February 2016 Meeting Minutes

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• on March 2, 2016
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Niagara Association of Homebrewers
Meeting Minutes: February 23, 2016

Member Announcements

1. 26 current members were present.
2. Jerry was voted in as a new member.
3. Brendan, Chris, Kevin and Jim joined us for their first meeting.
4. 2016 dues ($25/individual; $30/couple) can be paid to Eric Stellrecht.

Business Meetings/Socials

1. January’s Social was at New York Beer Project.  It was very well attended by NAH members and some Sultans.
2. The March 8th Social will be at 12 Gates Brewing Company and will start at 6:00 PM, which is earlier than normal.  They are opening especially for us and we don’t want to keep them there very late.  They kitchen will be unavailable that evening, so Tim Belczak is bringing in shredded chicken, soft tortillas, veggies, cheese, sour cream and salsa for a DIY Taco Tuesday!
3. The next business meeting will be held on Tuesday, March  22, 2016 at 7:00 PM at Crazy Jake’s.
4. We don’t have a social location for April yet, but we will be going to Lockhouse in May.

20th Annual Amber Waves of Grain (AWOG)

Registration for Brewers, Judges, and Stewards is open.  Sign up at http://awog.niagarabrewers.org and consider stewarding a session to see how a competition is run.  It’s a fun experience and you get to taste the entries along with the judges, which helps develop your palate.  No experience is necessary and you’re responsible for light paperwork, supplies for the judges, and getting entries ready as directed.  Contact Eric Stellrecht if you’re interested.

Brewers’ Night Out (our annual awards banquet) is April 2 and tickets are now on sale.  This event always sells out, so be sure to grab your tickets as soon as possible.  For tickets and more information, visit our Brewers’ Night Out page.

Business Topics

1. The Roycroft Inn put on a fantastic dinner and homebrew pairing that was well-received by the public and the homebrewers who participated.  Thank you to the Sultans for extending an invitation for us to participate and to NY Craft Malt who supplied the base malts for the beers that were served that night.
2. Tim Belczak is organizing a paint night with Art-By-You for about 10 people.  It will be a beer-themed painting and we are welcome to bring homebrew to share with others.  A date will be set once enough people express interest – email Tim Belczak if this is somehting you’d be interested in.  Cost will be $25 for the class and all materials.  Below are a couple prototypes they’ve worked up for us.
3. The Art of Beer is Friday, March 4 at the NACC. This is a great fundraiser for the NACC and is an incredible value considering the food and beer that’s available to sample.  Discounted tickets ($30) are still on sale at Niagara Tradition and online. Tickets can also be purchased at the door for $35.  We will doing a demo with Niagara Tradition and serving up homebrew samples.
4. Beerology is Saturday, March 5. We will be brewing a demo in the kitchen like we’ve done in the past.  Tickets are sold out but there is a Yelp contest going on for free tickets.

BJCP Style Education

1. February’s style was Baltic Porters, presented by Dan Karyczak.  He gave a great overview of the style and brought very different commercial examples from Flying Dog and Żywiec.
2. March’s style will be Bocks, presented by Mike Conley.
3. April’s style will be California Common, presented by John DePaolo.
4. If you want to present a style and perhaps brew an example of your own to go along with your presentation, contact Tim Belczak to get on the list. We’d like to fill the list up several months in advance to give members the opportunity to brew an example for the presentation if they desire.

Meeting was adjourned and we shared some delicious homebrew with one another.