Meeting Minutes – January 2015

Miami Area Society of Homebrewers
Minutes of the Monthly Meeting of the Officers 
January 19 2015

Location of Meeting:
Billany Residence
12345 SW 94th Terrace
Miami, Florida 33186

Officers Present at Meeting: Bob Billany (President), Dan Barrett (Vice President), Denise Graham (Treasurer), David Kirsten (Secretary)

Officers Absent: Tony Hernandez (Librarian)

Others Present at Meeting: Patrick Whiteside, Jhirley & Kari Fonte, Jorge Molina, Rachel Billany, Jon Britton (Coconut Cup Committee Members)

The regular meeting of the Officers of the Miami Area Society of Homebrewers was called to order at 5:45 PM on January 19, 2015 by Bob Billany.

I.    Review of Previous Minutes

Reading of the minutes of the previous meeting was waived.

II.  Old Business

1.  Coconut Cup

Important Dates

Organizing of Entries:                            1:00 p.m. – February 15, 2015 (Billany Residence)

Preliminary Judging Session #1:          12:00 p.m. – February 16, 2015 (Billany Residence)
Preliminary Judging Session #2:          12:00 p.m. – February 21, 2015 (Billany Residence)
Preliminary Judging Session #3:          12:00 p.m. – February 22, 2015 (Billany Residence)
Preliminary Judging Session #4:       IF NEEDED – February 28, 2015 (Billany Residence)
Preliminary Judging Session #5:       IF NEEDED – February 29, 2015 (Billany Residence)

Semi-Final Judging Session:               12:00 p.m. – March 6, 2015 (American Legion Post – South Miami)

Final Judging & Awards Ceremony:      9:00 a.m. – March 7, 2015 (American Legion Post – South Miami)

David Kirsten will update the club’s website and communicate with the other clubs in the Florida Circuit.

Keg Competition

  • Jorge “Mo” Molina has volunteered to coordinate the event.
  • No entry fee.  
  • Popular vote to determine winner.  
  • Winning brewer will receive medal and custom tap handle crafted by Dan Barrett.
  • No cap on number of entries, although only first six will have access to club’s jockey box.  
  • Enter via contact form on website.

Medals have been ordered. Bob Billany will pick them up from vendor.

Food – Melissa Barrett will coordinate food at all judging sessions.

Beds for Brewers – As hotel rates are quite high in the spring, we will solicit club members that are willing to put up out of town judges for a night.

Pub Crawl – Bob Billany has reached out to the folks at Miami’s “Brew Bus” to determine pricing for an event following the judging session on Friday. Match 6th.  Jay and Kari Fonte have volunteered to take over this project.

Schwag – Our Schwagmeister, Matt Waldron, was not present. Patrick Whiteside has volunteered to assist Matt with obtaining donations for raffles, prizes and gift bags for judges. Patrick will coordinate the raffle to be held at the awards ceremony.

Beer Railroad – David Kirsten will coordinate the Beer Railroad for entries from out of town.

Supplies – Denise Graham will coordinate the purchase of all supplies for the competition.

Scoresheets – Jon Britton has volunteered to print out scoresheets, BJCP style guides, flight summaries, etc. for the competition.  He will also assist Bob Billany with scanning of completed scoresheets and mailing of medals.

Head Steward – Dan Barrett will function as Head Steward at all judging sessions.

Miami Area Society of Homebrewers
Minutes of the Monthly General Meeting
January 22, 2015

The regular meeting of the Officers of the Miami Area Society of Homebrewers was called to order at 7:00 PM at Daddy Brews on January 22, 2015 by Bob Billany.

I.    Review of Previous Minutes

Reading of the minutes of the previous meeting was waived.

II.  Treasurer’s Report

$2609.17 in Bank Account + $2,429 in PayPal Account.  Entry fees for Coconut Cup continue to arrive daily.  

III.  Old Business

1.   Coconut Cup

Bob Billany provided an overview of the competition, along with key dates, to the general membership.

2.  Membership Dues

Members were reminded that annual dues for 2015 are past due. Paid members were entered in a raffle.  Winners:

  1. Jon Britton – Bottle of Pliny the Elder
  2. Patrick Whiteside – Bottle of Pliny the Elder
  3. Dan Tibbitt – 2 Tickets to the “305 Beer Festival” on February 7th 

III.  New Business

1.  Education Session

David Kirsten presented a brief demonstration on how to quickly and simply etch a brew kettle using only a few household items.  (Does anyone remember MacGyver?)  Detailed instructions are available on the Brew Your Own Magazine website: https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/3113-etch-your-kettle-projects

2.  Beer Festivals

There are several upcoming beer festivals in the South Florida area:

  1. Miami Beer Festival: January 31 @ Marlins Park (Barley Works & Daddy Brews will be pouring their beers))
  2. 305 Beer Festival: February 7th @ Miami Airport Convention Center (The Dude Brews & Daddy Brews will be pouring their beers)
  3. Sprung! Spring Beer Festival: March 7th @ Peacock Park (Conflicts with Coconut Cup. You better not be pouring here!)

3.  Riverside Brewing

Jacob had several sour beers from Riverside Brewing (Cincinnati) on tap.  Samples were poured and growlers filled!

4.  Group Brew / Barrel Project

Bob Billany suggested that the club purchase a full-size whiskey barrel to be utilized to age the club’s beer.  He suggested a group brew of Russian Imperial Stout to be conducted at our Summer Solstice Party.  Dan Barrett may have a lead for a discounted barrel.  He will research and report at the next meeting.

5.  ListServ – Club’s Email Distribution List

The club’s previous ListServ provider (The Homebrew Digest) has gone down for the count. David Kirsten transferred the distribution list to the service that is currently hosting the club’s website.  Going forward, group communication should be directed to mash@miami-homebrew.org.

6.  Brewer of the Year (BotY)

The BotY style for January was German Wheat & Rye.  8 entries were received.  The winners were . . . 

First Place:                 Dave Kirsten & Bob Billany (Weizenbock)
Second Place:            Jorge “Mo” Molina (Dunkelweizen)
Third Place:               Jay Fonte (Weizen)

The BotY style for February will be Amber Hybrid Beers.

IV.  Time of Next Meeting

The next Board meeting will be held at 7:45 PM on Monday, February 23, 2015. Location: TBD

The next regular club meeting will be held at 7:00 PM on Thursday, February 26, 2015 at: 

Daddy Brews
4427 SW 74th Avenue
Miami, Florida 33155

Minutes submitted by:  David Kirsten, Secretary

Minutes approved by:   Bob Billany, President