Business Meeting Minutes September 25th, 2018

Hello Everyone,

We had a good turnout for our September meeting. About 20 members attended.

The big news from the meeting is that Keith C. was elected as our new Vice President. He brings many years of experience as a former President and we are glad to have his help. Congratulations Keith. With this, Ken D. takes over as President and now former President Scott rides off in to the sunset.

Our social at Hamburg brewing had an ok turnout of around 10 people. A great location and they are upping their beer game.

The Bourbon Barrel filling took place Saturday, September 1st. Things went pretty smooth and the plan is to start tasting in a few months.

Another successful Buffalo Beer Week concluded. Hope you got out to enjoy some of the great events. Thanks to everyone who helped organize events.

The Salt City Brew Club annual competition was Friday, September 28th & Saturday, September 29th. A quick scroll through the results shows NAH President Ken won first in Bitter and Malty beers with a Dark Mild and member Mark S. placed second in Belgian Ales for his Belgian Dubbel. Congrats to you both and my apologies if I missed anyone.

Our second annual Beer Advent is gearing up. Bring in a case of good homebrew or purchased beer and get back a case of 24 different beers. Please see Dan G. to sign up and for more info. Only 2 spots remain.

The SNOB homebrew club has their Son of Brewzilla competition with judging on November 2nd and 3rd. Entries are closed but you can still sign up to judge. Judging takes place at the new Fat Head’s brewery. Even though you can get their beer here now, it is worth the trip.

The Greater Toronto Area Brew Slam is Friday, November 9th through Sunday, November 11th. Entry deadline is Saturday, November 3rd. There is a stipend and accommodation allowance for judging if travel from out of the area. Please see https://www.gtabrews.ca/brew-slam/ for more info on brewing or attending.

Santas of Swig is scheduled for Saturday, December 1st from 1pm to 4pm at Buffalo Iron Works. This is a homebrew tasting/competition with all proceeds benefiting the Matt Urban Center’s Hope House Homeless Shelter for Women and Children. Please see http://sultansofswig.wixsite.com/sultans/santasofswig for more info.

A BJCP Mead exam will take place on January 19th, 2019 at 810 Meadworks in Medina. See Alex P.to sign up for the exam. Classes will be the first and second Wednesday in October and November at Lilly Belle Meads in Lancaster from 7pm to 9pm. Please contact Mark Z. to sign up for the classes.

The educational portion of the night consisted of learning about Kellerbier presented by Tom R. with one homebrew and two commercial examples. Thanks Tom for once again giving the presentation. We do need someone to present a style or give a technical presentation for the October meeting.

The October social is scheduled for the new CBW on 7th street on Wednesday, October 10th from 7pm to 10pm.

With that, it was motioned to close business and drink beer.

Business Meeting Minutes August 28th, 2018

Hello Everyone,

We had a good turnout for our August meeting. About 20 members attended.

The election for Vice President is coming up next month and we are looking for nominations. The roll consists of helping the President for one year and then taking over the role of President for the next year. To be nominated you need to:
-Homebrew
-Been a member for 2 years
-Pay your dues

Please contact skroon@niagarabrewers.orgs with questions or nominations.

The Erie County Fair was from August 8th through the 19th and once again we had a homebrew demo booth to reach more people in the community. Many batches of beer were brewed and we got to speak with a lot of people on homebrewing and beer. Thank you again to Mark Z. for organizing this and setting up and taking down the booth.

The Dude Hates Cancer was Saturday, August 11th from 12pm to 3pm at Resurgence Brewing. A good time was had by all as usual.

The annual Brew’s Picnic was Sunday, August 12th at Sheridan Park. Some members from all the local homebrew clubs showed up and a good time was had. Attendance was light considering how many homebrewers there are in the area. Das Hausbrauers are going to run it next year to change things up.

A steinbier demo took place on Sunday, August 19th at the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village. I heard that upon putting in the second rock there was much frothing and boiling. Now the wait to see how it turns out.

The Bourbon Barrel filling is taking place Saturday, September 1st from 10am to 2pm. Please see your emails for further information and have your beer ready to go.

The Salt City Brew Club annual competition is Friday, September 28th & Saturday, September 29th. Entry deadline is Friday, September 14th. For more information please see http://comp.saltcitybrew.org.

