September 2011 Newsletter

By Member Newsletters

In this edition:

  • Blowoff from the Prez
  • Birthdays
  • Next Meeting – Cocoa Beach Brewing, 2:00pm
  • Upcoming Competitions
  • Local Events – Homebrew Volunteers Needed
  • Beers Available in the Area
  • Cooking with Beer – Orange Grilled Beer-Can Chickens
  • Equipment For Sale
  • Beer Education – Household Uses for Beer
  • SAAZ on Facebook
  • Raffle
  • Feedback

Blow off from the Prez

Welcome to September’s Blow off from the Prez!  In case you have been under a rock, you know we’re well into full swing with our 17th Annual Commander SAAZ Interplanetary Homebrew Blastoff preparations.  Entries are starting to come in; we’ve made two trips to collect entries, and the coveted Best of Show Trophies have already been purchased.  We’ve already received almost as many entries as last year, and the entry window is still open for 2 more weeks!

I really want to appeal to every club member to help out in any way they can this year.  In years past we’ve done such a great job, I know we can do even better with even more entries this year.  This month’s educational topic will be on stewarding for judges.  If you’ve ever wondered what goes on at a homebrew competition, this is a great way to learn – and you even get to sample some of the entries!  So, if you’re interested please attend the meeting on the 18th for a crash course on stewarding.  And even if you aren’t into that, we are going to need people to help with the miscellaneous things that go on – cooler apes, as we affectionately call them!

Be sure to book your room for the event weekend soon, the discount rates are only good until October 2nd.  Also, be sure to get your tickets for Friday Night’s Commander’s Call and the Saturday Night Awards Dinner Extravaganza.  Tickets for the Saturday Dinner will not be available at the door!!!  Be sure to bring your entries to the September meeting, too.  For now, that’s all.  Be sure to check the website for updates as they come in.

Cheers

Sean

September Birthdays – Happy Birthday!

Jill Vita
Harry Elkins
Josh Landin
Carl Taylor
Marian Schrandt
Ken Schrandt

Next Meeting – September 18th (Sunday)

This month’s meeting will be at Cocoa Beach Brewing Company in, well, Cocoa Beach.

150 N Atlantic Ave
Cocoa Beach, FL 32931

Click here for directions

The meeting will be Sunday September 18th at 2:00 pm! As always, bringing homebrew to share is strongly encouraged, but please respect our gracious host and leave commercial beers at home.

Please bring your Commander SAAZ Entries!

Upcoming Competitions

Commander SAAZ Interplanetary Homebrew Blastoff 2011

*** BRING YOUR ENTRIES TO THE SEPTEMBER MEETING! ***

Entry window: August 29th – September 25th
Early round judging: October 7, 8, and 9
Final judging, Splashdown Party, and Awards Ceremony: October 14-15
International Palms Resort and Conference Center in Cocoa Beach.

Rooms are available for early round judging and the event weekend for the low price of $69.99 (a really great rate for a beach front hotel!). I have been told that the hotel is in the process of remodeling all the rooms. One of our club members went there to see the new rooms, and they look great. All rooms should be completed by June; plenty of time before the competition. Just call the reservation line at 321-783-2271 and mention code HBC. In addition to the standard rooms the International Palms also has oceanfront suites and lofts for $139.99 + Tax This rate is only good until October 2nd so don’t wait too long!

For entry details, rules, regulations, and other minutia check out the Commander SAAZ 2011 webpage.

Local Events

World of Beer Dogfish Head Brewery Spotlight – September 13

Tuesday, September 13th shall be a blend of epic greatness and classic success. Should you miss this event, you may be stuck at home drinking Chai tea and baking punkin’ pie and forced to search Heaven and Hell for this events equal. You might even be black and blue with woes and sorrow. Forced to work on your inner chakra for inner peace. See you Tuesday!

Grant BBQ Festival – September 23-24th

Call for homebrewers! Brock’s Homebrew will have a station at the Grant Bar-B-Q fest on September 23rd and 24th.  He will be doing a live brewing demonstration and is looking for volunteers to help talk to the crowd as well as dispense homebrew samples.  Let’s help show a helping hand to one of our local homebrew shops.  Please email prez@saaz.org for more information.

World of Beer Cruise to the Bahamas – Sept 23

On September 23rd, WOB will sail with Monarch of the Seas from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas; three days and nights of nonstop fun and excitement with all your friends from WOB. Call Cruise Fun Director, Jill Neuharth at 321-773-4878 ext. 4, for booking and any questions you might have about the cruise. The cabins are filling up. Don’t hesitate to secure your cabin, you can get a full refund by July 15th if your plans change. Come sail with WOB this fall!

Beers Available in the Area

World of Beer (Viera) – website

New Bottles:

  • Breckenridge Lucky U IPA, 6.25% (Colorado)
  • Narragansett Fest, 5.5% (New York)
  • Popperings Hommel, 7.5% (Belgium)
  • Rogue Chipotle Ale, 5.5% (Oregon)

New Drafts:

  • Coney Island Freaktoberfest, 6.7% (New York)
  • Shipyard XXXX, 9.3% (Maine)
  • Southern Tier Harvest, 6.4%% (New York)
  • Stone Belgo Anise Imperial Russian Stout, 10.5% (California)
  • Stone XV, 10.5% (California)
  • Victory Yakima Glory, 5.7% (Pennsylvania)

Cooking with Beer

Head on over to Betty Crocker for a nice Orange Grilled Beer-Can Chickens recipe.

Beer Education

Here are 14 household uses for beer. Or you could just drink it.

Equipment For Sale

If you have equipment you’d like to sell, give away, trade, or even find, email editor@saaz.org and we’ll try to list your offering/request in the next newsletter.

SAAZ on Facebook

Check us out on Facebook! We’re just getting things rolling there but Like our page and stay tuned for exciting things to come. Check it out here.

Raffle

Do you have some homebrew supplies that you don’t use anymore? Maybe you upgraded or maybe you prefer another product? Consider bringing your dusty supplies to the next meeting for the raffle. We have brewers of all experience levels, so I am sure we can put any brewing supplies to use!

Feedback

We need your help! We are very interesting in improving the club and we’d like to hear what you think. If you have comments or suggestions about the Newsletter, Website, Activities, or the Club in general, please send an email to editor@saaz.org.

All feedback is welcomed! For example you can:

  • Share a topic for Beer Education
  • Share your Review of a Beer
  • Correct something in the newsletter or website
  • Express a criticism about anything related to the club
  • Offer a suggestion to improve the club
We want to hear from you! Email editor@saaz.org.