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A Fest for the Nest by Brian Vessa (Published in the October 1996 Brews and News) Greetings Fellow Falcons! The September club meeting was really well attended, with at least 70 Falcons present. A complete reversal from the July meeting, there was plenty of beer for all, and people stayed late. The homebrew tasting at the beginning of the meeting was very well attended also, with over a dozen beers on the board before we even started! There were some excellent brews, too. The enthusiasm for this monthly event is truly contagious and gratifying. After this, we had the business meeting. We went through old business, and then Greg Stark handed out all of the sponsored awards from LA County Fair. There were some very nice prizes, too. Hopefully next year we can get all of the categories sponsored..........All in all, this years' competition went very smoothly, and the Fair people seemed to really enjoy it as well. Maybe they are finally getting used to us! Anyway, after the awards, most people drifted out to the kegs, but we managed to finish the business meeting anyway. Matt cooked beef, turkey and veggie burgers with some help from Corrine Pooler and Lily Wissel-Thanks! After lunch, Bruce Brode led at least 30 of us who stayed through a wonderful tasting of Weizenbocks--what a treat! This is a style truly worth investing some time in. After this, Falcons continued to hang out quite late. There were over 20 people still there when I left at 6:00! What a great club! The Oktoberfest looks to be a really great time on Saturday, Oktober 5th at Barbara Antler's house. The Cellarmasters winemaking club will be joining us again this year. I'm going to bring some of my homemade wine to share with them. Who knows, maybe some of them brewed some beer! Biff Tate has taken the lead in organizing the event. We will have authentic German music, courtesy of Bill Ellis, and I think Biff plans to get more, also. This should create the proper ambiance, as well as the planned menu of German Beergarten fare. I'm hoping after people get loosened up that we can have some real German dancing happening, too. He plans to do a keg toss for the mighty among us--like I said before, I have to see this one! David Janss will be organizing the raffle, so call him if you have any donations at (818) 881-1738. This is always a high point at the fests, with many interesting beers and paraphernalia. We will have the induction of new officers, and the Best of Show award for the Oktoberfest competition. I know there will be plenty of good brew, because I saw a lot of names on the sign-up sheet at the meeting. David and Biff are going to get some commercial beer donated as well. The band will play a couple of sets of rockin' blues, and Bruce Brode will convene a late night meeting of the Dead Palates Society. It sounds like a full day (and night), so plan to be there! The fall tour of Anheuser-Busch is confirmed on Thursday, October 24th from 2:30 to 5:00PM. George Reisch will lead intrepid Falcons through a tasting of their new beers, and then a tour of the brewery. There is a lot of walking involved, so wear comfortable shoes and bring something warm, since some of the tour involves some cold rooms. You also need to wear a hat, although George may possibly provide Budweiser hats like he did last time for those that don't have one. There still are a few slots open, so sign up at the Oktoberfest or call Mark Poliner at (818) 348-4888 if you want to go. I had a blast on the last one … We will be organizing a ship-in for the California State Homebrew Competition on Saturday, Oktober 19th at 1PM in the clubhouse. Doug King has been kind enough to volunteer his time to get this together. This is a very important competition on a club level, since the results figure quite highly in the choice of Anchor Brew Club of the Year. All of the forms are available at the shop, or you can fill them out when you get there on the 19th. If you can't make it then, you can stop by the shop and fill out the forms ahead of time and leave your entries in the clubhouse. The fee is $6.00, and it's the regular 3 bottles per entry. We are only allowed three entries per category as a club. Individuals who have won a first place award in one of the state competitions this year can enter one entry per first place award apart from the club's group entries (The AHA nationals and first round in Fresno do not count). The actual deadline is Oktober 26th, but we encourage everyone to enter their beers via the shipping, so we can keep track of the entries in each category and fill out the proper paperwork for the Club List of Entries. Besides, we pay the cost of the shipping! The judging will be November 16th at Stern Grove in San Francisco--contact Russ Wigglesworth at (415) 476-3668 (days) or (707) 769-0425 (evenings) if you want to judge. I went last year, and I plan to do it again this time. It's really fun, and you get to meet a lot of other judges and brewers in the state. Hopefully, I will be accepting the award for brew club of the year … Speaking of judging, we are making another push to get more people involved in the BJCP judging program. There will be a BJCP judging exam given at the Westwood Brewing Company on Saturday, November 23rd, from 1:30 to 4:30 PM. Bruce Brode and I will teaching three preparatory classes at the brewery on Saturday Oktober 26th, Saturday November 2nd and Sunday November 10th from 1:30 to 4:30. The cost of the test is $50 for first time takers and $30 for repeats. The class cost is $30. You don't have to take the class to take the test, but it is very informative about beers styles and other subjects related to the test, so it is highly recommended. Call Bruce Brode at (310) 558-8458 to sign up for the class and/or the test. We will also have a sign-up sheet at the Oktoberfest. Beer judging is very fun, and you'll find that your overall knowledge and appreciation of beer increases tremendously once you become a judge. If you can't do it this time, we will likely offer it again in the spring. In the last few years of doing this, a lot of Falcons have learned to be judges--you can too! The Best of Fest AHA club-only competition deadline is here! Bring 1 bottle of your Fest-styled beer (Oktoberfest or Vienna Lager) to the shop before Oktober 7th, or the Oktoberfest on the 5th to get in the runoff. We will taste the beers at the board meeting that week, and determine the one we will send to represent the club. The club pays all shipping and entry expenses, so you really have nothing to lose--and we need the entries! Hopefully we may even place one of these days.....your entry could make the difference! Outgoing VP Rusty Reece will be teaching three beer appreciation classes at the Bristol Farms in South Pasadena on 10/12, 10/19 and 10/29 from 3:30-6:30--again, we educate the public on beer! I don't know the cost of the class, but if you are interested, call Bristol Farms. Rusty has taught this class several times before for other organizations, so I know it will be very informative and enjoyable-great for people just beginning to learn about beer appreciation. I went to the Great Mead Roundtable yesterday, and I must say it was really an education. Bruce Brode organized another killer tasting, which was enthusiastically attended. Look for his upcoming report next month. Today, we judged beers for the Oktoberfest Competition....we'll announce the winner at the Fest on Oktober 5th--I'll see you there! Back to The Roost || Brew Recipes || Brews & News |
