April 2014 Meeting Minutes

ATF Homebrew Club

April 2014 Meeting Minutes

By Bryan Conway

Here’s the meeting minutes from the April gathering held at 7pm on April 17, 2014 at New Bern Homebrew Supply.

First of all, a thank you goes to Travis Watson for providing the location and pizza and Bryan Conway for supplying more pizza (there was not a shortage of pizza). 

Introduction of Officers and Guests

We introduced the officers, held a roll call and the following members and guests were present:

Bryan Conway

Jeremy Davis

Joe Stewart

Luke Dobbs

Pete Frye

Rob Jones

Ben Chapman

Terry Laurie

Tim Martin

Travis Watson

Troy Robinson (Joe Stewart’s guest)

If anyone was accidentally excluded or a mistake to the list noted, please let me know and I will correct the minutes.

Program Speaker/Tech Talk

Travis Watson gave us a sample as well as a discussion of sour beers.  He talked about the sour mash process versus the fermentation route using “bugs”.  Next month’s tech Talk will be presented by Luke Dobbs.

Scheduled tech talks:

• May talk – Luke Dobbs
• June talk – Terry Laurie.
• July talk – need a volunteer
• August – need a volunteer
• September – need a volunteer
• October – need a volunteer

Treasurer's Report

Ben Chapman announced that we have some money…

Committee updates

The Crystal Coast Brew Off Committee Chairman, Ben Chapman announced that the competition was open for entries and registration.  So far there have been no entrants but it has been open less than a week.  Bryan Conway gave a quick update of sponsors, most of which have already sent their donations.

The Monthly Club Competition Committee Chairman, Terry Laurie gave us an update for the next competition.  The next comp. will be at the June meeting and will be categories 6 and 15.  September will be categories 16 and 18.

It was brought up that attendees should discern at the beginning of the meeting whether they are bringing a beer for general sampling or whether they need some objective feedback.  If somebody really wants some discreet feedback, they should reserve that beer to be sampled by a separate group of members/judges off to the side.

Homebrew Festival Committee Chairman Rob Jones reported that research is still being conducted.  A recent report of unfriendly activity on the part of some State ABC and ALE Boards have given reason for concern.  Until this gets hashed out, a festival may not be feasable.

Old Business/Recent Events

None to really speak of.

New/Ongoing Business

Rob called for nominations for this month's "Brewer of the Month" page and Terry Laurie was selected.  Go to the website to see a quick bio on Terry.

May 3^rd is the AHA’s “Big Brew Day” and we will be meeting at about 0900 at Brewery 99.  We will help Pete mash in a sack of 2-row on his system and the runnings will be distributed between the participants to prepare as they see fit.  Hops and yeast will be user specific and up to each attendee.  Bring a mill if you have one.  I will arrange for the grain (1 sack) and the propane (two tanks).

Next Meeting will be at New Bern Home Brew Supply and will be held on a Sunday to be announced, most likely on the 18th.  After discussing the idea with numerous members, it has been decided to try holding meetings on Sunday.  The actual meeting will begin around noon with a happy hour beginning at 11 am while we get set up.  With the meeting loosely allotted to run until about 3 or 4, everyone should have enough time to stop in or duck out as necessary to accommodate their schedule.  If this turns out to be unpopular, we can always revert back to the Thursday night format.

Meeting sponsors:

·         May 2014 sponsor - Luke Dobbs

·         June 2014 sponsor - Terry Laurie

·         July 2014 sponsor - Phil Smith

·         August 2014 sponsor - Mike Dawson

·         September 2014 sponsor - need a volunteer

·         Oktoberfest 2014 sponsor - Dennis Overby

Motion passed to adjourn the meeting, drink some beer and eat some pizza.