The BrewsLeader May 2004 Vol. 21 No. 5 Another Dominion Cup Smash Hit! Steve Davis from Williamsburg took Best of Show honors at the 2004 Dominion Cup with his North German Pils Decoct This. The James River Homebrewers made a good showing, with Mike Buddle taking second place with his Saison Saison le Buddle, and Tedd Smith coming in third with his Blonde Ale Southern Blonde. Overall, we judged 105 beers – a Dominion Cup record. Hats off to Stasi York, Steve Severtson, and the rest of the Competition Committee for pulling off another great show! Click here to see the winners! Many, Many Thanks to Dominion Cup Sponsors This year’s Dominion Cup competition was a smash success thanks in part to the support of many individuals and organizations outside the James River Homebrewers who contributed in various ways to our endeavors. First of all let’s thank the many BJCP-certified beer judges and all the out-of-town stewards who traveled to Richmond to help us out. Of course we are perennially grateful to Legend Brewery for hosting the shindig and treating us all so well. When you run out of homebrew, drink a few pints of Legend! We awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in 15 categories and first and second in the Best of Show round. Thanks to those generous folks who contributed prizes, we had lots of goodies to hand out to our winners. We need to offer very special thanks to The Weekend Brewer for not only providing a very generous pile of goodies of their own, but also for soliciting and receiving prizes from distributors and wholesalers, including bighearted contributions from White Labs, L. D. Carlson, and Crosby and Baker. Thanks, too for contributions from The American Homebrewers Association, and from the publishers of Brew Your Own: The How to Homebrew Magazine. Not all the prizes came from afar. Once again this year we were very generously supported by a number of local merchants. Please remember their kindnesses when you are making choices about where to shop or dine! Besides The Weekend Brewer our winners will enjoy using gift certificates from River City Cellars in Carytown, where a really fine selection of beers and wine accompanies the best cheese counter in town. Several lucky winners will be enjoying prize meals at Mekong Restaurant where really superb Southeast Asian cuisine can be washed down by selections from the best Belgian Beer selection in the city. And some lucky winner got a big prize offered by The Compleat Gourmet, the oldest and only source of homebrewing supplies in the city of Richmond! Other contributors who deserve our thanks and our patronage include Potter’s Pub, a great watering hole (with Guiness, Bass and Newcastle Brown on tap) at 7007 Three Chopt Rd. And while you’re in the West End, pick up some take home from Wine and Beer Westpark at 9631 W. Broad or at Korks and Kegs at Three Chopt and Patterson. If you’re on the other side of the River show our club’s gratitude and have a great barbeque dinner at Extra Billy’s Smokehouse and Brewery on Alverser Drive. If you’re headed downtown, then by all means please support our supporters by enjoying some good times, good food and good brew at Capital Ale House and Richbrau Brewery. Remember, the prizes wouldn’t be so worth winning if it weren’t for liberal donations from the industry and from local fine cuisine and beverage businesses. Let them know we appreciate their patronage. Dan Mouer Vice President & Prize Posse Sheriff ***************************** UPCOMING EVENTS May 12 Club Meeting - How to Keg Beer May 19 Board Meeting May 22 Club Brew @ Ted Warren’s Jun 6 Brew at Richbrau Jun 9 Club Meeting - Summer Coolers Jun 12 BURP’s SoFB Jun 26 Club Brew @ Tedd Smith’s Jul 14 Club Meeting Jul 21 Board Meeting Aug 11 Club Meeting - AHA Club Only Wheat Beer (Cat. 17) Aug 14 Summer Party @ Dan Mouer’s Aug 20 – 22 BURP Mashout Sep 8 Club Meeting Sep 15 Board Meeting Sep 18 Club Brew @ WeekEnd Brewer Sep 25 River City Beer & Seafood Festival Oct 13 Club Meeting Oct 30 Hallo-Fest Party @ Stasi & Jeff York’s Nov 10 Club Meeting - AHA Club Only IPA (Cat. 7) Nov 13 AHA Club Only IPA Nationals Nov 17 Board Meeting Dec 8 Club Meeting - Election of Officers Dec ? Holiday Party ***************************** April Meeting President Tedd Smith welcomed members and guests, and thanked Tom Martin and the rest of the Legend staff for their gracious hospitality. Feature: Prof. Bob Henderson held a session of his class, Brewing 101. Bob discussed the basics of our hobby, pointing out that the every brewer’s goal should be to “brew for flavor.” Thanks again, Bob, for enhancing our knowledge. Competition: Mike Buddle’s 80/ Scottish won the extract competition. Mikes brew will go off to compete with other club winners. Good luck, Mike! Raffle: Another great one! Prizes included cool glasses, coasters, posters, a mini keg, Paulaner t-shirt, hops, beer, and Dan’s wine. Tedd Smith won the Mystery Prize – a cool glass and gift certificate to the WeekEnd Brewer. 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 ***************************** Club to Brew at Richbrau Mike Banks, Head Brewer at Richbrau, has offered the Club the opportunity to brew a batch of beer at their facility. The date set for the brew session is Sunday, June 6. We’ll be brewing a beer based on Steve Severtson’s award-winning Pre-Prohibition Pils. We will discuss details at the May meeting. Thanks, Mike, for providing this great opportunity. ***************************** 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. Blank surveys were included in the March 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. If you need another copy of the survey, see Jeff, or go the Club’s website. ***************************** Competition 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 2004 SoFB competition is set for June 12. 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. Details are available on their web site – www.burp.org. 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: > 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. ***************************** Message from Your Secretary Please be sure to keep your personal information up to date. I send paper copies of the BrewsLeader to all members. I also send an email copy to those with e-mail addresses. I also use email to remind members of other activities – Club brews, parties, etc. If you are reading the paper copy of this, but have not received any e-mail from the Club, I don’t have a current email address for you – please forward it to me at xxx@xxx.xxx. Brew On! Jeff ***************************** Elections We're looking for a few good men…and women! In the fall, we elect Officers and Directors for terms beginning January 1, 2005. The offices of Vice President, Secretary, and Member at Large will begin two-year terms; the Assistant Competition Coordinator and all six director positions will begin one-year terms. The current Board of Directors will nominate a slate of candidates at the November meeting. (With Board approval, the current Assistant Competition Coordinator will assume the position of Competition Coordinator.) The elections will take place during the December meeting. (Additional nominations may be made at that time.) If you’re interested in serving the Club, let any Officer or Director know. Following are the duties of the positions, as set forth in the Club’s By-Laws: > Vice President: The Vice President shall assist the President as needed and perform the duties of the President in his/her absence, and solicit items for and conduct the monthly raffle. > Secretary: The Secretary shall record the minutes of regular Club and Board meetings, edit and publish the Club newsletter and maintain the Club’s active member list. > Competition Coordinator: The Competition Coordinator shall be in charge of all beer competitions held by the Club, including those open to Club members only and those open to the homebrewing public. > Assistant Competition Coordinator: The Assistant Competition Coordinator shall assist the Competition Coordinator. > Member at Large: The Member at Large shall maintain Club history and memorabilia and take charge of special projects as approved by the Board. ***************************** 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 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!