Club Meeting Notes - March 20th, 2018

[WillL]

Great turnout with 22 people in attendance. A big thanks to Gunwhale Ales for hosting! Also a HUGE thank you to Hussam for bringing his delicious pretzels!

February Confab/Off Month Meeting
Good turnout at our confab/off month meeting in February at Stereo Brewing. 20 people in attendance. Many good beers were shared.

BJCP Competitions
Check out the Compete forum for info on upcoming BJCP competitions.

NHC
The deadline to submit entries for Homebrew Con has passed, but you can still buy tickets to attend the convention! You can register here.

Club T-shirts
We are ordering new t-shirts. Greg has a post up here, so you can select what size and how many you want. We are looking to finalize the t-shirt order soon, so please place an order asap!

Homebrew Shop of the Year
If you are an AHA member, you can vote for homebrew shop of the year. You can nominate the club of your choice here: https://brewersassociation.wufoo.com/fo ... l90gv1hpu/

Club members who are not currently AHA members should consider joining. Membership entitlements include discounts at many brewery establishments, Zymurgy magazine, and the Brew Guru mobile app. Also many competitions require an AHA membership to enter. Importantly, if 75% of our club membership are AHA members we have our insurance premium waved! This would be a significant monetary savings for the club. You can join or renew here: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/ ... -or-renew/

Membership Dues
A majority of the members have paid, but if you haven't and don't want to miss out on our sweet official club events or end of the year awards, join here! http://www.brewcommune.com/join-the-club.html

Southern California Homebrewers Festival
SCHF is coming up on May 4-5. It is a fantastic time and always one of the best events of the year. If you haven't been, check out some info on it here. Site reservations are completed, but usually people have some extra room on their site for a tent or small car. If you are in need of a camping spot, post on the forums and maybe you can bribe someone for a spot.

The bragging rights only (BRO) competition was voted to be Witbier. For those of you that are not familiar with the BRO competition, each club submits one growler to the judges at the SCHF. The winner is announced early in the day at the festival and it really draws a lot of people to the winning club's booth. For our April off month club meeting, we will be doing a mini competition of witbiers to see who should be representing our club at the BRO competition. If you can't make the meeting and still want to be up for submitting a beer for the competition, try to give it to another club member before the meeting.

Beers brought for feedback
Kölsch - Hussam
Kölsch - Distinguished Tim
Wheat w/ pineapple & Wheat w/ strawberries - Josh
Cal Common - Curtis
Witbier & Maibock - Jim
New England IPA - Kyle
Pale Ale - Tim R.
Milk Stout - Bob
Pilsner - Brad
Irish Red - Mike
English IPA - Reid
Blonde - John Ward

Brewbrawl Competition
We had a good turnout of 10 entries for our mini competition. *drum roll* And the winners are...
1st: Brad
2nd: Kyle
3rd: Jim

Congrats to the winners! The points from placing will go towards our Most Winningest Homebrewer at Club meetings award. If you want to see how you did or check out the feedback for your beer, go here: https://brewbrawl.com/#/events/cp

Style Presentation

Category 5: Pale Bitter European Beer
5b: Kölsch

Appearance
Pale to light gold with a low amount of aromatics, they are a touch fruity, soft, full, and refined with a delicate dryness and light crispness in the finish.

Aroma
Aroma: Low to very low malt aroma, with a grainy-sweet character.

Flavor
The hop flavor is variable, most are medium low to medium intensity and have a floral, spicy, or herbal character. Also, they may have a malty sweetness at the start.

Mouthfeel
Medium-light.

Vital Statistics
ABV: 4.4%-5.2%
IBU: 18-30
SRM: 3.5-5

Commercial Examples Shared
Gaffel Kölsch
Früh Kölsch
Reissdorf Kölsch
Three Weavers Seafarer
Three Weavers was the only American version, and the consensus was that it stood out as being the most different of all four.

Kölsch Style History
Unlike the others in the category which are Lagers, Kolsch is made with an ale yeast. However, it is also lagered for 1 to 2 months. In Köhn or Cologne, every pub serves this beer and every brewery makes it.

The danger of making bad beer was strong enough that in 1603, the Cologne town council outlawed the use of bottom-fermenting yeasts. In the mid 1980's the breweries of Cologne gathered and created the Kölsch-Konvention and created a law that Kölsch must be brewed within the metropolitan area of Cologne and so in Germany, the only Kölsches you will find have been brewed in Cologne.

Kölsch Ingredients and Process
Typically used ingredients are German pilsner or pale malt, maybe a little Vienna or Munich for color. German hops such as Hallertau or Tettnang. Clean attenuating ale yeasts such as White Labs 029 German Ale/Kölsch. Water is on the hard side, which adds crispness. Many times a step mash is performed. Fermentation temperature is anywhere from 58 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, usually starting at a lower temperature and allowing it to rise to a higher temperature. Carbonation is usually around 2.5 volumes.

[JonW]

Great meeting everyone!

Will - kudos on the notes. Easy to read, informative & links to all necessary info!

[WillL]

Thanks! Greg taught me well.

[MrAverageGuy]

+1 to Will. There's been some talk of a move to make you Secretary-for-Life...

[Megastout]

Great job Will!

[maltbarley]

Great notes!

[BrewMasterBrad]

Great notes Will.

Nice job to all the people that shared their beers. I love it when I drive home with an empty growler.