Commander SAAZ Interplanetary
Homebrew Blastoff 2007
Lucky 13!!
The Commander was once again able to navigate the cosmic void to Cocoa Beach and put on one hell of a competition and party. We had 501 entries from 117 brewers all over the country (fifteen hundred and three bottle of beer in the cooler, fiftenn hundred and three bottles of beer… Come on and sing along!). Our “little competition” has certainly grown up over the past couple of years and I’m very proud of the job that we do organizing and judging all of these beers.
We had a lot of folks help to make Commander SAAZ another roaring success. Id like to thank all the out of town judges, stewards, and general helpers who came to lend a hand.I’d especially like to thank the out of town judges from CFHB, Treasure Coast, and Tampa who came over to help us out during the first two weekends. Without them there is no way we could have gotten through the number of beers and flights we had to. We also would not have been able to have nearly as much fun at the pre-judging events and the Splashdown party…. 
I’d also like to thank all the commercial sponsors who contributed prizes for our winners and the raffle. Without these folks we could not put on such a quality competition. I’d especially like to thank our premiere sponsors, Charlie and Jakes, J. J. Taylor, Sunseed Food Co-op, and David Webb of Webb’s Honey for their extremely generous support. Please be sure to patronize these sponsors and let them know you heard about them from SAAZ!
As with any large event there are folks who go above and beyond to make things work. This year was by far the smoothest Commander SAAZ in years and, along with all the judges, these are the folks that made things happen:
Chet Sparks – For not only acting as registrar, steward, and generally pitching in where needed, but also allowing us to use the Dairy Road Brewery and sacrificing two weekends for pre-judging, including feeding folks and letting them camp out on the lawn.
Steve Mitchel – Steve wore lots of different hats this time and did a great job with all of them. Between rounding up sponsors, organizing food, working the door, and acting as head judge for the final event Steve was everywhere and made my life a LOT less stressful. Thanks!
Mike, and Michelle Ellis – Not only for stewarding every weekend, but also for stuffing every single score sheet into the results envelopes and having them ready for the Splashdown party. With a competition this size this is a truly hurculean effort! Michelle also found time to make cookis and potato salad for Saturday’s judging. 
Robert, Dave, and Robin Bennett – For judging, stewarding, toting, hauling, and always being the last ones around to help clean up, load up, and get things done. I think we made Dave the happiest head steward in the world this year when we finished in plenty of time to take a shower, get some food, and rest a bit before the Splashdown party!
The Zombie Brewer – What can I say about Zombie except he makes a great Commander SAAZ and has a lot more guts than me running around in tights!
Dr. Beer (AKA Don Ferris) – For acting as master of ceremonies for the Splashdown and part time head judge. This left me more time to drink beer and relax at the Splashdown!
Aaron and Trina Guittar – Two of our newer members who really stepped up and helped! Aaron was there to help Chet sort all the entries, stewarded every weekend and did more flights than anyone. Trina made a FABULOUS pineapple upside down cake for the pre-judging and let us abuse her husband!
Ed and Rockey Measom – Who once again came over to help on both early weekends. Rockey not only stewarded and pitched in, but also helped to train some of our stewards which freed Dani and I up to do other things. I’m so glad Ed is a lifetime SAAZ member!
And last but not least my wife and co-brewer, Dani. For pitching in everywhere, putting up with me, and keeping me sane and whole throughout. Dani also took over the database entry tasks this year and found out just how much fun it was to try to keep things straight while everyone asks you a million different questions. Next year we are going to put up concertina wire and have Chet’s dogs Margarita and Jose patrol the perimeter and gnaw on the ankles of anyone that tries to cross!
The results are posted on the menu at the right, along with the saved results since 2002. Congratulations to all the winners!! Those who won in MCAB categories will have your info forwarded to Curt Stock for inclusion in the next MCAB competition.
Cheers for now,
Glenn Exline
SAAZ President
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