Peachtree Corners, GA Homebrew Club

The PC Mashers homebrew club had a great article in the Peachtree Corners Magazine. The article is on pages 29 & 30. The link for the digital edition is: issuu.com/livinginpeachtreecorners/docs/april_2019_peachtreecorners_issuu There is a place on the page to download the PDF, instead of paging thru this.

• Jay Brantley was on the Beer Guys Radio podcast, episode 165, that was being recorded during last months PC Mashers meeting.
• Jay Brantley is the Best Georgia 2018 Homebrewer according to the nominating and final voting rounds of The Beer Guys Radio Best of Georgia 2018. He was one of eight finalists.

• Suwanee Beer Fest Homebrew Competition – Saturday, March 9th 2019
   o Dave Ratcliff
     o -gold for his “My Vienna” 7A: Vienna lager
     o -silver for his “Topper’s Irish Red” 15A: Irish Red Ale
     o -bronze for his “Southern NEIPA” 21B: Specialty IPA
     o -AND TIED for 4th place overall of the 73 participating brewers
  o Jay Brantley
     o -Gold for his “Gypsy King” 3B: Czech Premium Pale Lager
     o -silver for his “St. James Nightcrawler” 15C: Irish Extra Stout
     o -AND TIED for 9th place overall of the 73 participating brewers
  o Jeff Scoggins
     o -gold for his “Mien Stein” 4B: Festbier
     o -bronze for his “Soggy Bottom Ale” 12A: English Golden Ale
     o -HM for his “Der Biergarten Pils” 5D: German Pils
     o -AND while it doesn’t show up . . .
          Jeff TIED for 13th place overall of the 73 participating brewers
  o Sterling Peet
     o -silver for his “Simcoe Pale Ale” 18B: American Pale Ale
  o Jim Blum
     o -silver for his “Windsock Stout” 15B: Irish Stout
  o *** That put the PC Mashers club in 1st place
           out of the 20 participating clubs !

• Peach State Brew Off was Saturday, February 23rd 2019
o Dave Ratcliff won 1st Place for: 4 – Pale Malty European Lager
o Jim Blum won 3rd Place for: 4 – Pale Malty European Lager
o Dave Ratcliff got an Honorable Mention for: a combined category
that included his Irish Red Ale
o Jay Brantley won 2nd Place for: 33 Wood Beer
o *** That put the PC Mashers club tied for 9th out of more than 15 clubs. We actually tied for 7th place, but the registration did not have PC Mashers as Jay’s club, so his points didn’t get included.

March’s meeting was a lot of fun as we all shared some of our favorite “St. Patrick’s Day” beers and enjoyed some Irish brews. We had three new visitors and hope to see them again next month.

Homebrew competition season has come and gone and we were represented very well by two members bringing some hardware home to Peachtree Corners from the Peach State Brew Off and Suwanee Beer Fest.

Congratulations to:
Jay Brantley
Suwanee Beer Fest:
1st Place Best of Show – Pale Rider international pale lager
1st Place –  International pale lager
1st Place – Belgian tripel
2nd Place – American lager

Peach State Brew Off:
1st Place – Kolsch
2nd Place – Belgian tripel
2nd Place – Irish export stout

Dave Ratcliff
Suwanee Beer Fest:
3rd Place – Strawberry Saison (Fruit beer category)

The next meeting is April 18th at 8 pm at Peachtree Growler Co.
The April brew style is: Pale Ale (a commercial example is Sweetwater 420)
The brew style for May is: English Beer (like a porter, ESB, mild, etc.)

We’ll see you next month!

THANK YOU Jay !

We appreciate your gracious hosting of the January PC Mashers’ meeting.  You have a great space in your house to hold our meeting.  And the tables were so convenient to your brewing area.

The meeting was very successful with 10 folks attending.  We did another “Commercial Calibration” from that regular feature article in the Zymurgy magazine of the American Home Brewing Association.  It is very educational to compare our comments to the judges comments.  Most folks brought a homebrew to share and we critiqued and discussed why they were good and the techniques used.  And we discussed how some of the sample home brews could be improved.

The next PC Mashers general meeting is:

Feb 21st @ PGC at 8:00 pm.

The home brewing style for February’s meeting is:

“Belgian inspired” beer styles.

