Category: Monthly Meeting Preview

Happy New Year Brewers

The holidays are over and we have an update about our first meeting of 2020

We trust you had a chance to relax and maybe had some time to brew. 2020 is well under way and the exciting news is our new meeting location. We are trialling BentSpoke at Mitchell. That’s right, Richard Watkins has welcomed us to have meeting at BentSpoke’s Mitchell brewery on Thursday February 6th. We will be looking for feedback to see if it is suitable for our meetings.

The details for our February Meeting are:

First Thursday of the month – 6th Feb.

From 7:30pm to 10:30pm

At the BentSpoke Cannery, 63 Lysaght St, Mitchell   https://her.is/37uh6hb

Please bring some of your home brew to share, bottles, growlers, corny kegs are all welcome.

New brewers and vistors from other brewing clubs are always welcome.

This meeting will be a great start to the brewing year. There is an education session on electronic hydrometers at 7:30pm, the raffles, six pack swap (see the forum) and of course, the chance to talk to other brewers and try their tasty brews.

Education session

This session will be all about the latest brewing bling, the digital, wifi, remote sensing ‘I can check my ferment while travelling to Perth for work’ wonder toy. Yes – it is the electronic hydrometer.  We will be reviewing the DIY German-grown iSpindel, and electronic hydrometers overall. And there will be a live demonstration of the iSpindel integrated with a Brewfather.

Raffle

This month the main prize with be a Grainfather Control box upgrade courtesy of our former member Nick Wiseman, now of Grainfather, as well as some other great prizes. Also the Nookie prize begins again. Last year’s went to Stephen Neilson AKA Kurtz, and he won a brew-day at Sailor’s Grave in Orbost in Gippsland with a Pamper Package for his partner. This year we will have another similar package with details later in the year. All you need to do is either enter is be a member and either buy $5 worth of raffle tickets and/or bring beer to the club meetings.

Mead Tasting

Last year a few club members got together and brewed several varietal meads. These are now finished, looking good and ready for sampling. Check out the forum* for details on how to get in on the action. https://www.canberrabrewers.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=8423&p=68526&hilit=mead#p68526

Looking forward to a busy moth and a great year,

The CB Committee

 

*Forum access is for financial members.

Remember to bring some of your home brewed beer to the November meeting at:

7:30pm Wednesday 6th November at Gorman Arts Centre

ACT Beer of show

All members are welcome to go along to the judging of the ACT Beer of Show at Bentspoke starting at 6pm 6-Nov to witness it and have a beer before the meeting.

For those who entred the ACT comp, all of the comp medals and score sheets to give out.

Sharing is caring

Like always we encourage you to bring and share your beer with all of the other brewers at the meeting. You can bring bottles, growlers or even a Corny Keg, it is up to you. A good guide is to bring about as much as you want to drink. There is a Nookie ticket for members who bring beer or buy raffle tickets. If you don’t know what the Nookie prize is, then come and find out.

Membership and Bentspoke Drafters cards will be available at the meeting

As most of you will know by now we are issuing Membership cards so sponsors can identify current members and provide some great offers. Check the sponsors’ page of the forum. Also Bentspoke has generously provided all financial members with a Drafters card that gives you some great discounts at Bentspoke.  Cards and details are available at the meeting.

Education Session

With a recent popularity explosion of hazy beers such as New England IPAs, as well as their acceptance in the 2019 Australian Amateur Brewing Competition, it’s an appropriate time to discuss beer clarity.

The November Education Session will focus on many aspects of beer clarity, specifically;
– Factors influencing wort & beer clarity
– Methods to improve clarity ie filtering, finings, long-term chilling
– Methods to reduce clarity ie malt & yeast selection
– Effects of clarity on beer flavour and preference

This won’t be a NEIPA talk – that’s just a topical example. Fundamental aspects are in focus here.

There will be two samples of a heavily dry-hopped pale ale for attendees to taste: one is clarified and the other is not (they are otherwise identical beers, from the same batch). You will be invited to sample both and discuss any perceived differences. Anyone willing to bring their own fined & non-fined samples of their beer are welcome and encouraged to do so, send a PM to MBT discuss further.

Raffle

This month’s raffle prizes include a Counter Pressure Filler. Belco Brew supplies have donated 10kg grain and some hop samples and Mashematics have donated various grain and hop samples.

Library

As mentioned earlier, Peter Symons who ran the AABCs this year is a great author of historical beer books including tested recipes for home brewers to use. His books include 6 O’clock Brews about beers from the 40s and Bronzed Brews about Australian Old beers. Both are available from the library. Log on through the forum to see all the books.

See you at the meeting!

7:30pm Wednesday 4 September at Gorman Arts Centre

Brewers, the September meeting is coming. So is the ACT Amateur Brewing Championships. You should have you bottles ready for next week’s entry. We are still enrolling judges and stewards. Good luck to all those with a beer, cider or mead in it. I hope you get a good result and maybe make it through to the Nationals.

Remember to bring some of your home brewed beer to share with all of the other brewers at the meeting. You can bring bottles, growlers or even a Corny Keg, it is up to you. A good guide is to bring about as much as you want to drink. There is a Nookie ticket for members who bring beer or buy raffle tickets. If you don’t know what the Nookie prize is, then come and find out.

