5-5-09 & 6-2-09 Minutes

Minutes of the River Valley Ale Raisers 6-2-09

Entries for the State Fair Homebrew competition will be accepted starting September 23 so start brewing your entries now! The club will arrange for transportation of entries to Little Rock.

We will be holding a Club-only competition at the August meeting. Everyone is encouraged to enter by brewing an American Pale Ale. We will follow the BJCP guidelines for style and judging so check them out! All entries require 3 unmarked, 12 oz. bottles. More info to come soon!

For those interested in furthering their beer knowledge, a Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) study group is forming. Talk to Steve Arnold if you are interested in joining.

The club’s online forum page continues to grow but needs more input from everyone. Check it out at http://rvar.zforum.biz/forum.htm and the club website for info at http://rivervalleyaleraisers.blogspot.com

The first, and hopefully annual, RVAR Big Brew Day was held May 16 and Bud and Donna’s house. Thanks to them for hosting. Rain kept the turnout low and only a couple of people brewed, but a good time was had by all that made it out. We are looking into another similar event in the fall. Stay tuned!!

A discussion was held about inviting more wine makers to the meetings and the club and alternating every month between beer and wine activities. Of course, any maker of beer, wine, mead, or anything else alcoholic and tasty is invited to all RVAR events. There will be more discussion of this topic at upcoming meetings.

Stacey Grubb, Lucas Stoltz, and Bob Wolfe gave a demonstration on packaging your homebrew. The Octoberfest that Jed brewed at the May meeting was bottled. Be sure to stop by the July meeting on the 7th to try it out! Bob discussed and gave a demo on bottling procedures while Stacey and Lucas went over the kegging process.



Minutes of the River Valley Ale Raisers 5-5-09

Jed Reinhart gave a demonstration on Beginning Brewing with a homebrew kit. Jed did a complete brew of an Octoberfest kit from Jim’s store. We will bottle it at the June meeting and taste it at the July meeting.

A report from the Cowie Wine Festival was given. Several club members entered and placed. Congratulations to them!

The State Fair Homebrew competition is in October and entries will be accepted starting in late September so start brewing your entries now! More information to come on the State Fair later.

The club is working with store owner Jim Taylor to get a malt mill at the store in the near future for the growing group of all grain brewers.

May 16 is the Big Brew Day event to be held and Bud and Donna’s house. Brewing will begin at 10:00 am. More info to come.

Memberships are still being accepted and the club continues to grow. Membership is only $25 and gets you a 10% discount at the Wine and Brew Makers Gallery.

Steve Arnold is arranging for a BJCP study group to working on becoming certified beer judges. Contact him if you are interested in joining.

Next month Steve and Bob will present packaging your beer with a bottling and kegging demo.