Author: Social Secretary

This month we will be doing more for beginners with education and the start of our mentoring program. We will also have some opportunities for the mead lovers.

Education Session @ 7:30pm

Water, how hard can it be? – Improving your beer via water modification

Mark ‘Billy’ Billbrough, our long standing club member, will be explaining the ins and outs of brewing water and how to optimise it for your brew.

Billy will be covering three levels of depth:

• The Shallow End (Beginner) – essentials of brewing water treatment, what is and isn’t important, how to get started. These are the core things for brewers with kits up to basic all grain;
• Up to your Neck (Intermediate) – Basics on salt water additions, how to squeeze the flavour from your hops with water modification;
• The Deep End (Advanced) – Running through some software tools to assist brewers in modifying water, and covering a “seasoning” approach to water additions.

Mead experiments

We are organising a pile of mini mead experiments. We plans to have members make small batches. The aim is to improve the club’s mead making and judging skills. If you are interested, talk to Tarun (Tunips) at the meeting and if you know a good supply of honey, please step forward.

Asset Easter hunt

As we now have a new assets manager our first task is to catalogue what assets the club actually has. Over the years the club has obtained an assortment of items, many of which we are trying to locate and we ask the following of long term members to PM Turnips with a list of all assets you have, know about or have helped the club acquire over the years – the more specific the better, even if the assets have not been seen for a while. Knowing what items are missing will greatly help in locating them. Hint – hold an Easter egg hunt in your brew shed and see what you find!

Library

We are looking to increase our library in the Mead, Cider and alternative areas. If you know of any books, catch up with Turnips and give him your suggestions.

Make sure you check out the library account. Go to https://canberrabrewers.librarika.com/ and check out some great resources and reserve a book or two to read over the next month.  You can reserve a copy of something and we’ll deliver it at the meeting.  If the book is on loan, email education@canberrabrewers.com.au and we’ll arrange it to be brought back for you to borrow.  Don’t have access to the library? Email us and we’ll hook you up.

Raffle & NOOKIE !

Again there will be some great raffle prizes including grain from Voyger Malts (thanks Stu), hops from Mashematics (thanks Kurtz) Beer from Catpial Brewing and they are the minor prizes. Also the new NOOKIE is still being sorted but is garanteed to be an interesting brewday at a great brewery. Remember every time you enter the raffle at club night and buy $5 or more of tickets you get an entry into the Nookie, bring a bottle(s) of beer of 750ml or more and get another ticket, bring a keg get 3 Tickets! Get on it!

Mentor brewing competition.

We are asking for volunteer mentors to assist new brewers to get their first beer into one of the local competitions. The mentor and new brewer get paired up to design and brew a beer on the new member’s kit. We have started to call on mentors and will be asking for new brewers on Wednesday. They will be judged against each other as well as be aimed at comps. Details will be announced at the meeting.

‘Dark Fest’ brewing competition

If you felt the buzz on social media, you will know there is a Dark Fest brewing comp coming to Canberra. This is not a club or ANHC event but something completly different. Mitch, one of the organisers will be at the meeting to tell all and answer questions.

Social outing to GABS

If you have never been to GABS, here’s your chance. If you have, you will want to go again. The club is looking to organise a trip to GABS on the weekend of 1-2 June. Please ask at the meeing or check the forum to register interest.

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.

 

We’re heading to Zierholz for our monthly meeting this Thursday, October 5, for our annual Oktoberfest dinner! But so we can get catering right, we need you to book your tickets today!

The cost is a bargain $15 for members, and $55 for guests. For that, you get a German banquet, a pint of delicious, fresh Zierholz beer, and of course share your homebrew with fellow beer lovers. Book using the widget below or head to our ticket website. Pay via PayPal, or chose the “Invoice” option and receive a PDF with details on how to pay via direct bank deposit.

The night starts at 7pm, with the food to start from 7.30pm.

Make sure you bring some of your best German homebrew to enter in our Best of the Fest competition, with prizes for the top-three beers:

Prizes this year will be:
1st: A $50 Gift Voucher to spend at Zierholz Premium Brewery.
2nd: $40 Gift Voucher to Mashematics or Belco Brew Supplies.
3rd: $20 Gift Voucher to Mashematics or Belco Brew Supplies.

