October 2013 Hot Break

2013 Ninkasi Sponsor
Four Peaks Brewing Logo

Visit Four Peaks Brewing Co. 

 

Four Peaks Events and Announcements: 

 

October 11-13 

Tempe Town Lake

 

 Monday, October 12

Beer Dinner

Bourbon Jack's Grill - Chandler 

 

 Wednesday, October 30

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Four Peaks Wilson

6 - 10 pm 

 

Like 

Four Peaks on Facebook 

for the latest event details.

In This Issue
From the President
From the Judges Table
Volunteer Corner
ASHy Nominations
September Recap
October General Meeting

Upcoming Events 


Exploring Off-Flavors
AZ Girls Pint Out
Thursday, October 24
BJ's Chandler
6:30 - 8:30 pm

ASH Oktoberfest
Saturday, October 19
Kiwanis Park
12 - 6 pm

BevMo Holiday Beer Fest
Saturday, November 2
Four Peaks Wilson
5-9pm

Member Benefit Corner  

Did You Know?

ASH Members get

10% off tours and merchandise at

 

  Arizona Brewery Tours  

 

Click Here to See More ASH Membership Benefits  

Total Gallons Brewed in 2013  

 2732 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

is online.

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Sometimes it seems like seasons fly by in the blink of an eye. Here we are half way through fall and there are even more tastings, events and festivals to enjoy with the beautiful weather. In one short month we can already check off the San Tan Oktoberfest, a Tour de Fat, and a GABF, to name a few. But don't blink. Our ASH Oktoberfest is just a week away. It's sure to top them all with Big Nick and the Gila Monsters on the stage, comp and raffle prizes like never before, and even a bocce tournament. I certainly don't want to miss a second. 

Salute!
Angela (@girlfromarizona)
From the President 
 
Rob Fullmer with Hops
A homebrewer's observation.

Yesterday I ran into a fellow ASHer at the airport. We had a common destination, but it was a surprise that we were seated together. Jon has been a longtime member, but we spent a good portion of the flight catching up and catching him up on all things ASH.

We drove to a bar where we met up with Christian and Bryan who gathered around the crew from Fate (which stands for For ASH To Enjoy if you ask me). Adam from Fate and I brewed a beer together recently and he caught me up on the tasting notes.

Earlier in the day, Christian, Bryan, Matt and our own VP, Krystal were at an event where they learned that Avery would be coming back to Arizona. ASHers were special guests for this event.

Last night I had a great conversation with Mark Emiley of WAHA. WAHA is the Washington State Homebrewer's Association. They are on a similar path as we are at ASH, blurring the lines between homebrewers and brewers and working with the entire beer community (leading the way if you ask me). Mark, has been a judge at the AmeriCAN canned craft beer fest that ASH judges.   Mark's experience in the homebrew world and the larger community has enabled him to be a craft beer judge at GABF. If you as an ASHer want that kind of opportunity, please continue to help judge our own events as well as the AmeriCAN Fest.

Today, I learned at Left Hand that their firkin filling program is just as manual as when Trevor and Kevin fill our ASH firkins for Oktoberfest. And now here at Oskar Blues, I saw the cans of B. Stiff Rootbeer that will be out for the kids at our Oktoberfest next week. It was a unique pleasure to inform the Arizona group that this was an ASH exclusive. No one else in the state has it. In the last 16 hours I've run into dozens of brewers and industry folks who want to know how ASH is going and how our amazing volunteer program is working. It's kicking ass, by the way. In fact, I had to stop typing to give the Lumberyard boys an update.

So if you haven't already guessed, I am at GABF. But ASH is always at the forefront of what I'm doing--always in my heart. Everyone I've mentioned and all those volunteers that killed it last week judging and pouring for San Tan Oktoberfest have ASH in their hearts too.

Salud!

Rob Fullmer
President, ASH 
From the Judges Table
Matt Brown

I owe a huge thank you to everyone who helped make the Oktoberfest Competition happen. We judged hundreds of entries and will be announcing the winner and handing out score sheets at Oktoberfest a week from Saturday. There were an amazing number of great beers, so competition was tight. Some killer brewers are going to get some killer prizes!

 

Homebrewer of the Year

Want to spend a day brewing an IPA at San Tan Brewing Company? All you have to do is win November's HBOY IPA competition! It's also registered with the BJCP, so it will provide people with the opportunity to earn points. Judging is tentatively scheduled for 11/23, so let me know if you want to help.

