December 2016 Meeting Preview

We’re all set for the last meeting of 2016, with some great education, great prizes and great beer to be had!

But before we get to that, don’t forget we’ve got our family Christmas barbecue on Saturday, December 10 – with a barbecue, bouncy castle for the kids and a visit from Santa – details below!

Our meeting on Thursday, December 1, at the Harmonie German Club in Narrabundah from 7.30pm with a talk on measuring pH and how that relates to brewing. Education officer Patrick will get the ball rolling with a quick summary of where and why we’re interested in pH during brewing, and then water scientist Amanda Brown (wife of club member KarlB) is going to give us an expert talk to us about how to take measurements right.

Club Member of the Year

On Thursday night club members will present the Canberra Brewers Club Member of the Year award. Will be awarded the Craig Robinson Memorial Trophy is named after a club member who passed suddenly in 2009. The trophy is awarded each year to a Canberra Brewer who best demonstrates the traits Craig was known for: a passion for brewing, generosity and devotion to the club, and being an all-round champion. The previous three trophy winners, Andrew Blencowe, Chris Duffy and Tom Dixon, have taken nominations for the award from members and will select the winner.

Ultimate raffle draw – the N.O.O.K.I.E!!

The December meeting is also where we draw the winner of our annual Newcastle Or Otherwise Kind of Interstate Experience prize! For every three raffle tickets financial members have bought during the year, they get one draw in the NOOKIE prize. This year, the prize is a trip for two to the Gold Coast, where they can head to Currumbin for a personalised tour of Balter Brewing Co with the legend himself, ex-Canberra Brewer Scott ‘Cougar’ Hargrave! There will also be a day spa activity or similar for the winner’s spouse/partner/special friend.

Voyager returns – take some home!

After a sensational talk from Stu Wycross about the remarkable journey of Voyager Craft Malting, we’ve had four talented brewers go away and brew four batches using Voyager’s Latrobe Atlas pale malt and a different Voyager specialty malt each. Those beers will be at the meeting for tasting, and as well as more Voyager malt up for grabs in the raffle, brewers will also have the chance buy some of the extra malt from the club – with proceeds going to the John James Foundation. More info on the forum here.

Christmas Party

Don’t forget to RSVP for the club family Christmas party! This is the day where brewers bring their partners and children along for a great day out. We’ve got a bouncy castle and a visit from Santa lined up, with gifts for the kids! Jump on the forum here to RSVP and get the details – we need numbers by Friday 2nd December 2016 (for gifts) Thursday 8th December (for catering).

Your club needs you! Multicultural festival helpers needed

The Canberra Brewers have booked a stall at the 2017 National Multicultral Festival on February 17-19 and President Charlie is looking for some helpers for the planning phase. Events like these always go better with a bit of help from a few people, so step up and help out the club that helps you! More details here on the forum.

Raffle

The last raffle of 2016 is set to be another great one, with a specially picked ‘Best of the BJCP’ beer pack up for grabs. Education Officer Patrick is heading to Plonk at the Fyshwick markets to pick out the best 20 beers from this year’s BJCP course – each one from a different category! We’ve also got a sack of Voyager pale malt, specialty malt packs and other swag, and some clothing from BentSpoke.

The best Christmas reading

Make sure you check out the club library account att https://canberrabrewers.librarika.com/ to peruse this great resource and reserve a book or two to read over the Christmas break. You can reserve a copy of something 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. Have you had a book out for a while? Please bring it back so someone else can get in on the learnin’.

*Note, there’s no January meeting, the first catch up in 2017 will be Thursday, February 2.*