A Word from Bazza / Early July 2017 Round-up

[Bazza]

Hi All,

This second round up has taken slightly longer to happen than I'd planned so apologies for that. I won't go into excuses but if I drop the words 'school' and 'holidays' that should suffice 

I know summers are typically less busy times for us homebrewing folk but you'd never guess that from the activity on the forum and the club calendars, but I'll try and keep this one as brief as possible and, like any IT professional worth their salt, I'll be able to reuse large chunks of the previous summary 


Past competitions / events
17th June – Belfast Brewday with SPBW – Brewbot Bar
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/belfast-homebrewers/mayjune-meet-and-brew-day/
Okay, you wouldn't know it from following the above thread (to all you non-Twitter users I promise to update), but this event went very smoothly indeed. The Spitfire Ale clone was in the fermenter by 5pm. Thanks to all who helped and contributed. Roo; you were quite the proud dad as your Grainfather did its thing; he was tired out by the time you had him strapped into the car in his wee jammies.
The brew is now housed in a wooden pin and being conditioned in a fermentation chamber somewhere in South Belfast. Details on the grand opening to follow.

25th June - North Country Brewers "Be Kind To Your Liver" Session Beer competition
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/competitions/north-country-brewers-'be-kind-to-your-liver'-session-beer-competition/
Another highly successful completion, by all accounts. The updates were flying out, the standard of beer was superb and the whole day went like clockwork. Great effort by the NCB guys and big congratulations to Nigel_c, Beerbuddah, DoubleG and Sean. Fantastic stuff.

1st July - Trouble Brewing Open Day
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/events/open-invitation-to-all-members-for-trouble-brewing-open-day/
Any update on this one?


Future Competitions/Events
Lager workshop – Lock 13 Sallins
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/events/lager-workshop-sat-17th-june/
Currently being rescheduled, so keep an eye out for a new date.

30th Sept – South Kildare Lager Competition http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/competitions/south-kildare-lager-competition/
This is fast approaching so get busy, folks.

Late August to mid October - Capital Sour Competition
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/competitions/capital-sour-comp/

14th October (Provisional) – Belfast Quintessential Competition – IPAs this year – more to come
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/competitions/the-belfast-homebrewers-quintessential-competition/

4th November - Maiden City Brewers: Simply Red Competition
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/competitions/maiden-city-brewers-simply-red-competition/

25th November - Brew Na Bóinne 2017 Stout Competition - Boyne Brewhouse
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/competitions/save-the-date-brew-na-boinne-2017/

February/March 2018 – the Nationals – Stay tuned for updates

April 2018 – Brewcon
More details including date to follow soon but, just to be on the safe side, plan NOTHING else for April. You have been warned 


Other Topics
BrewCon trademarking / protection of intellectual property /etc  (Member Only)
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/members-only-area/brewcon-protection/
I'll not repeat what's already been said on the above thread, but we need to decide a strategy to ensure that our yearly BrewCon event doesn't lose its identity amongst a flood of similar such events (with blatantly similar names) in nearby parishes. While the unquestionable success of the 3 past events have established the NHC BrewCon with an exemplary reputation, we can't sit on our laurels and allow other fledgling clones to chip away at our BrewCon name.
The voting has been closed but the discussions will carry on, so expect further updates.

NHC Merchandise
Following last month's summary, this was probably the topic that engendered the most responses. As a result, we've been beavering away, trying to introduce an introductory range of NHC items and keepsakes; trinkets, if you will. At the minute the glasses seem to be the most popular. This week, I'm hoping to pull the trigger on an initial order for 100 stemmed glasses, so keep following the below thread.
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/chit-chat/merchandise-ideas/
We're also close to finalising on tshirts, mugs and hats, so keep checking for updates.

Club Membership / NHC Groups / Competitions
I'll not repeat what's been said in the previous post, but please keep encouraging your mates, fellow brewers, random strangers, etc to join the forum. 10 Euro?
The growth of the local groups is ultimately up to its members, but if you need help in any way to make this happen then please reach out to us. The local club guide is still in the works, so keep an eye out for updates. Also, you only keep the clubs alive by feeding them. Horticultural bullshit analogy aside, use your forum for updates, events, tips, advice, thoughts, Youtube videos of Swedish electro, etc. People will be only be encouraged to join a forum if they see activity on it.
Again, we're here for any help and advice needed in running a local competition. Even if you just want to sound folk out with a half formed idea then post about it to the forum; it'll at least get the conversations going, and the help, advice and tips will inevitably follow.


Lastly...Bazza's final thought (okay, so I just went for it; sue me)
Not much else to add, only to say please keep the forum and calendar up to date with any events and, as will invariably be the case, please let me know if I've missed anything and I'll update the post.

And until next time I'll leave you with this thought: 'Hmmm....whaa...aaahhhh.....heh!heh!'

Cheers,

-Barry

[molc]

It might not get said as a comment, but these summaries of what's going on are great. Keep it up!

NHC Merchandise
Following last month's summary, this was probably the topic that engendered the most responses. As a result, we've been beavering away, trying to introduce an introductory range of NHC items and keepsakes; trinkets, if you will. At the minute the glasses seem to be the most popular. This week, I'm hoping to pull the trigger on an initial order for 100 stemmed glasses, so keep following the below thread.

No luck with the Teku glasses I take it then.

[Bazza]

It might not get said as a comment, but these summaries of what's going on are great. Keep it up!

Thanks for that. Glad people are finding them useful.

No luck with the Teku glasses I take it then.

Yes and no:
Yes, the supplier has managed to source Teku glasses at a reasonable-ish price.
No, minimum order of 480 units needed!

I'll update the merch thread with the above, so it doesn't get lost.

Cheers,

-Barry

[Dr Jacoby]

Who's organising the next Brewcon?