January 2012 Newsletter

By Member Newsletters

In this edition:

  • Blowoff from the Prez
  • Secretary’s Report
  • Birthdays
  • 2012 Dues
  • Next Meeting – January 15th
  • Upcoming Competitions – SAAZ Spring Fling!
  • REWARD!
  • Beers Available in the Area
  • Education
  • SAAZ on Facebook
  • Raffle
  • Feedback

SAAZ Platinum Sponsor

Blow off from the Prez

Hello, and welcome to SAAZ 2012.  Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Kip and I’m a homebrewer. I also have the honor of being this year’s president.  And what a year it is going to be.  We will be celebrating our 20th year as an AHA registered club.  We will be hosting our 18th annual Commander SAAZ Interplanetary Homebrew blastoff this fall and introducing a new competition with the SAAZ Spring Fling with Smoked Wings this April.  Add to that several great meetings, a handful of wonderful parties, and even the possibility of a club sponsored trip and you have the recipe for a great brew year.

Of course, none of this will be possible without you.   We will be looking to the membership for hands on support as well as ideas and inspiration. Members are encouraged to take part in project committees, present educational topics at meetings, help out at competitions and festivals, and just plain keep us on our toes. The officers may have the responsibility to drive the bus but we rely on you to pick the direction.

Speaking of officers, we start this year with a crack new group of officers.  Along with myself we have Matt Backus as 1st VP, Dave Webb as 2nd VP, Anne Gregg as Treasurer, Alex Hansen as Secretary, Sonia Miller as Librarian, and Dan Shirah as  Newsletter Editor and Webmaster. We are all very eager to get this year going.

So grab a homebrew and lets make our 20th year one to remember.

Cheers,
Kip

Secretary’s Report

The past year has brought forth some exceptional club events. The December Christmas party was certainly no different and it was a GLORIOUS way to end the year. There was a wide array of food and some exceptional brews to try. Several club members brought experimental ales for sampling. Of course there was even some extreme BBQ grilling during the early hours of the night. Hopefully you caught the festivities of the annual bottle exchange because this year brought forth some interesting options and some hilarious trades. Special thanks goes out to our hosts Jill, Sophia, and Larry Vita. Thanks to everyone that contributed to 2011 and made it such a memorable year for SAAZ.

January Birthdays – Happy Birthday!

Edward Beyette
John Lynch
Jason Jatsko
Vince Ramos
Dwight Woods
Andrew Carpenter
Terry Wolfe
Beth Ferris

Don’t see your name (and your birthday is in January)?  It could be that Alex doesn’t have a completed membership form from you.  Ask him for one at the next meeting so we can include you!

2012 Dues

It’s officially 2012 and all current members have surely paid their dues already! But on the off chance you haven’t been able to or have friends interested in joining you can do so for the low, low prices listed below!

Individual Membership = $15
Couple’s Membership = $25
Lifetime Membership = $150

Dues can be paid to the Treasurer (Anne Gregg) at any club meeting or online at our website via PayPal Click here to pay.

You don’t want to miss out on the benefits of membership!

Next Meeting – January 15th (Sunday)

This month’s meeting will be at Vintage 56 in Rockledge.

200 Barton Blvd
Rockledge, FL 32955

Click here for directions

The meeting will be Sunday January 15th at 2:00pm! As always, bringing homebrew to share is strongly encouraged, but please respect our gracious host and leave commercial beers at home.

Upcoming Competitions

1st Annual SAAZ Spring Fling with Smoked Wings – April 1st 2012

This is an all new SAAZ club only competition! Bring your entries to the Spring Party on March 10th. Entries are $3, with a three bottle submission. There is a 4 entry max per brewer and the categories are limited to the following:

  • 10 – American Ale
  • 12 – Porter
  • 13 – Stout
  • 14 – India Pale Ale
  • 64 = (20+21+23) Fruit/Spice/Herb/Vegetable/Specialty

Judging and awards will take place at Broken Barrel on April 1st 2012 in conjunction with our monthly meeting. Better get brewing!!

Urban Knaves of Grain, Dark Lager Competition – Feb 18th

Entries are due February 10, 2012 and judging will be held February 18, 2012. Entry fee is $7. Make checks payable to American Homebrewers Association.

Hosted by the Urban Knaves of Grain (UKG) club of Batavia, IL, this competition covers BJCP category 4. Dark Lager subcategories are:

  • 4a Dark American Lager
  • 4b Munich Dunkel
  • 4c Schwartzbier

Entry Shipping:

AHA COC
c/o Doug Newberry
1215 Burnham Ln.
Batavia, IL 60510

For more information, contact Doug Newberry at doug.newberry@att.net.

Walk The Line On Barleywine … Again! Barleywine On The Bayou! – January 20th

Did you miss the Walk The Line Festival at the beginning of December? We will be giving you one more shot at it!

