September 2014 Meeting Minutes

ATF Homebrew Club

September 2014 Meeting Minutes

By Bryan Conway

Here’s the meeting minutes from the September gathering held at 1pm on September 21st, 2014 at Rob and Dawn Jones’ home.

First of all, a thank you goes to Rob and Dawn for providing the location and 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 the meeting:

Bryan Conway - President

Rob Jones - interim Webmeister

Luke Dobbs - Vice President

Dave Girard

Dawn Jones - interim Treasurer

Pete Frey

Tim Dryden

Terry Laurie - Past President

Leo Logothetis

Mike Dawson

Dennis Overby

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

• Rob J. - Ressurrection Rye (homebrew),
• Rob J. - Irish Red (homebrew),
• Tim D. - Strawberry Wheat (homebrew),
• Tim D. - Red IPA (homebrew),
• Luke D. - Pumpkin Ale (homebrew),
• Luke D. - Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (commercial),
• Bryan C. - Pumpkin Ale (homebrew),
• Terry L. - Old Ale (homebrew),
• Terry L. - New Belgium Shift Lager (commercial),
• Mike D. - Oatmeal Stout (homebrew),
• Dennis O. - Harpoon Pumpkin UFO (commercial).

Monthly Club Competition

Submitted for this quarter’s club competition was Luke Dobbs’ Sorachi Saison and Bryan Conway’s Belgian Dubbel.  After much deliberation in the midst of brewing a batch of stein beer, Luke Dobbs was selected as the winner with 16 points versus Bryan’s 14.  For his prize, Luke selected a t-shirt from the club’s prize chest.

Program Speaker/Tech Talk

Rob gave us a very nice discussion and demonstration about stein brewing, brewing with heated rocks versus direct heat.  This is a very ancient method used by our ancestors.  Especially interesting was the demonstration of how stone age cultures are also responsible for the invention of the leafblower as this device added to the authenticity and speed of the brewing process.

Scheduled tech talks:

• October – Terry Laurie
• November – Tim Dryden
• December - need a volunteer
• January - need a volunteer

Treasurer's Report

Dawn reported that we have a total of $1,634 available to the club between the bank account and cash.  For a detailed treasurer’s report, please visit the “Member’s Only” section of the website.  If you need the password, email Rob or myself and we will give it to you.

Old Business/Recent Events

Stein bier brew day.  Rob had already collected the stones necessary and had a fire pit constructed.  Pete brought his mash tun, Jeremy supplied a metal grate for the project.  We were in the midst of completing the brew day while holding this meeting.

Election of Executive Board Members for the upcoming year.  After much deliberation, the following members were elected to take the reigns for the upcoming year:

President - Bryan Conway,

Vice President - Terry Laurie,

Treasurer - Dawn Jones,

Secretary - Tim Dryden,

Webmeister - Rob Jones.

Past President - This position is an advisory position and usually defaults to the most recent serving past president not holding an office in the current administration.  This was held by Terry Laurie who has been elected to Vice President but we must now refer to the president that served prior to his administration, this would now be Jeff Brungard.

Committee updates

The Crystal Coast Brew Off Committee  - Tabled, to be resurrected later.

The Monthly Club Competition Committee Chairman, Terry Laurie, oversaw the judging and process for this month’s competition.  Next competition will be in November where we will be judging category 12 - porter, and category 13 - stout.

Homebrew Festival Committee Chairman, Rob Jones, reported that we have a willing sponsor for the homebrew festival, “Habitat for Humanity”.  This charity was started by President Jimmy Carter, who is also responsible for approving the legislation that allows us to legally enjoy our great hobby, so it is a fitting combination.  The chairman has already given us a hearty “yes” as to sponsoring our festival and we need to nail down a date and begin hammering out the details.  We are tentatively looking at May 2015.

Judging Committee Chairman, Dennis Overby, reported that he was planning and putting together some judging classes to begin in November.  Members interested in learning more about the finer points of judging beer should make plans to attend.

New/Ongoing Business

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

Bryan discussed Learn to Homebrew Day 2014 to be held at New Bern Homebrew Supply on November 1st.  Anyone wishing to attend should be there at about 8-9 am.  Tim D. agreed to put together some flyers to pass out between now and then to promote the event and to drum up interest in the club.  

The Crystal Coast Hop Fest, formerly known as Crafts on the Crystal Coast, has invited us again to participate.  This event will be at the Crystal Coast Convention Center in Morehead City on November 15th.  All proceeds go to support the Crystal Coast Hospice House.  The following members volunteered to attend and will supply the regular 5 gallons of homebrew to serve at the event:  Tim D., Bryan C., Terry L., Dennis O. and Mike D.  In years past, the selection of brewers at the event seemed to be more towards the upper end of the spectrum and brought in a better selection of beers to sample than many beer festivals usually provide, it should be a fun time for all.

BrewDurham is set to take place on November 8th.  A small group of representatives are planning on attending to represent the club:  Bryan C., Rob J., Dawn J. and Tim D.  Again this will require us to bring 5 gallons each.  I have attended BrewDurham  in the past and I absloutely enjoy it.  It is pretty much what we want to model our own homebrew festival on.

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.  Looking into the possibility of Goose Creek on Hwy 24 unless anyone has a better idea.  Dave Girard agreed to take on the challenge of collecting a selection of candidate sites to visit and their amenities, we should hear more about this soon.

Next Meeting will be at Dennis Overby's house on Saturday, October 18th, at 1:00 pm and will be sponsored by none other that Dennis himself.  Dennis and Leslie will be supplying the meats and potato salad.  Members attending should bring a dish and some beer.

Meeting sponsors:

• Oktoberfest 2014 sponsor - Dennis Overby
• November 2014 sponsor – need a volunteer
• December 2014 sponsor – need a volunteer
• January 2015 sponsor - Tim?

Motion passed to adjourn the meeting and drink some beer!