November Minutes!

Claudio and Jennifer Montiel hosted the November B.A.S.H. meeting on Sunday the 10th at their home in Corpus Christi. President Adam Klager called the meeting to order and welcomed guests Roberto Vela, Chris Edwards and Sonny (Claudio’s neighbor). Treasurer-Of-The-Nanosecond Carroll Pate reported another healthy checking account balance. Paul Holder shared judges comments on the two beers he entered in last month’s Dixie Cup regional brewing competition. His Belgian strong golden ale was deemed “lacking in fruitiness” (not that there’s anything wrong with that). His Kölsch was “too dark” and “had no pils flavor”.

Speaking of competitions, we decided on robust porter for February’s club competition. Vice President and competition director Cory Mathews solicited suggestions for the remainder of the schedule. The gist of the comments was to mix ales and lagers, mix American and European styles and save high alcohol brews for the end of the year. In other new business, Travis Clapp, Chris Swanson and Bob Davis volunteered to conduct the demonstration brew at the December meeting.

The final club competition of 2013 was for American brown ale, BJCP category 10C. Paul Holder scored three points for 1st place, Wild Bill Lehfeld earned two for 2nd place and Mark Woerner got a solitary point for 3rd.

As John Milan showered us with Italian tuna mousse, escargot and jumbo-shrimps-on-fire, we dug into Claudio’s brisket and all the side dishes. Besides competition beers, we enjoyed Robin Baker/Christyn Overstake’s “Red Nose” rye, Drew Burkhardt/Cory’s witbier, Ruben Cantu’s porter and rauchbier, Paul’s Belgian strong golden and Cubano, Jason Merry’s American hefeweizen, host Claudio’s “gluten-free experiment with honey”, Carroll’s American IPA, Chris Swanson’s nut brown and amber ales and guest Roberto’s two IPAs, ESB and “mistakes”. Interesting commercial beers included Andrew Herzig/Sabrina Krueger’s Saint Arnold Icon Biere de Saison, Karbach Weekend Warrior Pale Ale and No Label Black Wit-o, Adam’s Laughing Dog Sneaky Pete’s Imperial IPA and Lou Needleman’s Sierra Nevada Tumbler.

Randomly overheard quotes:

• Travis – “I’m going to pay my dues, Carroll!” Paul – “For which year?”
• Claudio – “I lost something in my pants!”
• Travis – “Wayne, did you get your passport? We’re going to deport you!”

Upcoming B.A.S.H. events:

• 8-Dec-13: B.A.S.H. meeting (Carroll Pate, brewing demonstration)
• 12-January-14: B.A.S.H. meeting (Tom Freund, Iron Mash X judging)
• 9-February-14: B.A.S.H. meeting (need host, robust porter competition, BJCP 12B)
• 9-March-14: B.A.S.H. meeting (need host, brewing demonstration)

Thanks again Claudio, Jennifer and John, keep on brewin’ and we’ll see you next month at the Pate’s (as always, with your own glass)!