1) Lots of people and beers tonight.
2) The Hometown Brewdown had about 250 attendees, 21 homebrews, a live band, and food vendors.
3) Crabs4CRABS was well-attended. We just managed to finish off the crabs. Crab prices have gone up, so next year we might charge members a small fee to attend.
4) The Guild/SPBW/Zymurnauts crab feast will be at NASA’s Goddard Rec Center this Saturday September 21. Get tickets at https://maryland-homebrewers-guild.ticketleap.com/nasacrabs2019/
5) We’re leaning toward voting for Animal Advocates as one of the charities for the Guild holiday party. Also we have not yet finalized our table theme. If you have an idea for either, please speak up.
6) BaltiBrew’s ChiliBrew XIII will take place on Friday October 11 at Zion Lutheran Church in Baltimore.See https://www.chilibrew.org/ for more info and ticket links.
7) The 10th annual Homebrew Extravaganza will be held at Checkerspot Brewing on Wednesday October 23. There are 5 slots left to enter a beer. If you’re interested, contact Judy at judyneff1@gmail.com.
8) WTMD’s 5th annual Mighty Pint homebrew competition and festival will be held on Saturday November 9. Two winning beers will be selected, with one getting brewed at Nepenthe and the other at Brewers Art. Go to https://wtmd.org/radio/the-mighty-pint-homebrew-competition/ for more info and https://www.nepenthehomebrew.com/products/wtmd-competitor-registration to register a beer.
9) Registration is open until November 9 for MALT’s Turkey Shoot homebrew competition.Judging will be at Hysteria Brewing on November 16.See http://turkeyshoot.brewcompetition.com to register as a judge, steward, or competitor.
10) Trolley Festivus will be held in Catonsville on Saturday October 5.(Not a beer fest.) See https://festivalnet.com/73105/Catonsville-Maryland/Craft-Shows/Trolley-Festivus for more info.
11) SPBW might have a bus trip to 4 breweries on Saturday November 9.(Can’t find a web link.)
12) 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 9/28: Make it Funky Wild Beer Fest at Denizens Brewing in Silver Spring. See https://www.giftrocker.com/secure/events/?c=d55e9a2a&b=Y
- 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 10/19: Casks and Crafts at Checkerspot Brewing. See https://www.facebook.com/events/402139940499814/ for more info.
- Saturday 11/2: BAM’s 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/
13) For the first time ever, CRABS had 2 competitions. Both were hedonistic.
Competition #1: To celebrate 5 years of wedded bliss, Meghan and Ovais each brewed a saison. The people’s choice was Meghan’s.
Competition #2: Open-style competition that drew 19 entries. The winners were:
5th - Meghan Khalil
4th - Trevor Rose
3rd - Zach Keim
2nd - Joe Horne
1st - Jason Heinen
Judy and Steve from Checkerspot Brewing were there. Jason’s winning beer will be brewed on their 20-gallon pilot system, and if that is successful, it might get brewed on their large system.
14) Next meeting: Wednesday October 16. Competition will be porters and stouts.
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.