1) BoTY awards were given to those who weren’t at the December meeting to get them. Trevor Rose got his 1st place medal and Brian England got his 4th place medal.
2) This year’s Brewer’s Ball will be on March 28 at The Anthem in DC. We have slots for 2 brewers to donate kegs and attend for free; everyone else must buy a ticket for $160. We are not allowed to pour our beer due to regulations, so someone else will pour for us. We need to apply by early February. See https://events.cff.org/dcbrewersball for event information.
3) Here is the recipe for the upcoming Same Grain / Same Hop competition (5-gallon recipe):
- 8 pounds 2-row (1.8 SRM)
- 2.5 pounds malted oats (4.0 SRM Briess blonde roast)
- 12 ozs crystal II malt (Thomas Fawcett 65 SRM)
- 12 ozs chocolate malt (215 SRM)
- 4 ozs carafa I malt (337 SRM)
- 2 ozs Hersbrucker (2.75%)
- 1 oz Magnum (12%)
Smoking or roasting of grain not permitted. No adjuncts allowed. Any yeast, mash temperature, hopping schedule, and water profile can be used. Batch size can be scaled up or down but ratio of water/grain/hops must remain the same.
4) 2020 dues are due to our new treasurer, Rob Kiernan. $25 for individuals and $40 for families.
5) Registration for the National Homebrew Competition is open now through January 22. See https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/national-homebrew-competition/
6) HomebrewCon will be June 18-20 in Nashville at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. Registration opens March 10. See https://www.homebrewcon.org/2020-registration/
7) BURP’s Spirit of Free Beer will be Saturday April 18 at Silver Branch Brewing. Entry drop-off at Maryland Homebrew from March 19 to April 9. No link on the BURP website yet.
8) Some clubs are doing bus trips but information is scant right now. Wootown’s trip will be to Delaware Valley but we don’t know when. FOAM’s trip to Montgomery County will be on January 25 and MALT’s trip to Pennsylvania will be on March 21. More information as it becomes available.
9) There will be a bus trip on February 9 leaving from Checkerspot Brewing and going to Eastern Shore breweries. Tickets are $40 and proceeds go to the BAM political action committee on alcohol laws. Trip information on Checkerspot’s website at https://www.checkerspotbrewing.com/
10) There will be an event at Black Flag on Tuesday January 28 that will feature free beer. It seems to be a recruiting event for a company called Sophos. Register at https://events.sophos.com/sophosblackflagbrewing/?cmp=38436
11) The Maryland State Fair Competition will be judged at a different location and date because judging on site is hindered by heat and farm smells. Details forthcoming.
12) There will be a BJCP course starting in late February or early March. If interested, contact Joe at jfo363@verizon.net
13) Kudos to Tom Flavin who was a big help setting up the Guild holiday party.
14) The Guild needs a new president. Anyone interested? Free beer! Contact current Guild president (and CRABS member) John Jester at johnjester.md@gmail.com
15) This month’s competition was session beers (4.5% ABV or lower). There were 12 entries. Winners were:
- 5th - Zach Keim
- 4th - Clark Updike
- 3rd - Ed Shea
- 2nd (tie) - Rob Kiernan
- 2nd (tie) - Richard Sizemore
- 1st - John Jester
16) Next meeting: Wednesday February 19. Competition will be pale/hoppy. See the competition schedule at http://crabsbrew.org/competition_schedule for which categories are allowed.
17) Go to http://crabsbrew.org for CRABS-related information.
18) See http://crabsbrew.org/Other_Competitions for a list of upcoming local homebrew competitions.