February 2017 Meeting Notes

HHCBC February 2017 Meeting Notes

Recaps:
Taste of RVC

  • January 27 @ St. Agnes Parish Center
  • Charity event that supports the RVC St. Patrick’s Day Parade and other charities.
  • Great event – not a typical beer festival.
  • We will be doing it again next year. All should attend.

Homebrew Alley

  • Homebrew Alley took place a week and a half ago
  • The club had a great showing there, both as participating as judges & stewards, and in the competition results.
  • Round of applause to all who participated. And congratulations to all the ribbon winners:
    • Pete Trip & John Danyi with a 1st place ribbon in smoked beers
    • Tom Weber with a 2nd place and two 3rd place ribbons.
    • Andrew Shumway with a 2nd place ribbon.
    • Chris Bonacorsa with a 3rd place and an Honorable Mention.
    • John DiSpirito with a 3rd place ribbon.

Hops & Props

  • Also on Feb 11 the club poured at Hops & Props at the Cradle of Aviation museum.
  • The club was a big hit at the festival.

Upcoming Events:
NYC Fermentation Festival

  • This Saturday, February 25 in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Expo Center
  • Tickets are $20
  • Family friendly all things fermentation event.
  • All the NYC & LI homebrew clubs will be there pouring.
  • All our spots are full, but would be great to see club members there.
  • https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2017-nyc-fermentation-festival-tickets-30687848180
  • Last month we had a club brew day for the Toast competition of the NYC Fermentation Festival. The requirements are you can brew any style of beer, but 40% of the grain bill had to come from surplus bread that was going to be thrown out.  Being from Long Island, we chose to use bagels, pumpernickel bagels to be exact, and made a pumpernickel porter.  The vote at the festival will be a popular vote, so come down and support your club while having a great time.

Other upcoming festivals:

  • Belmont Spring Craft Beer Festival – April 1, Belmont Race Track – 3 brewer spots open
  • Blue Point Cask Fest – April 22, Blue Point Brewery – All spots filled
  • Brew for Autism – April 22, Snug Harbor Great Hall, Staten Island – All brewer spots filled.
  • Bayfest – May 20, GSB – All spots filled
  • If you don’t keg but want to pour at a festival, please let Eric know. We have kegs available for people to borrow and will carb the beer up for you.
  • All events are live to sign up on our website.

Other News:
The Brewer’s Collective:

  • The Brewer’s Collective is currently conducting a “rolling soft opening” until their official grand opening in April.
  • They’ve invited the club members to come down and check out the brewery before the official opening.
  • They’re open most Friday evenings and Saturdays. Best bet is to send them a message on facebook to make sure they’ll be there.

National Homebrew Competition & Conference

  • Registration opens January 30 for the National Homebrew Competition
  • All three LI Homebrew Clubs will be entering as the Long Island Association of Home Brewers, so please use that as the club name. We’ll have a better shot at placing in the club rankings that way.
  • First round judging for the NYC region is scheduled for March 24-25. This year it will be held at KCBC.
  • The conference is being held in Minneapolis. If there’s enough interest we’ll look at coordinating some club presence there.

BJCP Mead Exam

  • Good luck to all the people taking the tasting exam to become a BJCP Certified Mead Judge this weekend

Oxbow Tap Takeover

  • On Thursday, March 9 there will be an Oxbow tap takeover here at the Sheep.

Next Chopped Competition

  • Cereal Killer.
  • Signup for participation will be posted to the Facebook discussion group.

Club social events

  • The Club BBQ will again be hosted at Eric Sowa’s home on Saturday, July 22. Save the date!
  • We’ve been talking about some club social events. Some of the ideas are:
    • Schedule a group brewery crawl in queens/Brooklyn
    • Paintball vs LIBME
    • Club fishing trip
  • If you have any suggestions, or would like to get involved, please see Eric Sowa.
  • Also, the Club BBQ will again be hosted at Eric Sowa’s home on Saturday, July 22.

Hop Plants / H&H Update

  • Taking orders for 29 different hop varities

Merchandise

  • John has club shirts available for purchase. $10 for charter members, $15 if you’re not.
  • John’s also putting a new order in for work shirts. The info is on the FB group page and on the website. 
  • $25 for members for most sizes (2XL+ are a few dollars more), orders have to be in by March 1. Paypal to John. 
  • See the facebook group/website for more info, or talk to John after the announcements.

Membership

  • $25 for an individual membership, $40 for a family.
  • This year we will be offering a “super-club” membership. For $10 more you will get cross-membership in all three Long Island homebrewing clubs: HHCBC, LIBME & BEER.  The additional charge will be used for inter-club events sometime next year.
  • See Jason Scott to sign up or renew.
  • 2 new discounts added to the listing on the website.

Style Classes Resuming

  • The schedule has been brutal for the past few months, but I’m planning on putting some style classes on the calendar soon.
  • Also, we’re always looking for suggestions for a class/event/speaker.

Special Recognition & Congratulations

  • Special recognition goes to our newest club member, Chase Anthony Dalton (and his mom & dad, Kathy & Ken).
  • Chase joined the Grenade Brigade on January 24!

Next Meeting

  • The next meeting will be Tuesday, March 21 @ Garvies Point Brewery in Glen Cove.
  • They will be opening up just for us and giving the whole club a special tour & discussion.

Thanks to The Black Sheep!

  • We want to take a moment to thank Bob, Vince and the crew at here at The Black Sheep for having us back.
  • Always feels like home!

Nassau County Homebrew & Craft Beer Club