Monthly Club Meeting - Jan. 2019

​Our regular meeting is back after a Thanksgiving meetup at my house and our annual holiday gathering at Bootleggers Brewing Co., with 15 members present. I was officially named our Equipment Manager, succeeding George who's going to be busy with a couple more years of work and a second job opening his own brewery! We're going to need a new President and VP in April.  Apply now!

Put Feb 16 on your calendar for Fergs' Hops for Heros, a club pouring event not to be missed!  Should we use the "Beer Booth"?! (weather permitting) Also, I've made reservations at the Omni in RI for the annual AHA Convention, thinking of driving up with the Beer Booth for that one too! Save a date (tba) in April for the AHA Regional competition.  Enter a beer and plan on helping out with stewarding for some or all of the 5 sessions.  This is the best opportunity of the year to enjoy beer with like minded enthusiasts!

The Coconut Cup competition is open as is the Dunedin IPA smashdown and a Feb pro/am at Coppertail, and while you're at it, the AHA competition. Sign up online at https://reggiebeer.com.

Did you know there are about 80 breweries in the area now? The top 10 in sales include Cigar City, Coppertail, Big Storm, and Tampa Bay Brewing to name a few.

We had a round table discussion on wort aeration, which is important to the 
percent dissolved oxygen for yeast health.  It's especially important for high gravity beers and 5 gal or more batches. Fermentation time, attenuation, and sweetness can all be affected by aeration. The full study is available in our Facebook files. Pictured is my wort stirring device, designed for quicker wort cooling, and may also aid aeration.

Beer Tastings included Rye Wheat, Spiced Holiday Ale, Pale Lager, IPA, Weizenbock, Dunkles Bock, Starfruit Gueuze, and a Meed. Prost!