The Newsletter, June 2019

The Newsletter, June 2019

Presidents report. 

Our June meeting is right upon us, and from a club point of view this month's meeting is an important one for The Melbourne Brewers. Our annual meeting will be conducted.

We have spoken openly about members getting involved in the decision making and direction of the club. There are positions available that need to be filled, so if you are inclined, let it be known.

The BYO magazines have arrived and will be available for collection for paid up members.

Memberships are also due as we move into a new financial year.

Remember to keep the date for the dinner available on August. 31st at William Angliss, the same venue as last year.

Hope to see as many as possible along at the warehouse this Wednesday.

Ian Bennett

President

 

 

The next meeting, 26th June.

Is the Annual General Meeting and will be back once again at Petes warehouse in Ferntree Gully.

 

AGM 26th of June.  

The AGM is coming around again and the committee needs new blood. Come get involved and help shape the club. It's a great fun way to add your input and be more involved. Anyone is welcome and encouraged.

Brewer of the month.

This months brewer is...Diamond Papazoglou

Tell us a little about who you are.

I'm married to Cathy, with two kids, Ella 9 and Charlie 6.  We live on an acre in Olinda.  One dog. Eight beer-grain lovin chooks.  I mostly work from home, currently on a yawn maintenance yaaawn project preparing for aaaaarrgh a 2021 shutdown of an acid plant Zzzzz. A dull period in my career but a really fun part of my life - young kids, great hills community etc. I’m currently planning a MountainTop brew fest - Oct 13 - as a fun new school fundraiser. No cake stalls.  Slightly more exciting than vanadium pentoxide catalyst.

When did you join the Melbourne Brewers and what do you like about being in the Club?
2018.  I joined so I could improve my brewing, from brew day skills through recipe design.  I enjoy the diversity in the club - those who admit they just like having a beer with a group of fellow home brewers to those who like to dive deep and enjoy experimenting with new methods - and sharing their successes and failures.
When and why did you decide to give brewing a try?
2008.  My wife and I had just moved to Salt Lake City for "1 year", and I fell in love with American craft beer ... prices. The first decent beer I made was inspired by Traquair House ale (wee heavy); it was $5 in the State Liquor Store where great domestic craft beers were only $2.  I’ve been losing money ever since (or, at best, labouring for $1 per hour).
Do you brew kit, extract, all grain or a combination?
Started with extract/specialty grains and graduated to all-grain (robobrew) a couple of years ago.
How many batches are you up to?
Around 50 batches of all-grain over the past two years on top of the 20 or so extract batches in my first eight years of brewing. My next batch will be kegged for the MountainTopBrewFest. Oct 13.
What’s your favourite style to brew?
IPA - a forgiving style but when done well it's very rewarding.
What about your favourite style to drink?
APA.
Do you have a favourite store bought beer?
The Traquir House ale is still up there. But I was recently blown away by the Hargreaves Hill XPA (on tap).
What system do you brew with?
Robobrew v3.
What’s your favourite brewing gadget/tool?
The crappy pulley I set up above my robo brew. My most recent proud addition is a $7 pocket scale for measuring brewing salts and hops, down to 0.1g precision.
What’s been your best highlight since you started brewing?
My (toughest critic, my) wife choosing my beer over good craft beer in a blind beer-choice last week (I wanted the craft beer so it was win win).
What about your biggest disaster?
My wife saying “corrr, yuk, why did you make me drink that?!” A (really really) bad Hefeweizen.
What’s your favourite brewery to spend some time at?
Public in Croydon. It is close-ish and approved by the kids.
What would be your best tip for others?
For a more relaxed and mistake-proof brew day, get all your ingredients & equipment laid out and clean the days before; keep a minimalist check list that covers typical brew day mistakes or omissions (eg campden tab, whirlfloc). And don’t believe everything you read on online forums!
What do you love about brewing that keeps you picking up the paddle?
It's a bit like golf.  I'm a (lapsed) hack golfer who's had one hole in one, one eagle and a few birdies.  The “wow” moments were great, but I played my 100+ game because every hit had the potential to be great.  Brewing is kind of the same.  It’s not how many balls or brews get lost/dumped in the bush, it’s how you play the game.
When you’re not brewing, how do you spend the rest of your spare time?
Sneaking out to the brewery to prepare for the next brew day. And wrestling with kids, building random stuff with / for them, playing or being the playground.
Planning the MountainTopBrewFest (please get in touch 0491219683 if you’d like to contribute a keg. Really good peoples choice and judges choice awards!)

The Annual Dinner, 2019. 

The date is set, 31st of August at William Angliss in the city.

After party nearby but still to be determined where.

