News From Our President

Transcription

1 The Newsletter for and about the Music City Brewers January - February Vol News From Our President Wow. What an exciting few years it has been for the Music City Brewers and the Nashville brewing scene. As I type this message from the president I think about the first meeting of the Music City Brewers I ever attended and the smoked porter I brought for tasting. From the get go people I had never met were immediately interested in helping me not only brew better beer, but to understand why I should make certain changes to my brewing process. I never imagined how much the members of this club would help elevate my brewing abilities and my understanding of beer styles. For those of you who don t know me or my brewing background I started brewing on a Mr Beer kit my lovely wife got me for Christmas in 2001 (yes she is the cause of all this regardless if she wants to admit it haha). I brewed all the kits it came with and decided there had to be a way to brew better beer. In Fall of 2002 I stepped up to doing partial boil extract kits I purchased from a LHBS. After one too many boil overs in the kitchen during 2004 I was banished to brew outside, which was a blessing in disguise. I switched to full boil and my beers immediately improved. In December of 2006 I started building my all grain system and in January 2007 I attended my first MCB meeting where I was inspired to get the all grain project done. The next week I switched to all grain brewing. My favorite style of beer is sours, specifically the Flanders Brown / Oud Bruin style with my favorite commercial beers being Liefmans Goudenband, Russian River Consecration and Orval. Although many of you know I would be hard pressed to ever pass up a good hoppy, dry double IPA! My goals this year are: 1. More club involved brewing. Let s fire up those burners and brew a style you have never brewed! 2. Education Education Education. There are so many good brewers in our club with a wealth of knowledge about their favorite beer style and techniques we can tap into. I am also in the process of lining up some speakers from the professional ranks of brewing to do presentations at our meetings. A beer of the month which not only gives us another chance to taste beer (woohoo!), but can help us learn about the specifics and history of that style. 3. Raise the awareness of our club in the local/national homebrewing scene in order to grow our club membership and MCB s abilities to facilitate larger future homebrewing events. I want to give a sincere thanks to everyone in the Music City Brewers for having enough faith in me and the other club officers to lead this club in the right direction. Special thanks to Bill Russel for being a great president over the past 2 years. He set us up nicely for future success. To all the members, remember this is YOUR club and please never hesitate to call me or me with any suggestions to help make the club better. I am looking forward to a great year that includes our 15th Annual competition, chances for our club members to win trips to the Great American Beer festival in Denver, and last but certainly not least, times for the club to meet so we can share our love of homebrewing! I am very proud of the Music City Brewer s past and look forward to continuing the success of this club into the future! Here s to a great year ahead! CHEERS! Brandon Jones

2 CLUB NEWS & EVENTS Meeting of the Music City Brewers- 1/9/2010 Meeting at Battleground Brewery -Franklin, TN Attendees: Bill Russell, Millie & Ken Carman, Karen & Jack Lassiter, Steve Johnson, Chris Rueger, Brandon Jones, Cliff Reinert, Phil Snyder & Liz Snyder, Jonathan Adams, Geoff Henderson, Jami Smith, Steve Johnson, David & Debbie Walker, Jon Bryant, Mark Forrester, Joe Pierceall, Jim Craig, Fred & Trish Scheer, Tom Vista, Jack & Pam Dulaney, Gill Cupp, Doug Williams, Jay Sadler, Kenneth Gum, Erik Lutkins, Kevin Kizer, Ross & Beth O Shea. (If I missed you I was trying to remember who attended- list misplaced) President Bill Russell thanked Fred Scheer for his hospitality hosting the meeting at Battleground Brewery. Steve Johnson had no formal Treasurer s Report- No changes from Nov / December. $ new Income 3 new memberships Deposited check for $25.00 (another sponsorship from last years competition) Balance of MCB coffers- $ There were a number of members renewing their membership at the meeting. Unsure of exact count. If you haven t renewed yet you can see Steve Johnson or contact him. Bill Russell announced that the Competition Committee was starting to plan for our upcoming 15th Yr Anniversary Competition. We really want to get the ball rolling to have the best Competition ever for out 15th Yr Celebration. Liz Snyder will be the Event Coordinator, with Tom Vista the Competition Coordinator. The Competition Committee will update the club of its progress and needs at each meeting. The new Marriott Courtyard Conference center off of Conference Drive in the Rivergate area will be the site of the Competition. Liz Snyder, the Event Coordinator showed the Fill the Boot Pledge cards for members to take and pledge to help fill the boot. This will help pay for all aspects of the Competition prior to the competition without having to rely on income generated from entries etc. This will also give members more opportunity to pay as they go in these tight economic times. Pledges can be paid any time between now and say August or so. Last year we spent $ with an intake of $ Lunch was $ and the dinner $ Room rates were $99.00 last year and were not as nice as the rooms in the new Marriott. The rates start at $79.00 this year MCB Competition Rate, Suite rate is $ The rooms have more amenities & options and the rooms will be above the competition block of the hotel. The Hotel will make as many of the rooms close to each other in a block over this space as possible. The competition space is all in one area- 2 rooms that will be ours for the whole weekend. Separate dock loading right off the Competition space. All in all the set-up and space seems to be excellent. Discussion was held whether or not to have a Pub Crawl or just a hotel Club Crawl of the various Brew Clubs attending. Still working on Guest speaker. Ross O Shea came in a little late and asked Bill Russell to be able to take the floor. He apologized for his behavior at the November meeting in Cool Springs. He announced his resignation as Vice President due to health problems and lack of time due to his daughters upcoming wedding preparation etc.. Officers will be elected at the February meeting. Slate so far is: Brandon Jones - President Geoff Henderson - Vice President Treasurer - Steve Johnson

