January Meet

[sub82]

What's everyone up for?

Think Keith (kaipee) had been talking about a build day?

[Bill_00]

I have missed the last load :-( So I'm up for absolutely anything!

[Bazza]

Like Chris, I'm up for pretty much anything.

Had done bugger all brewing-wise since early December (Christmas, family stuff, etc completely taking over, spending endless evenings assembling kids' toys and then having to bite my tongue when effing Santa gets all the credit; that and the post-Christmas complete lack of motivation). But last night I finally got round to bottling my second batch of WOW, which had been sitting in a demijohn in the garage for about 7 weeks. During this mundane exercise I caught a glimpse of my as-yet unused malt mill and a fridge full of unopened bags of hops and suddenly experienced what can only be described as a brewing epiphany. I am reborn, as it were; praise be and that. Rarin' to go.
(the above phenomenon could be explained away by science i.e. the liver feeling rejuvenated having finally been allowed a few days off)

Any idea on dates?
My thought for January is maybe a sneaky evening in the Hudson to try a few brews, take stock and plan for the coming months? I think a brewday/equipment build day should closely follow.


Cheers,

-Lazarus aka Barry

[matthewdick23]

night in hudson sounds great.

[sub82]

Nice one - sounds good!

There's talk of using the club meets as competition entry drop points so we could use this and the Feb one for these. I think the Vineyard are also up for acting as a drop point for anyone who can't make the meetings.

[Paddy]

I'd be up for the Hudson

I would be interested in finding out more about these competition drops.  Always thought competitions was something we lacked a bit around here...but maybe I've just been missing something...

Anyone decided on a date for the Jan meet?

[Roo]

Praise be indeed Bazza. Let me know dates and ill try to make it. Brewed my second all grain on sunday past with the wife whinging  about it taking all day. I told her brew Day was in fact that. Its a another ipa with mosaic and centennial and some California ale yeast. Bubbling over nicely. My first batch had got better over time but just sunk the last one tonight. Major difference in colour from brown to clear bottles.

[sub82]

Just added a poll to see what suits! I assumed that tonight was out.

[iain_todd]

I've voted for the 24th, but honestly don't mind as long as it's not the 17th. That's the night before my Bday so I'll have other plans.

Night in the Hudson would be great - good opportunity to try some more beers and possibly get rid of more of my homemade wine!

[Bazza]

I voted for 17th and 31st, but can do the 24th as well, as long as they don't mind me showing up at my daughter's ballet class at 9:00 Saturday morning with drinky breath

Was talking to Paddy the other night and we thought it'd be an idea to maybe have a sort of loose agenda for the Hudson meet. Nothing strict but just something to give a bit of focus or structure for the coming months.  We discussed the idea of having, if not a set date in the month (i.e. every first Friday) at least a planned date for a few months ahead, so we can make other plans around them rather than picking dates based on current plans. Any thoughts?

Agenda could be something like:

1. Catch up & drink beer
2. Samples
3. Plans for February: Brewday/Equipment build or both. Preferred venue & date
4. Samples/Drink beer
5. Plans for March: Brewday/Equipment build or both. Preferred venue & date
6. Samples/Drink beer
7. A.O.B./Future plans
8. Curry chip in Starlight on the Ormeau Road (optional)

Maybe even add a theme to these nights e.g. Matthew regales us with tales of working for Brewbot, Iain explains how wine can be made out of practically every household object, Barry explains 16th century crop rotation (while constantly suspiciously referring to a Wikipedia page on his phone).

Anyone got any thoughts?

Cheers,

-Barry

[iain_todd]

Agenda could be something like:

1. Catch up & drink beer
2. Samples
3. Plans for February: Brewday/Equipment build or both. Preferred venue & date
4. Samples/Drink beer
5. Plans for March: Brewday/Equipment build or both. Preferred venue & date
6. Samples/Drink beer
7. A.O.B./Future plans
8. Curry chip in Starlight on the Ormeau Road (optional)

Maybe even add a theme to these nights e.g. Matthew regales us with tales of working for Brewbot, Iain explains how wine can be made out of practically every household object, Barry explains 16th century crop rotation (while constantly suspiciously referring to a Wikipedia page on his phone).

Nice one Bazz-Meister. Sounds like a good idea. Perhaps a bit more organisation would work well - especially the idea of sorting out dates for the year - perhaps could do it on a six-month basis...

[sub82]

A planned date is a great idea - would definitely be better knowing when the next meet was in advance. We'd maybe have to be a bit flexible and stay aware of how many people can make it though.

[Bill_00]

Perhaps once a quarter we could choose a specialist hop of some description? Pick one (maybe even group buy to save on postage) then have people go off and do what they want with it and have a hop sample night before choosing the next one?

May encourage people to break out of their traditional styles, or experiment with non-standard hops in the style they like.

[sub82]

I like the specialist hop idea - so you'd make a beer using that specific hop?

[Bill_00]

Yeah, but style/yeast would be completely up to you. Doesn't have to be a single hop beer obviously