Canberra Brewers August 2016 meeting preview
Here it is ya’ll, your monthly update covering off on all your CBR homebrew news! This past month has been a memorable one for the club, and we send #yuuuge thankyou to our good friends at the Wig & Pen Tavern & Brewery (Frazer, Alan & Dylan) for being such gracious hosts at our recent brew day. To paraphrase Stephen Lawford it truly was the kind of event which gets you all merry and hooked on the Canberra Brewers. We will let you all know as soon as our Wig Altbier gets tapped down by Llewellyn Hall, but it’s tasting great from in the tanks already!
And so, to business. Our next club meeting is next Thursday 4th August, and as usual proceedings kick off at 7.30pm at the Harmonie German Club in Narrabundah. On the miracles we’ll have two ciders for everyone to taste. These were both taken from pressings at the IHBD (photos here) but fermented with different yeasts, and luckily Doug from 3 Sons Cider will also be there to answer any questions you have. Starting at 7.30pm Doug will give a brief talk about the cider vs beer brewing processes, culinary apples and cider apples, yeasts and home-based production methods. He’ll bring along some samples to demonstrate the difference that genuine cider apples make to the flavour of the finished product.
Take 2: The Fundraiser Movie Night is back
I’m really excited about this one! Us on the committee have gotten around to choosing a new date for our fundraising screening of The Beer Hunter, a documentary about Michael Jackson, one of the world’s most influential beer writers. Sounds promising, more details please?
When: Saturday, August 27 – food and drinks from 6.30pm, movie from 8pm.
Where: The theatrette @ John James Hospital in Deakin
What: Dinner, beers and The Beer Hunter on the big screen
Cost: $20 per head
Please note that all takings from tickets will go to the John James Foundation. The kitchenette and boardroom facilities have essentially become like a second home to the club in recent years, as a fantastic venue for BJCP sessions & exam preparation, and also for club competitions – asking for absolutely nothing in return. We believe this will be a great opportunity to give something back. More details on the forum here. Feel free to RSVP there but we will keep you in the loop as we decide on a viable online ticketing host for this event.
Club Comp #2 – the results are in!
Our second club level competition was held over the weekend (Sunday, July 24th)! The day was organised and run seamlessly thanks to Geoff and his reliable team of judges, stewards and Belgian Dark Strong moppers. Another yuuuge Donald J. Trump thankyou to everyone who volunteered to help out on the day, it wouldn’t have been quite as short and snappy a comp without that help. Big props go especially to Luke Mayds for tackling Lawfo’s Belgian Dark Strong to the ground when it got a bit restless and uncomfortable about being left to the end.
A complete list of results (and photos) should be available now on the forum and if all things go as planned, any certificates should be given out at next Thursday’s meeting. A hearty congratulations to all those who submitted their beer. Even if it didn’t score to a gold, the feedback should be valuable to help you learn how you can improve and kick ass next time! Speaking of gold, there were 6 of them scattered amongst the 29 entries, a fine achievement. Congratulations to our top three brewers for the event: Doug Inwood for his English cider (124 points), Stephen Lawford for his Doppelbock (123 points), and Paul Main’s Classic American Pilsner (also 123 points).
ANHC #5 in Adelaide – Expressions of interest
As many of you will of course know much better than I (given our hosting role in 2014), the Australian National Homebrewing Conference (ANHC) is a jam-packed three-day event delivering a high quality educational experience targeted at Australian homebrewers of various shades. The 2016 instalment of this bi-annual event will be held between 13-15 October, and at this early stage it looks like we are likely to have a solid CB contingent heading to Radelaide for both the discussion panel/practical session program as well as the Australian Amateur Brewing Championships on Thursday 13th October. For those who are new to the idea of ANHC, I’d encourage you to check out all the online information on 2016’s speakers and ticketing. From a club representation perspective, the discussion topic is on the forum here. Hope to see you there!
ACT Championships
Now that Comp 2 is all done and dusted, it’s time to start talking about the ACT Championships. Judging for the ACTs will be held on the weekend of the 17-18th of September. That’s less than two months away! Entries will open during the week starting the 21st of August, and submissions close on the 11th of September. Get all over the forums for news as we get closer to the event. Good luck, and get brewing before you run out of time!
Cooking with beer showcase @ Bent Spoke
For the Strictly Ballroom & gourmet food fans amongst us there is an excellent local beer-food event coming up on August 2 (next Tuesday evening) when Bentspoke Brewing Co host Paul Mecurio for a cooking with beer showcase. Further details can be found all over Facebook. Some of you may recall this great interview Patrick Baggoley published in the Canberra Times a few years back with the man himself.
Be in it to win it
For this month’s raffle we have fresh opportunities for you to ‘wynn bigley’ just like Trump! The main prizes this month are being focus grouped as we speak, but luckily these mysteries will be peppered by some great mead, beer and glassware combinations. Thanks to Transit Bar in Civic for helping out with the beer steins. Don’t forget that for every three tickets you buy, you get an entry in our end of year N.O.O.K.I.E. prize!
Get your brewing books
I’m definitely looking to return a bunch of my borrowed books this week, so there’s hardly been a more exciting time to head to the club’s online catalogue at https://canberrabrewers.
Memberships sign up online
We ask that any members whom have overlooked transferring their dues for the year to date, take the great opportunity (to use the convenience of paypass) by signing up at our club meeting next Thursday night. Alternatively, online there is always the digitised membership form you can submit to the Treasurer (cc’ing his fellow Webmaster). Paypal payment details and more information is on this renewal page here.
Leave a Reply