December 17 2011 meeting notes

meeting recaps

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