Also for the next several months the home brewing styles are:

March – Saint Patrick’s Day styles

April – Pale Ale (a commercial example is 420)

(How did they come up with that name?)

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone next month!

Cheers!

Stephen L. Peet, President

October 18^th is our 9^th meeting

The following is the AGENDA order:

1 – Short Administrative agenda

2 – Evaluating Member Brews using AHA/BJCP guidelines

3 – Socialize and if desired, buy PGC flights after (but not before) evaluating member brews.

 Last meeting review (September 20^th):

* A vote on the proposed Constitution and By-Laws was taken and it was approved.

* Several events were announced.

Education:  During member brew evaluations we talked about Brewing 101 – and what level each person was at with their brewing? (from basic thru advanced)

NEXT order of business:  (none at this time)

New items:  

* Friday & Saturday, Oct 20^th & 21^st, From the Earth Brewing Company is having a
Grand Opening Extravaganza, In Roswell.

* Saturday Oct 28^th from 5 pm to 9 pm, Slow Pour Brewing Company is having a
Grand Opening Party,  in Lawrenceville. (with Brew, Music, and Food).

Evaluate member brews (and other beer) using AHA/BJCP guidelines

The Brew/Style for the October 18^th meeting is:  Octoberfest

Education:

During member brew evaluations Brewing 101 – What equipment do you use to brew and why? (from basic thru advanced)

Next Meeting:  Wednesday, November 15^th

8:00 pm @ Peachtree Growler Co.

5450 Peachtree Pkwy, Peachtree Corners, GA

Brew/Style:  “Fall Seasonal” beer.

December 20^th Brew/Style:  “Winter Seasonal” beer.

January 17^th Brew/Style:  “Stout or Stout inspired” beer.

September 20^th was our 8^th meeting

Next Meeting:  Wednesday, October 18^th

8:00 pm @ Peachtree Growler Co.

5450 Peachtree Pkwy, Peachtree Corners, GA

 The following attended the September 20^th meeting:

Chris

Steve

Dave

Stephen

Sterling

Taylor

Rod

 Last meeting review (August 15^th):

* John H. was elected Treasurer.

* The Constitution and By-Laws was proposed.  A vote to adopt it will be held during the September General PC Mashers meeting.

* We decided on a “Fall Seasonal” beer style for November’s monthly meeting.

* We decided on a “Winter Seasonal” beer style for December’s monthly meeting.

* Steve announced that he talked with Brew Depot, and you can get a 12% discount as a member of PC Mashers.

* For the time being we are using email, website, Slack as club communication methods.

* EDUCATION: Dave made a tea out of Cascade hops for an example of the August brew/style.  It was very strong, but you certainly understood the smell and flavor of Cascade hops.

NEXT order of business:

* A vote on the proposed Constitution and By-Laws was taken and it was approved.

New items:

* September 23^rd & 24^th – Monday Night Brewing “Garage Grand Opening + 6^th Anniversary Party,

tickets are required)

* PGC Block Party w/Hog & Ale, Saturday, October 14^th from 5 pm to 10 pm – PC Mashers will be there brewing beer.

* AHA Rally at Jekyll Brewing, Saturday, October 14^th from 12 pm to 3 pm.  It is for members only, but you can join AHA there.

* AHA members get 10% off at Hop City, downtown.

Evaluate member brews (and other beer) using AHA/BJCP guidelines

The Brew/Style for the September 20^th  meeting is:  Brown Ale

Dave – English Brown Ale

Jay – English Brown Ale

Stephen – English Brown Ale – one bottle not as good – oxygen – 2^nd bottle better.

Chris – English Brown Ale w/Coconut

Rod – Ginger beer – 2 gallon batch – 8.1% ABV – real good

Education:

During member brew evaluations we talked about Brewing 101 – and what level each person was at with their brewing? (from basic thru advanced)

Next Meeting:  Wednesday, October 18^th

8:00 pm @ Peachtree Growler Co.

5450 Peachtree Pkwy, Peachtree Corners, GA

Brew/Style:  Octoberfest.

November 15^th Brew/Style:  “Fall Seasonal” beer.

December 20^th Brew/Style:  “Winter Seasonal” beer.

We had a great turnout for our 6th meeting on Wednesday July 19th !

