River Valley Ale Raisers

2011-07-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hello Brewers!

We are pleased to announce that we have moved our website to:

www.rivervalleyaleraisers.com

For all the latest news and updates please visit us there.

Thank you!

All American Brew Off Update

2011-07-15T06:09:00.001-07:00

Hello Brewers

The All American Brew Off is almost here! We thought we would give you a quick update to our plans. We are going to have a first round judging for some of the categories this Saturday 07/16/2011

Second round judging will be held on 07/23/2011 at:
River Front Amphitheater
112 Clayton Expressway

We will have the West Room from 8a.m.-12p.m. for judging and 6p.m.-10p.m. for our Potluck dinner and awards presentation. We will begin setup for the event at 8a.m. and will start judging at 9a.m.

We can't wait to see you all there!

All American Brew Off

2011-03-14T08:03:00.000-07:00

Sponsored by: River Valley Ale Raisers - Wind & Brew Makers Gallery at GrowFresh and River Valley Mulch.
All American Brew Off
23rd of July
9:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M., July 23, 2011

See our announcement in Zymurgy; this is planned as an AHA Sanctioned Event

1st Place Best of Show Wins: $75
2nd Place Best of Show Wins: $25

Prizes Awarded in each category for 1st, 2nd, 3rd. 1st Place to receive custom engraved glass.

$7 Entry Fee: See our web site for rules and entry forms:
Make Checks Payable to River Valley Ale Raisers

Mail Entries To: Jed Reinhard, 11316 Amanda Ln, Fort Smith AR 72916

ENTRY DEAD LINE: July 9th, 2011

Competition Categories: It’s simple, Anything American. If it has “American” or “California” in the Style Name, ENTER IT, we’ll judge it and reward the best!
• American Lager or Pilsner: BJCP 1A, 1B, 1C & 2C
• Dark American Lager: BJPC 4A
• American Wheat or Rye: BJCP 6D
• California Common: BJCP 7B
• American Pale Ale: BJCP 10A
• American Amber or Brown: BJCP 10B & 10C
• American Stout: BJCP 13E
• American IPA: BJCP 14B
• American Barleywine: BJCP 19C
We reserve the right to combine categories as appropriate.

For more Information Call or Email: Lucas: 479-459-6264 lucasstoltz@cox.net
or Jed: 479-221-2874 jedtherese@cox.net register online here. Absolutely no entries will be accepted after July 9th! Please make checks payable to The River Valley Ale Raisers.

Files (click to download)
Entry Form
Bottle Forms
Event Flyer

All American Brew Off - Official Results

2010-07-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

July 24, 2010 AHA Sactioned Competition
BJCP Certified Head Judge: Ken Haycook 501-223-0030

Best of Show Club Style Beer Name
1st Place Kirk Wasson CAF Am. Barleywine Olmistead USA
2nd Place Jed Reinhard RVAR Classic Am. Pilsner Toad Spit Pilsner
3rd Place Jed Reinhard RVAR Am. Stout Americano Coffee Stout

American Lagers Total Entries = 4
1st Place Jed Reinhard RVAR Classic Am. Pilsner Toad Spit Pilsner
2nd Place Steve Arnold RVAR Classic Am. Pilsner Your Great Grandad's Suds
3rd Place Jed Reinhard RVAR Premium Am. Lager Ain't No Honey

American Pale Ale Total Entries = 10
1st Place Stacy Grubb RVAR APA Shark Jump APA
2nd Place Patrick Pursel RVAR APA Better Than Lucas' Ale
3rd Place Keith Primeaux Redstick APA Chico's Pale Ale
Honerable Mention Lucas Stoltz RVAR APA Better Than Pat's Ale

American Brown Total Entries = 6
1st Place Bob Wolfe RVAR Am. Amber Wild Hog
2nd Place Jon Gray RVAR Am. Brown American Brown-Gray
3rd Place Gary Bruns SUDS Am. Brown M'Lady Brown
Honerable Mention Bob Wolfe RVAR Am. Brown Brown Bottle

American Stout Total Entries = 4
1st Place Jed Reinhard RVAR Am. Stout Americano Coffee Stout
2nd Place Jed Reinhard RVAR Am. Stout Sweet Sensations
3rd Place Jon Gray RVAR Am. Stout American Stout-Gray

American IPA Total Entries = 5
1st Place Mike Smith RVAR Am. IPA HCI Pale Ale
2nd Place Keith Primeaux Redstick Am. IPA Chico's summer citris IPA
3rd Place Bob Wolfe RVAR Am. IPA American in India

American Ales Total Entries = 4
1st Place Kirk Wasson CAF Am. Barleywine Olmistead USA
2nd Place Jim Taylor RVAR California Common Cream Ale
3rd Place Bob Wolfe RVAR California Common Going Back to Cali'

AABO SCHEDULE

2010-07-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, The time has come!!!!

