interested in pouring your beer, contact Joe at jfo363@verizon.net. All 6 CRABS slots are filled but one person is very willing to give up his slot. Admission is $150 but it is an amazing event with great food and beer, and proceeds benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. See https://www.dcbrewersball.org/ for details.
4) Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws will be holding some fundraisers:
·Sunday 1/20, 1:00 PM at Brookeville Beer Farm
·Saturday 1/26, 5:00 PM at B.C. Brewery
·Thursday 2/21 at Denizens (tentative)
See their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MBBWL/
5) HomebrewCon will take place June 27-29 in Providence RI. CRABS is considering having a table for Club Night and/or Social Club. Several CRABSters discussed possible themes after the meeting. HomebrewCon website is https://www.homebrewcon.org/
6) National Homebrew Competition registration will be open January 22-29. See https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/national-homebrew-competition/ for all important dates.
7) This month’s competition was session beers. There were 11 entries. Winners were:
5th - John Jester
4th - Rob Kiernan
3rd - Marty Mengele
2nd - Jeff Adelsberger
1st - Joe O’Keefe
Joe’s beer will represent CRABS at Melvin Brewing’s Boil Rumble. See https://melvinbrewing.com/theboilrumble/ for contest info.
8) Next meeting: Wednesday February 20. Competition will be brown ales.
9) Go to http://crabsbrew.org for CRABS-related information. The 2019 competition schedule is at http://crabsbrew.org/competition_schedule
10) See http://crabsbrew.org/Other_Competitions for a list of upcoming local homebrew competitions.