March 2019 Meeting Minutes

February 2019 Meeting Minutes

The February, 2019 B.A.S.H. meeting was hosted by Lou Needleman on Sunday the 10th at his “home-away-from-home” in Corpus Christi. El Presidente Mike Wojdyla called the meeting to order, thanked our host and welcomed new member Spencer Beard and his son Brendan. Treasurer Tom reported a still-healthy club balance. Mike reminded us that we needed an officers’ nominating committee for 2019-2020 in May. The Big Brew is also coming up in May.

In old business, the new competition format was implemented this month (see below).

In new business, Vice President Elizabeth Gibbens mentioned that the 3rd annual Corpus Christi Brewery Festival is Saturday, March 9 at the Art Center. We discussed the possibility of having a B.A.S.H. information table with a flyer directing interested people to our website.

The competition this month was open to all styles, with double points awarded to saisons (BJCP category 25B). Results are as follows:

1. Wild Bill Lehfeld – saison “D” 36.0/50
2. Wild Bill – saison “C” 33.0/50
3. Wild Bill – saison “A” 32.9/50
4. Mark Quade – saison 32.7/50
5. Wild Bill – saison “B” 30.1/50

With two entrants, 2 points are awarded for 1st place and one point for 2nd place (doubled for beers of the declared style). Thus Wild Bill earns 6 points for 2019 Homebrewer of the Year. His saison “D” advances to the Best Of Show judging in June, to compete with the winning beers from the upcoming contests at the April and June meetings.

As we devoured Lou’s spiral-sliced ham, we enjoyed the competition beers plus new homebrews from Chris Ackman (“backasswards” IPA), Paul Holder (dunkels weissbier) and Wild Bill (black licorice honey porter/spruce pale ale/dunkels weissbier). Among the commercial beers were Real Ale Devil’s Backbone (Tom), Dogfish Head Festina Peche (Paul), McGuire’s Irish Red/Harpoon Dunkin Donuts Coffee Porter (Aggie Bill Hughen), Saison Dupont (Mark Quade), Sierra Nevada Celebration (Mark Woerner) and Twisted X Chupahpra (Mike).

The following ridiculous comments were overheard:

Paul – “My tongue is self-cleaning!”

Mark Q – “Nobody objects – it’s anonymous!”

Upcoming B.A.S.H. events:

12-Feb-19: Education Event “Water Chemistry” (CC Homebrew Supply)

10-Mar-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (Mary Kay Schultz/Tim Grace)

13-Mar-19: Education Event “Sour Beers” (CC Homebrew Supply)

10-Apr-19: Education Event?

14-Apr-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (need host, American IPA (BJCP 21A), Specialty IPA (BJCP 21B) competition, open to all beers)

4-May-19: Big Brew (B&J’s Pizza on Staples at Timbergate?)

8-May-19: Education Event?

19-May-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (John Daniels, NOTE: 3RD SUNDAY)

9-Jun-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (need host, competition: Low Gravity Challenge <5% ABV Must Provide OG/FG, open to all beers)

12-Jun-19: Education Event?

Thanks again Lou, congratulations Wild Bill, keep on brewin’ and we’ll see you at Tim and Mary Kay’s !

January 2019 Meeting Minutes

The January, 2019 B.A.S.H. meeting was held on Sunday the 13th, hosted by Tom and Rocky Freund at their home in Flour Bluff. Aggie Bill and Dianna Hughen co-hosted. El Presidente Mike Wojdyla called the meeting to order and thanked our hosts and co-hosts. Treasurer Tom collected dues from a few who had misremembered to pay.

In old business, Mike congratulated Wild Bill Lehfeld on winning Homebrewer of the Year and Best Of Show Brewer of the Year for 2018. Paul Holder reviewed the proposed competition changes for 2019 and beyond from the committee formed at the December meeting. The changes were approved by voice vote.

The Repeat Offenders (Mark Quade and Jim Hildreth) were the only team brewing at Iron Mash XV, so  they automatically win the “competition”. They did split their wort into two carboys, and fermented each with a different saison yeast strain. An ad hoc 3-man team judged the beers, with one scoring 96 points (average BJCP score 32 out of 50) and the other 95. Each beer was on draft at the club’s portable 5-tap bar along with Jim’s black IPA, the demonstration brew from the December meeting. They were all well-received by the swarm of bar flies. Tom presented the Iron Mash Trophy Cup, along with the individual bling medals.