Attached are some photos of the awesome awards being presented and the schedule for the day is shown below.

WE NEED JUDGES from 11:00 am until about 2:00 pm at the Cancer Support House near Creekmore Park, call Jed for directions 221-2874. You do not need any judging experience as you will be partnered with a more knowledgeable judges. Even if you entered beer, you can be a judge in another category. All you have to do is show up and be ready to taste some beers, and provide your thoughtful comments. I suggest you have lunch before you come, but some snacks will be provided. PLEASE REPLY TO JED IF YOU PLAN TO BE A JUDGE.

Following the judging and the second round judging for Best of Show we will have an ALL CLUB AND JUDGES POT LUCK DINNER starting at 6:00 pm and then the Awards Presentation. We have extra glasses with the club logo to be given away as door prizes. Even if you did not enter a beer or help judge, you need to be there to share in the fun.

The Meat for the pot luck is being provided by the club, please bring a side dish, snack item, veggies, or desert. BYOB & Club Beers on Tap

There are 32 total beer entries, divided into six categories, Lager, Ale, Brown Ale, Stout, APA, and IPA.

SCHEDULE:

10:30 am - Doors Open
10:30-11:00 - Set up by Club Officers
11:00 - Judges Arrive
11:15 - 11:45 - Judge training
11:45-1:30 - First Round Judging
1:30 - 2:30 - Break, Score Tally
2:30 - 4:00 - Second Round Judging
4:00 - 4:30 - Break, Score Tally
4:30-5:00 - Clean up, set up for Dinner
5:00 - 6:00 Everyone Invited for a Social Hour, Club Beers on Tap 6:00 - Pot Luck Dinner 7:00 - 7:30 - Awards Presentation 7:30 - 9:00 - "Clean UP"
9:00 PM - Doors Close

IMPORTANT NOTE: BECAUSE OF NEW CARPETING IN THE CANCER SUPPORT HOUSE, NO LIQUIDS ARE PERMITTED OUTSIDE OF THE HARDWOOD FLOOR AND PATIO AREA!!!

All American Brew Off

2010-05-25T07:35:00.002-07:00

Sponsored by: River Valley Ale Raisers - Home Brew Club & Pinnacle Gardens
All American Brew Off
24th of July
9:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M., July 24, 2010
Cancer Support House
3324 South M Street, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72903

See our announcement in Zymurgy; this is planned as an AHA Sanctioned Event

1st Place Best of Show Wins: $75
2nd Place Best of Show Wins: $25

Prizes Awarded in each category for 1st, 2nd, 3rd. 1st Place to receive custom engraved glass.

$7 Entry Fee: See our web site for rules and entry forms:
Make Checks Payable to River Valley Ale Raisers

Mail Entries To: Steve Arnold, 10909 Cork Court, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72908

ENTRY DEAD LINE: July 10, 2010

Competition Categories: It’s simple, Anything American. If it has “American” or “California” in the Style Name, ENTER IT, we’ll judge it and reward the best!
• American Lager or Pilsner: BJCP 1A, 1B, 1C & 2C
• Dark American Lager: BJPC 4A
• American Wheat or Rye: BJCP 6D
• California Common: BJCP 7B
• American Pale Ale: BJCP 10A
• American Amber or Brown: BJCP 10B & 10C
• American Stout: BJCP 13E
• American IPA: BJCP 14B
• American Barleywine: BJCP 19C
We reserve the right to combine categories as appropriate.

For more Information Call or Email: Steve: 479-459-1749 vamil92@gmail.com
or Jed: 479-221-2874 jedtherese@cox.net register online here. Absolutely no entries will be accepted after July 10! Please make checks payable to The River Valley Ale Raisers.

