ASH Happy Hour
Avery Office Party
Thursday, November 14
Papago Brewing
6pm

Cider School
Friday, November 15
Whole Foods Chandler
6:30 pm

ASH Holiday Party
Four Peaks Wilson
Saturday, December 14

Member Benefit Corner

Did You Know?

ASH Members get

$1 off cardholders beer

Daily, including happy hour

Fate Brewing Co

Click Here to See More ASH Membership Benefits

Total Gallons Brewed in 2013

3200 Gallons

This tally is based on your input. Be sure to log your brews here

Competition News,

Due Dates

HBOY Competition entries in Spice, Herb or Vegetable are due at the October General Meeting

BJCP Class are now over

BJCP 202 - Mastering the Tasting Exam - Begins the week of October 28

RSVP here

The 2013 HBOY schedule

is online.

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This is one of my favorite times of year. As a fan of stouts and porters, I have my pick of seasonal brews to choose from. These, especially, are my comfort beers, and they always seem fitting to sip as I look back on what's been accomplished in the past 12 months and what lies ahead. While there is plenty to reflect on, this week I start by filling out my ASHy ballot. The category for Best Beer Week Event takes me all the way back to February. I'll work my way through the months, recalling the wonderful Arizona beers I've had and the people and places I was with while I tried them. These choices are going to require some thought. I better go top off my pint.

Salute!
Angela (@girlfromarizona)

From the President

By Rob Fullmer

I will not be the ASH President in 2014.

There is no other way to say it.

This week, I accepted a dream position as the Executive Director of The Arizona Craft Brewers Guild. I will complete this year's term. Rest assured, I will also be running some ASH projects that are in step with both ASH and the Guild. I will remain a proud ASH member as long as I can raise a pint glass to my lips.

I know some of you are wondering what will happen? Who will take over? It's embarrassing for me, to be honest. Our boards have been outstanding during my terms. That anyone should think that ASH will take a step back in January means that I have not effectively communicated how important that our volunteers and board members have been for ASH; that I have not expressed how important YOU are in our growth as a club.

It's my understanding that most of the 2013 board is coming back. As someone coming back as a general member in 2014, I appreciate the accomplishments achieved by our current board members and would welcome any of them serving another term to continue the positive progression towards the club's goals.

Will things be different? I hope so. The new board will find its leadership style. They have all of the tools in the tool shed that all of us helped stock. I encourage you to up your personal involvement in the club. Be heard, be recognized, and be doing-- for ASH.

�Salud!

Rob Fullmer
President, ASH

From the Judges Table
Matt Brown

Things have settled down now that the Oktoberfest Competition is over, so I thought I'd start by asking you for some input. Do you have any suggestions about how it could have been better? From the perspective of participants as well as judges and stewards, what were the biggest issues? What needs to change? Let me know what you think here. A big Springfest is right around the corner, so your suggestions will make an immediate difference.

Homebrewer of the Year

Are those IPAs ready? In case you didn't already know, the winner of this month's HBOY IPA competition gets to spend a day making an IPA at San Tan Brewing Company. Here are the remaining HBOY deadlines:

11/19 - IPA

12/13 - Light Lager

You can turn in your entries at the general meeting, and the rules are posted here. The IPA competition is registered with the BJCP and judging is scheduled for 11/23. Please contact me if you can help out.

Also, next year's HBOY is going to see some big changes. We hope to incorporate next year's Springfest competition like we already do with our Oktoberfest competition, but the big difference is going to involve the quality of the prizes and the number of competitions we have over the course of the year. Expect only two style-specific competitions (both with brew days as prizes) and one broad across-BJCP-category competition in addition to our two big competitions for 2014. We are in the process of setting up at least one pro-am as a prize too. I will have more details next month!

Springfest Competition

This is the big news. Our big Springfest competition in 2014 will likely involve the following dates:

3/7 - Entry Deadline

3/15 - Judging

3/16 - Judging

3/22 - Winner Announced at Springfest

It isn't set in stone just yet, but it will be soon. Clear your calendars so you can help out! If you have any thoughts or suggestions about it, or if you just want to volunteer, you can sign up for the competition committee here

Volunteer Corner
From Steen Routh

There are two volunteer opportunities this month.

Phoenix Brewer's Invitational

Saturday, December 7

Shifts: 11:30 am - 3 pm & 2:30 pm - 6pm

This is our final event of the year dedicated to raising money for our clubhouse. Volunteers will get two tickets for family or friends to enjoy the event. Volunteers will already get in free with their badge. Volunteer for a shift by filling out this form

ASH Holiday Party

Saturday, December 14

Help make the holiday party another great event by helping your board with set up, check in, raffle and clean up. If you are interested, email me at [email protected]

Vote your ASHy Off

Your nominations have been reviewed and the official ballot is ready. Now we need your vote to honor the best in our beer community. Let your voice be heard through the second annual ASHy Awards. Take a few minutes to vote in categories like Best Beer Week Event, Best Beer Bartender, and Best Taphandle. There are also categories to recognize the best in each beer style.

You must be an ASH member and can only vote once. Winners will be announced at the ASH Holiday Party on December 14.

VOTE HERE

October Recap

There was no formal General Meeting in October as the board prepared for the ASH Oktoberfest. Instead, members met at the new Huss Brewing in Tempe where brewer and owner Jeff Huss gave tours.

November General Meeting

Tuesday, November 19, 7pm - 9pm

ASH Clubhouse

2515 N. Scottsdale Rd.

Scottsdale, AZ

Join us for our November Meeting. We will have important election information for the 2014 Board coming as well as news about ASHy voting. We have ASHer John Miller in to talk about distilling and his new project CaskWerks Distilling Co. We'll get to meet founders Rich Burch, John, and Jeff Barlow.

Christian Chandler will talk about control - temperature control DIY.

We may even have a special guest or two from Little Guy Distributing. Founders of today's World Class Beverages.

HBOY entries are due at this meeting for IPA. Submit entries to Matt Brown or Krystal Bittner.

The ASH Hot Break is distributed every month to our members and friends. If you stumbled upon this issue through Facebook or Twitter, take a minute to join our website, azhomebrewers.org, so you can get our newsletters and updates in your email. (There might even be some secret events and deals announced as well).

We're always looking for reader input. If you're excited about a new project, teaching others how to brew, hosting a homebrew event, or have anything else you'd like to mention on Hot Break, email [email protected]. We want to see stories and photos from our members.

We'll see you at the General Meeting. Till then brew on.

Prost!

Angela

Your Club Board Members

President - Rob Fullmer

Vice President - Krystal Bittner

Secretary - Laura Kuning

Treasurer - Christian Chandler

Communication - Angela Muniz

Member at Large - John Rudolph

Member at Large - Ben Conner

Arizona Society of Homebrewers