Upcoming JRHB Events

Saturday August 30^th

Dominion Cup Competition

Capital Ale House (downtown music hall)

Wednesday September 10^th

Regular Club Meeting at Legends

Oktoberfest Beers

AHA Club Only Competition - Imperial Anything

Saturday September 13^th

2008 ClusterBrew - Tentative

Weekend Brewer

Wednesday September 17^th

Board of Directors Meeting

Legends

Wednesday October 8^th

Regular Club Meeting at Legends

Saturday October 25^th

Hallowfest Party - Tentative

For updated information and the club forum visit

http://www.jrhb.org/

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15^th Annual Dominion Cup Competition

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August Meeting Recap

President Mike Lang called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. with approximately twenty three members and guests in attendance. First order of business was to turn off the stereo which was accomplished at 7:04 p.m. with the help of our trusty Legends bar keep. Mike thanked Tom Martin and the rest of Legends staff for their hospitality, and extended a big “thank you” to Mike Killelea for the guided tour of the Legend brewhouse during the August meeting. Guests joining the meeting, including Seth, were recognized and welcomed.

William Spiesberger gave an update on plans for the Dominion Cup Competition and solicited all members for help at the competition. Both the CASK and FBI clubs are gunning to take the cup from the JRHB this year, and William asked members to please enter their beers.

The CASK club will hold their second competition on November 15^th, which this year will be open to all 23 beer styles. William urged members to help as stewards and judges if asked, and to enter beers so the JRHB can take the best of show again this year.

The 5^th Annual Ted Warren Cluster Brew Competition is scheduled for September 13^th at the weekend brewer. William urged members to begin to think about forming teams. Beers brewed at the cluster brew are served and the best beer recognized at the annual club Christmas party in December. Mike Lang won last years honors with a Premium American Lager.

Mike Lang then treated the membership to several examples of five BJCP beer styles. The examples were presented blind and the membership was solicited for feedback as to whether the beer presented was a classic example of the style. The styles included German Pilsner (Jever Pils), Amber Hybrid – California Common (Anchor Steam, and a nice example brewed by Steve Severtson), Scottish Ale (McEwan’s Scotch Ale, Rohrbach Scotch Ale), Brown Porter (Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter), and India Pale Ale (Stone Ruination). The discussion was lively and frequently colorful. Thanks Mike for another interesting presentation.

To wrap up the meeting VP Robert Doucet held another fantastic club raffle. Ted Smith made off with the grand prize which was an imperial stout brewing ingredient kit from the Weekend Brewer and a new shiny false bottom. There still being some beer left to attend to, the meeting was adjourned.

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5^th Annual - Ted Warren Cluster Brew Competition

Saturday September 13^th, 2008 at the Week End Brewer.

Winning team will be determined at the December Club Christmas Party. The name of the winning team is added to the Cluster Brew Mash Paddle which hangs at the WeekEnd Brewer for all to see. Winning team has bragging rights for a full year.

If you don’t have a brew partner or all the equipment but want to join in let William and/or Bob know and we will get you on one of the teams.

What is the Cluster Brew?

It is a team home brew competition with all participants brewing at the same location at the same time. Each team must bring all the brewing equipment they require to complete their brew. The beer may be brewed using any method the brewers choose. (Extract, Partial Mash, All Grain). Each year the Competition Coordinator designates specific ingredients and recipe formulation rules for that year. The style of beer brewed from those ingredients is at the discretion of the brewers. The finished beers are judged at the December club holiday party and the winner is selected by popular vote.

2008 – 5^th Annual Ted Warren Cluster Brew Rules by decree of William Spiesberger, Competition Coordinator, Cluster Captain, and Grand Formulae Impotate.

1.0 - The team (which preferably consists of more than one brewer) needs to bring all the equipment needed for the mash, boil, and cooling.

1.1 - All ingredients must be purchased by the brewers from The WeekEnd Brewer. Filtered and tap water will be available on site. The club will reimburse brewers for ingredients purchased provided that the beer is dispensed for all to enjoy at the club holiday party (within reason – we are not going to spring for 3,000 year old grain imported from Egypt).

1.2 - Brewers may arrive at 8 AM but must be done by 5 PM.

1.3 - All teams/brewers must pre-register BEFORE brew day. Call Bob Henderson at the Weekend Brewer to register and order ingredients. 804-796-9760

2.0 - Hops: No restrictions, if you can get it from Bob you can use it.

2.01 – Hop bitterness may not exceed 60 IBUs

3.0 - Grain/Extract: No restrictions

4.0 - Starting Gravity of the beer can NOT exceed 1.060 S.G.

5.0 - Yeast: No restrictions.

6.0 - All beers must violate the German Purity Law of 1516 otherwise known as the Reinheitsgebot.

6.01 - To comply with section 6.0 brewers must include at least one ingredient in the finished beer in addition to any or all the following (i.e. these don’t count as violations): barley malt, wheat malt, malt extracts, flaked wheat, flaked barley, hops, water, yeast, and conditioning adjuncts such as brewing salts, or irish moss.

6.02 – To comply with section 6.0 ingredients such as, but not limited to, grains, spices, herbs, sugars, and fruits are all acceptable. For the purpose of this section only, ingredients The WeekEnd Brewer does not normally stock are excepted, and may be brought by the brewer (yep…..if you are doing an Mexican lager clone and need to put creamed corn in there bring your own).