The Greater Toronto Area Brew Slam is Friday, November 9th through Sunday, November 11th. Entry deadline is Saturday, November 3rd. There is a stipend and accommodation allowance for judging if travel from out of the area. Please see https://www.gtabrews.ca/brew-slam/ for more info.

Our second annual Beer Advent is gearing up. Bring in a case of good homebrew or purchased beer and get back a case of 24 different beers. Please see Dan G. to sign up and for more info.

Buffalo Beer Week starts Friday, September 14th and runs through Sunday, September 23rd. Lots of things going on so please see http://www.buffalobeerweek.com/ for many more details.

A BJCP Mead exam will take place on January 19th, 2019 at 810 Meadworks in Medina. See Alex P.to sign up for the exam. Classes will be the first and second Wednesday in October and November at Lilly Belle Meads in Lancaster from 7pm to 9pm. Please contact Mark Z. to sign up for the classed.

The educational portion of the night consisted of learning about Mixed Fermentation presented by Ken D. with one homebrew and one commercial example. Ken gave a great presentation and gave some great tips on how to get into mixed fermentation as a homebrewer. Tom R. is presenting the style next month.

The September social is scheduled for Hamburg Brewing on Tuesday, September 11th from 7pm to 10pm.

With that, it was motioned to close business and drink beer.

Business Meeting Minutes July 24th, 2018

Hello Everyone,
We had a good turnout for our July meeting. 20 members attended and we voted in 1 new member.

The Erie County Fair is fast approaching and we need members to help staff a homebrew booth from August 8th through the 19th. Mark Z is kind enough to do all the heavy lifting and sets up the booth. You just need to show up and talk about homebrewing to people or you can do a brew in a bag demo. If you want to brew, please sign up at https://teamup.com/ksmn89oh8qs9gbfv6f so we don’t have time conflicts.

The Dude Hates Cancer is scheduled for Saturday, August 11th from 12pm to 3pm at Resurgence Brewing. The roster for brewing is full so please consider attending if you didn’t get to sign up to brew. More info is at http://buffalo.thedudehatescancer.com/.

The annual Brew’s Picnic will be Sunday, August 12th at Shelter #2 Sheridan Park from 12p to 5pm. We will be judging the beer from the Brew at the Bison and having a Can-Jam tournament. Please bring a dish to pass and enjoy the festivities.

A steinbier demo will be taking place on Sunday, August 19th at the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village. If you have never seen a steinbier made, it is a sight to behold. Rocks are heated in a fire and then place in the wort to boil it. It will give you an appreciation for your propane or electric burner.

A BJCP Mead exam will take place on January 19th, 2019 at 810 Meadworks in Medina. See Alex to sign up for the exam. Classes will be the first and second Wednesday in October and November at Lilly Belle Meads in Lancaster from 7pm to 9pm. Please contact Mark Z to sign up for the classed.

The educational portion of the night consisted of learning about Irish Red presented by Sean. Ken is presenting the style next month.

The August social is scheduled for Gene McCarthy’s/OFW on Wednesday, August 15th from 7pm to 10pm. Please note the different day of the week.

With that, it was motioned to close business and drink beer.

Business Meeting Minutes June 26th, 2018

Hello Everyone,

We had a good turnout for our June meeting. Almost 20 members attended. We also voted in 2 new members.

We recapped the social, Brew at the Bison, Beer Prom, Ohio State Fair competition, & German Sommerfest.

The Dude Hates Cancer is scheduled for Saturday, August 11th. The roster for brewing is full so please consider attending if you didn’t get to sign up to brew. Lasts year info is at http://buffalo.thedudehatescancer.com/.

The annual Brew’s Picnic will be Sunday, August 12th at Shelter #2 Sheridan Park from Noon to 5pm. We will be judging the beer from the Brew at the Bison and having a Can-Jam tournament. Please bring a dish to pass and enjoy the festivities.

A BJCP Mead exam will take place on January 19th, 2019 at 810 Meadworks in Medina. See Alex to sign up for the exam. Classes will be the first and second Wednesday in October and November at Lilly Belle Meads in Lancaster from 7pm to 9pm. Please contact Mark Z to sign up for the classed.

