November 2011 Newsletter

In this edition:

• Blowoff from the Prez
• Secretary’s Report
• Jack Bragg –
• Birthdays
• 2012 Dues
• Next Meeting – MEADing! This Saturday!
• Next Next Meeting – Holiday Party!
• Upcoming Competitions – SAAZ Spring Fling!
• Local Events
• Beers Available in the Area
• SAAZ on Facebook
• Raffle
• Feedback

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SAAZ Platinum Sponsor

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Blow off from the Prez

Well, we did it.  We got through 549 beers, meads, and ciders and we’re ready to celebrate! I think just about everyone who was there will tell you this year’s Commander SAAZ Interplanetary Homebrew Blastoff was a smash hit!  We had some small obstacles to overcome, but nothing that we couldn’t handle.  We now enter a period of two months known as recovery and preparation.  Recovery means that our next two meetings are a little more laid back than the earlier ones, but by no means and less fun.  Our next meeting is the MEADing.  For those of you who are new to the club, this is a meeting held at Dave Webb’s Honey House on the outskirts of town.  The club will bring all of the bottles of unopened mead and cider from the competition and will also provide the food.  We ask that, as usual, you bring a side dish, ice, and a chair.

We will wrap up the year on Saturday December 10th with the Holiday Party at the Vita’s in Titusville.  I like to think of this as Christmas Dinner with the cool family!  We’ll have the beer engine on the back porch so bring your kegs.  Jill and Larry will be making turkey and ham, so bring your favorite side dish or dessert.  We will also do our annual bottle swap.  All you need to do is bring a nice bottle of beer (covered to no one can see what it is).  Usually people bring a 22oz or 750mL that’s around the $10 range.  This is completely voluntary, so you don’t have to if you don’t want to.  We will also vote on our new officers at the Holiday Party, which brings me to…

I recently sent out an email asking for people to consider running for office.  It was later pointed out to me that I didn’t mention all of the offices.  My mistake.  All of the offices are up to a vote, even if the current officer is running again.  I had only mentioned the offices that were definitely going to be vacant as people would not be running for them next year.  I really implore you to consider giving back to the club and participating in office.  It is a great chance to see the behind the scenes operations.  Just ask anyone who has been an officer before – it’s a great time.  So far we have nominations as:

• President – Kip Cadoret, Dave Webb
• 1^st VP – Matt Backus (incumbent), Alex Hansen
• 2^nd VP – Open for nominations
• Librarian – Jason Stroble, Sonia Miller
• Secretary – Alex Hansen (incumbent)
• Newsletter Editor & Webmaster – Dan Shira
• Treasurer – Anne Gregg (incumbent)

See you all November 12 at Webb’s.

Cheers!

Sean

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Secretary’s Report

The month of October was an incredible month for SAAZ. There were a lot of events that happened and I wanted to touch on a couple of the major points. The Commander Saaz Competition was a great success this year. Planning is already taking place for the 2012 competition so be sure to keep an eye out for a survey on the Saaz website to let the officers know what you liked or would like to improve on about this year’s competition. The competition saw a record number of entries and attendees. Throughout the competition weekend there were extreme adventures of judging, trying new beers, and awards. The weekend started off with one of the best blastoff parties in history. The fact that Friday night’s event sold out so quickly can be a testament to how much fun everyone has at the event each year. Saturday’s award ceremony featured some great beers and a full house of attendees. My congratulations go out to all of the winners and individuals that helped to make this year’s competition a true success! I am certain that next year will be even better!

Thanks again everyone!

-Alex

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Jack Bragg

Jack Bragg, 68, of West Melbourne, passed away on Tuesday October 25, 2011 in Melbourne. He was retired from Rich Sea Pack in Brunswick, GA moving to Melbourne in 1992 from Brunswick, GA. He was a veteran of the US Navy, member of The West Melbourne Moose Lodge, American Legion, and Am. Vets. He enjoyed fishing, playing golf, hunting and riding his motorcycles.

Survivors include his sons Jackson, Jr. and Michael, a brother Bill Bragg and a sister Barbara Rehnborg.

Jack was an active SAAZ member for almost 10 years.  You couldn’t go to a SAAZ party or meeting without seeing Jack there to help.  He will be missed by all of us.  In his memory, SAAZ is making a one-time donation to the Wounded Warrior Project.  We encourage all SAAZ members to consider doing the same.

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Next Meeting – MEADing! Nov 12th (Saturday)

November’s meeting, on November 12th, is the MEADing!  Once again, it will be at SAAZ member Dave Webb’s honey house.  The address is 21777 SR 520, in Orlando.  It’s not really in Orlando, that’s just the post office that delivers out in that neck of the woods.