Files (click to download)
Entry Form
Bottle Forms
Event Flyer

Bluebonnet 2010

2010-03-22T05:26:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Stacy Archer, Stacey Grubb, and Jed Reinhard. All winners at Bluebonnet this weekend! More to come in a bit.

March 2, 2010

2010-03-09T06:44:00.000-08:00

Several people were in attendance this month and most were in a RVAR shirt! Shirts are still available and Jed will be ordering some more soon. Get yours and help promote our great club.

This months meeting began with a discussion about the upcoming Bluebonnet Brewoff competition later this month. The club will have around a dozen club members attending. We will also be participating in the club crawl for the first time. The club jockey box will be put to use and the club banner proudly displayed Friday evening for the crawl. Several members will take part in the final round of judging Saturday morning and we hope to hear some club member names called at the award ceremony Saturday evening. There is still time to join the group and experience one of the biggest single-site homebrew competitions in the nation. Check out the Bluebonnet website for more info: www.bluebonnetbrewoff.com

Jed Reinhard gave a demonstration of brewing a partial mash, which is a step up from all extract brewing. It incorporates using some grains in the brewing process to improve several aspects of your brew.

Planning for the All American Brewoff, sponsored by the RVAR, is well underway. The club will be hosting this competition of American style beers in July and volunteers, sponsors, and donations are needed to make this a great event. There are still several items that need someone to step up and help with. A list of action items and who has been assigned so far will be coming out soon. Contact Steve Arnold, vamil92@gmail.com , or Jed Reinhard, JReinhard@baldor.com, if you are interested in helping out.

Information about the St. Louis Microfest Homebrew Competition was shared. Check their info at http://stlmicrofest.org/homebrew.php . Entries are being accepted now through April 16.

Congratulations to Danny and Pat who each won a door prize at the meeting. They received a small soft sided cooler, insulated cup, and a couple of brewing ingredients including 2 ounces of hops!

Next month’s meeting will be Tuesday, April 6, where we will have a Gadget Night to share some of the great tools that help making brewing easier, How to Make a Mash Tun demo for those ready to start all-grain brewing, and a Kegging demo of Jed’s partial mash demo from this month for those ready to start kegging their homebrew. Plus we will be sharing about the outcome from the Bluebonnet Brewoff. This is a meeting you don’t want to miss!

January 5, 2010

2010-01-11T08:14:00.000-08:00

Be sure to check the website for updates and information at http://rivervalleyaleraisers.blogspot.com and log on to the forum and follow the discussions or start your own at http://rvar.zforum.biz/forum.htm .

As we start the new year, remember to update your membership or if you are not a member, join now to enjoy 18 months of membership and benefits. Yearly membership is just $25, or $35 for a couple. Membership gets you a 10% discount and the Wine and Brew Makers Gallery.

Club shirts are now available in short and long sleeve in white with the club logo on the front and back. Short sleeve shirts are $15 and long sleeve are $20. Some of the original tan shirts are still available. See Jed to get your shirt.

President Steve Arnold and club member Scott Archer spoke with a local group recently about home brewing and promoted the club and store. Thanks to them for helping to promote our great hobby. If you know of any groups that would like to learn more about home brewing, please talk to Steve about setting something up.

The club Jockey Box is finished and was on display at the meeting. It was used for the first time at the club Christmas party and worked great. A special thanks to Lucas for all his work on it. The Box is available to club members for rental for just $20. See Steve or Lucas to schedule a rental for your next party!

The club will be taking the box to the Bluebonnett Brewoff in March and needs members to donate a brew for the Club Crawl. Even if you don’t keg, your finished brew can be transferred to someone else’s keg to work in the Jockey Box. See a club officer if you want to donate a batch of brew.

Speaking of the Bluebonnett, we don’t have the dates yet, but the club is planning on taking a large group of people to Dallas in March and is hoping to have several home brew entries to the competition as well. More information will be available soon.

At the February meeting we will have the last of the glass growlers from the former Weidman’s Pub for sale. They are a great piece of history and are great for transporting your brew. Be sure to get one before they are gone.

At a recent officer meeting, a discussion was held to determine what activities we wanted to plan for this year. While we had several ideas, we want some input from the members on what you want to do or see this year. Below is a list of ideas generated at the officer and club meetings. If you see some things you really like or if there are some others you want to add, please contact one of the officers so we can try to get it on the calendar.

