We had another very interesting meeting, still learning things about beer and brewing from our friends.  We tasted six beers and talked about the future of our club. Well, almost six beers. I literally cracked mine open, the bottle broke, so any tastes were cautious sips or just a sniff of the aromatics. One of the other beers was a disappointing bad example of a manufactured beer gone wrong.  Otherwise, our members continue to exceed our expectations for beers as they are meant to be, all worthy of awards!
Nov. 4 Learn to Homebrew Day was a single simple demonstration to a curious few. If we do this again next year we’ll need a higher trafficked area with beer enthusiasts to make it worth doing.
The Beerfest benefit at Southern Brewing was as it has always been, well organized and attended. We served four beers, all well received.  Unfortunately, the top three crowd favorites leaned to the casual drinker side. It would be nice to have a crowd that is more enthusiastic about craft beer.  There were 18 unique flavors and styles.

The next two events are:
​Almost There, January 21, 2024 at the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club.
Beers for Barres, February 24, 2024 at The Winthrop Barn Theater in Riverview.

As for our future of our club, we’re down to 12 paid members as we head into the new year. We’d like to grow the group. We need willing members to get more involved with attractive programs, parties, suggestions? We are going to try meeting at different days, times, and locations. We’ll encourage nearby curious observers to sample our crafts and maybe learn what all the fuss is about.

Proposed next meeting is Sat. Dec. 16, 1pm at Bootleggers. RSVP.

Prost!
—Pete

Looking forward to our monthly meeting in May!  AHA President, Julia Herz, will join us via Zoom and we'll also taste test our SMASH (single malt and single hop) beers! It'll be fun to taste the difference just changing hops in a recipe makes.  We also need to talk about some ideas for club expenditures like Brew Bus tickets, a can seamer, and any other thoughts.

Our membership list is back up to 12, still hoping to reach at least 20.  Interested? Got friends that would be interested in learning how to brew, or would like some expert help from the area's best home brewers?  Join by paying the $20 dues (individual or per couple) via the PayPal link on our Contact page. Then, come to our next meeting!  Always the 3rd Wed. of the month.  Usually in the meeting room at O'Brien's in Brandon.  Sometimes we change this in the summer months, but no plans as yet.

Brandon Bootleggers 2022 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We enjoyed our December meeting at Bootleggers Brewing Co. last night with a bottle share featuring a rich variety of stouts, Dean’s refreshing IPA, Ray’s always exciting Mead, and even a St. Bernardus Christmas Ale that I found at Total Wine. Lucas Branham kept us all smiling and kept his parents very busy!

Brandon Bootleggers 2023 - Back to brewing…

If you’d like to continue attending meetings, pourings, and other club events.  If you’d like to keep in touch through these emails and/or on Facebook.  If you don’t want to get put on the “naughty list”. Then, you’ll want to hit the PayPal link on our website, BrandonBootleggers.com, and submit your $20 dues for next year.  

You may also elect to submit your name for a position of importance as a club officer and/or board member. 
President: Pete Terzian (planning, equipment, website)
VP: Lee Branham (pourings)
Secretary: Katie Branham (email blasts)
Treasurer: Brian Howsare (dues, insurance, donations)
Board: Joe Harrick (program, events)
(Competitions: Joe Hirtz)

We are always open to new ideas and enthusiasm for our hobby. 
Future Meetings:
Jan. - George; Introduction to the Beer Tools app.
Mar. - Ray; The influence of yeast selection on Mead

Future Events:
Almost There, St. Pete Shuffleboard Club, Jan 22, 2pm-5pm
Beers for Barres, Winthrop Barn, Feb 4, 7pm-10pm
Iron Homebrewer, The Liquid Garage, Feb 25, 1pm-5pm
Woodmont Park, Temple Terrace, April 15, 3pm-7pm
Homebrew Con, San Diego, June 22-24, https://www.homebrewcon.org

Rejoin for the new year (only $20) and keep in touch!

—President Pete

Wow, I guess it's been a while since I updated this blog!  Anyway, we've been meeting at some area breweries and now we're back at O'Brien's in Brandon!  We had 12 members meet to hear our latest plans and taste 7 beers.  Two of those were medal winners!  Wes poured his Silver Medal German Pilsner, and Lee shared his Gold Medal Schwarzbier!  Ray continues to educate us with tastes of the same mead every two months.  An email has gone out to all members about upcoming pouring events, and another email details a list of available equipment and supplies from one of our members that has to give up the hobby.  I've asked if he'd like to donate any of it to the club to give away or sell, with proceeds going to our treasury. There was also a brief discussion of the idea to purchase a can seamer for use by members. Interested?