As we enjoyed tamales and chili blanco, we quaffed mostly older homebrews. Paul did share a new experimental altbier. The most interesting commercial beer was shared by Phil Sims – 101 North Naughty Aud Imperial Stout.

The party continued past 11:00 p.m. around the roaring fire pit.

Upcoming B.A.S.H. events:

10-Feb-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (Jack Baker, saison (BJCP 25B) competition, open to all beers)

12-Feb-19: Education Event “Water Chemistry” (CC Homebrew Supply)

10-Mar-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (Mary Kay Schultz/Tim Grace)

13-Mar-19: Education Event “Sour Beers” (CC Homebrew Supply)

10-Apr-19: Education Event

14-Apr-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (need host, American IPA (BJCP 21A), Specialty IPA (BJCP 21B) competition, open to all beers)

8-May-19: Education Event

19-May-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (John Daniels, NOTE: 3RD SUNDAY)

9-Jun-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (need host, competition: Low Gravity Challenge <5% ABV Must Provide OG/FG, open to all beers)

12-Jun-19: Education Event

Thanks again Tom, Rocky, Aggie Bill and Dianna, congratulations Mark and Jim, keep on brewin’ and we’ll see you at Jack Baker’s !

November 2018 Meeting Minutes

Lou Needleman hosted the November, 2018 B.A.S.H. meeting on Sunday the 11th at his home-away-from-home in Corpus Christi. El Presidente Mike Wojdyla called the meeting to order, thanked our host and welcomed new member John Fulton from Rockport. Treasurer Tom Freund confirmed that all is well with the club treasury.

In old business, Iron Mash XV was held on Saturday 11/3. Only one team (the Repeat Offenders, led by the dastardly Mark Quade) brewed this year, so they automatically win the “competition”. Join us in January to drink the finished saison and revel at the awards ceremony.

In new business, we discussed strategies to attract new members. A motion was made, seconded and approved to obtain new B.A.S.H. business cards. As we devoured Lou’s delectable Indian food, we enjoyed new homebrews by John (Belgian farmhouse ale) Paul Holder (vanilla bourbon stout) and Wild Bill Lehfeld (American amber ale, two different American brown ales). Interesting commercial beers were shared by Tom (Cigar City Tampa-Style Lager), Jack and Karen Heim (Clown Shoes Undead Party Crasher American Imperial Stout, New Belgium The Hemperor/Oakspire Boubon Barrel Ale) and Lou (Much Aloha Pacific Pils/HPA Hawaiian Pale Ale).

Only one bizarre comment was overheard:

Karen – “I’m the only person I know who runs out of anchovy paste”

November competition beers have not yet been judged. The only entries were by Wild Bill:

BJCP 30A spruce pale ale

BJCP 30A black licorice honey porter

BJCP 10B dunkles weissbier

The Homebrewer of the Year competition was for spiced beer, BJCP 30A-C. Wild Bill thus earns one point as the only entrant. After all six 2018 competitions, cumulative HBOY points are as follows:

Wild Bill – 12 points

Rob Sullivan – 3 points

Larry Sommers – 1 point

The Best of Show competition was open to any style. If at least two of Wild Bill’s beers score 30 out of 50 on the BJCP score sheet, he would earn 3 points for 1st place, 2 points for 2nd place and 1 point for 3rd place. If they each score less than 30, he would earn one point for each. He thus would earn between 3 and 6 points. After all six 2018 competitions, cumulative BOS points are as follows:

Wild Bill – 84 - 87 points

Rob – 20 points

Larry – 20 points

Paul Holder – 12 points

Mark Quade – 12 points

Steve Cook – 5 points

Tim Grace – 1 point

Chris Ackman – 1 point

Upcoming B.A.S.H. events:

13-Nov-18: Education Event “Partial grain Brewing (CC Homebrew Supply)

2-Dec-18: B.A.S.H. meeting (Carroll Pate NOTE: 1ST SUNDAY)

11-Dec-18: Education Event “All grain Brewing” (CC Homebrew Supply)

8-Jan-19: Education Event “Recipe Development” (CC Homebrew Supply)

13-Jan-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (Tom Freund, Iron Mash XV judging)

10-Feb-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (Jack Baker?, competition BOS open/HBOY saison, BJCP 25B)

12-Feb-19: Education Event “Water Chemistry” (CC Homebrew Supply)

Thanks again Lou, keep on brewin’ and we’ll see you at Carroll Pate’s !