The following are ideas proposed for club activities this year.
Host a BJCP Competition.
Overnight to Little Rock to stay with Central Arkansas Fermenter Club members and tour Diamond Beer Brewery.
Enter, Judge, and attend Regional Competitons – Bluebonnett, State Fair
Big Brew Day – May
Beginner Brewing Demo – Extract Kit
Intermediate Brewing Demo – Partial Mash
Advanced Brewing Demo – All Grain
Brewing Mead Demo
Equipment Demo – Mash Tun, types and how to build
Yeast Demo – types, how to build a stir plate
Club only competitions
Judging session
Christmas Party
Gadget Night – share your cool gadgets or homemade equipment
Kegging Demo
Hops Demo

The club is hosting a Club Only Competition next month. The style is any type of Stout. Entries are due February 1st, by 4:00 pm. Bring two unmarked bottles to the Wine and Brew Makers Gallery before the due date and fill out an entry form. Judging will take place the evening of the 1st and results will be announced at the club meeting on February 2. Good luck to everyone who enters and hope to see you all at the February meeting!

2009 State Fair Results

2009-10-27T07:52:00.000-07:00

RVAR members are Highlighted, if I missed someone, let me know. We did very well this year, way to go Guys & Gal!!

2009 Arkansas State Fair
Homebrewed Beer Competition Results

Best of Show Grand Champion
Jeff Clanton
Conway, Arkansas
Phone Number: (501) 730-2071
Homebrew Club: Central Arkansas Fermenters
Beer Name: Dankko IPA
Beer Style: American IPA (India Pale Ale)

Best of Show 2nd Place
Shawn Tobin
Sherwood, Arkansas
Phone Number: (501) 835-6320
Homebrew Club: Central Arkansas Fermenters
Beer Name: Lil' Peaty's Wee Heavy
Beer Style: Strong Scotch Ale

Best of Show 3rd Place
Darren Morissey
Little Rock, Arkansas
Phone Number: (501) 954-8453
Homebrew Club: Central Arkansas Fermenters
Beer Name: Festivus Beer
Beer Style: Christmas/Winter Specialty Beer

Style 1 - Light Lager
1st Place: Brad McLaurin
2nd Place (T): Brad McLaurin
2nd Place (T): Jed Reinhard

Style 2 - Pilsner
1st Place: Jed Reinhard
2nd Place: Steve Arnold
3rd Place: Jed Reinhard

Style 3 - European Amber Lager
1st Place: Steve Arnold
2nd Place: Fred Rogers
3rd Place: Jed Reinhard

Style 5 - Bock
1st Place: Kirk Wasson
2nd Place: Kirk Wasson

Style 6 - Light Hybrid Beer
1st Place: Matt Barnett
2nd Place: Stacey Gubb
3rd Place: David Blasingame

Style 7 - Amber Hybrid Beer
1st Place: Jed Reinnard
2nd Place: Shawn Tobin
3rd Place: Brad McLaurin

Style 8 - English Pale Ale
1st Place: Will Owen
2nd Place: David Neilson
3rd Place: David Blasingame

Style 9 - Scotish and Irish Ale
1st Place: Shawn Tobin
2nd Place: David Blasingame
3rd Place: Stacy Grubb

Style 10 - American Ale
1st Place: David Neilson
2nd Place: Brad McLaurin
3rd Place (T): Steve Arnold
3rd Place (T): Brad McLaurin

Style 11 - English Brown Ale
1st Place: David Blasingame
2nd Place: Steve Arnold

Style 12 - Porter
1st Place: Jed Reinhard
2nd Place: Tony Schrader & Doug Hanson

Style 13 - Stout
1st Place: Jed Reinhard
2nd Place: Garry Williams
3rd Place: Stacey Grubb

Style 14 - India Pale Ale
1st Place: Jeff Clanton
2nd Place: Brad McLaruin
3rd Place: Kirk Wasson

Style 15 - German Wheat & Rye Beer
1st Place: Stacey Grubb
2nd Place: Jeff Clanton
3rd Place: Tony Schrader & Doug Hanson

Style 16 - Belgian and French Ale
1st Place: Fred Rogers
2nd Place: Bob Wolfe
3rd Place: Steve Arnold

Style 18 - Belgian Strong Ale
1st Place: Jeff Clanton
2nd Place: Scott Archer
3rd Place: Steve Arnold