We're back to meeting in person for a few months now.  This month we met at Strandhill Public for Irish food & beer!  The Whisky Burger and a Guinness was a perfect pairing for my palette!  Some members brought their spouses, and it was good to see everyone enjoying the gathering.  Members shared 3 beers and 3 meads, all worthy of competition medals! 

Next month we're back to our traditional meeting location at O'Brien's on Lumsden at Kings. If you're interested in joining the club your first meeting is free.  Dues of just $20 will keep you in touch through next year.  Prost!

We met at the BarrieHaus Beer Company in Ybor City this month.  They welcomed us into their meeting room that was just the right fit for our 7 attending members and their guests.  Their excellent beer, hospitality and a view of their huge steel fermenters made this a very special meeting.
The first taste of a young first-attempt Spelt-Challenge beer got us started on our tastings for the night. I’m hoping it carbs up a little better over time and I’m considering adding a flavor. Wes’s Pilsner was excellent, glad to have him back, this guy knows his beers and his home brewing expertise is enlightening.  Next, we had Lee’s Irish Red YUM!, Joe Harrick’s Smoked Marzen with a nice medium amount of smoke, Brian’s Imperial Stout from Cigar City, and Ray’s always tastes better with age Orange Blossom Honey Meed. He now has 45 aging meeds!

We met at the new Alafia Brewing Co. in May! We tasted 7 member brews among which included Lee’s first all-grain German Blonde, William’s third-time brewing brown ale and Ray’s three-year old mead! The other tasty treats included Dean’s IPA, deemed an APA by our tasting experts (that’s even better), Joe’s Oktoberfest (deemed a Bock), and Pete’s “Hellish” Rye and Belgian Saison (that he made with Lee at Bootleggers Brewery for the Homebrew Day demo).

Some of us picked up some Spelt grain, donated by George and Mary.  We’ll each come up with a recipe and make a beer from the grains to share at the August meeting.  It’ll be fun to see how they compare! 

Welcome new member, Guy Snyder!  We look forward to hearing more about your brewing experiences.  We have much to share with you!
​
Reminder - Join The American Homebrewers Association and sign up for the Annual Homebrew Con!  It’s online again this year, so there are no travel expenses!  It’s three days of live seminars, a keynote address, online meetups, virtual vendor expo, sponsored demonstrations and the annual awards ceremony.  All seminars will be recorded and made available exclusively to registrants from June to November.

​We're back to meeting together after over a year of just meeting on Zoom. We shared our latest brews, stories of brewing, and generally had a good time on the back porch of our host, Bootleggers Brewing Co.  We had founding members, long-timers, and even a couple new members!

We're considering doing a club pour at The Boot to raise funds for the local Valrico Village Players community theater.  If you have some beer to share let President Pete know that you'd like to participate via our private Facebook Group.

Next month we'll meet at Alafia Brewing Co. and get some grains for a club brewing challenge! Everyone will come up with a recipe based on these grains and we'll share tastes at the next meeting.

Dues are due for the year, just $20.  Use PayPal via this website, or get in touch with our treasurer, Brian through our club email address.

We had a productive meeting last night.  The presentation by Spearhead Hops, located in Ohio, was quite interesting. It renewed my interest in trying to grow hops. You can try their product by visiting their website, www.SpearheadHops.com.  Enter the codeword HOMEBREW (in all caps) to get 10% off your order. If you need any followup information just email Thomas at [email protected].  
The National Homebrew Con will be online again this year. I enjoyed the format last year and will attend again this year, June 17-19.  Registration opens April 6. Price is just $99.  You get access to ALL the presentations after the Con all year!
Competitions are still happening. The Hurricane, Hogtown, and The Coconut Cub are all listed on www.ReggieBeer.com.
Next month we’ll meet in person at the Bootleggers Brewery. We have the back patio reserved. There will be plenty of room to spread out, with open-air ventilation, and masks recommended, we will share our brews in a safe manner. It’ll be good to see our members in person again.
If you haven’t paid your dues, just visit the website to use PayPal/Credit Card, or contact our Treasurer, Brian Howsare.  It’s only $20 for the year. Most of this goes to cover our insurance for pouring events. You get a year of meetings/tastings, discounts at the Bootleggers Store and Brewery, and a club tasting glass (while supply lasts, if current members agree to this idea.)
Peter Terzian
​President, Brandon Bootleggers Homebrew Club