Next Meeting: Wednesday, August 16th
8:00 pm @ Peachtree Growler Co.
5450 Peachtree Pkwy, Peachtree Corners, GA

The Brew/style for the August 15th meeting is:
Everyone brews a recipe with Cascade hops. Adding any other hop during or dry hopping is OK.

We decided on the Brew/style for the September 20th meeting:
Brown Ale.

We decided on the Brew/style for the October 18th meeting:
* Octoberfest

NEXT order of business – last meeting:
* I talked a little bit about a presentation “Building a Lasting Home Brew Club”
* the election of officers.
> President – Stephen – Big Picture v. Small Picture
> Vice President – Jay
> Secretary – also Stephen for the time being
>Treasurer – tbd – in the meantime – Treasurer’s report
> we talked about setting a budget (requires scope definition first – think of what we want to do that costs money)
> John gave $20 to Sterling. $10 for getting a website PCMashers.com, and $10 for hosting the website.
* Co-Communications chairs – Sterling & Chris , with Taylor on the committee
> Report: Slack got created and most have joined. You can get an app for slack on your iPhone or device, or you can view it on your PC at PCMashers.slack.com
The website is up, PCMashers.com and the committee has been working on it, there’s a home page, an about page, a password protected members section, and an events calendar page (Chris has an event, and I have some others to talk about).
We’re trying to move away from e-mails and use Slack and the website. How often do you want reminder e-mails sent? If any !
* We talked last time about Using Survey Monkey for the questionnaire that I had previously proposed sent out – and we’re still working on that.
* I talked a little about New London Brew Club – Operation Home Brew (store – supplies)
* I asked about changing the Meeting Day / time, and we decided to keep it as the 3rd Wednesday.
* Any other Brew Club events were touched on, and Jay sent me a text I’ll talk about in a minute.
* I mentioned American Homebrew Association (AHA) and asked if anyone had an Individual AHA membership. Steve & Jay are members. Steve said he “signed” up the club when he was signing up.
* I talked about Insurance related to AHA for the club. Steve said his insurance would cover the club for the time being with what we are doing right now. Homebrew Club Insurance information can be found at: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/community/clubs/homebrew-club-insurance/ and the cost is $250 annual premium for clubs up to 75 members.

NEXT order of business – We did not discuss, therefore is still tabled:
* Vision for the club – EC will work on a proposal for next meeting
*By-laws for the club – EC will work on and see how far we get for next meeting.
* Beer Styles for monthly meetings – have thru October, & doing monthly right now
* monthly topics

New items:
* Events chair / committee – Steve Hamlet agreed to chair this
> Steve will look into scheduling and coordinating field trips to local breweries, etc.
> Jay sent a text about visiting Cherry Street Brewing Cooperative in Cumming Ga. They were #1 in the U.S. Open Beer Championship’s Top 10 Breweries for 2017. I saw that the Slow Pour was having a run and pour event coming up. I also saw an article about their starting a brew pub in Lawrenceville. And Sterling can tell us about visiting breweries, vineyards, and the San Francisco Mead Company.
> Chris hosted a Beer-B-Q for everyone at his house Sunday July 23rd.

Compare notes, make comments, and give feedback on:
The July 19th meeting style:
* Lawn mower beer &/or Summer beer
* We chose Dave to be an officer – Master of Pours, and Sergeant of Arms with the following duties:
> Compile a list of brews to be sampled during the meeting.
> Pour the samples and keep the club on track.
> Keep the club on track during the meetings.

1 – John – Mystic Luminus Ruins – Dry Hopped Sour Ale (Mystic-Brewery.com)
2 – Dave – Grapefruit Hefe (a Hefe, with grapefruit juice)
3 – Jo – Summer Ale
4 – Jo – Summer Ale with jalepeno
5 – Chris – Pale Ale – started with 420 recipe, but made it lighter
6 – Jay – Harpoon Summer Ale
7 – Stephen – All American Porte – July mtg vs.12 days in the bottle at the June mtg
8 – John – Juicin’ IPA by BlueTarp Brewing Company
9 – John  – The Real Peel (tangerine) IPA – by Avery Brewing Company
10 – Sterling – Raven Haired Beauty (Dark English Mild)

Cheers !