Style 19 - Strong Ale
1st Place: Jed Reinhard
2nd Place: Brad Robertson

Style 20 - Fruit Beer
1st Place - Stacey Archer

Style 21 - Spice, Herb and Vegetable Beer
1st Place: Darren Morrissey
2nd Place: Darren Morrissey
3rd Place: Steve Arnold

Style 23 - Speciality Beer
1st Place: Shawn Tobin
2nd Place (T): David Neilson
2nd Place (T): Bill Beam
3rd Place: Brad Robertson

Style 27 - Standard Cider and Perry
1st Place: Scott Archer

9-01-09

2009-09-09T04:57:00.000-07:00

President Steve Arnold started the meeting off by asking “who was brewing what?” Several people responded with a wide variety of different brews. Keep up the great brewing!!

Ribbons were awarded for the top three entries in the Club Only Competition held in August. Congratulations to Jed Reinhard for his third and first place APAs and Bob Wolfe for his 2nd place beer. Thanks to all who helped with judging and to everyone who entered.

We will be holding another Club Only Competition in February. The style this time will be any type of Stout. Start planning your entry now! These beers would also be ready to enter into the Bluebonnet Brewoff in March, so get brewing!!

Plans for a Club Jockey Box are well underway. We hope to have it ready by Christmas for the 1st annual Club Christmas Party on December 5. We will hold the party at The Renyolds Cancer Support House. More information to come on the party later.

Arkansas State Fair entries are due at Jim’s store by October 2 for delivery to Little Rock. Remember, Jim is awarding any winners at the state fair that brew using a kit bought from the store with some great prizes. First round judging will take place October 10, and we have several people that plan on attending. More information about judging at next month’s meeting.

October 9 & 10 is an Octoberfest Festival at Columbus Acres. The club is hosting a display to promote the store and the club at the event. See Donna at the store if you are able to help out.
Little Rockoctoberfest will be October 24, in Little Rock. Anyone that plans on attending, please take good notes, we would love to host something like this in Fort Smith!

The RVAR was noted in a recent publication of the Southwest Brewing News. We hope to get more publicity soon! We also had a great story and several pictures recently on the City Wire website, check it out.

The club is selling Glass, one gallon, Growlers that came from Weidman’s Brew Pub for $5. They are great for transporting, and are piece of the River Valley’s Brewing History. They will be available at each meeting.

Tonight’s activity was how to build a counter-flow-chiller presented by Bob Wolfe. He showed what resources you would need and how much it would cost. This is a great way to quickly cool your wort to pitching temperature and you can build one for less than $55 will all new parts. See Bob if you have questions or need a copy of the directions.

At the next meeting on October 6, Lucas will be brewing a batch for beginners and intermediate brewers. Invite some friends to check out what all the fun is about!! Steve will give a kegging demonstration in November.

8-4-08

2009-08-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

Steve lead a discussion and judging session with all the competition beers. And everybody got to go through the judging session, with a little less pressure, and give some more notes on the beers that were entered.

We had the results of the first ever Club only competition. Thanks to all who entered their American Pale Ale and participated. BIG thanks to Donna, Stacey, and Patrick for taking on the task of Judging the session. They gave some great feedback about the beers that were entered. And thanks to Jim for letting us use his shop (again).

1st place went to Jed Reinhard with his beer “Pa1d to be good.”
2nd place went to Bob Wolfe for his beer “Burning River APA.”
3rd Place went to Jed Reinhard for his beer “Almost Ready.”

Both 1st and 2nd place will be entered in the Arkansas State Fair by the club. And Jed took home an 11 pack of the beers entered. If you entered a beer and did not get your score sheet at the meetings. Jed also has the recipe for his beers if anybody is interested talk with him.

The Arkansas State Fair Homebrew Competition is getting closer and closer. The entry deadline to have your beer hand delivered by Jim has been changed. Have your beers to Jims shop by October 1st (not October 2nd), and he will bring the beers to Little Rock. If you don’t get them to him by then you will have until the 7th to get your beers to Little Rock. They are still looking for Judges. I’m pretty sure there is a group from the Ale Raisers planning to be there on October 10th. If you want to join that group or are looking to go get on the River Valley Ale Raisers Forum and let everybody know.