Beerfest 2019

  

Our sponsors  put up some fantastic prizes this year in support of the Home Brewing Community. Lets show them some love back and get   behind them when you next do your shopping or recommend a store to a new brewer. It's these sponsors that keep our competitions running so lets return the favour and support them any way you can!

Major Sponsors:

Champion Brewer - $500 voucher for Grain and Grape
Beer of Show - $200 Brewers Pack from Beerco
Best Novice - Fermentasaurus with pressure kit from Keg King
Best Club - Bulk Malt from Cryer Malt.
_________
Our category sponsors
Pale Lager - $100 store voucher to Greensborough Home Brewing
Wheat and Rye - 25kg JW Signature Malt, 25kg Simpsons Golden Promise, 500g Cashmere Hops from Bintani
 
Dark Ale and Lager - $50 Keg King Voucher and $50 Point of Difference Voucher
Strong Ale and Lager - $100 voucher for Grain and Grape from Spiedel
Porter and Stout - $100 Store voucher to The Brewers Den
Pale and Bitter Ale -25kg JW Signature Malt, 25kg Simpsons Golden Promise, 500g Cashmere Hops from Bintani 
American Pale Ale - $100 store voucher from Brewers Choice
Farmhouse and Wild - $100 store voucher from  Clever Brewing
Speciality - $100 store voucher from Home Make It

The Old Dick.

Since 1999, the Club Brewer of the Year trophy has been an unusual mechanical device, affectionately known as “The Old Dick”.

The trophy was built about 22 years ago by former Member Dick Seville who was a popular and eccentric Member of the Melbourne Brewers and the ABAV which preceded it. “The Old Dick” is designed to hold a 750ml bottle of beer and to gradually tilt it in order to pour the contents without disturbing the sediment, thereby obtaining a crystal clear beer.

Dick an engineer by trade would regularly take the device with him when dining at BYO restaurants and drinking his own beers, mostly bottle conditioned brown ales.

Longstanding Members will remember Dick as the quietly spoken gentleman who would bring a large plate of cheese and onion sandwiches to every club meeting which would be unveiled late at each meeting after the standard Club nibbles had been consumed. These would rapidly be devoured and were a traditional part of Club meetings for many years.

Dick was an inventive guy having a hand in building one of the first commercial washing machines ever built in Australia. Unfortunately, Dick passed away several years ago but much of his brewing equipment was donated and subsequently auctioned by the Club so many current Members have equipment designed and built by Dick and his legacy lives on.

The Old Dick was donated by Dick’s family and Colin Penrose. So next time you see “The Old Dick” remember that it, like our Club, has a rich history built on the efforts of eccentric good blokes like Dick Seville.

The Old Dick is a prestigious award given to the Club Brewer of the Year, based on all the members points tallied from all competitions entered. First, Second and Third all generate points to determine who gets to be this years Brewer of the Year.

Membership.

The club's preferred method of payment is online.
New members: If you believe you are not on the club mailing list, send the committee an email or bring it up with someone at a meeting to make sure we add you in.

Your membership comes with these great benefits plus many others so support the club and help keep it going.

BYO Magazine
 All members receive the BYO magazine as part of their yearly subscription.

(This is a great saving over an individual subscription)

Monthly Meetings

Meetings are held on the last Wednesday of each month at different locations. They are a great place to socialise, listen to talks, participate in Club competitions, BBQ's and of course taste lots of beer plus many other things.

Communications

A monthly newsletter outlining upcoming Club events and competitions as well as general Melbourne Brewers information and photos.  This gets distributed by email a few days before Club meetings.

Members are also advised of upcoming events by email. Our member email distribution is also used as a forum to discuss topics of interest and to provide brewing information amongst members.

Brew Days
Periodically, Members volunteer to have a Brew Day at their brewery and invite Club Members or guys who may be interested in brewing to have a look at how they brew, equipment used etc. Brew Days are a good way for novice brewers to learn how to make all-grain beer.

Activity Days
Every so often, days are organised for a group of members to build or assemble equipment e.g. convert kegs to boilers, make immersion chillers, yeast stir-plates, counter pressure bottle fillers, temperature controllers.

Events & Excursions
Periodically the Club organises events/trips e.g. trip to Maltings, Melbourne microbreweries, weekends away at country pubs, fishing trip.

Annual Club events include the Annual Dinner, Xmas party, Steinbeer weekend and Beerfest weekend (Club run comp).

Club Buys
Club buys (Bulk buys) of equipment offer significant savings to members.

Club Library
There is a large range of brewing books and equipment available for loan by members.

Things to keep you busy.

Get a brew happening for:

31st August, The Annual Dinner.

October internal comp on Lagers.

October, Baysides Oktoberfest.

Go to our Calendar and sync it with your own so you never miss an event.

Get some reading done after you buy some books through our book depository link.

Last but far from least, help keep the Club alive and don't forget to pay your membership fees for this financial year