The BrewsLeader February 2004 Vol. 21 No. 2 Brews Cruise Tedd Smith has set up what promises to be another grand adventure. March 6 is the date. Following is the itinerary: * 9:00 AM - Depart Richmond – James River Bus Lines Terminal, 915 N Allen Ave (North of Broad St) * 11:30 AM - Arrive Old Dominion, Ashburn, VA for Tour, Lunch and Beer * 1:30 PM - Depart Old Dominion * 3:00 PM - Arrive Starr Hill, Charlottesville, for Tour and Beer * 5:30 PM - Travel to South Street, also Charlottesville, for Dinner and Beer * 7:30 PM - Depart for Richmond * 9:00 PM - Arrive Richmond $30 per person buys the bus, continental breakfast, and a fine selection of craft brews on the bus. You pay for your own meals and beers at the breweries. Your payment is your reservation. More details to follow. ***************************** Club Survey We are conducting a survey of the membership to get a better handle on who we are and how we can make the James River Homebrewers an even better organization. Please complete the survey on page 3 of this issue of the BrewsLeader. If more than one member of a household is a member of the Club, each member should complete a survey. Please return surveys to Jeff Hewit, or mail them to Club’s PO Box. UPCOMING EVENTS Feb 11 Club Meeting - How to Judge Beer Mar 6 Brews Cruise Mar 10 Club Meeting - Club Competition - AHA Club Only - Mead (Category 25) Mar 27 St Patrick's Day Party - George Hatchell’s Mar 17 Board Meeting Apr 14 Club Meeting - Brewing 101 - Brewing for Novices & Intermediate Brewers AHA Club Only - Extract (Any style - at least 50% of fermentables must be from extract) Apr 17 Dominion Cup May 12 Club Meeting - How to Keg Beer May 19 Board Meeting May ?? Club Brew Jun 9 Club Meeting - Summer Coolers Jun 26 Club Brew Jul 14 Club Meeting Jul 21 Board Meeting Aug 11 Club Meeting - AHA Club Only - Wheat Beer (Cat. 17) Aug?? Summer Party ***************************** December Meeting Jack Jackson passed the reins of power to our new President Tedd Smith. (Thank you, Jack, for your leadership and wisdom. During your reign, we have experienced the most significant growth in membership in the Club’s history. Tedd, you have a hard act to follow but there’ll be no rain on your parade.) Tedd welcomed members and guests to his first meeting as President, and thanked Tom Martin and the rest of the Legend staff for their gracious hospitality. Feature: Steve Severtson discussed brewing beer for competition. He stressed the importance of brewing what you like, making sure to use good ingredients – like those available at the WeekEnd Brewer. Steve also pointed out that brewers need to pay attention to the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Guidelines when entering beers in competitions. Thanks, Steve, for sharing your wisdom with us all. Brews Cruise: Tedd discussed tentative plans for the Club's upcoming Annual Brews Cruise. St. Patrick’s Day Party: George Hatchell will host this year’s gala on March 27. (More details next month) Raffle: Woody Elliot filled in for Dan Mouer, and ran really great one, raising $??. Prizes included Dan’s wine, cool glasses, coasters, and posters. Steve Severtson won Mystery Prize # 1- big blue tub and Mike Hinkle won Mystery Prize # 2 - a gift certificate. Again, special thanks to Specialty Beverage for providing us with a large supply of really cool glasses for our raffle. T-Shirts and Glasses: We still have some available. The T's are $15 (new style) and $10 (old style). Old-style glasses are $2.50, with a special deal for Club members only - two for $5.00. New-style glasses, with a fancy etched logo - are one for $4.00, two for $7.00, and three for $10.00 Competition: Stasi York pointed out the upcoming competitions, and urges all members to GET BREWING! Legend Anniversary Party: This grand event will be Sunday, February 22. Denise Pierce is coordinating volunteers from the Club to help out serving beer, and we get to keep the tips. It’s a great time. If you can help out, be sure to let Denis know. American Homebrewers Ass’n News: Bob Henderson pointed out that the AHA is running a renewal special – check in with Bob at the WeekEnd Brewer. ***************************** From the President Thanks to all of our members for a memorable first meeting. I am looking forward to lots of great times and great beers over the next two years. I am especially proud of your Board of Directors and Officers. These folks put in a lot of time to make this club work, and they deserve your thanks and support. We have a very busy calendar of events coming up. Lots of competitions, lots of beer-themed events. So, everyone GET BREWIN'!! Tedd ***************************** Board Meeting The Club’s Board of Directors met January 21. Discussion included plans for upcoming events and competitions. The Board adopted an inclement weather policy as follows: If the Richmond city Schools are closed due to inclement weather on the day of a regularly scheduled Club meeting, the meeting will be cancelled, and re-scheduled for the following Wednesday – this will be confirmed by e-mail. Competition The 2004 Competition Season is upon us! If you don't have anything in the works, get