Author: Social Secretary

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.librarika.com/ to peruse this prolific resource. You can easily 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.

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.

G’day brewers! Apologies for the lateness of this July newsletter, but rest assured there is a lot of exciting club events on the near horizon. Firstly, the July club meeting will kick off at 7.30pm Thursday July 7 at the Harmonie German Club in Narrabundah (in the bierkeller). For this month’s 7.30pm education session, Education Officer Patrick Baggoley will be getting his kilt on in a Scottish Castle so we’ve called on Stephen “The Law” Lawford to step up and talk about all things yeast. He’ll cover re-hydrating dried yeast, calculating pitching rates and different ways you can get a yeast starter going to ensure optimum fermentation. A session not to be missed.

We’ll also have the final three beers brewed at International Home Brew Day on tap. If you remember from International Home Brew Day two of these are Altbiers using the same recipe but alternative yeasts, and the third is Mr Lawford’s take on a Sticke Alt. On the night we will ask an experienced judge to take us through a guided tasting of the three beers.

Wig & Pen Brew Day 2016 – 9 July – Get your RSVP’s in!

For those that may have missed it on the forum, you should know that there has been a fair bit of excitement and a healthy expression of interest in relation to Chuck’s suggestion we hold a club brew day with Wig & Pen this winter. Well what the hell are the details then?

• Wig & Pen Brew Day is this Saturday 9 July 2016
• Meeting at 9:00am for a 9.30am kick-off
• Cost: $10 for members; and $20 for non-members (this is the time to pay your dues)
• BBQ Breakfast and lunch, in addition to a guided tasting are included in the cost
• Discounted beers during the day
• Exact brew recipe TBC at club night  

If this sounds like something that may interest you, the forum can help you out. We now have an official RSVP feed here. Payment details are also found on that forum post.

Calling for judges, stewards and entries!

Our second club level competition is all set for Sunday, July 24, and we’re looking for judges, stewards, and of course, actual beers! Entries have been already open for 2 weeks, and are being accepted in the following AABC categories: Pale Lager, Pilsener, Amber & Dark Lager, Strong Lager (>6% ABV), Bitter Ale, Stout, Belgian Strong Ale (>6% ABV), Wheat & Rye Beer, Specialty Beer, Mead, Cider. Make sure you fill out the entry form online, and drop off your beers before July 16th. Payment details for Competition 2 can be found on the forum here. Thus far we have 7 judges and 3 stewards who have offered to help on the day, but we are likely to need the help of as many judges in the club as we can get, given the large number of entries expected. So please if you’re so inclined add your name to the list here.

Be in it to win it

For this month’s raffle we will follow up the discussions during the education session by offering some yeast themed prizes. These will be peppered by some high quality mead, beer and beer stein combinations. Thanks to Transit Bar in Civic for helping out with the glassware prizes. 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

With Patrick on a week-long pub crawl across the UK this month, unfortunately only those reservations made prior to Monday this week can be made available at the meeting. So be sure to head to the club’s online library catalogue at https://canberrabrewers.librarika.com/ to peruse this great resource. If the book you are after 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.

Memberships sign up online

By now the 2016 Club Memberships have started rolling in as expected. But please sign up at our club meeting this Thursday night if you haven’t had a chance to as yet. For those who haven’t seen it yet, online you can check out our newly created online membership form, Paypal payments and for those without cash we have a new Paypass system available at the meeting. More information is on this renewal page here.

Greetings brewers! After an action packed month for the club in May, a few of us at the club have just gotten over our lingering GABS and IHBD exhaustion (read as: hangovers) just in time for getting our June meeting together this week. All the action kicks off at the Harmonie German Club in Narrabundah Thursday June 2 at 7.30pm (in the bierkeller) with an education session run by our Education Officer Patrick Baggoley. For this  session we’ll be covering all things carbonation – for both the keggers and bottlers amongst us. Got any questions you’d like answered on the night? Email education@canberrabrewers.com.au and we’ll try to cover it at the meeting.

We’ll also have four of the beers brewed at International Home Brew Day on tap and will ask a few experienced judges to take us through a guided tasting.

Competition 2 – Calling for judges, stewards and entries!

Competition 2 is happening in July. That’s a long way off, right? Wrong! This means that entries will be opening from the 18th of June, and that’s only 3 weeks away!

More information will be available on the forums on or just before the 18th, but until then here’s what matters most:

• Entries open June 18th 2016
• Entries close July 16th 2016
• Judging day July 24th 2016

Entries are being accepted in the following AABC categories:

• Pale Lager
• Pilsener
• Amber & Dark Lager
• Strong Lager (>6% ABV)
• Bitter Ale
• Stout
• Belgian Strong Ale (>6% ABV)
• Wheat & Rye Beer
• Specialty Beer
• Mead
• Cider

It’s not really that far away, so get your brewing caps on!

International Home Brew Day Beers & Wrap Up

As you may have seen on the forum our recent International Home Brew Day (IHBD) event was a great success, with plenty of fun to had by the home brewers and members of the public. We received good feedback on the range of demos held on the day, with everyone especially enjoying the visual spectacle of the cider making/apple pressing with Doug’s hydropress from 3 Sons Cider. Check out the photographs from the event here.   

We will have a range of Altbier’s and ciders made as part of IHBD for everyone to taste at meetings over the course of the next 3 months.

Be in it to win it

For this month’s raffle we’ve got a bit of a Winter brewing theme going, with: A fermentation belt and temperature controller; two pre-mixed sweet chocolate stout all-grain kits with everything you need (if you’re not brewing all-grain yet, we’ll help get you started); a spunding valve, stainless steel hop balls and some 500mL beer steins courtesy of Transit Bar in Civic. 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

We are continuting every other month to add some of the best new home brew related materials to our library collection, so be sure to head to the club’s online library 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 to borrow. Don’t have access to the library? Email us and we’ll hook you up.

Memberships sign up online

By now the 2016 Club Memberships have started rolling in as expected. But please sign up at our club meeting this Thursday night if you haven’t had a chance to as yet. For those who haven’t seen it yet, online you can check out our newly created online membership form, Paypal payments and for those without cash we have a new Paypass system available at the meeting. More information is on this renewal page here.

With Canberra Brewers’ International Home Brew Day just around the corner, we’re excited to announce the extra demonstrations we’ve got planned for the day! Along with having eight of our expert homebrewers making beer on their own equipment, we’ve lined up a series of demonstrations that showcase our members’ passion for all things home-made.

Times etc may be subject to late changes, but here’s what we’ve got planned so far:

Schedule

10am – Doors open  – Brewers brewing.
10.20am Home Coffee Roasting – Love coffee? Love trying different styles and roasts? See how you can roast your own from green beans you source yourself.
11.20am Mead Making – the nectar of the gods, wine from honey. Learn how to get started in this ancient art with minimal equipment.
12.20pm Cider Making – Watch apples pressed into juice ready for cider and hear about different apple varieties and how to make your own.
1.20pm Fermenting vegetables at home – fermentation isn’t just for making alcohol, it’s an important part of preserving some types of (delicious) food.
2.20pm Meat curing – learn about South Africa’s biltong and other meat you can cure at home.
3pm – event ends  –  Brewers pack up.

About the site

We’re excited to have access to The Hangar, an industrial-style 1940s warehouse space at 255 Canberra Avenue Fyshwick. It’s certainly industrial, but allows us plenty of space to all brew together out of the weather. Park in the areas shown below and we’ll have a banner beside the access gate.