February 2017 Meeting preview

NOTE: CHANGE OF VENUE FOR THIS MEETING – THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

As the embers of 2016 slowly smoulder with the Trans-Pacific Partnership … we inaugurate 2017 with a club night on Thursday, February 2 augmented (or should that be trumped) with a brew day starting at 3pm, and a talk from Peter Symons, the king of Australian beer history, from 7.30pm!

If you can’t make it in early the meeting, which will be at BentSpoke Mitchell and NOT THE HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB, will kick off and run as normal (so please bring samples of your latest brew to share). When you arrive at Mitchell, please park in the carpark out the front in Baillieu Ct, and come in through the front door (not around the back). See the map below.

BentSpoke Brew Day

Starting early at 3pm, we will be mashing in with Richard at the BentSpoke Mitchell facility (79 Lysaght St, Mitchell) as he resurrects the “Malty Cultural” specialty brew for the upcoming festival.  Cost is $10 (pay when you arrive) to cover nibbles and dinner. Add your name to the forum post or email president@canberrabrewers.com.au if you aren’t able to access the forums.  We need numbers before 5pm Wednesday to give Richard a good idea of numbers, and so we can get the catering right.

If you aren’t able to make the early start, don’t worry, just let us know when you plan to be there – the brew day will run from 3pm until pretty much the end of the meeting.

And have you ever wondered if your alcohol calculations are off? Richard’s going to let a few brewers test their (bottled) beers with his fancy ABV testing tool.

Raider of the lost brew logs

We’re very pleased to say we’ve got brewing historian Peter Symons coming along to the meeting this month to talk about his research in writing Bronzed Brews and the research he’s been doing since. We’ll have a copy of the book in the raffle, and Peter will be able to sell a few copies at $25 each.

Pitch in for Multicultural Festival

It’s that time of year when we’re looking for helpers on our stall at the Multicultural Festival, February 17-19. We need people to sign up for shifts and help pour beers, work the register, do keg runs and talk to punters about beer and homebrewing. Thanks to the support of Canberra breweries, this is a major fundraiser for our club, and it’s also a great social way to get to know other club members. Please add your name to the forum here.

Your club needs you

The club’s annual general meeting will be held at the March meeting, so we’ll be calling for nominations for committee elections. Have a think about whether you’d like to step up and do a little more for the clcub, consider nominating.

The Canberra Brewers committee consists of: President, Treasurer, Social Secretary, Competition Secretary, Editor and Education Secretary. There are also to non-executive members of the committee (who are involved in everything anyway, it’s more of a constitutional thing): Ordinary committee member (currently designated as Assistant Social Secretary)  and Webmaster. If you’ve got any questions about the roles, send the incumbent member and email and have a chat.

Library books

Have you made a New Year’s resolution to read more about beer? Don’t forget the club’s has an extensive library for you to borrow from. Check out the online catalogue at https://canberrabrewers.librarika.com/ to peruse this great resource. 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. Don’t have access to the library? Email us and we’ll hook you up.