3 CLUB NEWS & EVENTS Secretary - Millie Carman Burgemeister - (unsure) Nominations will also be accepted from the floor. Location of meeting to be announced. We will be checking with Kevin Jones to see if he will be able to host the meeting at his house. Otherwise Chris Rueger may be able to have it at his house. The club will be notified by . The formal meeting was adjourned for some tasting from Club members. They were wonderful (I failed to remember the tasting sheet to publicize.) The Battleground Brewery beers / food etc. were enjoyed by all. Meeting of the Music City Brewers- 2/20/2010 Meeting at Chris & Kim Rueger s Home Attendees: Bill Russell, Millie & Ken Carman, Chris & Kim Rueger, Brandon Jones, Cliff Reinert, Phil Snyder, Liz Snyder, Jonathan Adams, Ryan Carrick, Geoff Henderson, Jami Smith, Jon Bryant, Chris Butler, Ken Johnson, Jim Craig, Karen & Jack Lassiter, Erik Lutkins, Steve Johnson, Ken Gum Bill started out the meeting thanking Chris & Kim Rueger for hosting the meeting at their home. Steve Johnson gave the Treasurer s report. Quite a few members renewed their membership at the January meeting. There were 28 renewals, 5 new members. Previous Balance (Jan) $ Income since Jan Meeting - $60.00 Membership renewals - Jay Sadler--- $24.00, Brendon LaPier/ Chris Butler-- $36.00 Expenses since Nov/Dec Balance ($500.00) Marriott-Competition Deposit ($500.00) Feb 2010 Treasury balance $3, Payout for Children s Miracle Network (Charity from last yr s Competition will be upcoming in June (Matching funds by Wal-Mart) Next order of business was the elections. Nominations for 2010 Slate - Brandon Jones - President Geoff Henderson - Vice-President Treasurer - Steve Johnson Secretary - Millie Carman Burgemeister - Chris Reuger There were no nominations from the floor and the Slate was elected by acclamation. Bill Russell then handed the floor over to Brandon Jones, newly elected President. There will be the reincarnation of the Franklin Festival where different shops open their doors for a Restaurant / Brewer / City Festival. This was held a few years ago. We have helped out in the past; one such helper was our own Ed Tate. (Who passed away a couple of years ago.) This will be March 13th in Franklin. More details to come.

4 CLUB NEWS & EVENTS Steve Johnson announced Paul Patel of Midtown Wine & Spirits is trying to organize a Victory Brewing / Stone Brewing event. This would be an event limited to approximately 50 people. Sometime around April 19-23rd. Looking for a venue / brew event. It would require a minimum amount of help from our club. In the past at such an event we have brewed beer as an example. National Homebrew Day will be 5/1/2010 in the Bosco s Parking lot. Karen Lassiter will follow-up with Chuck Skypeck for more details. It should be the same as in previous years with wort provided by Bosco s. More details to come. Brandon announced there are some MCB t-shirts for sale for $ As a perk to members and getting more involvement in the club, Brandon would like to have a MCB Brewer of the Year competition. One member of the MCB can win through a number of avenues. Any member of the club can gain points by Hosting a meeting at their house, Promote Brewing by holding a Brew event at their house Enter /judge at a competition / Deliver beers for competitions etc. The winner will receive for example a gift certificate to Battleground for dinner / drinks and other assorted prizes and perks. The Board will discuss further with more details at the March meeting. There will be raffles at each meeting as in previous years as a fund raiser for the club. Given away this month was a case of empties and a case of 2nd s from competition last year. Brandon hopes to have Educational aspects at each meeting, Bill Russell updated us on some Legal education. Bill Russell notified the club that the TN Bar Journal had an article about Social Hosts and liability issues. It is still the consumption, not the host that would be held liable. Bill still recommends for us to get insurance at our Competition Events for other liability issues that may arise. We have secured Dave Miller for the Guest speaker for our October Competition. This will be held October at the new Marriott Conference Center on Conference Dr. The Hotel will supply the Friday night Dinner - Menu TBA. Dave will also judge the Best of Show on Saturday. We will not have to pay for Hotel accommodations / plane costs to Nashville as Dave lives here & would be going home Friday night. Tonya Gentry will be catering Saturday s Judge lunch & we can provide our OWN SNACKS for the Club Crawl. Steve Johnson provided an educational experience / tasting - judge exercise with 3 German Pilsner examples he brought for the train your pallet tasting portion of the meeting. He and other volunteers hope to continue these education / tasting portions of our meetings this year. The formal business of the meeting ended and the Beer tastings began. Tastings included: Ryan Carrick - Imperial Stout (Nitro); Belgian Golden Strong; Ryan Carrick /Brandon Jones - Sofa Kin Hoppy - Imperial IPA Geoff Henderson - Funk Trapp- Brett. Belgian Pale; Backyard Bliss - Blonde on Hops; Cliff Reinert - Pilsner Brandon Jones - Pilsner (Just to lager stage) - Granddad Bobs Primo Pils; Dry Stout - Bad Meow Rising Stout; Erik Lutkins - IPA- Ranger IPA- New Belgium; Copper Ale - Alginates; Censored Jim Craig - DIPA- Weyenbacher Double Simcoe; Bunker Brown- McDole s Brown; Joseph Maddux- Irish Stout lite; Chris Butler - Unfiltered Mulled Cider No mini-competition this month- Only 2 possible entrants Members etc. attending- 21 Submitted: Millie Carman - Secretary

