Presidents report. 

As many have said, it really is strange times here in Melbourne as well as around the world, but those that have relatives or friends residing overseas and keep in regular contact can attest that our situation is envied.

It seams as though our lives are in a situation where we have had no prior experience or precious little preparation to deal with this COVID 19 pandemic. Being told by Governments how to live our lives is foreign to most of us, but essential if you listen to the politicians.

Fortunately for most of us staying at home, the bonus that gives us that much needed additional time to be able brew more often than usual. The temptation, however, is the ability to raise a glass more than normal.

When the Club was unable to gather for our monthly meeting at Pete’s warehouse, Zoom meetings were the alternate. I was quite surprised by the numbers of members who logged on for the first meeting in April and delighted again for the May meeting. I’m more surprised for how long these meetings went for with some member still conversing well after 11 pm, having logged on by 7.30.

This month we were to reconvene at the Warehouse until “the rules” changed again. Our AGM will be a Zoom meeting. We also hope to have a special  guest to come on board and chat with us.

If you have had an inkling to be involved in the running of your club, jump on board as we can always do with new ideas and activities to see The Melbourne Brewers prosper. There is great satisfaction steering our club into the future. The time commitment is not an onerous one. Looking forward committee meetings which are held once a month are more than likely to be Zoom meetings, further cutting down on face to face meetings and the task of driving to and from the meeting venue.

We have the grain for best performed club at Beerfest and will confirm the logistics of giving out 5kg or 10kg of grain depending on your commitment to brew a SMASH beer for our next internal competition.

We were expecting to be able to hold CIDER DAY in July, but we will have to continue to monitor the COVID 19 restrictions before committing to a date.

Bayside are again running their “Octoberfest’ competition and just squeezing it into October on Saturday 31^st.  

Hope to see you all on the computer.

Cheers,

Ian  

The next meeting, 24th of June. 

Junes meeting will be held online via zoom again since Victoria has tightened restrictions again. It is the Annual General Meeting with a guest speaker.

Steinbrew 2019.

Beerfest 2020.

 

 

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.

 Category Sponsors.

Club News.

The Club is planning a case swap in Easter, register your interest. Cider day is hopeful for July but not confirmed due to pandemic.

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. http://13.211.143.4/register/melbourne-brewers-membership-2018-2019/ 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 brewing for Baysides Octoberfest one the 31st.

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.