El Presidente Daniel Fearn, missing for three months, is back! Daniel was kidnapped by Vice President Mike Wojdyla and held prisoner in Mike’s abandoned pool near Rockport. Daniel was left with only pond scum and Michelob Ultra to drink. When asked how he survived, he replied “The pond scum was pretty good but it could use more hops!” After Daniel escaped, Mike fled the country and is reportedly seeking asylum in the North Korean embassy in Bhutan.
El Presidente celebrated his freedom by hosting the April B.A.S.H. meeting on Sunday the 9th along with wife Jessica. With competition director Mike in hiding, Jessica administered this months’ competition for specialty IPAs, BJCP category 21B. Wild Bill Lehfeld earned 3 points for his 1st place white IPA and 2 points for his runner-up rye IPA. Greg Sawyer earned one point for his 3rd place dark IPA. After two competitions in 2017, cumulative scores are as follows:
- Wild Bill – 10 points
- Greg – 1 point
- Mark Quade – 1 point
El Presidente called the meeting to order, welcoming new members Chris and Elizabeth Ackman. Somebody pushed the “play” button on Carroll Pate and we heard the familiar glowing treasury report. In new business, the AHA’s Big Brew is coming up the 1st Saturday in May. Philip Mooney and Cody Martin will brew an all-grain “Klang Freudenfest” Oktoberfest lager. Paul Holder and Mark Quade will brew the “Rushmore” American IPA. See Paul soon if you want to make the third of this years’ AHA recipes – “Battre L’oie” Saison. As always, the club will buy the ingredients and we will drink the results during the August meeting. John Cicala and Lou Needleman will each donate a 10’ X 10’ shade canopy that we will try out at Big Brew.
Cory Mathews promoted the upcoming CC Brewery Festival on Saturday, April 22 at Lazy Beach. Rebel Toad, Lazy Beach, B&J’s Pizza and Lorelei are all participating. In other news, Daniel earned a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place medal in a recent homebrew competition in Mc Allen. B.A.S.H. finished in 3rd place as a club.
After the meeting adjourned, we feasted on white lasagna. Besides the winning competition beers, we enjoyed new homebrews from Chris Ackman (dirty blonde), Vic Aguilar (red IPA), Steve Cook (American IPA/black IPA), Jim Hildreth (black IPA), Paul (milk stout), Wild Bill (red IPA), Carroll and Chris Swanson (American wheat) and Greg (white IPA). Interesting commercial beers included John’s Newcastle Brown Ale, Bryan Cook’s Stella Artois, Brad Klager’s Unibroue Grande Reserve 17/Crooked Line Cahoots Grapefruit Saison, Cory’s Lazy Beach Churrasco Beer and Choppy Waters IPA and Lou’s Big Bend Tejas Lager.
The best exchange of the night was as follows –
- Chris S – “Walt, what are you pouring?”
- Walt Crawford – “My first DRINKABLE India pale ale”
- Chris S – “That’s YOUR opinion!”
Upcoming B.A.S.H. events:
- 6-May-17: Big Brew (B&J’s Pizza on Staples at Timbergate, multiple brewing demonstrations)
- 21-May-17: B.A.S.H. meeting (John Daniels, note: 3rd Sunday)
- 11-Jun-17: B.A.S.H. meeting (William Lee, extract competition, BJCP open category)
- 9-Jul-17: B.A.S.H. meeting (B&J’s Pizza on Staples at Timbergate hosted by Paul Holder)
- 13-Aug-17: B.A.S.H. meeting (need host, British golden ale/Australian sparkling ale competition, BJCP 12A-B)
- 10-Sep-17: B.A.S.H. meeting (Mark Woerner, brewing demonstration)
- 8-Oct-17: B.A.S.H. meeting (need host, pale malty European lager competition, BJCP 4A-C)
