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.

Hello Everyone,

• We had a great turnout for our October meeting. About 20 members plus a couple of interested future members.
• Old business discussion included recapping Buffalo Beer week activities and review of the Brewed & Bottled social.
• The educational portion of the night consisted of learning about Dunkel Weissbier and tasting 2 commercial and one homebrew variety. Next month the style will be Black IPA presented by Tom.
• The November social location is Craft Beer and Wine in Orchard Park on Tuesday, November 14th from 7pm to 10pm. Hope to see you there.
• Upcoming BJCP competitions include Son of Brewzilla on Saturday, October 28th held at Fat Head’s in the Cleveland area (http://beersnobs.org/cbwcomp/) and Toronto Beer Slam on November 10th through 12th held at Amsterdam Brewery in Toronto(https://www.gtabrews.ca/brew-slam/).
• The beer advent still has spots open so contact Ken D if you are interested. Submit a case of homebrew or good commercial beer and get back 24 different beers to drink starting on December 1st.
• An event to take note of is a Swaen malt tasting and learn to brew demo at Niagara Tradition this Saturday, November 4th. If you brewed with some of the Swaen malt that was provided, stop on by and bring some of the beer to taste. They are also running a Beginning Homebrewing class from 11am to 1pm (http://www.nthomebrew.com/class-beginning-homebrewing/). See the link for more details.
• The 2017 holiday party will be a joint affair with the other area homebrew clubs. The date is Monday, December 4th at Flying Bison with the start time TBD. Bring some beer 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 last item of note is 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). Donate and serve a beer to help raise funds for a great cause, or buy a ticket for $20 and get to sample numerous homebrews. The winning homebrewer will brew their beer at Pearl Street or Pan-American Grill.
• With that, it was motioned to close business and drink beer.

• We had a great turnout for our September meeting.  Over 20 members plus a couple of guests.  We welcomed in one new member and had some first-time attendees.
• Business discussion included Buffalo Beer Week activities, review of the Gordon Biersch September social, the BJCP tasting exam Saturday, October 7th (there is still space to sign up), supporting a Taste of Buffalo homebrew competition, and dues payments by members.
• The October social location is Brewed and Bottled in Lewiston on Tuesday, October 10th.  Hope to see you there.
• An event to take note of is a homebrew exchange from noon until 3pm at Niagara Tradition this Saturday, September 30th.  Bring some homebrew to share and exchange with fellow homebrewers.
• One of the meeting highlights was a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine vertical tasting consisting of beers from 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 20012, & 2017 painstakingly assemble by Keith Curtachio.  Thank you Keith for sharing and presenting.  Next month the tasting style will be Schwarzbier.
• Another highlight was the off flavor tasting in preparation for the BJCP exam.  Thank you Tim Belczak for preparing some delicious off flavors.
• The final piece of business was the election of our next vice president.  Ken DeMarree and Tom Piwtorak were both gracious enough to throw their hat in the ring.  After all the votes were counted, Ken DeMarree is now our new Vice President.  With the election completed, Marcus Palmisano has completed his term as President.  Thank you Marcus for your time and efforts as President.  Scott Kroon has now taken over as President after serving as Vice President for the last year.