Ant for Plonk, who are participating in our Members Benefits scheme, will be coming to chat about the great range of beers he has at Plonk and providing some prizes for the raffle. He will also be telling us about the Rodenbach Tasting with Brew Master Rudi Ghequire being held at Plonk on Sunday the 8th of September at 12:30. For details see Plonk’s Facebook page.

Education Session

With a recent popularity explosion of hazy beers such as New England IPAs, as well as their acceptance in the 2019 Australian Amateur Brewing Competition, it’s an appropriate time to discuss beer clarity.

The September Education Session will focus on many aspects of beer clarity, specifically;
– Factors influencing wort & beer clarity
– Methods to improve clarity ie filtering, finings, long-term chilling
– Methods to reduce clarity ie malt & yeast selection
– Effects of clarity on beer flavour and preference

This won’t be a NEIPA talk – that’s just a topical example. Fundamental aspects are in focus here.

There will be two samples of a heavily dry-hopped pale ale for attendees to taste: one is clarified and the other is not (they are otherwise identical beers, from the same batch). You will be invited to sample both and discuss any perceived differences. Anyone willing to bring their own fined & non-fined samples of their beer are welcome and encouraged to do so, send a PM to MBT discuss further.

Social Scene

We held our first Picnic in a Park meet up last Sunday. We had a core group who all enjoyed time to catch up, talk about and taste each other’s beers. Everyone feel very welcome to suggest a time and place for the next one.

Experiments with Ethiopian Black Malt

We will have two beers available that are brewed by two of our brewers, Corrie and Peta, from Ethiopian Black Malt from Voyager Malts. They are a Munich Helles and a Pale Ale, designed to show off the malt. We are looking to do more experiments with friendly suppliers and are looking for volunteer brewers.

See you there

 

 

May Meeting – It’s competition season

Wednesday 1st May at Gorman House

Brewers, There is plenty happening this month. The May meeting will feature an education session on transferring beer between vessels without spoilage. The first weekend has our yearly demonstration on International Home Brew Day and our first competition. In the middle of the month our next BJCP course starts. Membership renewals are now due and for the first time we will issue cards to allow you to get discounts from our sponsors.

It is a busy month.

Education

The Education Session will focus on transferring your brew between vessels. It caters for every level of brewer and we will be performing live demonstrations from plastic drum style fermenters, kegmenters and kegs – to kegs, PET bottles and glass bottles. Oxidisation is the enemy of finished beer so ahead of competition season, this is a very worthwhile session to attend. I encourage every one of you to consider your fellow brewers in the community and invite them along to the meeting.

International Home Brew Day

International Home Brew Day is on Star Wars day (May the 4th be with you) at Capital Brewing Dairy Road, Fyshwick from 11:00am to 4:00pm. We are seeking volunteer brewers bring their brew rig along to Capital Brewing to show off your system and skills to the public. There are two IHBD recipes on offer for you to brew (club supplies ingredients), with all details available on the forum.

Please encourage any friends interested in brewing to come along. In addition to the brew demos, we like to organise a number of other craft demos like coffee, curing, cheese, pickling and ciders/mead. If you know if anyone who wants to show off these skills, send them our way.

We will finalise plans and provide details at the meeting. Thanks to those who have already put their hands up to help.

Competitions

Our first comp of the year is on Sunday the 5th May at John James hospital. Good luck to those with entries in and thanks to all the judges and stewards who are helping on the day. Even if you are not judging, come along and see how the process works and even sit in and watch how the judging apply their skills.

The entries for the next comp close mid-July and will cover all shades of lagers as well as bitters, Belgians, wheat and rye beers, and specialities. The full list is on the forum page. https://www.canberrabrewers.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=8145&sid=3bc8598000d5705cf565e79c89e295db

BJCP Tasting course

If you are interested in learning to judge, there is still a couple of places left on the BJCP tasting course. With 150 beers, we will cover all styles of beer and teach you how to asses them. It is 10 sessions, once every fortnight on Wednesdays starting 15 May. Details are on the forum https://www.canberrabrewers.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=8148

Membership dues

Membership fees are now due and can be paid on the forum. Sorry, no cash at the meeting. Members will get a card this year which can be used for special deals from out sponsors such as Mathematics and Page Bottler. You also will be able to get Nookie tickets when you bring beer to meetings or buy raffle tickets.

Mentoring Program

There is still room for those who would like to mentor new brewers. This will help new brewers improve quickly and learn from your experience. You will get to know some new brewers and help build skills in the club. Please check the forum if you are interested. https://www.canberrabrewers.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=8136&p=67159&hilit=Mentor#p67159

Library

This month you might be interested in Yeast. Even if you are making kits, changing your yeast can completely change your beer. Read up about it in one of several books that cover yeast in the library. Order your book online and pick it up at the next meeting.

New Members please check out the forum

The forum https://www.canberrabrewers.com.au/forum/index.php is a great place to find out what’s on, get tips and info and exchange equipment. Whether you need a few bottles or want to sell your excess brewing gear, it is they place to do it.

Have a great May and see you at one of the events.