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As Seen In |
December Minutes BY Douglas King (Published in the January 1997 Brews and News)
We had a great turnout for the December meeting, which was held at the Home Wine and Beer Shop on the 8th. There were around 65-70 Falcons in attendance, including quite a few new faces again this month. As usual, we started out with one of the highlights of the meeting, the homebrew tasting. The participants in this very popular portion of the meeting were: Me, Blackened Voodoo Lager look-alike and Wrye Wit; Jim Logan, Belgian Dubbel; Bruce Brode, club brewed Helles and Wise Guy Weizenbock; Kevin Baranowski, pumpkin spiced ale; Bruce Wenzel, holiday spiced ale; Tom Hamilton, porter; Jason Didn'tcatchhislastname, brown ale; Mark Swallow, Markweiser, dark lager, porter; John Aitchison, holiday ale; Greg Gouyoumjian, oatmeal stout; Dave Stark, brown ale; and Leo Barentse, honey wit. There were even a few others out back that didn't make the tasting or my list. Thanks to all, and keep 'em coming! Sometime in the middle of the tasting we had a most unusual event take place: the harrassment, swatting, shooing, running from, and eventual squishing of a huge wasp! After several trips around the club room, including an encounter with the ceiling fan, the very irate and totally confused wasp finally met his fate under Dave Stark's shoe and we were able to get back to some serious business, the tasting! The business portion of the meeting commenced with a big round of applause for winning the California Homebrew Club of the Year Award! The big party will take place at Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco, sometime in Febrewary. Brian had a copy of the presentation was was at least partly responsible for this award for all to see. Great job Brian! The commemorative Falcons\100th anniversary glassware that we sent to Anchor probably didn't hurt either. We had Bob Brewer's replacement glass at the meeting, but he didn't make it, so it will be mailed to him. There will be paraphernalia commemorating the award available at the January meeting. There may be a discount on some left over items from the '94 award. We received a nice card from Chris Soloman at Anchor, thanking us for the glassware. When Fritz Maytag was given his glass, he poured a beer, drank it, and then put the glass away in his display case. David Janss is making bus and hotel arrangements for the trip. He should have all the details at theJanuary meeting. The main focus of the meeting was the upcoming Anchor trip, but there was some other business. David Janss has the Holiday Tasting at the Stuffed Sandwich all set for Dec 14th, to include 16 beers. Brian had an article which dealt with hop toxicity for dogs. George Reich of A-B announced that they are going to be teaching brewing internships. This is a good way for young people to get into the business, call A-B for details. Brian had some competition awards from his trip to Stern Grove: one for Bruce Brode, two for MB and Steve Casselman, and a bunch for Michael Bowe, including Sierra Nevada Homebrewer of the Year for the second straight year! The new artwork contest still only has Steve Keppler's 4 entries, and only 4 people voted on the sheet which was passed around. Matt Cotter received his certificate of appreciation for being last year's Burgermeister. Hail to Ale Club Only Competition entries are due at the January meeting. Dave Stark announced next year's Mayfaire Competition. Entries will be dueearlier than usual, in March. We broke for lunch, which was stew, rolls, and cake for dessert. Burgermeister Gary couldn't be there to serve it, so a few volunteers helped out. During lunch, Bruce Brode led the Troubleshooters Corner for 3 beers. After lunch came the Holiday Beer Tasting, put on by Bruce. Bruce had 2 beers that are always included, Anchor Our Special Ale and Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. In addition to those two, he had Kulbacher Reichelbrau Eisbock. John Aitchison graciously donated Rhino Chasers Winterful Ale and Pyramid Snowcap Ale. There terrific beers made for a very fine Holiday beer tasting! Happy Holidaze to all, see ya in January, Doug
Board Minutes The Falcon's Board of Directors had a meeting on 12\4\96. The meeting was held prior to the regular monthly meeting in order to discuss a few issues pertaining to our California Homebrew Club of the Year award. There were 7 board members in attendance to discuss primarily the selection of appropriate paraphernalia to commemorate the award. We came to a decision to order the selected items immediately, in an effort to have them available for the January regular meeting. Anchor's Bob Brewer will be in attendance for the December meeting. We will be presenting him with his replacement engraved commemorative Falcons glassware, since his original one was broken in shipment. We also discussed a budget for club expenditures for the Anchor trip, as well as making bus and hotel arrangements. We covered a few other topics, though not as extensively as the Anchor trip. The coordination of California competitions, to eliminate conflicts, is working out smoothly. Six people took the BJCP exam last month. The schedule for Febrewary, including whether or not to hold a meeting, is on hold until we get the date of the Anchor trip. George Reich is being contacted to try to get him to come to the January meeting. My rice brewing demo for Dec is cancelled, but may occur in conjunction with George's visit. Next spring's mead tasting will be on March 15th. Dave is spreading the announcement of the Mayfaire competition to all appropriate locations. He will also be resurrecting the competition calender for the newsletter. Brian will be leading a Presidential Porter shop brew session on Jan. 18th, in conjunction with porter as style of the month. MB's Ladies Only Brew is set for Jan. as well. Bruce will try to schedule the upcoming 25th anniversary giant Barleywine brew session for Febrewary, depending on nchor's schedule. Beginning in Jan. there will be only one distributed beer tasting per month, alternating between the valley and the westside. We OK'ed a little higher budget for the Holiday beers at the Dec. meeting, and John Aitchison will donate some beers. We may run some crossword puzzles, which I will design, in the newletter from time to time. How's that for a long, rambling paragraph?
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