The Newsletter, March 2021.
Presidents report.
Always a busy time for The Melbourne Brewers from late February with Beerfest through to the end of March with Steinbrew.
Beerfest was a wonderful success, with over 200 entries to judge, up by about 20% on the past couple of years.
It was satisfying to win the best club at Beerfest and congratulations to all who entered and especially to those that won and placed in categories. I am sure the grain prize from Cryer Malt will be put to good use
Congratulations to our brewers who won and placed in different categories.
Craig Bates 1ST in Pale Ale
Brendan Coffey 2ND in Pale Ale and highly mentioned in Brown Ale
Christopher Holmes 2ND and 3RD in Speciality
John Keske 1ST in Brown Ale, 3RD in Strong Ale and Larger and runner up in Champion Brewer
Marty Ryan 2ND in Brown Ale
Tom Cooper 3RD in Brown Ale
We would also like to thank Shane Ward, a Past President of Melbourne Brewers and owner of Beach Hut Brewery for his assistance with hosting his venue for our Beerfest Competition.
The prizes for category winners are quite substantial, and we would like to thank those sponsors who generously donated product for the winners. If you have not bought from any of our sponsors previously, give them the opportunity in the future. Support those that support our club.
|
Category |
Prize |
|
Champion Brewer |
Grain and Grape - $500 voucher |
|
Beer of Show |
Beerco Prize Pack (two boxes) |
|
Best Novice |
Chubby Fermenter and Cleaner |
|
Best Club |
Cryer Malt Grain |
|
American Pale Ale |
Brewers Den - $100 |
|
Pale and Bitter Ale |
Bintani (Bag of Grain + Box) |
|
Strong Ale and Lager |
Grain and Grape - $100 voucher (email) |
|
Brown Ale |
Bintani (Bag of Grain + Box) |
|
Mixed Ferment |
Home Make It Voucher - $50 + Yakima Chief Hops |
|
European Wild Ale |
Brewers Choice Voucher - $100 |
|
Speciality |
Cheeky Peak Brewery Voucher - $100 |
Earlier this month our members travelled to Nagambie to camp on our Steinbrew weekend.
It was heartening to see the great number of members and their families who made the trip. It was the best attended Steinbrew for some years and those that got along all enjoyed what that weekend brings. It was also good to see some member who haven’t been around for some time like Andy, Brett McClusky and Lynton. Andy making sure the heritage and traditions of Steinbrew were adhered to.
Ian brewed a Black Rye IPA and Hayden brewed for natural sour however the local conditions were too warm for natural fermentation, so the sour was taken back to Melbourne for the fermentation process.
It was a great weekend and one well worth getting along to. Worth it just for Erik’s pizza !
Looking forward to tasting our experimental brews from last month, so see you at the warehouse Wednesday
Ian Bennett
President
The next meeting, 30th of March.
Marchs meeting will be back at Pete's warehouse with a 7:30pm start. The address is Unit 11/12 Edina Rd, Ferntree Gully VIC 3156. We will be sampling the beers brewed at the February meeting. 
Steinbrew 2021.
19th-21st of March.
Major Creek Riverside Camp.
Beerfest 2021.
Located for 2021 at Beach Hut Brewery at 4 Rocco Drive, Scoresby.
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.
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://melbournebrewers.org/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.
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.
