December Meeting (Dec 2nd)

Our December meeting had to be moved up a week due to a conflict at Wallaby's.  The new date for the meeting will be December 2nd starting at 7:00 pm.  We will be judging Big beers, and then hold a raffle afterwards to raise money for the club.  There are all kinds of things to be raffled off including the following items:

 

- Five $10 gift certificates to Beer Crazy in Urbandale, IA

- Gift Certificates to Olde Main Brewing

- A couple sacks of grain from Court Ave Brewing Company

- Stickers and t-shirts from Austin Homebrew

- Merchandise from Midwest Supplies

- Mugs, t-shirts, stickers, yeast coupons from White Labs

- Yeast from Wyeast

- Items from Danstar

- Items from MoreBeer

 

If you've got any brewing equipment laying around that you'd like to donate, it would be greatly appreciated.  The more items we have to raffle off, the more money we can make for the club.  We'd like for everyone to walk away with a prize of some sort after the raffle is done.  I hope to see you all on December 2nd.

 

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2008 ABL Mead Day

The 2008 ABL mead day was a great time this year.  We had Curt Stock come down from Minnesota to give a mead demonstration, and he was generous enough to bring a LARGE sampling of different meads he and his wife have made over the years.  In case you haven't heard of them, Curt and Kathy Stock are very well known meadmakers and have won several competitions including being awarded meadmaker(s) of the year in 2005.  It was definitely an honor to have Curt come down and give our club members some pointers about meadmaking.  Below, you can download a couple articles that Curt has used while giving mead presentations that do a great job at explaining his process as well as several different kinds of honey he has used.

 

BYO Melomel Article

 

Mead Day Talk 2006

 

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2008 Iowa State Fair Results

 

The results are in!  Several of our members did very well in this competition, so congratulations to all who entered.  The results are posted under the Files section, or you can access the results from the link below:

 

2008 Iowa State Fair Results

 

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ABL to Hold Second Monthly Meeting at Olde Main

* Starting February 26th *

 

As was discussed in the February meeting, the ABL will start holding a second monthly meeting at the Olde Main Brew Pub on the 4th Tuesday of the month.  The meetings will start at 7:00 PM just as the current ones and go until whenever.  The exact location of the meetings will be on the upper level of Olde Main on the restaurant side.  If you can't find it, ask one of the hosts/hostesses or bartenders.

 

During this meeting, the club will try to invite a guest speaker to discuss topics relevant to beer and beer brewing (for a list of past speakers, check out the bottom of the Information Page).  After the speaker is finished giving his or her presentation, we will open the meeting to general discussion including recipe formulation, brewing gadgets, or anything else members wish to talk about.  Bringing samples of homebrew is encouraged, as a large portion of this meeting will consist of sampling members' homebrew and giving feedback.  We may also use these meetings to visit or tour breweries in the surrounding areas, so be sure to check the website and Yahoo! Group before heading to Olde Main.

 

The first of these new meetings will be February 26th, and we hope to have Puff from Olde Main as our first guest speaker.

 

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Lift the Limit Bill Started

 

Like most beer loving people living in Iowa, I'm sick of the 6% limit that's put on craft and commercial brewers.  The Iowa Brewers Union (IBU) has been working with local representatives to get this legislation changed so our brewers will have more freedom with the beers that they brew.  For more information related to this movement, check out the IBU Website and be sure to contact your local representatives to let them know your feelings on this important issue.  The more people who email and call them, the better the chances of this bill getting passed.

 

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7^th Annual Upper Mississippi Mash-Out

We hope members of the Ames Brewers League will visit the Mash-Out Web page http://www.mnbrewers.com/mashout for details on one of the top homebrew contests in the country.  The Mash-Out offers fabulous prizes for every winner and hand-made wooden chalices for best-of-show winners in beer, mead and cider categories.  This AHA/BJCP-sanctioned contest is organized by the St. Paul Homebrewers Club and the Minnesota Home Brewer’s Association. 

The Mash-Out is the opening event in the High Plains Brewer of the Year Award 2008, the Midwest Brewer of the Year Award 2008 and the MCAB 2009.

Key Dates:

Jan. 1-12, entries accepted

Jan. 25-26, judging at the Klub Haus in St. Paul

Jan. 26, “Why Don't We Brew It In The Robe?” - BELGIUM!  themed beer banquet and awards ceremony

Judge!

Outsiders are very welcome.  Judges and volunteers are pampered with an in-door “Pub Crawl,” a Brewpub Brewers Forum, commemorative pint glasses and the opportunity to pre-order growlers from Minnesota brewpubs. We also have Guest Speaker: Stan Hieronymous, author of "Brew Like A Monk".  It’s a lot of fun, and you can sign up now.

Banquet in Belgium

Chef Manfred Krug is going wild with a Belgian-themed menu this year.  “Why Don't We Brew It In The Robe?” at the Belgian banquet on Jan. 26.  The cost is $30.  The complete menu will be posted in the near future.

Special Events

Back by popular demand:  the Eis-Anything category.  Put the cold weather to practical use by doing ice versions of your beer, mead or cider creations.  Multiple entries allowed.  New this year are TWO New Entrant categories – 1060+ and 1060- gravities.  If you haven’t entered a beer contest before, this one is for you. 

Everyone is sure to have a NICE time at the Mash-Out 2008.  We hope to see you there!