The educational portion of the night consisted of learning about Biere de Garde presented by Mark. A blond and an amber were presented for tasting. Thank you Mark. Sean is presenting next month with a style TBD.

The July social is scheduled for Murphy Brown’s on Tuesday, July 10th from 7pm to 10pm.

With that, it was motioned to close business and drink beer.

Business Meeting Minutes May 22nd, 2018

Hello Everyone,
We had a good turnout for our April meeting. Almost 20 members attended. We also voted in 1 new member. Welcome Mike.

We recapped the social and UNYHA. Congrats to Ken for First Place Best of Show and Tim for Third Place Best of Show.

The Ohio State Fair holds their annual competition Saturday, June 2nd. It is a good competition in a good beer city. See https://ohiostatefair.com/homebrew/ for further info.

Sunday, June 3rd is German Sommerfest at the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village. There will be various beer themed events including “BierStacheln” Caramelized Ale. See http://bnhv.org/german-sommerfest/ for more info.

Beer Prom is Saturday, June 9th from 7pm to Midnight and the Barrel Factory. A great venue with great beer and people. See here for tickets and info. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/buffalo-beer-prom-2018-tickets-44077941309?aff=efbeventtix

Another event coming up soon is the Brew at the Bison. Homebrewers bring their mobile brewing gear to Flying Bison, set up in the parking lot, and make beer. The date is set for Saturday, June 16th. There will be donuts and beermosas for breakfast along with a Shandy/Radler station for your beer mixing pleasure. Lunch is going to be pot luck so bring a favorite dish to share.

On Tuesday, June 19th from 5:30pm to 8:00pm the Rotaract Club of University at Buffalo will hold a fundraiser at the USS Little Rock. Food and beer are provided with the ticket price. See https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chartering-ceremony-for-the-rotaract-club-of-university-at-buffalo-tickets-45857294402?aff=efbeventtix for more info and tickets.

It is also time to get brewing as The Dude Hates Cancer is for Saturday, August 11th. Volunteer to bring and serve a beer or buy a ticket to taste all of the beers. Lasts year info is at http://buffalo.thedudehatescancer.com/. The roster for brewing is full so please consider attending if you didn’t get to sign up to brew.

The annual Brew’s Picnic will be Sunday, August 12th at Shelter #2 Sheridan Park from Noon to 5pm. We will be judging the beer from the Brew at the Bison and having a Can-Jam tournament. Please bring a dish to pass and enjoy the festivities.

A BJCP Mead exam will take place on January 19th, 2019 at 810 Meadworks in Medina. See Alex to sign up for the exam. More info about a preparatory class will be sent soon.

The educational portion of the night consisted of learning about Dark Mild and Special Bitter presented by Tim B including serving of his 3rd place BOS Dark Mild. Mark is presenting next month with a style TBD.

The June social is scheduled for Rusty Nickel on Tuesday, June 12th from 7pm to 10pm.

With that, it was motioned to close business and drink beer.

Business Meeting Minutes April 24th, 2018

Hello Everyone,

We had a great turnout for our April meeting. Almost 30 members attended with several potential new members. We also voted in 1 new member. Welcome Greg.

We recapped the social, AWOG, and Erie County Fair judging.

UNYHA has their homebrew competition on Saturday, May 12th at the Genesee Brewery Sensory Training Room. Some great people from UNYHA help us out with AWOG and it is nice when we give them a hand to either steward or judge. See www.unyha.com for further information and to sign up.

The Ohio State Fair holds their annual competition Saturday, June 2nd. It is a good competition in a good beer city. See https://ohiostatefair.com/homebrew/ for further info.

Another event coming up this summer is the Brew at the Bison. Homebrewers bring their mobile brewing gear to Flying Bison, set up in the parking lot, and make beer. The date is set for Saturday, June 16^th. Further details to follow.

It is also time to get brewing as The Dude Hates Cancer is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, August 11th. Volunteer to bring and serve a beer or buy a ticket to taste all of the beers. Lasts year info is at http://buffalo.thedudehatescancer.com/. More info to follow.

The educational portion of the night consisted of learning about Munich Helles and was presented by Alex. Alex gave a great presentation on a wonderful German style. We are looking for someone to do a style or a technical topic next month. Please let me know if you are interested.

