June 2014 Meeting Minutes

ATF Homebrew Club

June 2014 Meeting Minutes

By Bryan Conway

Here’s the meeting minutes from the June gathering held at 12pm on June 22, 2014 at New Bern Homebrew Supply.

First of all, a thank you goes to Travis Watson for providing the location and Ben Chapman for supplying the refreshments.

Introduction of Officers and Guests

We introduced the officers, held a roll call and the following members and guests were present at some point during the meeting:

Ben Chapman

Bryan Conway

Dave Girard

Dennis Overby

Dick Weiss

Greg Bergquist

Luke Dobbs

Mike Dawson

Pete Frye

Terry Laurie

Tim Martin

Travis Watson

Guests: none.

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

Brews Available for Sampling at the Meeting

·         Tim - IPA,

·         Luke - 2IPA,

·         Travis - Wheat,

·         Travis - ICE Wheat,

·         Ben - Amber,

·         Ben - Braggot,

·         Dave - American IPA,

·         Dave - Honey Ale,

·         Dave - Lemon Ale/Shandy,

·         Mike - American Ale,

·         Dennis - Smoked Cherry Porter,

·         Terry - Coffee Stout.

Program Speaker/Tech Talk

Terry was supposed to have this meeting's tech talk but the meeting was concluded by the time we realized it.  Hold onto it for another time. Scheduled tech talks:

• July – Luke Dobbs
• August – Mike Dawson
• September – need a volunteer (Terry?)
• October – need a volunteer
• November – need a volunteer

Treasurer's Report

Ben Chapman reported that we have $1,005.15 available to the club at this time, including the comp. fees already having been paid for this year's event. 

Committee updates

The Crystal Coast Brew Off Committee Chairman, Ben Chapman reported that we have 18 entrants and 58 beers registered for the competition.  Dick Weiss also volunteered to sponsor an award for the best female brewer, the "Sandy Weiss Award".  He donated $50 for a trophy and gift card.  Everybody needs to volunteer and be at the brew off, it is next month, see Ben.

The Monthly Club Competition Committee Chairman, Terry Laurie, oversaw this month's competition.  There were 4 entries, and they placed on a scale of 1-20 as follows:

1.      Bryan Conway - Cream Ale - 17 pts.

2.      Luke Dobbs - Kolsch - 15.2 pts.

3.      Rob Jones - Rye - 14.4 pts.

4.      Terry Laurie - Honey Kolsch - 12.8 pts.

The next club competition will be held in September, covering Category 16 - Belgian and French, and Category 18 - Belgian Strong.

Homebrew Festival Committee Chairman Rob Jones was unavailable for a report.

Old Business/Recent Events

Everybody was able to see the club's new tap towers, a magnificent design on Tim's part.  THANK YOU!  They will certainly be the envy of Brew Bern.  The new club Banner was also available for viewing.  We will make a good showing next week.

New/Ongoing Business

The floor called for nominations for this month's "Brewer of the Month", and Bryan Conway was selected.  Go to the website to see a quick bio on Bryan's brewing career.

Bryan discussed the progress of the incorporation project.  A revised version of the clubs by-laws was posted on The Yahoo Groups page as well as Facebook.  Motion was made to put the new by-laws on the website, email all members, and hold them for further discussion until the August meeting where a vote will be held regarding their approval.

Pete Frey volunteered to get into contact with Mark Vandersea regarding recovery of the old minutes book.  He called him and they appeared to have a meeting set...then Pete disappeared.  Perhaps to get the book?

Brew Bern 2014 is here (June 28).  All participants are to be there at 11:00.  The following members volunteered to attend with beer to serve:

·         Ben Chapman – “Pale Ale” and “Wheat Beer”

·         Bryan Conway – “Blackberries & Cream Ale”

·         Dennis Overby – “Dixie Hill American Pale Ale”

·         Gregg Bergquist – “Wood Smoked Hefeweizen” and “Blue Bayou (American Blueberry Wheat)”

·         Joe Stewart – Various Kombucha Offerings

·         Luke Henslick – Cider

·         Pete Frey of Brewery 99 – “Mexican Imperial Tasty Pants”

·         Rob Jones – “Resurrection Rye”

·         Terry Laurie – “Honey Kolsch”

·         Tim Martin – “Little Dog Pale Ale”

·         Travis Watson of New Bern Homebrew Supply – “Amber Lager”

Anyone that can, please make pretzel necklaces to sell. 

A Camping trip/Homebrew Party was proposed based on what the Maltose Falcons Club in San Francisco does three times a year.  The Falcons have three major homebrew parties each year and camp out as a group.  The members walk from camp site to camp site sharing homebrew and enjoying each other’s company.  A couple of members agree to look into some local camp grounds to see if they would allow such an event.  Tentative date is likely to be in October.

Next Meeting will be at New Bern Home Brew Supply, will be held on Sunday, July 20 at 1:00 pm and will be sponsored by Phil Smith.  With most of the members arriving for the meeting at 1:00 or close to it, it was agreed to try starting the meeting at 1pm instead of 12 noon.  We'll see how this works next month.  Pre-meeting happy hour will start at 12 instead of 11.

Meeting sponsors:

·         July 2014 sponsor - Phil Smith

·         August 2014 sponsor - Mike Dawson

·         September 2014 sponsor - Rob Jones

·         Oktoberfest 2014 sponsor - Dennis Overby

·         November 2014 sponsor – need a volunteer

·         December 2014 sponsor – need a volunteer

Motion made to adjourn the meeting, drink some beer….PASSED!