The Hog Haus Brewing Co. is also having a homebrew competition on Saturday September 11th. As part of Dickson St. Oktoberfest. The details right now is that the entries must be any Scottish style ale. Entries will need to be dropped off the week of the competition. If you have a Scottish ale ready get it up there. Questions can be directed to Mehmet Kadiev, Head Brewer of The Hog Haus Brewing Company brewer@hoghaus.com.

WE HAVE A GRAIN MILL. Jim has purchased a grain mill and has it at the shop. This means everybody that is ready for some all grain brewing or looking to mix up their recipes with some specialty grains can have them milled fresh for their brewing session. If you can’t find a grain that you need Jim says with enough notice he may be able to get what you are looking for, just let him know.

We talked about our plans to build a club Jockey Box or a portable kegerator. I will be working on this project with the help of the Ale Raisers. If you have any skills, parts, idea’s or expertise in this matter let me know. I plan on having this ready for our Christmas Party

That’s right a Christmas Party is being planned for December 5th at the Cancer House. Amy Beth has talked with the director of the Cancer House and has worked out the details of the party. When we have everything finalized we will let you know.

Upcoming events:September 1 - Club meeting: Demo on building a Counterflow Chiller with Bob Wolfe

September 11 – Hog Haus Brewing Co. Competition

September 23 - Entries accepted for the Arkansas State Fair Homebrew Competition (ASFHBC)

October 1 - Entries for ASFHBC due at Wine Makers Gallery for delivery to Little Rock

October 6 - Club meeting: Beginning Brewing – Kit Demo with Lucas Stoltz

October 10 - First Round Judging at the Arkansas State Fair Homebrew Competition

October 17 - Final Judging at the Arkansas State Fair Homebrew Competition

November 3 - Club meeting: Kegging your brew with Steve Arnold

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

2009-06-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

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.

Bluebonnet 2009

2009-03-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! What an experience! The River Valley Ale Raisers have arrived on the homebrew scene, and we did it in style. We (Scott and Stacey Archer, Stacey Grubb, Bob Wolfe, Lucas and Rebecca Stolz, and Steve Arnold) went to Dallas this weekend to enjoy the Bluebonnet Brewoff. Here's a recap of the weekend:

Friday night: Commercial beer tasting and Homebrew beer tasting. From about 8 pm to 10:30 pm, we were wowed by an incredible variety of commercial beers. It was literally impossible to taste them all. Partly because there were so many beers, and partly because there were so many people! It was pretty crowded. Around 10:30, they shut down the commercial tasting and the various clubs started pouring homebrew (could that be us next year? Hmmm...). We were blown away by all the beer we tasted. Never in your life have you seen so much beer - not just quantity, but variety and quality. What an experience. Good thing there was a Denny's across the street for some late night grub (not Grubb, he was barely hanging on at this point!)

Above: Pictures from Friday Night....I think......

Saturday morning: Beer judging. I was thrilled that everyone participated in the judging on Saturday morning (except Rebecca. She went shopping :).) We all went a litte out of our comfort zone by judging, and it was a great learning experience. I heard later that Lucas has a great future as a beer judge. Apparently he is a natural.

Saturday afternoon: Some of us went on the pub crawl (I mean you can never have too much beer, right?), and some of us went to Homebrew Headquarters to buy some grains. When we got back, the hospitality room was serving ... anyone? anyone? Right! More beer!

Saturday night: Awards ceremony. This was the highlight of the weekend. Scott Archer won a 3rd place with his Dubbel Belgian Ale. He'll tell you that he intended for it to be a trippel, but it just came out more dubbel like, so he entered it and won a medal. Congratulations, Scott! Stacey Grubb also won a nice tray of goodies in the raffle.

Congrats on the Win Scott!

Nice tray of "Stuff"

The Crew and some new friends

Sunday morning: They were giving away bottles of leftover competition homebrew. Each of us got a case to take home. Pretty sweet, huh?

On the way home, we couldn't stop talking about the future of our club and how many medals we want to win next year! The future is bright for the RVAR!

See you on the forums...-Steve

March 3, 2009 Meeting

2009-03-19T07:21:00.000-07:00

Membership applications are still being accepted. Paid members get a 10% discount at Jim's store, snazzy membership cards, and first dibs on give aways! Ben from Boulevard Brewing will be back next month with some things to give away, paid members will get the first shot at the goodies. Membership is only $25 and is good through July 2010.