The May social is scheduled for Pressure Drop Brewing on Thursday, May 10th from 7pm to 10pm. Please note that this is a change from our usual meeting night.

With that, it was motioned to close business and drink beer.

Business Meeting Minutes March 27th, 2018

Hello Everyone,

We had a great turnout for our March meeting. Almost 30 members attended with several potential new members. We also voted in 2 new members Dan C. & Andy H. Welcome to the club.

We recapped the social, Art of Beer, Beerology, and a maple brew at the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village.
Our Amber Waves of Grain (AWOG) homebrew competition is coming up with judging being held Friday, April 13th and Saturday, April 14th. This is an all hands on deck event so we will need everyone’s help, no matter how small, to make this run smoothly. We will need judges, stewards, and general helpers for the event. The judging is followed by a wonderful banquet in the evening. The website is up and running so please check it out and sign up to judge, steward, or otherwise volunteer. http://awog.niagarabrewers.org/. We have not met the minimum headcount for the banquet so please get your tickets by April 4th as that is the deadline.

The Erie County Fair Homebrew Competition drop off is at the Erie County Fair Main Office April 2nd through the 6th during regular business hours. Another option is at Flying Bison Brewery at 840 Seneca Street, Buffalo NY from 12-8pm on April 5th and 6th; Bring an empty growler with you and have it filled for ONLY $5. www.ecfair.org/p.aspx?pID=competitions/324&. Judging will take place Saturday, April 21st.

Another event coming up this summer is the Brew at the Bison. Homebrewers bring their mobile brewing gear to Flying Bison, set up in the parking lot, and make beer. The date is set for Saturday, June 16th. Further details to follow.

The educational portion of the night consisted of learning about Scottish and Strong Scotch Ales and was presented by Tom R. on short notice. Next month the style will be Muncih Helles.

The April social is scheduled for J.P. Fitzgerald’s on Tuesday, April 10th from 7pm to 10pm.

With that, it was motioned to close business and drink beer.

Business Meeting Minutes February 27^th, 2018

Hello Everyone,

We had a good turnout for our February meeting. Over 20 members attended.

We recapped the social and Taste of Buffalo homebrew competition judging that we had since the last business meeting.

Our Amber Waves of Grain (AWOG) homebrew competition is coming up with judging being held Friday, April 13th and Saturday, April 14th.  This is an all hands on deck event so we will need everyone’s help, no matter how small, to make this run smoothly. We will need judges, stewards, and general helpers for the event.  The judging is followed by a wonderful banquet in the evening.  The website is up and running so please check it out and sign up to judge, steward, or otherwise volunteer.  http://awog.niagarabrewers.org/

Two other events are coming up in March.  The first is Art of Beer on Friday, March 9th at the Niagara Arts & Culture center.  We staff a booth along with Niagara Tradition and teach people about homebrewing and how awesome it is. Keith has agreed to help organize the demo with Niagara Tradition. The other event is Beerology held on Saturday, March 24th at the Buffalo Science Museum.  Our club sets up in the kitchen and we run a homebrew demonstration along with sharing samples of homebrew.  Albe has tentatively agreed to head up organizing the demo.  Help will be needed to run the demo so come on out if you can.  It was also discussed about serving the beer that is being made.

Vince spoke about the Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine (not a Wee Heavy as stated last time) project.  We have homes for the 2 barrels we anticipate using.  Costs were discussed and it was decided to set the price at $10 per 5 gallon participant.  Participants must be current with their 2018 dues as NAH will cover some of the cost.  We have a place to store 2 barrels.  If another barrel is needed it will be announced later.

The educational portion of the night consisted of learning about Lambic and Geuze and was presented by Mark Z along with some great insight by Erv.  Next month the style will be Scotch Ales.

The March social location is scheduled for the Lafayette Taproom on Tuesday, March 13th from 7pm to 10pm.

With that, it was motioned to close business and drink beer.

Business Meeting Minutes January 23rd, 2018

Hello Everyone,

We had a good turnout for our January meeting.  About 20 members attended.

We recapped the several socials, the holiday party, & Santas of Swig fundraiser that we had since the last business meeting.

