Bubblings From the Fermenter
By Mark Tumarkin
The May meeting was a success and well attended, unlike the last meeting, which apparently was just a fluke, one of those statistical anomalies. The only negative factor was the smoke from the Mallory Swamp fires, which left Gainesville smelling like a poorly made rauch beer or an ashtray (take your pick). We had a great dinner, with a wide variety of dishes to choose from. It was voted to make these pre-meeting dinners a regular part of our meetings. So in the future, dinner will begin at 6:30 for those interested, with the business to start afterwards. The club will also subsidize the host for the main course. RSVPs will help with dinner planning.
We began the month with the second Monster Mash out at Dave and Julie Williams' place in Newberry, on May 5, National Homebrew Day. Thanks again, you guys throw a great party! Last year we did a large batch on Dave's system and split it into separate boils with varying hop varieties. This year we boiled the large batch with the same hops and then split it into seven fermenters and pitched each with different yeast. They should be ready to sample at the next meeting (with the exception of the two lagers). It should be really interesting to see the different flavor profiles in the finished beers. The yeast flavor characteristics should really make for widely varying tastes. The MASH club in Miami preformed a similar experiment. They brewed a batch on Jamie Ray's system at the Titanic brewpub. This allowed them to use a much larger number of yeast varieties. It will be interesting to compare notes once the tasting's been done.
Hogtown Brewers again sent a strong contingent of five judges to Orlando for the Sunshine Challenge. We also fielded three stewards, so our presence was much appreciated by the organizers as the contest has increased to almost 700 entries this year. Everyone had a great time, it's hard not to with the Florida Brewers Guild party, pub crawls, room crawls, poolside piazza parties and dinners, the Barleywine Band, the contest & judging itself, and the always entertaining award ceremony.
I received two packages of beer in the mail this month. The first was from Heather and Howard, the product of their first brew together. It was an IPA made with their own homegrown hops. The second was from the Michael Jackson Beer of the Month club. We are now a homebrew club affiliate and will receive their shipment each month. In exchange, they are looking for us to generate memberships. We will also receive $20, which the club will donate back to you if you sign up for at least 6 months. The cost for this is $35 per month, or $45 per month for the new Belgium club.
We have also been offered Homebrew Club discounts on All About Beer Magazine. The normal subscription cost is $ per year, but they are offering it to us for $ per year, quite a significant savings. The club is already receiving the magazine so you can see Sue to check it out of the Libeery, but if you'd like your own copy this is a great deal. Let me know if you want a copy of the subscription form for either the magazine or the Michael Jackson beer club offerings.
Bradley gave an excellent presentation/tasting on German Wheat beers. He concentrated on a small number of samples that were representative of the category and sub styles. We also tasted a number of other examples, including Berliner Weisse with raspberry and woodruff syrups. There were also a large number of other beers to sample, including some excellent homebrews and some great commercial and import beers. German wheat beers are a style best drunk fresh. So, there is time to start brewing a batch now and have it at its' peak of flavor for the upcoming contest.
Fred will be giving the next presentation/tasting at the June meeting. It will be on American Pale Ales and IPAs. The contest for June will be for Bitters & English Pales (Category 4) and Scottish Ales (Category 5). Please remember to bring your entries to the meeting, as we will be doing the judging at the BJCP study group the following weekend. So until then, keep those fermenters bubbling.