See a list of beers and other information (as well as pictures of what the first Festival was like) at www.DunedinBrewersGuild.com.

After the great success of the Walk The Line On Barleywine Homebrew Competition, Commercial Competition, and Festival, Dunedin Brewers Guild is happy to announce a repeat of the Festival for those who missed it the first time:

Barleywine On The Bayou!

Friday, 20 January 2012 from 6PM to 9PM
Location: Cajun Cafe <http://www.cajuncafeonthebayou.com> (8101 Park Blvd, Pinellas Park, FL 33781)
Paul is providing the delicious and famous food from Cajun Cafe!

There are only 40 tickets available (and 20% of these have already sold in the first day!) – buy them here http://www.dunedinbrewersguild.com/ShoppingCart.htm.

Included in the ticket price is a tasting glass that you can take home, a Passport to list all the beers that you have had, food from Cajun Cafe, and 1-oz pours of over 20 barleywines from around the world – and we may have a couple of surprise beers too!

Best Florida Beer Championships – 2012

Competition Dates
Entry Period: January 15, 2012 to February 08, 2012
Early Judging:
February 11-12, 2012 – Location Coming Soon
February 18-19, 2012 – Location Coming Soon
Competition: February 25, 2012 – Yuengling Beer Garden
Awards Banquet: February 25, 2012 – Yuengling Beer Garden
Best of Show Presentation: March 4, 2012 at the Brewer’s Ball

Entry Rules
Open to all Florida residents and members of Florida homebrew clubs
3 bottles per entry
Entry fee – $6
2 entries per sub-category limit
Beer entries m ust be in 10-16oz brown or green bottles. Swing top bottles are acceptable for meads and ciders only.
Entry form on the BFBC website: www.bestfloridabeer.org/home
Visit the BFBC website for detailed entry rules

Drop-off/Shipping Locations

Beer and Winemaker’s Pantry
9200 66th Street
Pinellas Park, FL 33782-4409
Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5:30pm, Sunday 11am to 4pm

Mr. Dunderbaks
14929 Bruce B. Downs Blvd
Tampa, FL 33613
Open Mon 4pm-11pm, Tues-Thurs 11:30am-12am, Fri-Sat 11:30am-1am, Sun Noon-7pm
(813)977-4104

NASA ICC-6 (Inter Center Competition) – April (Specific date TBD)

Categories:  Dark Lager (4)  & American Ale (10)

This April will be the NASA ICC-6 competition. It is a small event hosted by an inter-NASA circle but anyone from SAAZ can submit an entry. Our very own Dave Webb won (tied) for Best of Show last year with his Chocolate LPR mead.  More details will be made available as they are received.

Upcoming Club Only Competitions – 2012

Check out the homebrewers association website for a list of the 2012 club-only competitions on the schedule.

REWARD!

Attention all SAAZ members!

Our friends over at Sunseed Food Coop are looking to reward the SAAZ brewer of the year, (highest point total in the Florida circuit).

The member with the highest point total will win a $100 gift card to Sunseed Food Co-op at the end of the year. So start brewing and remember to submit your creations!

Beers Available in the Area

Coasters Pub (Indian Harbor Beach) – facebook

New on Tap:

A ridiculously rare keg of Harviestoun Ola Dubh 18 Year, a Dark Ale from Scotland aged in 18 year old Highland Park distillery Scotch barrels in Scotland. Also, a fresh keg of Monty Python’s Holy Ale was just tapped!

World of Beer (Viera) website

New Bottles This Week!

  • Birrificio Bruton Stoner, 7.5% (Italy)
  • Forst Premium Lager, 4.8% (Italy)
  • Forst Sixtus Lager, 6.5% (Italy)
  • Hepworth Classic Old Ale, 4.8% (England)
  • Hepworth Iron Horse, 4.8% (England)
  • Red Brick Brown Ale, 6.5% (Georgia)
  • Sea Dog Apricot Wheat, 4.5% (Maine)
  • Shipyard Applehead, 4.5% (Maine)

SAAZ Platinum Sponsor

Education – Growing Your Own Hops (from morebeer.com)

Growing your own hops at home is easy, fun, and very rewarding – especially if you brew your own beer at home. Hop Vines grow from a rhizome, which is essentially a piece of root taken from a larger, mature plant. The rhizome is planted in the ground in the late spring and small, green shoots pop out of the ground a few weeks later. A hop vine can be very vigorous, growing up to 2′ per week till the end of June when growth slows down and the plant enters into flowering stage.

When and How to Order Hop Rhizomes

Hop Rhizomes are available once per year, typically in March/April, after the farms dig up the rhizomes and ship them to suppliers. Pre-sales start in February and allows you to order the hop rhizomes in advance to make sure you can get the varieties you want. When you receive your hop rhizomes in the mail, keep them refrigerated (but not below freezing) and well ventilated until your soil is ready for planting.

Continue Reading…

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.