5 Brewing Tips & Advice by Brandon Jones Are you converted? To dust off the cold winter frost I always enjoy brewing dry beer styles such as Saison. Since yard work and other outdoor beer- in-hand activities are coming up soon, a nice sharp and dry finish always seems to hit the spot. One way to make sure your beers are fermenting out low enough to result in the thinner body that most summer ales have is to mash between F, which is a Beta Amylase Enzyme conversion. With these lower temperatures, it is also important to make sure you have reached full starch conversion. Most of us probably do a single infusion mash between for 60 minutes, but beers mashed at a lower temp need a longer time for conversion. So how do you know if your mash has fully converted? The simple and cheap answer is to perform an iodine conversion test. You can also use Iodophor if you have that handy. All you need to do is pull off about a tablespoon sample of your wort from the mash (be careful the sample doesn t have any grain particles in it) and pour that out on a white paper plate or clear shot glass, basically anything white or clear that wont let the sample spill. Next, put 2-3 drops of Iodine or Iodophor in the sample you pull and observe the color. If the mixture turns black then you still have starches to convert and your mash is not complete. If no color change occurs then the mash enzymes have converted the starches and you are finished with your mash. Keep in mind that the Iodine or Iodophor will probably add a bit of red to the sample, but that is simply because Iodine is that color. What we are looking for is either a change to black or no change at all. Left picture indicates sample is not fully converted. Right indicates fully converted sample. (picture courtesy of HBT) Even with today s highly modified malts it is not uncommon for Beta Amylase mashes to take minutes to fully convert. There are many factors such as grain crush to mash ph that can affect conversion; consequently, a starch conversion test is one way to know you are on the right path. -Brandon Jones

6 Boscos Hillsboro Village st Avenue South Nashville, TN Boscos Cool Springs 2000 Meridian Blvd. Suite 110 Franklin, TN

7 Competition Date March 27 Competition Schedule Description 17th Annual Peach State Brew Off Atlanta, GA Entry Dates Mar. 20 Contact Info April 10 AHA Club Only Comp. American Ales Apr. 2 April 17 AHA NHC Atlanta, GA Apr. 1 May 8 Bluegrass Cup Lexington, KY May 1 May 15 Brewmaster s Open Alpharetta, GA May 8 May 15 US Open Charlotte, NC May 5 May 22 AHA Club Only Comp. Extract Beers May 1 For more competitions outside of the Southeast area go to WANTED Club Crawl Coordinator Requirements: a computer and capability Must have a good sense of humor Contact Liz Snyder TinLizzie421@comcast.net

8 Music City Brewers Officers and Committees Brandon Jones, President Geoff Henderson, Vice President Millie Carman, Secretary Steve Johnson, Treasurer The following are the committee chairs that have been asked to serve: Burgermeister - Chris Rueger Communications - Jonathan Adams Volunteer Coordinator - Liz Snyder Education/Competition - Steve Johnson Finance - Steve Johnson Chris@Lovefishproductions.com jonathan.r.adams@vanderbilt.edu tinlizzie421@comcast.net sjohnson3@comcast.net Ad Hoc Committee for the MCB BrewOff - Tom Vista Editor - MCB newsletter - The Score - Karen Lassiter Please feel free to submit to Karen anything you wish to contribute to our newsletter. You can reach her at celtgirl@bellsouth.net Help support your club for the upcoming 15th Anniversary Competition! This is going to be a grand event with new things and new ideas. Please make a pledge to help fill the boot. See Jami at the meetings or contact her at Jamiblu5@yahoo.com