June 2012 Newsletter

By Newsletter Recipients

In this edition:

  • Blowoff from the Prez
  • Secretary’s Report
  • Birthdays
  • 2012 Dues
  • 1st Vice President Trainee
  • Next Meeting – June 16th
  • Upcoming Competitions
  • REWARD!
  • Beers Available in the Area
  • Competition Winners
  • Beer Education
  • SAAZ on Facebook
  • Raffle
  • Feedback

SAAZ Platinum Sponsor

Blow off from the Prez

Welcome to the June edition of the “Blow off from the Prez”. As we quickly approach the end of Spring I am left wondering, “Do you have your Lawnmower beer ready?” That’s right, it’s time for the Summer Party and the Annual Lawnmower Beer Competition. Chet and Sonya will once again open their doors for the benefit of the club (with some help from volunteers) with great food and drink waiting for us all. Along with the food and drink there will be games, swimming, a raffle, and maybe a bonfire if the weather holds out. If you are looking for a great day of food and fun this will surely fit the bill.

Also, I hope you are working on your entries for this year’s Commander SAAZ Interplanetary Homebrew Blastoff. Plans are in the works for this year’s event and it’s going to be great. With a change in venue and entry incentives for SAAZ members, we hope to make this our biggest contest yet. And don’t forget about the “SAAZ Brewer of the Year” contest going on. The year is only half over so there is still time to knock Sean out of first place.

Cheers,

Kip

Secretary’s Report

June Birthdays – Happy Birthday!

Kevin Dion
Ron Sup
Glenn Exline
Kevin Miller
Glen weimar
Scott Bran
Billy Kendrick

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

2012 Dues

The first half of 2012 is over 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!

1st Vice President Trainee

**Attention Members**

We are currently looking for a member to fulfill the role of 1st Vice President Trainee.

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes to make the Commander SAAZ Interplanetary Homebrew Blast-Off a success year after year?

Now is your chance to get in on the action! If interested, email cmdr.saaz@saaz.org for more information.

Next Meeting – June 16th (Saturday)

This month’s meeting will be our Summer Party at Chet’s House. (If you plan on attending this great event and need directions, please email prez@saaz.org.)

When:
Saturday, June 16th at noon.

Please note: Party’s don’t setup themselves, therefore we need several volunteers to help get everything in order. If you are interested in helping out, setup begins at 10:30am. Please contact Dave Webb for more details.

Where:
Chet’s House. If you need directions, please email prez@saaz.org.

What to Bring:
Side dish
Lawn chairs (if you want to sit)
Towel + bathing suit (if you want to swim)
Sleeping arrangements (tent/sleeping bag, if you plan to stay the night)
Ice for the beer engine
Beer (to drink/share)

Competition:
Don’t forget that our Summer Party also plays host to our Annual Lawnmower Beer Competition!
Bring a corny of your refreshing session beer and have it voted upon by our members for your chance to win the amazing, coveted, and hand-crafted Lawnmower Trophy!

Next-Next Meeting: July 15that Brock’s Homebrew, meeting starts at 2pm!

Upcoming Competitions

18th Annual Commander SAAZ Interplanetary Homebrew Blast-Off!!!

Important Dates

  • Entry Window – August 5th thru September 5th, 2012
  • Early Round Judging – September 8-9, 15-16, and 22-23, 2012
  • Final Judging – September 28th thru September 29th, 2012
  • Commander’s Call at the Hospitality Suite – [Coming Soon]
  • Awards Ceremony, Dinner, and Splashdown Party – September 29th, 2012

Schedule
The entry window opens on August 5th, but slams shut on September 5th. Depending on the number of entries we will be doing at least one weekend of early round judging, and we will need your help! Early round judging will be held the weekends of September 8-9, 15-16, and 22-23 at Carroll Distributing in Melbourne, Florida. Final judging, will be held the weekend of September 28th and 29th at Florida Beer Company.

For more details visit the Blast-Off page Here.

First Coast Cup

-Welcome to the 5th Annual-2012 First Coast Cup-

July 27th & 28th
(Entry Window – June 22nd through July 6th)

This year’s First Coast Cup will be held at the Four Points by Sheraton Jacksonville on Baymeadows.

Similar to past years, we’ll begin judging sessions around noon on Friday, July 27th and continue into the early evening or until that day’s flights are completed. For those of you who will be coming in from out of town and want to judge, please notify us as early as you can so we can sort the flights accordingly.

In addition to the awards banquet, we have some fantastic activities planned for this year’s First Coast Cup. Click the Activities Schedule link above for additional information.

For more details, please visit the 5th Annual First Coast Cup official page Here.

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!

Current list of competition winners:

Name BFBC Coconut Cup Hurricane Hogtown Totals
Sean Gregg 4 3 1 5 13
Rudi Wehmschulte


3 3
Dave Webb


3 3

Beers Available in the Area

Coasters Pub (Indian Harbor Beach) – facebook

  • Hantverksbryggeriet Kosacken
  • Left Hand Milk Stout
  • Sprecher Root Beer

Sunseed Food Co-op

  • Longhammer IPA cans
  • Crazy Mountain Brewing
    – all cans-
    — Amber
    — Pale Ale
    — Wit
  • Stone R.I.S
  • Rogue
    – MoM Hefe
  • Southern Tier
    – Hop Sun
  • Oskar Blues
    – Deviant Dales 16oz can

World of Beer – Viera

New on tap

  • Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA, 6% (Scotland)
  • Brooklyn Brewmaster’s Reserve Gold Standard Export, 6% (New York)
  • Hepworth Iron Horse, 4.8% (England)

SAAZ Platinum Sponsor

Competition Winners

Congratulations to our members that have recently received awards or recognition!

