April 2017 news and meeting preview

Howdy folks, and warm greetings from your new committee.  The March AGM was a success, with nominations received for all committee positions.  Here follows a recap of the dream team for 2017, elected under the watchful eye of Returning Officer, Chris Duffy (‘Duffbowl’).  (The new editor proceeded to instantly fail at organising a committee photograph; apologies.)

• President: Charles ‘Chuck’ Newton (‘Charles Newton’)
• Treasurer: Darren Blackhurst (‘Spaz’)
• Education Officer: Stephen Lawford (‘Lawfo’)
• Competition Secretary: Paul Main (‘Hen and Hound’)
• Editor: James Gilbert (‘jamie’)
• Social Secretary: Nicole Coombe (‘Nicname’)
• Assistant Social Secretary: Michael O’Brien (‘Brettanomikies’)
• Webmaster: Scott Taylor (‘ScottyT’)

All nominations were unopposed and all were elected unanimously.  Many thanks once again to last year’s committee for steering the Canberra Brewers ship with aplomb.

2017 competition schedule

Full info on the 2017 club competitions has been announced on the forum.  Dates are:

• Comp 1 – Sunday 30 April 2017
• Comp 2 – Sunday 23 July 2017
• ACT Championships – Weekend of 9-10 September 2017 (TBC)

Note that a new style guide has been released by the Australian Amateur Brewing Championships, which means the competition schedule differs a little from previous years.

There’s still time to get a batch on for Comp 1, so what are you waiting for? 🙂

And speaking of competitions…

April’s education session

With the first club comp of 2017 just around the corner, our education session this month is all about competitions. Comps are one of the best education tools the club provides. This month we’ll have a panel of members with varying levels of experience, poised to give their view on the whats, whys and hows of entering and participating in a comp.

This year the committee is keen to broaden comp participation across our membership, so we’d like to know what we could do to encourage first time entrants.  We’d like to remind members that, even if you know your beer isn’t wonderful, some constructive feedback from experienced judges might be all you need to instantly improve one or all of your brews.

We’ll conclude this month’s education session with our new CompSec, Paul Main (‘Hen and Hound’), giving an update on Comp 1 and summarising the recent changes to the AABC Guidelines.

And speaking of beer styles…

BJCP course 2017

This year’s BJCP course, originally due to start last month, has been rescheduled to begin in May.  This means there’s still time to sign up on the forum for this excellent (and subsidised) education opportunity.  Remember that there’s no obligation to become a judge and you’re not signing up for any sort of exam; this is a chance to learn how to taste and evaluate beer, which is a vital stage in the path to homebrewing nirvana.

Patrick Baggoley (‘PatrickB’) has kindly volunteered to host the course again this year, so you’re guaranteed an experience at least as good as last year.  Which was bloody good.

See you on Thursday…

April’s club meeting will again be held at the Harmonie German Club in Narrabundah.  7.30pm sharp for the education session, followed by usual club shenanigans.