Our February off-month meeting was at Gunwhale and we had a blind taste to send a beer to the Melvin competiton. Greg Hinton's Double English won our blind taste, but unfortunately did not win the competition.
The following clubs won:
- Urban Knaves of Grain in Illinois
- East bay Homebrew Club in Rhode Island
- Morris Area Society of Homebrewers in NJ
- Aurora City Brew Club in Colorado
- Coachella Valley Homebrew Club
Dates of the fest are May 3-4, 2019 (Fri-Sat). This is a fantastic event and is always bragged about being one of the best events you can attend every year. If you are looking to go and don't have a space, just post on the forums because usually someone will have some extra room.
The style for the Bragging Rights Only Competition at SCHF is Wee Heavy. If you have one, bring it to our April off-month meeting and we will choose a beer to represent our club.
Pete and Billy with Lost Cause Meadery will be doing a mead talk at the fest!
OC Mashups Competition
The category for our next competition against the OC Mashups will be beers with a starting gravity under 1.040. Thanks to Michael for making a list of the beers that fall under this requirement, and you can find that HERE.
Brewcommune x Chapman Crafted Competition
Chapman Crafted reached out to us and we will be coordinating a BJCP sanctioned competition with them! This is very exciting because it is my understanding this will be the first competition our club has help run! Categories will be limited, but they are listed on the link below. Entry will be $5. We are expecting a decent amount of entries, so if anyone would like to help with the competition, get in touch with Curtis. We are also looking for stewards and judges.
We are still finalizing the website, but a big thanks to Brent for setting it up! https://competition.brewcommune.com/
Deadlines for the competition:
Register Entries - April 1st - May 10th
Pay & Drop off entries by May 10th
Judging - May 18th
Member Update
Unfortunately Hussam is hitting the road and getting out of California. He let us know that this was his last meeting. Hussam is a great Brewcommuner and will be missed. Especially his pretzels...Thanks Hussam!
Tim also let us know that unfortunately there was a Brewcommune member who passed away. I believe he has been out of the club for a while, but he was one of the original members. Very sad news, but Tim brought some of his smoked porter from 2015 and everyone toasted to him.
Club Dues
New year, new dues. Membership is only $20 a year and offers a wide variety of benefits such as:
-Access to members only events and forums
-Access to the year end holiday party
-The ability to attend the Socal Homebrew Fest and pour and enjoy homebrew as a part of Brewcommune
-The ability to participate in club activities such as club barrel brews and brew days.
Please see this page for membership: http://www.brewcommune.com/join-the-club.html
Beers Shared
Curtis - American Light Lager
Curtis - American Lager
Kyle - Kolsch
Scott - English Brown Porter
Greg H - Irish Red
Michael- Red
DT - Sahti
Bill - Double IPA
Bryant - Double IPA
DT - Wee Heavy
Style Presentation
Category 17. Strong British Ale
17C. Wee Heavy
Appearance: Light copper to dark brown color, often with deep ruby highlights. Clear. Usually has a large tan head, which may not persist.
Aroma: Deeply malty, with a strong caramel component. Lightly smoky secondary aromas may also be present, adding complexity; peat smoke is inappropriate. Diacetyl should be low to none. Low to moderate esters and alcohol are often present in stronger versions. Hops are very low to none, and can be slightly earthy or floral.
Flavor: Richly malty with significant caramel. Hints of roasted malt may be present. Peat smoke is inappropriate. Hop flavors and bitterness are low to medium-low, so the malt presence should dominate the balance. Diacetyl should be low to none. Low to moderate esters and alcohol are usually present. Esters may suggest plums, raisins or dried fruit. Traditional hops like UK Goldings.
Mouthfeel: Thiccc, chewy, malty.
Vital Statistics:
IBUs: 17 – 35
SRM: 14 – 25
ABV: 6.5 – 10.0%
History: Scottish version of a barleywine. More related to historical brews than modern lower strength Scottish ales, these beers have their roots in the strong ales of the 1700s and 1800s. Also known as a Scottish Strong.
Commercial Examples Shared
Traquair House Ale
Orkney Brewery Skull Splitter
Belhaven Wee Heavy
