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As in previous years the Canberra Brewers are involved in the National Multicultural Festival.

Come and see us at stall A36/A37, we are located near MacDonalds / diagonally opposite from King O’Malleys.

This year we have a partnership with BentSpoke Brewing Co. to serve you Canberra’s freshest craft beer. On tap we will have Crankshaft (IPA), Morts Gold (Hoppy Pilsner), Adam’s Cider (Apple Cider) and a tap that will cycle through different BentSpoke beers.

Come and support both your local home brewing club and a local brewery by enjoying a fresh beer while at the Multicultural Festival.

By Nick Wiseman, Editor

With a busy year now almost complete the club met this month for its AGM and to meet the committee who will steer it into 2013.

Outgoing president Tom ‘Dicko’ Dixon gave a final address to the club wishing the new committee the best and looking forward to some time spent back in the brewing shed.

After the rest of the outgoing committee having a small talk about their roles, Craig ‘Stagger’ Webber took over and formally dissolved the 2012 committee and called up the new committee for 2013.

Incoming president Mark ‘Billy’ Bilbrough introduced his new committee and gave a passionate talk about his plans and where he saw the club going.

Adam ‘Temujin’ Langan is taking over as Treasurer this year with Kevin ‘Mr No-Tip’ Hingston as Social Secretary.

Chris ‘Duffbowl’ Duffy is Education Officer, Malcolm ‘LuckyMal’ Scholes is Competition Secretary and Pete ‘Daff’ Daffern and Nick ‘Wambesi’ Wiseman return in their roles as Webmaster and Editor.

Part of the final formalities of the year includes the announcement and presentation of Clubman of the year and the ‘Nookie’ prize.

For 2012, Clubman of the year was presented to Richard Watkins.

Richard is a long-serving member of the club and extremely dedicated regularly judging at competitions, hosting the annual Wig & Pen Brew Day and guiding members on how to improve their beers.

These are but a few of the reasons he was selected to be the Clubman of the year.

Another prize for the night was the annual ‘Nookie’ which is a weekend away subsidised by the club for a member and their partner.

While the member gets to have fun at a brewery their partner gets treated to something more related to their likes and there’s usually time for a nice dinner as well.

This year Dan Rayner took out the Nookie – well done mate!

After the formalities of the AGM the night continued on with Mark Overton talking about his best of show Scarecrow Cream Ale which is currently available on tap at the Wig & Pen.

In true Canberra Brewers style the keg was dry by the time he got to talk about it but plenty of brewers crowded around keen to discover his trade secrets on his award winning brew.

This was the final meeting of the year and the club will meet up again in February, keep an eye out on the forum for an upcoming social weekend for January.

We hope everyone has a great break over the festive season and look forward to catching up in the new year.

Mark Overton talking about his beer

By Nick Wiseman, Editor

This Thursday will see the final meeting of the Canberra Brewers and also the beginning of what to expect in 2013.

The current committee will stand down on the night after a huge year to make room for the new committee to be voted in and steer the club into the next 12 months.

Nominations have been open and for those who missed it you can check Stagger’s posts on the forum which will tell you who has been nominated for each position.

After the official proceedings complete we will still see the Brewers Showcase with Mark Overton and Richard Watkins presenting the 2012 Beer of Show – Scarecrow Cream Ale.

The raffle will also be on with a range of beers not available in Australia up for grabs and some great gear from Belgian breweries as well as a copy of the Brewmasters Bible.

Make your vote count and come into the last meeting for the year or read the thread to see how to make your vote in absence.

By Nick Wiseman, Editor and Tom Dixon, President

The second last meeting of the year was held last earlier this month with the committee address focused on the December’s AGM.

Craig ‘Stagger’ Webber kindly accepted the role of returning officer to run the 2013 committee elections as well as the Craig Robinson, Clubman of the Year Trophy.

Nominations for the 2013 committee should be sent to Stagger via private message.

Nominations close November 25 and the following day they will be advertised to allow absentee votes prior to the AGM in December.

 The Committee nominations are a critical function of our club and we need volunteers to step up and continue to grow and strengthen our club. Please get your nominations in.

Nominations for the Craig Robinson, Clubman of the Year Trophy should be sent by private message to Stagger and include a description of why you think that member should be considered for the award.

Nominations will also close on November 25 to allow judging and then the presentation of the award at the December meeting.

More information can be found in the following forum posts:

2013 Committee – http://bit.ly/RQkZAV
Craig Robinson Trophy – http://bit.ly/TNA57J

The Brewers Showcase was well received with many members listening in as Malcolm ‘Heston’ Scholes presented his Tsingtao rice lager clone and Pete ‘Pedro’ Collins presented his American Brown Ale.

Heston described the process for making the beer which included cooking rice and adding it the mash.

Stagger recommend the use of flaked rice to get the same result without the extra effort.

Pedro’s American Brown Ale was well received and was Jamil’s ‘Dirty Brown Water’ recipe from ‘Brewing Classic Styles’ – a book that Pedro described as a must have for all all-grain brewers.

Thanks to both of these members for stepping up to run the showcase.

Our social secretary Bruce Arnold advised everyone that the Manly trip had been postponed to January and it’s hoped more people will be able to take advantage of the quiet time of year to come along.

He also spoke about the upcoming family Christmas party on December 2 and has asked that people jump on the forum and put their names and numbers of guests down.

Education Officer Ben Harmer provided a beer filtering demo with thanks going to Joel Baines who supplied the beer.

Remember to start thinking of who you want to lead 2013 and make your vote count.