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

 

 

By Sam Highley

Primator Before Czechoslovakia gave us cake, they gave us beer. The little town of Náchod in the Czech Republic has a long history of brewing beer, with the townsfolk themselves brewing beer in their homes up until 1872, when the town council founded a local brewery. The Náchod brewery — now known as Primator — produces about a dozen different beers including a weizenbier, English pale ale and a stout. It was owned by the town itself until last year when it was sold to an investment fund which also owns another couple of Czech breweries in Svijany and Rohozec. Part of the condition of sale was that the new owners had experience in beer, and that a guarantee was made to continue the brand for a period of at least five years.

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