going! Club Competition: Our Annual Club Competition will take place during the regular March meeting. (Actually, this is the March meeting.) This competition is open to Club Members only. We will be using standard AHA/BJCP guidelines. Be sure to enter your beers. Even if you don't have a winner, you'll receive some valuable feedback. All members, including those without beer to enter, should attend and participate in the judging. (Tough work, but somebody has to do it.) The only limitation is that you cannot judge in a category that you've entered. This is a major Club event, and always a good time! Dominion Cup: We will hold our annual open homebrew competition on Saturday, April 17 at the Legend. This is another major Club event - the only competition we hold that is open to homebrewers worldwide. (Past entries have come from as far away as 5000 miles - and that's the truth!) We will need judges and stewards - more on that later. If you've never judged before, try being a steward. It's a great learning experience, and you get to taste the beer, too. If you've stewarded, then maybe it's time to step up to the judge level. BURP's Spirit of Free Beer: The Brewers United for Real Potables (BURP), based in the Washington, DC area, is the largest AHA homebrew club, with 300+ members. Their SoFB competition is usually held during May (the exact date is not posted on their website - when we find out the date, it'll be included in Upcoming Events). This is a great competition, a bit larger than our Dominion Cup. They have been great supporters of us - a number of BURP members have traveled to Richmond to judge in the Dominion Cup. If you have a few spare bottles, think about sending some up to this competition. National Homebrew Competition: The deadline for first round entries is April 16. Details, including entry forms, are available at www.beertown.org/events/nhc ***************************** AHA Club-Only Competitions From time to time, the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) sponsors competitions based on a particular style. These competitions are open only to AHA-affiliated homebrew clubs. Each club holds a competition on the particular style. The winner’s brew is sent off to the AHA to be judged with the winners from other homebrew clubs around the country. Bring in five bottles – two for the local competition and three to send off if you win. Competition schedule: > Mar - Mead (Cat 25) > Apr - Extract Brews - Any style - at least 50% of fermentables must be from extract > Aug - Wheat Beer (Cat. 17 ) > Sep - Smoked Beer (Cat. 23) > Nov - IPA (Cat. 7) - Hosted by James River Homebrewers When the entry dates are set, we will include the competitions in the Upcoming Events listing. Winners earn Homebrew Club of the Year points for their club. ***************************** River City Cellars Beer, Wine and Gourmet Foods 2931 West Cary Street Richmond, VA 23221 (804) 355-1375 www.rivercitycellars.com 10% Discount to Members of James River Homebrewers ***************************** The WeekEnd Brewer Homebrew & Wine Supplies 4205 West Hundred Road Chester, VA 23831 (804) 796-9760 www.weekendbrewer.com James River Homebrewers Member Survey The BrewsLeader is the official publication of James River Homebrewers PO Box 486 Richmond, Virginia 23218-0486 Monthly Meetings All meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at The Legend Brewery, 321 West 7th Street, Richmond, Virginia. Homebrew tasting at 6:30, meeting at 7:00. We are grateful to Tom Martin and the rest of the Legend staff for their gracious hospitality. Officers and Board of Directors President: Tedd Smith xxx-xxxx Vice President: Dan Mouer xxx-xxxx Treasurer: Bobby Yenney xxx-xxxx Secretary: Jeff Hewit xxx-xxxx Member @ Large: Denise Pierce xxx-xxxx Competition Coordinator: Stasi York xxx-xxxx Asst. Competition Coordinator: Steve Severtson xxx-xxxx Web Master: Ronnie Anderson xxx-xxxx Directors Woody Elliot xxx-xxxx Jack Jackson xxx-xxxx Steve Jarrett xxx-xxxx Joel Trojnar xxx-xxxx Ted Warren xxx-xxxx Jeff York xxx-xxxx Web Site www.jrhomebrewers.org Submit Articles Articles or other items of interest from the membership are welcome and should be submitted to the Secretary. Email to xxx@xxx.xxx Dues The date after your name on the address label is the due date for your dues renewal. To renew your membership, just bring your dues - only $20 - to the next meeting, and give them to the Treasurer (or another officer if he isn’t there). If you wish, you may mail your dues to the Club at PO Box 486, Richmond, VA 23218-0486 Inclement Weather Policy If the Richmond city Schools are closed due to inclement weather on the day of a regularly scheduled Club meeting, the meeting will be cancelled, and re-scheduled for the following Wednesday – this will be confirmed by e-mail. Remember Drink Responsibly - Don’t Drink and Drive! Members and guests at James River Homebrewers meetings and events are individually and solely liable for any and all actions attendant to or resulting from their participation. James River Homebrewers PO Box 486 Richmond, VA 23218-0486 Don't take it too seriously, it's only beer! The More We Brew, The Better We Drink