April ’13 meeting

April meeting will take place Tuesday April 2nd, 2013 at exactly 7pm Central Standard Time at The Happy Gnome in St. PaulWith the 1st round of the National Homebrew Competition coming up a couple of days after the meeting, Steve Fletty is going to give a judging primer and we’ll also do another fun off-flavor tasting.  If you haven’t done it before, the off-flavor tasting is a great way to really learn about the different off-flavors (some good, some bad) that you can get in your beer, and how/why they appear. We’ll also have a couple beers to judge so you can get a feel for the judging process and hopefully learn a thing or 12.Which brings me to the next topic… I’m not sure how many volunteers we have, but if you still want to sign up to volunteer (judge, steward, whatever) for 1st round NHC, the sign up page for our location is here:  http://canadianbrewer.com/NHCRoundOne/

December / January Meetings, club work shirts and many more updates

December “meeting”, aka Schell’s bus tripReminder, there is no meeting in December, we are instead taking a club bus trip to Schell’s Saturday December 1st. If you are interested in attending, we still have room. Members and guests only, contact info@sphbc.org for more info.Club Work Shirts and Hats – Order by Dec 14thWe are ordering SPHBC work shirts ($35) and hats ($15) NOW. Hopefully they will be ready for UMMO. Contact info@sphbc.org for more info.Shirts are Dickies LS508 short sleeve work shirt with pockets, khaki/tan color embroidered with St. Paul Homebrewers Club text and the drunk viking image (see sphbc.org for viking).http://www.dickies.com/whats-hot/all-products/Premium-Industrial-Short-Sleeve-Work-Shirt-LS508.jspNew “Officers”Approx every 2 years we appoint new club officers. As announced last month, our new leaders for 2013-2014 are: Eric Anderson (moves from VP to Prez), Jason Siverson (VP), and BJ Haun remains as treasurer. James Henjum will continue to help organize CoC competitions until he withdraws. Congrats to the fresh blood!January MeetingTuesday January 8th, 7pm. Location TBD (one week late due to New Year’s)Next AHA Club-only CompetitionThe next CoC is for “Unsession Beers” or anything over 1.040 OG. Entries are due January 11, 2013 and we’ll be picking an entry at the January meeting. People interested in submitting need to bring 3 competition appropriate bottles and the entry forms already filled out to the January meeting. Email James Henjum for more details.2013 Dues2013 dues will be collected starting on the bus trip, we have new cards ready to hand-out. Dues are again $20 however if you were an “active club participant” in 2012 you can pay as little as $5.To qualify as an active participant, you must have entered at least 1 beer in the 2012 UMMO, MN State Fair or AHA National Homebrew Competition as SPHBC. Then for each competition volunteered/judged or each three meetings attended you get $5 credit for up to $15 total.If you didn’t meet the requirements, just pay $20. Otherwise pay $5-$15, honor system is used but we know who “active members” are.2013 Upper Mississippi Mash Out home brew competitionDon’t forget, the 2013 UMMO is coming in January. Much more info to follow, but this is a great event and a wonderful way to be an active member of the club and learn a ton about beer, judging and competitions. http://www.mashout.org/Cheers,Jeff HalvorsonSPHBC PrezEric AndersonSPHBC VP

November 8th SPHBC meeting

This month’s meeting will be held at Pour Decisions Brewing Co.1744 Terrace Dr, Roseville, MN 55113-1315Please BYOB to drink/share, commercial or homebrew ok.  If you want feedback on your home brew, please bring your brewing notes and recipe when possible.Main Event:Doctored/Flawed Beer tasting.  This is a great organized tasting which will help you identify many common flaws in home brewed beer.Other topcs:1) 2013-2014 club officers2) 12/1 Schell’s Club Tour Last Call3) Club shirt ordering beginsWe’ll wrap up the meeting around 8:30 or 9 and likely head to INDEED BREWING to visit their tap room.

September 4th club meeting

The September meeting will be Tuesday September 4th at The Happy Gnome, 7pm upstairs.   Bring homebrew to share, recipe/brew session notes for feedback and a glass to sample with.The next Club-only Competition entries are due Oct 6th, we will pick a winning entry at the October meeting.  Get brewing some BJCP category 6 Light Hybrid beers now!

June 5th club meeting at The Muddy Pig

Next SPHBC meeting will be Tuesday June 5th, 7pm at The Muddy Pig.  We have once again reserved the back room.Topics:Jake from Better Beer Society will briefly discuss the mission of BBS and their upcoming Brown Bag Blind Tasting event coming up June 30th.Member Del Stein will be talking about his system and brewing process.Club sponsored 2nd round NHC shipping CoC for August is Porter (entries due on or after the July meeting)Also, this Sunday SPHBC will NOT be brewing at Grand Old Day, however Northern Brewer will be doing their own brew demo’s over the course of the day.

Club meeting Tuesday May 1st at The Muddy Pig

Our May club meeting will be held Tuesday May 1st, 7pm at The Muddy Pig in St. Paul.  We have reserved the back room.Meetings are open to both members and prospective members.  Homebrew is welcome (bring recipes and notes if you want any feedback), bring a sampling cup and remember to tip the staff well.More details will be posted on the club email list and Facebook group shortly.

Calagiones Scale

The Calagiones Scale measures a brewers passion in units called Deci-bags.
10 Deci-bag = 
1 Calgione
10 Calgiones = A Full-on Brewing Douchebag
Level 5
Level 4
Level 3 – You are a brewing tool
Level 2
Level 1 – You are a full-on brewing douchebag