And of course, there is nothing worse than a dry Oktoberfest! Brew your favourite German styles. Of course, if you don’t have anything German to offer, all homebrew is welcome! We’ll have the miracle boxes set up to serve kegs, or bring bottles to share at the table.

Of course we will have the usual raffles, with great prizes, including Zierholz paddles up for grabs on the night.

BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW!!

 

And we’ll see you at Zierholz, 7/19-25 Kembla St, Fyshwick ACT 2609 from 7pm

Howdy folks! We’ve got a great meeting lined up for Thursday June 1st, so here’s the lowdown:

International Home Brew Day (IHBD) debrief

Before we get onto this week’s meeting, first a big thank you to all those who helped make IHBD such a success this year. We had a solid turnout (despite the weather) and some great feedback! You can check out some photos from the day here.

What happened to all the beer that was brewed, you ask? Well, you can drink it at the meeting – a perfect accompaniment to the next education session…

Education

The June education session is definitely one for the hop-heads amongst us. As mentioned above, we’ll have the four American IPAs that were brewed during International Home Brew Day on tap and to compliment this, the education session this month will be all things IPA! You will be taken through a guided BJCP evaluation of a classic example; we’ll also go through recipe formulation tips and brewing process suggestions. If you’re a hop head, this session is one not to miss. Get your seats early to avoid missing out!

Raffle

June’s raffle is a goodie! Prizes will include:

• A Bacchus Brewery fresh wort kit (American brown)
• A ‘Rushmore IPA’ all-grain kit
• An Intertap tap
• An Erlenmeyer flask
• A pressure relief valve regulator kit
• Books & hops, hops hops….

Library update

Our most recent addition to the club library is the “Brew Your Own Big Book of Homebrewing“. You can reserve this or a copy of something else and we’ll deliver it at the meeting. If the book is currently on loan, email education@canberrabrewers.com.au and we’ll arrange to have it brought back for you to borrow. Don’t have access to the library? Email us and we’ll hook you up.

Plonk tastings

Did you know that club members often run public tasting sessions at Plonk? The deal, if you’re up for it, is to talk to customers about beer for three hours on a Saturday (1-4pm) and then get $75 of beer (after discount) in return. With the recent opening of Plonk’s second store in Belconnen, there are even more opportunities to get in on this gig. Talk to Darren the treasurer (‘Spaz’) if you’re interested!

Social media reminder

We’re socially mediating a little more these days, so why not like and follow Canberra Brewers on Facebook and Twitter for more frequent club news and updates? 🙂

See you on Thursday…

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

Howdy folks!  Is it that time again already?  May’s meeting is this Thursday.  Here’s the latest…

Competition presentations

We’ll be presenting certificates and awards for Comp 1 and the nationals at this month’s meeting. Make sure you’re there if you’re a potential winner!  Comp 1 results have already been posted on the forums (photos of judging here).  Time to get brewing for Comp 2 in July!

International home brew day (IHBD)

This one has kind of snuck up a bit, what with Easter and ANZAC day, but IHBD is next weekend! The venue is confirmed as the BentSpoke brewery in Mitchell.

We’re keen to get as many club members (and friends) to come out and participate as possible. Specifically, we are looking for people to: a) bring their breweries; b) brew on their own gear or on someone else’s; c) volunteer for general helping; and d) donate beers.  More details and the sign-up list are, of course, on the forum.

Its going to be a fun day, and a great opportunity to check out BentSpoke’s new stainless steel bling!  We hope to see you there.  Those of you on Facebook can share and/or RSVP to the event.

May’s education session

Our very own apple-fermenting guru Doug (aka 3SonsCider) will take us though a tasting (eating not drinking) of the different cider apple varieties that go into making a quality apple cider. Don’t miss out! The session starts at 7.30 pm.

Library

Don’t forget you can check out the club library on Librarika and reserve a book to read over the next month. You can reserve a copy of something and we’ll deliver it at the meeting. If the book is currently on loan, email the education secretary and we’ll arrange to have it brought back for you to borrow. Don’t have access to the library? Email us and we’ll hook you up.

Six Pack Swap

One of the great things about club meetings is getting to sample a variety of other brewers’ handiwork, so why not enhance the club experience over the following weeks by joining the Six Pack Swap?

If you’re interested in joining, add your name to the list on the forum; on club night we’ll pool our beers and everyone who contributes gets to take home a mixed six pack.

See you on Thursday…

May’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.