August notes are coming soon. In the meantime, here’s July! In other news, hope to see you Thursday evening 8/16 at Original Gravity Public House at 66 S. 1st Street in San Jose for Sudzers Thirsty Third Thursday. Email moresimcoe@sudzers.org for details.
But now, on to the meeting notes…
The style of the month was IPA, so we had a full house with 34 brewers and beer enthusiasts!
Derek, Keith and Steve updated the group on NHC and what fun and education was had by all. Derek brought one of the commemorative conference beers to share with the group… Wry Smile Rye IPA.
We also hosted a brew day July 14 during More Beer’s twice yearly sale. Derek brewed up an extract Citra wheat pale ale, Keith and Steve made a red velvet cake ale (which Steve made up a special recipe red velvet cake to be used in the mash), and Doug and his crew brewed up “Supernatural Anesthetist” – based on Three Floyd’s Zombie Dust, a Citra-hopped Imperial Pale Ale. We also had fun serving up many brews for our members and tons of great food thanks to Chris. Talked to lots of people, so we’ll see if we have some new guests in August!
Harry’s Hofbrau saw a handful of Sudzers on July 19 for Third Thirsty Thursday – great beers still on tap. Facebook claims Pliny is back on tap.
Derek asked the group for ideas for presentations at upcoming meetings. Ideas ranged from brewing with different grains, exploring hrms, water profiles, adjuncts, beer and food pairing and other technical discussions. If you have anythink you’d like to present or talk about, email moresimcoe@sudzers.org.
Work is progressing on the Sudzers.org website. If you’ve got something to contribute, email Keith and he’ll set you up with a password. Also, if you’re on facebook, be sure to like the Silicon Valley Sudzers page https://www.facebook.com/sudzers for up to the minute information on events!
We used a new rating scale for homebrew tasting. After tasting and discussing the beer, the group then gives their personal opinion on whether they’d a) dump the beer, b) buy a taster, c) buy a pint, d) buy a pitcher, or e) buy a keg! This helped everyone give and get feedback, whether you’re a beer appreciator or experienced judge and kept the meeting moving along. We spent about 90 minutes reviewing the 12 homebrews brought to the meeting. The brewers, both old a new, received some great feedback!
See the bottom of the photo below for fancy illustrations of the rating system. Congrats to Linda for the most “I’d buy a Keg” ratings for her IPA! The two beer names obscured by the flash are Linda’s Hoppy IPA and Antwerp Afternoon, a first homebrew (Saison) from our first-time guest Fuad!
Most important news next…we have a date for the Sudzers Summer Party! Save the date for Saturday, August 18. The Sudzers summer party is a family-oriented event, held at the “fun house” across the street from Nick’s. Thanks to Jim for allowing us the use of his truly fun house! For those of you who haven’t been there, there’s a pool, pool tables, pinball machines etc. Stay tuned for more details, but block off the afternoon of August 18th now!
Lastly, NCHF (Northern California Homebrewers’ Festival) is coming up September 21 and 22. If you didn’t get your tickets but have a beer you’d like us to serve, let me know and I’ll see if we a)have room to transport it and b) have room to serve it! If you’ve got your tickets or are on wait list, we’ll be creating a separate email list soon to start hammering out all the details! Only 8 weeks from today until the event!