SAAZ Spring Fling With Smoked Wings

Best of Show – Beer

Brewer Name Co-Brewers Brew Name Style Medal Club
Glen Weimar Sean Gregg SAAZzilla Clone 14C 1st Space Coast Assoc. for the Advancement of Zymurgy (Rockledge, FL)
Josh Landin Indian River Grapefruit Ale 20 2nd Space Coast Assoc. for the Advancement of Zymurgy (Rockledge, FL)
Sean Gregg I am Zythos, Take me to your liter 10A 3rd Space Coast Assoc. for the Advancement of Zymurgy (Rockledge, FL)

A complete listing of the results can be found Here.

14th Annual Domras Cup Mead Competition
  • Dave Webb – Silver Medal
  • Sean Gregg – Honorable Mention

Beer Education

Cleaning and Sanitation

Sanitation is critical to brewing good beer at home. Even the slightest contamination of fermenting or finished beer can ruin a perfectly good batch. This week, we take a look at good sanitation techniques for home brewers.An overview of the Process

Good Brewing Sanitation

Anything that comes in contact with your wort or beer after it has been boiled should be both washed and sanitized. Items used prior to boiling should be washed, but need not be sanitized as boiling the wort will sanitize it.

Washing is simply the act of removing dust, dirt and grime from your equipment. Sanitizing your equipment is a separate step to kill off remaining bacteria and micro-organisms that might linger after washing. A thorough washing is a precursor to sanitizing, as sanitizing agents alone will not be able to remove built up grime and deposits on equipment that harbor bacteria.

Cleaning Agents

A good mild anti-bacterial dish detergent makes a good primary cleaning agent. A scrubbing sponge or brush will help to remove any deposits, though be careful not to use abrasives on plastic as this tends to scratch and pit the plastic, creating a home for micro-organisms.

For stubborn stains, a number of stronger cleaning agents are available. These include Oxiclean, PBW, and Straight-A.  Oxiclean is widely available, and as little as 1-3 tablespoons per 5 gallons will rapidly clean the residue found on fermenter walls. Powdered Brewing Wash (PBW) provides a somewhat stronger solution for tougher stains. Straight-A is another specialty cleaning agents that works well on tough stains.

Personally, I primarily use a mild detergent for day-to-day cleaning, and oxiclean if I have a tough problem to clean up, as it is readily available at most retail stores and I generally clean my equipment right after using it. Note that all of the cleaning agents require a thorough rinse, as they all can leave a filmy deposit if not rinsed properly.

Do not leave bleach based cleaners in contact with stainless steel for any extended period of time. A short wash is acceptable, but extended bleach exposure will pit stainless steel and may even bore a hole in it if left long enough. Similarly you should not soak plastic in cleaning agents for extended periods as plastic tends to absorb many of the chemicals.

Sanitizing Agents

After washing your equipment, it is important that anything that touches the wort or beer after boiling is thoroughly sanitized. Some of the most popular sterilizing agents include household bleach, iodophor, Star San and B-brite.

Bleach is one of my favorite sanitizers as it is inexpensive and easy to get. Using 1 tbsp per gallon of water yields a solution that will sanitize with a soak time of 15 minutes. Some care needs to be taken when using bleach with stainless steel or plastics, as you should never exceed the 15 minute soak time – bleach will pit stainless steel or soak into plastics if left in contact with the materials too long. Rinse thoroughly with hot water.

Another sanitizer I use extensitvely is iodophor. Iodophor is a iodine based sanitizer available in liquid form. I like to use iodophor for stainless pots and kegs as it works rapidly and is not as corrosive to steel as bleach. It requires a relatively small amount of iodophor (read the instructions – as concentrations vary) and will sanitize very quickly – as little as 60 seconds. Again you should not leave metals in contact for an extended period. Iodophor does not require rinsing, but I usually rinse lightly after use.

Star-san and B-Brite are available from your local homebrew store and are also easy to use. Star-san requires only 60 seconds to sanitize and does not require rinsing. B-Brite takes approximately 15 minutes to sanitize and does require mixing. B-Brite can also be used as a cleaning agent with a good soak.  One advantage of star-san is that it can be stored for an extended period of time and reused several times.

As a final point, be sure to clean and sanitize any piece of equipment that comes in contact with your fermenting or fermented beer. This includes fermentation vessels, siphoning equipment, spoons, hydrometers, tubing, and your kegs or bottles. Clean, sanitary equipment will result in better beer that is free from infection of off-flavors.

(Information taken from an article written by Brad Smith on June 21, 2009 at http://www.beersmith.com)

SAAZ on Facebook

Do you want to stay up to date on SAAZ events?

Then be sure to like the SAAZ page on Facebook!

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.