The Taste of Buffalo homebrew competition judging is quickly approaching.  Entries were due January 20th so if you do not have your entries in, you missed the deadline.  About 50 entries were submitted and judging will take place the morning of January 28th.

Several big events are coming up in the next several months.  The largest is our Amber Waves of Grain (AWOG) homebrew competition with judging being held Friday, April 13th and Saturday, April 14th.  This is an all hands on deck event so we will need everyone’s help, no matter how small, to make this run smoothly.  A head steward is still needed to help organize the stewards during the competition.  We will also need judges, stewards, and general helpers for the event.  The judging is followed by a wonderful banquet in the evening.  The website is up and running so please check it out.  http://awog.niagarabrewers.org/

Two other events are coming up in March.  The first is Art of Beer on Friday, March 9th at the Niagara Arts & Culture center.  We staff a booth along with Niagara Tradition and teach people about homebrewing and how awesome it is.  The other event is Beerology held on Saturday, March 24th at the Buffalo Science Museum.  Our club sets up in the kitchen and we run a homebrew demonstration along with sharing samples of homebrew.  Volunteers are needed to staff the demonstrations.  We also need a person to be the organizer of the volunteers and activities for each of these events. If you are interested in being the organizer for either of these events, please contact me at skroon@niagarabrews.org.

Vince P. floated an idea to do a group Bourbon barrel aged Barley Wine.  Members would make 5 gallons of Barley Wine and the beers would all be mixed into a Bourbon barrel for aging.  After a year or so, members who put beer in would get beer back.  The idea went over resoundingly well and we are moving forward with organizing the details of the event.  If you are a member, you should have seen emails going around about signing up.  As of today, we have 100+ gallons committed.  More information will follow on the details.

The educational portion of the night consisted of learning about Doppelbocks and how to make them by John C.  Tasting consisted of one commercial and one homebrew variety that were both excellent.  John has had great success with making Doppelbocks so the information was very informative.  Thank you John.  The February style is Lambic and will presented by Mark Z..

The February social location is scheduled for Crabapple’s on Tuesday, February 13th from 7pm to 10pm.  If you have never been, it is not something to be missed.

With that, it was motioned to close business and drink beer.

Business Meeting Minutes November 28th, 2017

Hello Everyone,

We had a super turnout for our November meeting.  About 25 members plus a couple of guest homebrewers.  We voted in one new member.  Welcome Mike N.

Old business discussion included an update of judging at the Toronto Beer Slam.  Our own Mark Z. judged meads with Gordon Strong.  The New York State Homebrewer of the Year was continued to be organized and the November social at Craft Beer and Wine Company was recapped.

The Taste of Buffalo homebrew competition is quickly approaching.  Entries may be dropped of from January 2nd until January 20th at Niagara Tradition and 12 Gates Brewing Company.  Judging will take place January 28th.  A limited lighter style range is being accepted.  Winner will brew the recipe at 12 Gates.

The 2017 holiday party will be a joint affair with the other area homebrew clubs.  The date is Monday, December 4th from 6:30pm to 9:30pm at Flying Bison.  Bring some homebrew and a dish to pass and get ready for a great night.  We will be having a bottle share so bring one of your great homebrews or commercial beer and get one back in return. The party if free for members and $5 for non-members.

The educational portion of the night consisted of learning about Black IPA and tasting 2 commercial and one homebrew variety presented by Tom.  The January style is TBD and will presented by John.

Most of the beer advent cases were distributed at the meeting.  Thank you very much Ken for organizing this.  If you are signed up, see the Facebook group for updates and discussion on the beers.

The Santas of Swig fundraiser for Matt Urban’s Center for Hope House Homeless Shelter for Women and Children (http://sultansofswig.wixsite.com/sultans/santasofswig) was held on Saturday, December 2nd at Buffalo Iron Works.  It looks like a good turnout was had.

The formal December Business Meeting is canceled.  We are looking at doing another social that week or some other activity.  We will keep you posted.

The December social location is tentatively scheduled for West Shore Brewing on Tuesday, December 12th from 7pm to 10pm.  They are not normally open Tuesdays but I am getting in contact with them to see if they can accommodate us.  I will let everyone know if the venue changes.

With that, it was motioned to close business and drink beer.