Introductions/misc. (5 min.)
Andrew (5 years AG), Matt (5 years), Dean (new to brewing), Tim (2 yrs), Nick P (3 years), Andrew W (AG), Dan (Casual brewer 6 years), Tyler, Steve (since April – Extract), Eric (>1 year), Grant (2 yrs), Nick K. (8 yrs), Nathan (“Chief El Beardo” ; original founder)
Announcements/upcoming events/new business (15 min.)
- Should we get a gavel?
- Membership cards
- Top priority. Grant working to get these printed and distributed to members.
- Will need approval from Midwest Supplies (Andrew has an in…) and Northern Brewer? Steve should be able to help there.
- Original NBA Meeting 1 year ago. Woohoo!
Membership dues due ($20) for 2012 – what does this get you?
- Membership card good for 10% off at homebrew shops
- Gets/maintains access to NBA’s Google Group distribution list and discussions in between meetings
- Club-only events, etc…
- Matt P. took note money and note of those who paid
Writing bylaws
- Andrew sourcing from Dead Yeast Society
- Volunteer Committee to help draft/edit: Nick P, Andrew, Andrew, Grant
- Examples: Voting, dues, 21+, liability
Group experiments update (5 min.)
- Barrel-aging project – Project coordinator Nick P. to discuss:
- Choices of style: Sour style ale or stout. Stout would need to be fermented in whiskey barrel, but barrel could be reused. If a sour is chosen, the barrel could only be used for Sour styles because you can’t get rid of the bugs.
- Nick Can acquire wine barrel (59 gallons ~$100) – knows of two sources
- Going in Nick’s basement, so decision is ultimately in his hand….SOUR it is!!
- Recipe choices:
- Flanders Red – Recipe Per the Jamil Show.
- La Folleite – Fat Tire soured
- Procedure:
- Each participant ferments into a primary carboy per usual practice. Can be partial mash, extract, AG.
- Quality control:
- Participants will get together to taste beers after primary. If two participants give your beer a thumbs down, your portion will not be used
- Beer approved by the group will be syphoned into the barrel and inoculated with souring bacteria / bugs
- Duration
- We’ll be tasting along the way and syphoning in fresh beer to top off the barrel to account for evaporation. “Solera” gives bugs fresh food, keeps ’em active. Learn more here.
- After 1-2 years, each participant could pull out their portion, continue to age it on fruit or mix in fresh beer to even out the sourness
- Add 20 new gallons, called solera, reactivates bugs, can be lighter, fresher. Other decisions will be then made to determine future course.
- Price to be a part of this: $25 and 5 to 10 gallons of an agreed-upon recipe of beer that has made it through primary fermentation
- any excess funds will be evenly distributed amongst participants
- Other experiments
- You suggest it, you run with it. Make it happen!
Financial Report (5 min.)
- VP of Finance, Matt Price starting a band account for the club with money collected today
- Membership dues ($20) will be collected in/around January each year
- Dues will be pro-rated for those joining around July ($10) each year
- Meetings are free. The fees allow access to membership cards, Google Groups, future ideas, club events (ie brewery tours, group buys, whatever possible, ultimately TBD; Open to suggestion.)
Education session (20 min.)
Notes from this section of the meeting found here in the education section of our blog.
General Q&A (10 min.)
- Question: What is Mash Out?
- Bringing your mash temp above 168 to denature Amylase, ceasing the breakdown of sugars. Thus, no loss of maltiness.
- Is it Necessary? This temperature is reached during the boil.
- Yes, efficiency is increased because of mash out, rather than the ~20 minutes it takes to bring to a boil. Makes wort more fluid.
- Debate: does it change the flavor significantly, is it worth it? Can Melanoidin malt can achieve nearly the same maltiness? (Experiment Idea!)
- Idea: 4 brews: 2 decoction, 2 melanoidin, compare.
- Batch Sparging advice:
- Moisten grains before crushing to avoid stuck sparge.
- Efficiency: Batch sparge in equal volumes.
Break (5 min.)
Tasting/group critique (20 min.)
- Grant – Belgian dubbel
- Tim S. – Schwartz bier
- Nick K. – Imperial IPA
- Nick P. – Belgian Tripel/DIPA
What’s on tap? (5 min.) Suggest items of discussion for next month.
Education idea proposed: Brewing a high gravity beer (Nick P). Will be finalized via Google Groups.
Social hour/open discussion