6.03– To comply with section 6.0, brewers must openly declare what ingredient(s) will be used that are in direct violation and cause infraction of said Purity Law, and to revel in their ingenuity and resourcefulness in using said ingredient.

May the best brew team win !!

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Heads of 5 Va. colleges support drinking-age study

Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008

By KARIN KAPSIDELIS

TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

The presidents of five private Virginia colleges have joined a national initiative calling on lawmakers to study whether the drinking age should be lowered as a way to combat binge drinking.

The presidents of Hollins and Washington and Lee universities, and Randolph-Macon, Hampden-Sydney and Sweet Briar colleges are supporting the Amethyst Initiative, which seeks to reopen debate on the national drinking age.

They're among about 100 presidents from such schools as Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State who have signed a statement in support of "an informed and dispassionate public debate" over whether the drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18.

"Certainly we should talk about it, at a minimum," Walter Bortz, president of Hampden-Sydney College, said yesterday.

Bortz said he's not yet ready to say whether the drinking age should be lowered to 18. But he said he thinks it would be safer for drinking to "happen in a more confined arena, with more adults around."

The founder of the Amethyst Initiative, John McCardell, brought his campaign to Virginia Commonwealth University last fall, telling students and staff that the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act is "bad social policy and terrible law" that has led to an epidemic of binge drinking on college campuses.

That law imposes a penalty of 10 percent of federal highway appropriations on any state with a drinking age lower than 21.

McCardell, president emeritus of Middlebury College in Vermont, says the law forces young people to drink to excess in secret.

"He presents some compelling questions," said Dawn Watkins, vice president for student affairs at Washington and Lee University, whose president, Kenneth Ruscio, signed the initiative.

But Watkins said the issue has two sides, and groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving -- which has launched a counteroffensive against the move -- should be "part of the discussion."

Randolph-Macon President Robert Lindgren signed the statement last month "to raise awareness, re-examine this issue and open it up for a serious, informed and responsible public debate," spokeswoman Anne Marie Lauranzon said.

The initiative's name, Amethyst, is derived from ancient Greek words meaning "not" (a-) and "intoxicated" (methustos). The purple gemstone was considered an antidote to the negative effects of intoxication, according to the group's Web site, www.amethystinitiative.org.

Other schools that have signed the initiative include Syracuse, Tufts, Colgate, Morehouse and the University of Maryland.

The schools are facing sharp criticism from MADD, which says lowering the drinking age would lead to more fatal car crashes. MADD accuses the presidents of looking for an easy way out of an inconvenient problem and urges parents to think carefully about the safety of colleges whose presidents have signed on.

"It's very clear the 21-year-old drinking age will not be enforced at those campuses," said Laura Dean-Mooney, national president of MADD.

Christopher J. Murphy, chairman of Governors Highway Safety Association, also criticized the initiative.

Murphy said the group strongly supports the current drinking age, and "we are dismayed that some college and university presidents have signed onto an initiative aimed at repealing this life-saving law. . . . Underage drinking remains a serious problem that needs to be addressed, but lowering the drinking age would be a gigantic step backward for highway safety."

Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or kkapsidelis@timesdispatch.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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AHA – Club Only Competition

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 then sent off to be judged with the winners from other homebrew clubs from around the country. Bring in five bottles – two for the local competition and three to send off if you win. Note that all competitions will use the 2008 BJCP Guidelines.

As the entry dates are set for national events, we will include the date that our local competition will be held in the Upcoming JRHB Events listing. Beers winning national competitions help earn Homebrew Club of the Year points for the JRHB.

http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/schedule.html

2008 -2009 Competition Schedule:

September/October 2008 Imperial Anything

Clinton River Association of Fermenting Trendsetters (C.R.A.F.T.) of Macomb Township, MI

Entries are due 10/11/08

November/December 2008

Celebration of the Hop (IPA)

Scioto Olentangy and Darby Zymurgists (SODZ) club of Delaware, OH

This competition covers BJCP Category 14 styles.

Entries are due TBD

January/February 2009

Belgian & French Ales

Silverado Homebrew Club of St. Charles, IL

This competition covers BJCP Category 16 styles.

Entries are due TBD

March/April 2009

Beers with OG > 1.080

Prairie Homebrewing Companions of Fargo, ND

This competition covers the following beer styles 5C, 5D, 9E, 12C, 13F, 14C, 15C, 16C, 16D, 16E, 18C, 18D, 18E , 20 Fruit Beer over 1.080 OG,

21 Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer over 1.080 OG,

22B Other Smoked Beer over 1.080 OG, 22C Wood-Aged Beer over 1.080 OG, 23 Specialty Beer over 1.080 OG

May 2009

Extract Beers

Knights of the Brown Bottle club of Arlington, TX

Competition covers all BJCP beer categories (1-23)

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BJCP – Beer Style of the Month

Note: The 2008 BJCP Guidelines are available for download at

http://www.bjcp.org/stylecenter.html

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Beer Recipe of the Month

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Our Compliments to….

The WeekEnd Brewer

Homebrew & Wine Supplies

4205 West Hundred Road

Chester, VA 23831

(804) 796-9760

http://www.weekendbrewer.com/

River City Cellars

Beer, Wine and Gourmet Foods

2931 West Cary Street

Richmond, VA 23221

(804) 355-1375

www.rivercitycellars.com

(10% Discount for JRHB Members with JRHB Membership Card Only)

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