Category: Editor’s report and club news

The first meeting of the year is almost here in what is going to be a jam-packed year for the Canberra Brewers.

With a new committee steering the club there’s some new ideas in the works as well as all the old events everyone enjoys.

This Thursday will see the raffles on as normal with some great merchandise and items for your brewery.

The Brewers Showcase will be on with Rohan Lilley showcasing his Belgian Golden Strong Ale as well as plenty of other samples of home brewed beers from members.

With the club back at the Multicultural Festival this weekend the night will be alive with updates and talk about the weekend.

Once again the club will be showcasing a specially brewed beer as well as the normal Wig & Pen line up like last year.

Members will be volunteering their time serving as well as putting on a show with demos throughout the weekend.

By Nick Wiseman, Editor

Spring is here and it’s time to get out of the winter rut and get moving to the next Canberra Brewers meeting being held this Thursday, September 6.

Those who make the meeting will get to enjoy Dominic “Bro Fatboy” Staun giving the club a presentation of his master mead-making skills and tips for brewing the honey based drink.

He may also have a range of meads available for tasting so make sure you get along.

The raffles will see a growler from Plonk and a selection of beers to get the winners ready for the Oktoberfest season and this months Brewers Showcase will be presented by four of the committee who will have up for tasting and talk about four different single hopped IPA’s named ‘The Committee is dead’ after Brewdog’s release last year.

By Nick Wiseman, Editor

This month at the Canberra Brewers meeting saw a number of new members making their first meeting and a new addition to the monthly agenda.

Initiated from discussions on the forum was a feedback table manned this month by Tom ‘Dicko’ Dixon and Craig ‘Stagger’ Webber.

The feedback table is available to any member who has brought some of their beer along and would like some feedback on it, this is ideal for some members who may not want to enter a competition at this stage and even great for seasoned brewers who may be trying out something new.

Patrick Baggoley provided this month’s Brewers Showcase talking about two versions of an American Pale Ale – one brewed with home-grown hops and the other made with commercial ones.

Pat brewed the beers to see if the hops grown in a backyard here in Canberra tasted anything like the commercial type grown in the US.

Pat talking about his APA's

Most people at the meeting picked out the home-grown hops which gave a slightly more organic or earthy flavour with most preferring the commercially grown variant.

Pats recipe can be found attached to this post.

Gareth Prescott supplied the club with the Biltong that he prepared at the Wig & Pen Brew Day which did not last long with it disappearing very quickly.

Up for club members this month in the raffles was the 6kg gas cylinder, Blichmann beer gun, books, BBQ set and some beers which had many people interested and grabbing a ticket.

Ben ‘Mashhead’ Harmer took out the gas cylinder with newer member Fiona Judge taking out not one but three prizes herself with many other members walking away with books and beer.

You can download Pat's recipe by clicking here and view more photos from the night on flickr.

By Nick Wiseman, Editor

The Wig & Pen Brew Day 2012 was attended by a record crowd of brewers keen to get in and help with the brew and to also check out the demos on display by fellow members on July 28.

With the day starting at 8:30am, brewers were already lined up at the bar with a few even starting on the Wig & Pen’s Russian Imperial Stout and Spice Old Ale.

With the mash in scheduled for 9:30 the committee and volunteers got busy in the kitchen churning out breakfast to give everyone that most important meal of the day. Armed with a bacon and egg roll and beer of choice, a group of newer club members were encouraged to dive into the brew process with Richard explaining every step of the way.

Throughout the rest of the morning we had a coffee roasting demo again held by Dave ‘Steelo’ Steel who had his own homemade roaster setup as well as a borrowed commercial roaster (small one!) to compare the differences. As soon as the roasting demo was announced the Wig & Pen was as empty as when it’s closed with almost every brewer out there waiting for a shot of freshly roasted coffee.

It must have bewildered those that passed-by to see more than 50 people, most with a pint in their hand, crowded around a bread maker and a fan. The club members threw question after question, whilst others assisted with the roasting process.

Steelo demonstrates coffee roasting to the club

Gareth Prescott donned his apron and displayed his know-how of making Biltong in front of a large group of brewers. Biltong is a type of cured meat that originated in South Africa. Gareth showed the brewers how easy it was to make your own at home, as well as how quickly it can be made as he promised to bring the finished product to the August Club meeting the following week. Gareth has kindly posted the recipe and process up on the members forum: http://bit.ly/NIU0lR

Throughout the day Richard gave talks on various beers and cider some brewed with brettanomyces (brett) and told people what to look out for when tasting the beers and also to encourage brewers to not be afraid of it.

Once the brewing process was finished we set out down below the pub to visit his cider area where Richard explained the process he uses for marking cider – something Kev Hingston knows all about having won a cider making day with Richard Watkins at our July meeting.

Richard’s keen brewing assistants watching and learning

With a batch of cider still fermenting we all got to taste what it was like before making our way to his storage area, cellar and barrel aging rooms where we got to see some funky yeast aging some of his beers nicely in the barrels. Topping up our glasses with a couple of beers throughout his talks everyone enjoyed seeing the hidden areas of Richards brew process.

After finishing there, everyone made their way back upstairs where the raffles were drawn with some very lucky members walking away with some very nice prizes. With most of the day gone and brewing tasks over, everyone continued to enjoy the many delights of the Wig & Pen with some staying late into the night.

Thanks must go out to Richard and the staff at the Wig & Pen for allowing the club in and looking after us for what is one of the most anticipated events of the club calendar. Thanks also to David ‘Steelo’ Steel and Gareth Prescott for their demonstrations.

A sample of what was enjoyed on the day