Setup will be around 3pm, with festivities at 4pm.  The honey house will still be open for business at that time, so please be considerate of customers when parking and leave room in front of the store.  Dave is arranging for an educational demonstration of the honey extractor.  There is also an observation hive where you can see the bees at work.  I think this will be a real treat for everyone. If you’ve never been there, don’t miss this chance to check it out!

The club will provide food on the grill, but please bring a side dish.  At this time, we are not planning on bringing the beer engine, but we will have the leftover meads from Commander SAAZ.  However, it’s always good to bring an extra bottle or two to share.

So what will you need to bring?

• Side dishes (salads, desserts, etc.)

• Lawn chairs for lounging

• Water, important since mead w/o Food = BAD, mead w/o Hydration = WICKED HANGOVER

• Mead

Directions:

The honey house is about halfway between SR 50 and SR 528 on SR 520 on the east side of the road.  It looks like there are at least 4 different ways to get there depending on where you come from, so I would suggest typing it into google maps or your Garmin.

Click here for directions to Webb’s

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Next Next Meeting – Holiday Party,  Dec 10th (Saturday)

Mark your calendars now for the SAAZ Holiday Party!  It will be at Jill and Larry’s in Titusville (next door to the Sparks’ aka Summer Party).  Jill and Larry will provide the turkey and ham, so bring your best fixings!

Please bring:

• Side dishes (salads, desserts, etc.)

• Lawn chairs for lounging

• Ice for the beer engine

• Kegs for the beer engine

• A wrapped 22oz or 750mL bottle for the bottle swap (optional)

• More beer

Directions:

Directions will be emailed to the membership and interested peoples

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Upcoming Competitions

The Florida Circuit is wrapping up for the year with Sunshine Challenge.  Now is the time to get ready for next year.  Typically the Best Florida Beer Competition in Tampa and the Coconut Cup in Miami are in February.  So get to brewing!

Walk the Line On Barleywine – Dec 2-3 2011

Walk The Line On Barleywine is now accepting entries for the Homebrew Competition – go to www.DunedinBrewersGuild.com and click on the Register Here link next to Homebrew Competition.  As always, it’s $6 per entry, and only costs you two of your precious bottles.  The competition is December 2-3, and includes a Homebrew Competition, a Barleywine Festival, and a Commercial Competition.

Bring your entries for dropoff at the MEADing!

1st Annual SAAZ Spring Fling with Smoked Wings – April 15, 2012

This is an all new SAAZ club only competition! 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 15th 2012 in conjunction with our monthly meeting.

Better get brewing!!

Club Only Competitions – 2012

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

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Local Events

Help out at Sunshine Challenge

SAAZ Judge and Stewards, Central Florida Home Brewers (CFHB) is our sister club in Orlando.  Their competition, Sunshine Challenge, is the next and last competition of the year in Florida.  This year, they received over 500 entries! Just like us, they are working diligently to get all those beers/meads/ciders judged and ready for their main event weekend on November 18th and 19th.  They will be doing early round judging on November 11, 12, & 13 in Orlando.  Please consider lending a hand in helping them judge or steward.  We had several CFHB people help us both weekends of our competition, and it would be nice to return the favor.  Please see http://www.cfhb.org/sunshine-challenge for more information.

Coasters’ Off-Centered Compilation of Curious Libations Night – Dec 1st

Coasters Pub’s 2nd Annual Dogfish Head Night! You won’t want to miss this! This year’s event features 24 draught beers from one of America’s most innovative and exciting breweries. It’ll be the most Dogfish Head draughts on tap under one roof in Florida, ever.  You can get more details and also RSVP on the Coasters Facebook Event Page.

SAAZ Holiday Party – Dec 10th

Mark your calendars for December 10th for the SAAZ Holiday Party. Setup at 3p, party at 4p, bring a chair, side dish, ice, and kegs for the beer engine.  This meeting is also our annual elections, so be sure to be there! The party is at the Vitas’ home. Email prez@saaz.org for directions.

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Beers Available in the Area

Coasters Pub (Indian Harbor Beach) – facebook

Draft:

• Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
• Spaten Munich Helles
• Spaten Oktoberfest
• Hantverksbryggeriet Kosacken – Rare Swedish Imperial Stout
• Maredsous 8 – Belgian Dubbel
• North Coast Old Rasputin Imperial Stout (Nitro)
• Victory Storm King Imperial Stout
• Dogfish Head 90min IPA
• Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA – TAPPING December 1st!
• Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale
• Weihenstephan Hefeweiss
• Bells Two Hearted Ale

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SAAZ Platinum Sponsor

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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.

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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!

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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