May 2018 Minutes

The May, 2018 B.A.S.H. meeting was hosted by John and Nikki Daniels on Sunday the 20th at their home in Rockport. El Presidente Mike Wojdyla called the meeting to order, thanked our hosts and welcomed guest  Dave Heim, Jack’s brother. We all wish Vice President for Competitions Daniel Fearn a speedy recovery after his recent hospitalization. Treasurer Tom Freund reported a healthy club balance after recent expenditures for two canopies and Big Brew supplies.

Speaking of Big Brew, Larry Sommers brewed the stout and Rob Sullivan brewed the honey lager. We can sample the finished beers at the July meeting.

In new business Paul Holder, Tom and Aggie Bill Hughen will nominate a slate of candidates for officer elections in June. They will meet at 9:15 p.m. Friday, May 25 at B&J’s Pizza on SPID. All club members are welcome to participate. Our club outing to the Corpus Christi Hooks baseball game is this Thirsty Thursday, May 24. Buy your tickets online using the promo code “BASH”. The game is at 7:05 p.m. vs. Springfield. Zymurgy Magazine has agreed to publish Steve Cook’s article about our club collaboration jalapeño blonde ale brew with Lazy Beach Brewing.

Our AHA sponsored club-only competition last month drew a total of 9 entries, four of which qualified for Homebrewer of the Year points (California and Kentucky common). Wild Bill Lehfeld’s California common earned two HBOY points for 1st place and Larry’s earned one point for 2nd. After two of six 2018 competitions, cumulative HBOY points are as follows:

Rob Sullivan – 3 points

Wild Bill Lehfeld – 2 points

Larry Sommers – 1 point

In the best of show competition (open to all 9 entries) Larry captured 1st place and will be named in an upcoming issue of Zymurgy. Overall, Larry earned a total of 20 points, Wild Bill 14 points, Carroll Pate 4 points and Paul Holder 3 points. After two of six 2018 competitions, cumulative BOS points are as follows:

Wild Bill – 39 points

Rob – 20 points

Larry -- 20 points

Mark Quade – 10 points

Aggie Bill – 8 points

Carroll – 4 points

Paul – 3 points

Our upcoming August competition will also be AHA sponsored.

After the meeting adjourned, we washed down Nikki’s INTERNATIONALLY FAMOUS taco salad with new homebrews by Chris Ackman (IPA), Tom (hoppy American amber) and Paul (dry stout/American brown). Commercial beers included Brian Cook’s Stella Artois, Jack’s Karbach Rodeo Clown Double IPA and Carroll’s Real Ale Fireman’s No. 4 Blonde Ale.

Upcoming B.A.S.H. events:

24-May-18: Corpus Christi Hooks game, 7:05 p.m.

10-Jun-18: B.A.S.H. meeting (Lou Needleman, competition: BOS open/HBOY Czech lager, BJCP 3A-D)

8-Jul-18: B.A.S.H. meeting (B&J’s Pizza on Staples at Timbergate, hosted by Paul Holder)

12-Aug-18: B.A.S.H. meeting (need host, competition: BOS open/HBOY >51% extract challenge)

9-Sept-18: B.A.S.H. meeting (Mark Woerner)

14-Oct-18: B.A.S.H. meeting (need host, competition: BOS open/HBOY amber and brown American beer, BJCP 19A, 19C)

3-Nov-18: Iron Mash XV

11-Nov-18: B.A.S.H. meeting (need host, competition: BOS open/HBOY spiced beer, BJCP 30A-C)

Thanks again John and Nikki, get well Daniel, keep on brewin’ and we’ll see you at the Hooks game !

Big Brew 18

Every year, the American Homebrewer’s Association celebrates National Homebrew Day with the Big Brew.  Again, this year, BASH joined with hundreds of other clubs’ worldwide to celebrate the day. Recipes were provided by, and in honor of, Charlie Papazian, the “father” of homebrewing in the USA.  Charlie will be retiring from the beer industry this year, hence the nod from the organization he founded back in the 1970’s.

The day kicked off with the traditional toast to homebrewing at noon Central (observed worldwide).  Then we got down to business. It was all grain in our exhibition that day. Our intrepid brewers, Rob and Larry, broke out their big pots (it was the big brew) and got down to mashing.  Larry brewed Charlie’s Rocky’s Racoon Honey Lager while Rob took on Charlie’s Dusty Mud Irish-style Stout.  We will all get to sample these at the July meeting so don’t miss it.

Notable events during the brew.  Members Walt, Mark Q., Eric L., Tall Paul, Yankee Paul, Carroll, Gabriel M., all stopped by.  Several others visited to see what we were doing including former member: Martin Rupp.

We christened our new tent.  Stuck in the habit of taking 30 minutes to erect the tent, Mark Q and Paul didn’t hit the advertised time of 2 minutes to erect the new one (it took us 5).  But we are anxious to work on it and bringing that number down.

The first beer was spilled at 12:39.  I promised Rob I wouldn’t mention his name in that sentence.  

Finally, although the weather was very cooperative, Larry expressed a desire for his fully electric, computer-controlled rig so he could go inside and enjoy the A/C. Rob noted that he had everything he owned out there and didn’t mind the heat.  

See you at the Daniel’s on Sunday, May 19th (one week later than normal).