December 2018 Minutes

Carroll and Judy Pate hosted the December 2018 meeting at their home in Calallen, Corpus Christi Tx. El Presedente’ Mike Wojdywla called the meeting to order thanked our hosts.  Treasurer Paul Holder, masquerading as Tom Freund, gave his usual glowing report.

Secretary Paul Holder, masquerading as Wild Bill Lefeld, gave the minutes of the November meeting which hadn’t been posted since the competition results had not been turned in.

We welcomed three new attendees, Juan Rios, Eddie Rios and Nicholes Klecha, who currently live in Kingsville.  

Jim Hildreth did a Northern Brewer Black IPA Kit Demo for the club.  Steeping grains with malt extract and lots of hops. We look forward to the results next meeting.

Old Business:  Competition Results would have been announced but the officers responsible didn’t provide them.  Final year end totals will be out at the January meeting.

New Business: As a result of a resolution at the November meeting, we began a discussion of why the attendance is declining.  We identified 4 areas that should be addressed: 1) how can we increase attendance, 2) How can we improve competitions, 3) How can we increase the number of members who actively brew and 4) how can we provide the best educational service to our members?

The membership agreed that this fell into the one year review that we discussed after our last major revision to the competition program and needed to be addressed.,  After a long period of discussion of how we did it in the past and what had worked, we agreed unanimously that we needed to move judging to the whole club judging that we had in the past and that BJCP Judges should have a major role to play in the education of the club and the results of competitions.  This means judging at meetings and scheduling food around the judging as we have done in the past.

A committee was formed to meet at B&J’s Pizza, SPID, Monday, 17 December at 7 PM to develop a proposal for future competitions.  Any club member who wish to contribute are invited to attend and contribute. The committee is tasked to develop a competition program for the next year (and after if successful).

By then the food was cold (really just warm as Judy really took care of us) and we adjourned to feast on the briquet and beans that we had all been craving.  I was worth the wait and, to be honest, some of the info above was shared in the post prandial discussions that evolved. We closed out the evening with the following new homebrews: an ESB from John fulton, a mead from Maek Quade, a Brown from Carroll Pate (made with brown ale malt) and a Dunkel Weiss from Paul Holder.  At the very end, we held a toast for Daniel Nutting who has just received his U.S. Citizenship. Congratulations, Daniel and don’t forget to vote.

Our only quote (sort of) is from Pres Mikey: “My roof fell in,  I still have missing drywall and why does all this club stuff have to happen this year: “     (Author’s comment: “Only those who can handle adversity, have adversity.”, Texas Strong).

12 December Education Event, Recipe Development (CC Homebrew Supply)

17 December, 7 PM, BASH Committee Meeting B&J’s Pizza  Beer Competion Program

13-Jan-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (Tom Freund, Iron Mash XV judging)

10-Feb-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (Jack Baker’s? competition BOS open/HBOY saison, BJCP 25B)

14 Jul 19: B,A.S.H. meeting ( B&J’s Pizza Brew Pub hosted by Paul Holder.  No competition)

Thanks again Carroll and Judy, keep on brewin’ and we’ll see you at Tom’s !

Iron Mash XV minutes

Iron Mash XV was held on Saturday, November 3rd at B&J’s Pizza on Staples at Timbergate. For the first time in Iron Mash history, the event was not really a competition. One by one the teams dropped out, leaving the Repeat Offenders as the only “competitor”. Who are these guys? Head perp Mark Quade has a rap sheet so long it runs to several volumes. His partner in crime, Jim Hildreth, strikes fear into the hearts of law enforcement everywhere.

The weather cooperated this year – high temperatures in the 70s, partly cloudy and breezy. The shade canopy was erected outside B&Js at 11:20 a.m. and the Offenders began setting up their equipment. At high noon, Paul Holder revealed the ingredients for this years’ declared Saison style. Malts consisted of 6 lb extra light dried malt extract (DME), 1 lb wheat DME, 1 lb corn sugar, 1 ib light Munich malt and 1 lb pilsner malt. Several spices and flavorings were included – peppercorns, ginger root, coriander seeds, sage flowers and allspice. The teams were allowed to supply one mystery of their own choosing. The Offenders used all of the malts, few of the spices and added about ¾ lb of honey to their recipe.

The brewing proceeded without incident. The Offenders took their wort home and added yeast offsite to begin the fermentation process. We will all get to enjoy the results at the January meeting and congratulate the Repeat Offenders as they hoist the Iron Mash Trophy and don their bling medals.

