1. HomebrewCon will take place at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh on June 23-25. See https://www.homebrewcon.org/ for details. We might participate in Club Night but maybe not because we don’t have a lot of members confirmed as going. The Guild might have a table if not enough Maryland clubs participate. Registration starts on March 23, with early bird pricing ($70 discount) until April 23. There are several hotels stumbling distance from the venue. There is a Google doc for folks to communicate with others regarding which hotel they’ve booked or to look for a room to share at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TTZHcDd3MP7R7IJQWHylGFPvQF2SMDhJJqD_rKRcQf4/edit#gid=0
2. SAVOR will be that same weekend (Friday June 24). It’s puzzling that the Brewers Association would schedule both events on the same weekend. Tickets go on sale April 6.
3. Registration for the National Homebrew Competition will be March 22-29. It’s quite expensive to enter this year. See the FAQ at https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/national-homebrew-competition/frequently-asked-questions/
4. Les will be opening a brewery called Heart & Solar. He needs to raise $250,000 to get it started. He’ll be sending an email with crowdfunding information.
5. Big Brew will be on Saturday May 7 behind MDHB. Contact Chris Anderson if you plan to brew. Food will be provided - brats, sauerkraut, veggie burgers, pizzas, plus whatever folks bring.
6. The Guild summer picnic will be on Saturday June 4 at Guilford Park (where we hold Crabs4CRABS). Chris Hermance reserved the pavilion and got a discount as a Howard County resident.
7. Several clubs are putting on events in the coming months. See the Guild minutes that Tom Flavin sent.
8. A new brewery called Notch8 opened in Annapolis Junction, near Pepperjacks Subs. They had a soft opening a few days ago. There is no online information.
9. Next month’s First Thursday Happy Hour will be on Thursday April 7 at the Judge’s Bench starting ~5:00 PM.
10. This month’s competition was Belgian and Trappist. There were 9 entries. Winners were:
- 5th – Brian England
- 4th (tie) – Ed Shea
- 4th (tie) – Ben Schwalb
- 3rd – Joe O’Keefe
- 2nd – Les White and Trevor Cheyne
- 1st – Chris Hermance
11. Next meeting: Wednesday April 20. Competition will be pale/malty. This includes BJCP styles:
- 1 A-C
- 2 A
- 3 A-B
- 4 A-C
12. Go to http://crabsbrew.org for CRABS-related information. The 2022 CRABS competition schedule is at http://www.crabsbrew.org/competition_schedule