Hey everyone,

I enjoyed another great month for homebrew w/ the Lancaster County Brewers!

We had our German wheat theme -Hefeweizen, Cristallweizen, Dunkelweizen. I arrived a little later since I had to grab my camera for a few snaps for the club’s facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1498987125&ref=name#/album.php?aid=2013139&id=1005255539&ref=mf

I really enjoyed the food theme participation with so many cabbage dishes to go along with the wheat and other homebrews.

There were a handful of good homebrewed hefeweizens, of course we would like more participation in the theme/style of the month.  John Miller, Abe Hertzler & Jared Hankee, Mike Knaub and our President Alex Brubaker all had Hefeweizens to sample.

Some of the other beers availablewere John Miller’s Saison, Steve Grisafi’s T7 Belgian and kolsch, Mike Knaub’s split Helles with Canadian and German malts, Frank Melvin’s Picnic IPA, Nate Warren’s Maple Pale Ale, Alex Brubaker’s Pils/Crystal Smash Dubbel, Abe Hertzler & Jared Hankee’s Octoberfest, Nate Frohm’s Double IPA and Matt Ney’s Chocodog Imperial Brown and Grandma’s Gruit.     * from memory*

There were homegrown hops and crystal malts raffled off as well as Stoudt’s Hefer in Weizen. It was a very pleasant meeting welcoming new faces like Chuck Dugan.  We hope to see a big turnout for the next meeting -June is Alt/Kolsch/Doppelsticke a treat for those of us who like German Ales. It would be great to see some  club members bring a few of each variety for the theme.

Cheers, Prost, Op uw gezondheid, and Sláinte

Matt – VP

LCB Spring Picnic is finally here!!!!!!! This Sunday May 24th the Lancaster County Brewers will be hosting the Spring Picnic at the Gardenspot Motorcycle Club. The festivities will begin at 3 pm. This is an all ages event, so bring your families, significant others or friends. Please bring along a covered dish and glassware that you see fit.

Jockey Box Debut!!!!! We will be serving 15 gallons of homebrew. VP Matt Ney brewed a Double Wit, Frank Melvin brewed an American IPA, and Pres. Alex Brubaker brewed an American Blonde. These are sure to beers you don’t want to miss.

So come out and have a great time will fellow homebrewers and beer lovers.  Hope to see you there

Pres. ADB

On May 27th to the Lancaster County Brewers Monthly meeting at 7 pm in the Basement of Lancaster Brewing Company. The beer theme is German Wheat Beers. I am pump to try some German weissbiers. With their velvety mouth feel and refreshing characteristics these beers were made for the coming summer season.

Cabbage is the food theme and I am excited to try everyones cabbage dishes. I love cabbage!!!!!!! and it should pair nicely with the wheat beers.

I hope you see you there

Pres ADB

 Hey LCB members and friends,

 We had an exciting club meeting once again with Fruit Themed homebrew and cheese as the food theme for April. We had a vote on club equipment as you may already know. We decided as a club to purchase hardware for the club Jockey box. This will be a good addition for when the club is on the road sharing our homebrew. The second piece of equipment will be a large capacity(at least 10 gal) oak barrel for aging club beer. This will passed from a ‘team’ who brews when the beer is bottle to another small group of club members to fill with new beer and create a complex essence. It should be fun to taste the complexity the wood adds and we may get spirals to keep the oak infusion after multiple uses.

 The fruit enhanced beers were shared and there were many other non-fruit options for tasting as well.  I especially enjoyed the 12 yr old mead Lee carpenter shared which had starfruit in among other things! There were great IPA’s like Steve Grisafi’s Chinugget and Alex Brubaker’s Harvest IPA along with Frank Melvin’s Grapefruit zest beer -scurvy and Steve Apat’s Scottish ale among many others. I brought Lychee Pale Ale, Pom Mead and Jeremiah Eastep had Peach Braggot to compare to mine in a side by side tasting.  We got to try  both Oaked and Cherry Zoigl Imperial Brown ales from approximately 1. 5 yrs ago.

There was an array of cheeses including brie, aged gouda, stilton w/ blueberries and blue. Michelle Elscheid -Newsletter editor brought raspberry cheesecake and Frank Melvin contributed a fruit/cheese pizza. There were mentions of volunteering for Mt Hope festival as stewards – point of Contact: Mike Knaub. The Club trash pick up on Dry Tavern Rd will Take place May 2 as well as Mr. Steve’s Grand Opening at the new location.  The May picnic scheduled for Memorial day weekend so there is plenty going on. As always we welcome new members and had some visitors this month-hope to see you again!

Matt -vp

The thread for the club barrel project is up at Lancaster county brewers Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=43922861713&topic=7874

Here is a link to the visual documentation of the blending: http://www.facebook.com/n/?photo.php&pid=30159218&op=1&view=all&subj=1498987125&id=1005255539&mid=61c24bG5958ba75G53c379G5

Matt -VP

2nd Annual Big Beer Homebrew Competition
Great Divide Brewing Company of Denver, Colorado is hosting its Second
Annual Big Beer Homebrew Competition.  Great Divide employees will be
judging the entries based on appearance, body, aroma, taste, and overall
drinkability.  Official awards ceremony will take place on Friday, June 5^th,
2009 at 6:00 pm in the Great Divide Tap Room.
Prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third place.  The brewers of
all three winning beers will receive an official certificate of merit as
well as their choice of any one case of Great Divide beer.  First and second
place brewers will be awarded a fifty-dollar gift certificate
redeemable in the Great Divide taproom for merchandise or beer.  The brewer
of the first place entry will also be given the opportunity to assist in the
brewing of one 50-barrel batch of Great Divide beer.

Official Rules and Regulations:
-        Entries must be delivered in person to Great Divide Brewing Company.
-        Entries must be at least 8% alcohol by volume.
-        Entries must be in 12- or 22-oz. bottles with hand-written
         labels attached by rubber band or tape.
-        Information on labels must include brewer’s name, beer style, and percent
         alcohol by volume.
-        Four full 12-oz. or two 22-oz. bottles are required for judging.
-        There are no style limitations.
-        Original recipes only.
-        Recipes may be extract, partial mash, or all grain.
-        Beer cannot be brewed using any commercial brewing equipment, or in any
         facility in which beer is commercially brewed.
-        Brewers must be at least 21 years of age.
-        Entries are limited to one per person.
-        Each entry may have only one official brewer.
-        Entries must be received between 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm Monday through
         Saturday, from Monday, May 4^th, 2009 to Saturday, May 30^th, 2009.

Come to Lancaster Brewing Company @ 7 pm on April 29  and share you home brewed fruit beers. I look forward to trying your home brewed beers and discovering the wide array of methods of adding fruit flavors to your beer.  

Did you use fresh fruit, puree, or extract? When did you add the fruit? How did you sanitize the fresh fruit? I hope these are some of the questions that I hear being asked at the meeting.  I know I have had some good fruit beers from club members before and look forward to trying some new ones.

Please bring your favorite cheese or cheese creations. I know we have a lot of cheese lovers and accomplished cooks in the club, and i look forward to trying your creations.

Pres.  ADB