Upcoming B.A.S.H. events:

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

13-Nov-18: Education event “Partial Grain Brewing” (CC Homebrew Supply)

2-Dec-18: B.A.S.H. meeting (Carroll Pate NOTE: 1ST SUNDAY)

11-Dec-18: Education event “All Grain Brewing” (CC Homebrew Supply)

8-Jan-18: Education event “Recipe Development” (CC Homebrew Supply)

13-Jan-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (Tom Freund, Iron Mash XV judging)

10-Feb-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (need host, competition BOS open/HBOY saison, BJCP 25B)

12-Feb-19: Education event “Sour Beers” (CC Homebrew Supply)

October 2018 Minutes

Brad Klager hosted the October, 2018 B.A.S.H. meeting on Sunday the 14th at his home in Corpus Christi. El Presidente Mike Wojdyla called the meeting to order and thanked our host. Treasurer Tom Freund gave his usual glowing report.

In old business, Iron Mash XV is Saturday 11/3. This year, the teams will brew to a declared style – saison. In addition to the supplied box of ingredients, the teams can supply one of their own. In new business, Paul Holder reported that Liquid Town on Airline near Toys ‘R’ Us has closed due to a fire. Homebrew supplies will move to the store at Nile and McArdle. Steve Cook gave a presentation on “Quick and Easy Fermentation Using Basic Grocery Store Ingredients” at CC Homebrew Supply on Tuesday night 10/9. The schedule for the next several education events has been set and is shown below.

As we feasted on Brad’s smoked pork stuffed with cheese and bacon, we enjoyed new homebrews by Steve (“Skeeter Pee” lemon wine/sour cherry cider) and Paul (raspberry wheat). Interesting commercial beers were shared by Steve (Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale/Saint Arnold Oktoberfest), Jack Heim (Rebel Toad Angry Man Porter), Paul (Pizza Port Pickleweed Point IPA), Brad (Sierra Nevada Otra Vez), Mark Quade (Czech Pils) and Phil Sims (101 North Heroine IPA).

As the evening wore on, the usual bizarre comments were overheard:

Paul – “A shift chemical engineer is kinda odd”

Wild Bill Lehfeld – “ANY chemical engineer is kinda odd”

Adam Klager – “It depends how long it has FERMENTATED”

Mike – “I’ve got a BUNGOVILLIA”

October competition average judges scores:

Wild Bill – BJCP 19C American brown ale #1 42 points

Steve Cook – BJCP 25A Belgian blond ale 38 points

Wild Bill – BJCP 19A American amber ale #2 36 points

Wild Bill – BJCP 19A American amber ale #1 30.5 points

Wild Bill – BJCP 19C American brown ale #2 30.5 points

Chris Ackman – BJCP 19C American brown ale 26 points

The Homebrewer of the Year competition was for American amber and brown ales, BJCP 19A and 19C. Wild Bill earned 2 points for 1st place and 1 point for 2nd place. After 5 of 6 2018 competitions, cumulative HBOY points are as follows:

Wild Bill – 11 points

Rob Sullivan – 3 points

Larry Sommers – 1 point

The Best of Show competition was open to any style. Steve earned 5 points for 2nd place. Wild Bill earned 6 points for 1st place, 4 points for 3rd place and 5 points for 4th and 5th place. Chris earned 1 point for 6th place. After 5 of 6 2018 competitions, cumulative BOS points are as follows:

Wild Bill – 81 points

Rob – 20 points

Larry – 20 points

Paul Holder – 12 points

Mark Quade – 12 points

Steve Cook – 5 points

Tim Grace – 1 point

Chris – 1 point

Upcoming B.A.S.H. events:

3-Nov-18: Iron Mash XV (B&J’s Pizza on Staples at Timbergate, team brewing competition)

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

13-Nov-18: Education Event “Partial grain Brewing (CC Homebrew Supply)

2-Dec-18: B.A.S.H. meeting (Carroll Pate NOTE: 1ST SUNDAY)

11-Dec-18: Education Event “All grain Brewing” (CC Homebrew Supply)

8-Jan-19: Education Event “Recipe Development” (CC Homebrew Supply)

13-Jan-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (Tom Freund, Iron Mash XV judging)

10-Feb-19: B.A.S.H. meeting (Jack Baker?, competition BOS open/HBOY saison, BJCP 25B)

12-Feb-19: Education Event “Sour Beers” (CC Homebrew Supply)

Thanks again Brad, keep on brewin’ and we’ll see you at Iron Mash and at Lou Needleman’s !