 

Here are the remaining HBOY deadlines:

 

10/15 - Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer

11/19 - IPA

12/13 - Light Lager

 

Turn in your entries at the general meeting. The rules are posted here.

 

Springfest Competition

We are going to do a big Springfest competition in early 2014, and we will begin officially promoting it in the next month or two. The entry deadline will likely be in late February or early March, so start brewing now! If you want to be involved in the planning, sign up here.

 

BJCP Class

The first BJCP course for the year is over, but there are still openings for "BJCP 202 - Mastering the Tasting Exam Course." It will be led by BJCP Certified Judge Dennis Mitchell and is intended to serve as preparation for the Dec 7 tasting exam. To attend, you should have passed the online BJCP entrance exam and have a base knowledge of the BJCP, the judging process, beer faults and the style guidelines. Seats are limited and preference will be given to those taking the December exam. The course will run the 5 weeks leading up to December exam, and the fee is $40 to be paid in full on first day of class. If you are interested, post here.

 

Volunteer Corner
From Steen Routh 


There are two items to address this month.

 

First - a Call for Volunteers for the Taste of Cave Creek on Thursday, October 17. We need 6 volunteers to pour at the event from 5-10pm. The event is at the Stagecoach Village in Cave Creek.


According to event organizers: "One of our most favorite distributors (World Class) is looking for a small number of volunteers to pour beer for them at Taste of Cave Creek on Thursday. This is a pretty casual event where everyone should be able to trade off pouring duties and enjoy the festivities.

Although the times listed are from 4:45-10pm, I understand it is an early start and would be okay if not everyone could get that early or stay until the end. It would be ideal if we could have 2-3 people available throughout the entire time to provide great service and share beer knowledge."

Please let me know if you would like to volunteer as well as what time you would be able to arrive and stay through. Just s
end an email with your contact information to  ASHionalGuard@gmail.com

  

Next - our ASH Oktoberfest is next Saturday, Oktoberfest. We have a few more volunteer positions to fill:

    • 1 - 2nd shift raffle (1 - 3p)
    • 1 - 3rd shift raffle (3 -5p)
    • 1 - 1st shift front gate (11:30 - 1p)
    • 1 - 5th shift front gate (4 - 5 p)
    • 1 - bocce ball officiant
    • 5 - or as many people who would want to stick around for tear down
If you are able to help with one of these shifts, please email me.

 

It's Time to Think ASHy
Honor our beer community with your nominations

The 2nd Annual ASHy Awards are in the works. This is ASH's way to celebrate and honor our beer community in a way only we can. Forget those "Best of" lists every magazine seems to have you voting on these days. The ASHys recognize the best in nearly a dozen beer styles, cover 20 categories of what makes our Beer State great, and includes tributes to our leaders and pioneers. 

In a word, the ASHys are legit. And this is because of you. Nominations for 10 categories and best of 9 beer styles begin on October 15. If that's not enough fun, nods for the Best Beer Tattoo also start online via our social media and website. 

Start thinking about your nominations and watch your in-boxes. We'll send out the call and voting details next week.  The ASHys will be presented at the ASH Holiday Party in December.
September Recap

Angela Muniz presented the cider brewed at the August meeting as the calibration brew. We learned Papago Brewing won the honor to tap a cask of Pilsner Urquell on November 8. We learned about draft and serving equipment, techniques and troubleshooting from Troy Slicker of Crescent Crown and ASHer Kevin Mycek

October General Meeting -- Off Site

Tuesday, October 15, 7pm - 9pm
Huss Brewing Co.
520 W. Mineral Rd.
Tempe, AZ

 

Traditionally, the October General Meeting is held off-site at a local business. This allows the Oktoberfest Committee and the Board of Directors the opportunity to focus on getting everything ready for Oktoberfest. This will be the final opportunity to get your membership to attend Oktoberfest, the Holiday Party and receive 2013 ASH benefits. Memberships will be closed for 2013 

Brewer/Owner Jeff Huss promises to have a few Papago Brews on hand as well as a Huss IPA.

HBOY entries are due at this meeting for Spice, Herb or Vegetable Beer. 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 editor@azhomebrewers.org. 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


krystal bittner
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

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