M.O.B. meeting minutes – December 10, 2010

 

Meeting called to order at 4:15 by Kermit.  15 people plus 3 very well–behaved kids.

 

Old Business:

Nominations were opened for vice president.  Aaron nominated Becky Morse, Kermit seconded, and Lisa moved for the nominations to be closed.  So Becky will be our vice president in 2011.  She will continue with secretary/treasurer duties, too.  Shaun will take over president duties at the January meeting.

Kermit thanked all of us for allowing him to serve as president.  He said he has made great friends through this club/hobby and has enjoyed his tenure at the helm.  We gave him a book about Irish pubs as a token of appreciation.  Great job, Kerm!

 

New Business:

Kermit mentioned a website (Grandstand) that sells glassware, koozies, etc. as an idea for a club product for next year.  This place seems to make the glassware for Boulevard.  We will look into it.

Becky announced a new opportunity for tasting great beer.  She and Dave are willing to host "Beer Dinners" once a month.  The first one will be on Feb. 20.  The idea is to come to their house for a three (or more) course meal paired with three (or more) different beers to complement the food.  She and Dave make these dinners regularly for themselves, but wouldn't mind sharing them with others.  All they ask is for a $10 monetary commitment per person a month in advance so they are sure to have enough food/beer for everybody who wants to come.  They will furnish menus and dates well in advance so people can plan ahead.  So if you are interested in a delicious meal, good beer, and good company, mark your calendars and bring $10 to the January meeting.  No one should feel obligated to attend – if no one else comes, they'll still have the meal anyway!

Our Farmhouse Competiton took place after Beer School – They were ALL strong, so there was only one winner.  Congrats to Lenny – 3^rd place for his "Home for the Holidays" spiced saison, Dave – 2^nd place for his Scarlet Pumpernickel Biere de Garde, and Dave – 1^st place for his Gemini Belgian Dubbel.  Many thanks to all the delicious beers that were entered!

 

Beer School:  This month Dave Morse taught us all about Christmas Spiced Beers and what the BJCP guidelines have to say about them.  Again, this is a fairly wide open category.  A general base style is usually declared for competitions, and the spice additions are usually the flavors of Christmas:  cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, honey, vanilla, orange, etc….  The commercial examples we tried were:  Sam Adams Winter Lager, Harpoon Winter Warmer, Great Lakes Christmas Ale, Goose Island Christmas Ale (Thanks, Kerm & Bobbie Jo!), and Dave's Scrooged Up Ale.  In January, we'll learn about strong stouts (Foreign Extra, American, and Russian Imperial stouts)

 

Who Brought What:

Lisa – American Pale Ale, Fuller's ESB clone, English Mild, a Saison for the comp., and a friend's Cherry Mead

Scott – Hub City Midnight Express Imperial Stout

Alan – Jalapeno Light and Regular, and St. Vincent wines

Lenny – "Home for the Holidays" Saison

Kermit – Sierra Nevada Tumbler, Goose Island Christmas Ale, and their IPA as well.

Dave – Scarlet Pumpernickel Biere de Garde, German Alt Beer, Arctic Wolf Baltic Porter, Weizenbock (his first extract beer in a long time), and Gemini Belgian Dubbel.

Becky – Devilishly Good Belgian Strong Golden Ale

 

 

Thanks for all the goodies this month, too.  Lisa brought a cheese assortment, Amy brought Reuben dip, Becky brought ham and swiss scones, and Jim brought beer bread with honey butter.  MMmmmmmm!