Club shirts are now available to help promote the hobby. Shirts are $20. See Jed to get one before they are gone!

This weekend is the Bluebonnet Brewoff in Dallas and several members have entered their beers and will be traveling down to participate in the festivities. Good luck to everyone who entered!

Club business cards are available to share wtih your friends to remind them of the meetings. See one the club officers to get some to pass around.

The Club website and forum is up and running, be sure to check it out. http://www.rivervalleyaleraisers.blogspot.com

The Cowie Wine Competition is in April. Entry forms are available. See Jim or one of the officers for more information.

Upcoming schedule of events:
March 20 Bluebonnet Brewoff
April 7 Meeting - Ben from Boulevard Brewing is back
May 2 Big Brew Day (more info to come)
May 5 Meeting - Jed will present a Beginning Brewing session
June Meeting - Steve and Bob will present Packaging and Bottling your Brew

Club President, Steve Arnold, led a "If you like beer, you can judge beer" presentation. Everyone present was given the BJCP Style Guidelines for an American Pale Ale and a score sheet to sample a locally available example. Then they compared their results with actual judges from a Commercial Calibration in an issue of Zymergy magazine. It was a great experience and everyone learned that they can judge beer!

Minutes from the Feb.3, 2009

2009-02-17T05:50:00.000-08:00

Bluebonnet Homebrew competition is March 20 in Dallas. Feb. 26th is the entry deadline to submit your homebrews. You can book a hotel room and complete your entries online at www.bluebonnetbrewoff.com

Club t-shirts will be available at the next meeting for purchase. They are $20.00 and can be purchased from club treasurer Jed Reinhard.

Club vice-president, Lucas Stoltz is collecting club membership registration and will have membership cards available to paid members at the next meeting in March. Membership entitles you to a 10% discount at The Wine and Brew Makers Gallery (Thanks Jim!), and is good through June of 2010!! Please consider supporting our craft and becoming a member of the RVAR. Club dues are $25 per person or $35 for a brewing couple!

We are updating the email list to ensure that everyone is getting the information being sent out. Lucas has a master list and if you know of someone not getting our emails please have them check with him to get on the list. And please let us know if your email changes so we can keep everyone in the loop.

Schedule of upcoming events was detailed:

During the March 3 meeting we will be having a Commercial Calibration just like they do in Zymurgy Magazine which is published by the American Homebrewer Association. You will be able to sample a commercially available brew, score it, then compare your impression of it with the actual judges scores from an issue of Zymurgy.

At the April 7 meeting, Jed Reinhard will be brewing a beginners kit to showcase how easy it is to get started brewing. This is a great opportunity for anyone who has not brewed yet, but is thinking about it, to see the process. And it is a great time to bring a friend and introduce them to this great hobby.

We will follow up Jed's brewing session with a bottling/kegging/packaging your brew session at the May 5 meeting led by Steve Arnold and Bob Wolfe.

Also, May 2 is Big Brew day where brewers all over the world get together and brew the same recipe and celebrate the hobby. Check out the specifics and this years recipes at http://www.beertown.org/events/bigbrew/index.html President Steve Arnold is working on a joint venture between the RVAR club and the Fort Smith BBQ society that may coincide with Big Brew Day, or may be scheduled at a later time. (I can't think of two things that go together any better!!)

The highlight of the evening was a presentation by Ben Brown, a sales rep from Boulevard Brewing. Ben covers Southwest Missouri and Northwest Arkansas for Boulevard which is out of Kansas City. Ben brought five Boulevard Brewing samples to share and discuss, including their popular Boulevard Wheat as well as Pale Ale, Irish Ale, Lunar Ale, and Bully Porter. He detailed many specifics about each beer and described the company's rise from a single homebrewer, John McDonald, who began brewing in 1989 and entering his beers in competitions. The rest is some great suds history. Ben will be returning for another presentation very soon. Watch for an update as soon as he lets us know.

The next meeting is March 3 with the Commercial Calibration. We will send out more information about the event soon. Please bring $2 to cover the cost of purchasing the commercial brew and be sure to bring some of your own samples!Happy Brewing!!

New Club Forums

2009-02-11T08:54:00.001-08:00

Please go by and say hello.

http://rvar.zforum.biz/forum.htm