May Meeting – It’s competition season
Wednesday 1st May at Gorman House
Brewers, There is plenty happening this month. The May meeting will feature an education session on transferring beer between vessels without spoilage. The first weekend has our yearly demonstration on International Home Brew Day and our first competition. In the middle of the month our next BJCP course starts. Membership renewals are now due and for the first time we will issue cards to allow you to get discounts from our sponsors.
It is a busy month.
Education
The Education Session will focus on transferring your brew between vessels. It caters for every level of brewer and we will be performing live demonstrations from plastic drum style fermenters, kegmenters and kegs – to kegs, PET bottles and glass bottles. Oxidisation is the enemy of finished beer so ahead of competition season, this is a very worthwhile session to attend. I encourage every one of you to consider your fellow brewers in the community and invite them along to the meeting.
International Home Brew Day
International Home Brew Day is on Star Wars day (May the 4th be with you) at Capital Brewing Dairy Road, Fyshwick from 11:00am to 4:00pm. We are seeking volunteer brewers bring their brew rig along to Capital Brewing to show off your system and skills to the public. There are two IHBD recipes on offer for you to brew (club supplies ingredients), with all details available on the forum.
Please encourage any friends interested in brewing to come along. In addition to the brew demos, we like to organise a number of other craft demos like coffee, curing, cheese, pickling and ciders/mead. If you know if anyone who wants to show off these skills, send them our way.
We will finalise plans and provide details at the meeting. Thanks to those who have already put their hands up to help.
Competitions
Our first comp of the year is on Sunday the 5th May at John James hospital. Good luck to those with entries in and thanks to all the judges and stewards who are helping on the day. Even if you are not judging, come along and see how the process works and even sit in and watch how the judging apply their skills.
The entries for the next comp close mid-July and will cover all shades of lagers as well as bitters, Belgians, wheat and rye beers, and specialities. The full list is on the forum page. https://www.canberrabrewers.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=8145&sid=3bc8598000d5705cf565e79c89e295db
BJCP Tasting course
If you are interested in learning to judge, there is still a couple of places left on the BJCP tasting course. With 150 beers, we will cover all styles of beer and teach you how to asses them. It is 10 sessions, once every fortnight on Wednesdays starting 15 May. Details are on the forum https://www.canberrabrewers.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=8148
Membership dues
Membership fees are now due and can be paid on the forum. Sorry, no cash at the meeting. Members will get a card this year which can be used for special deals from out sponsors such as Mathematics and Page Bottler. You also will be able to get Nookie tickets when you bring beer to meetings or buy raffle tickets.
Mentoring Program
There is still room for those who would like to mentor new brewers. This will help new brewers improve quickly and learn from your experience. You will get to know some new brewers and help build skills in the club. Please check the forum if you are interested. https://www.canberrabrewers.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=8136&p=67159&hilit=Mentor#p67159
Library
This month you might be interested in Yeast. Even if you are making kits, changing your yeast can completely change your beer. Read up about it in one of several books that cover yeast in the library. Order your book online and pick it up at the next meeting.
New Members please check out the forum
The forum https://www.canberrabrewers.com.au/forum/index.php is a great place to find out what’s on, get tips and info and exchange equipment. Whether you need a few bottles or want to sell your excess brewing gear, it is they place to do it.
Have a great May and see you at one of the events.
