Meeting Minutes – July 2016

I. Called​​ to Order​​ 7:42 p.m. July 28, 2016

• Welcome New Members and Guests

II. Review of Previous Minutes​​ was waived. Previous meeting was the Summer Solstice party.

III. Treasure's Report (Dave Kirsten)

• Current account balance of 5329.13

• $650.00 positive cash flow this past month

  • We have two more Florida Beer Circuit competitions this year.

  • Mash pays for your first two entries into these comps, so start brewing and let us know when you enter! We need to use this money, and we need to boost our club’s​​ competition standing!

• 37 Paid Members – Tell your​​ friends, bring your​​ buddies along, let’s grow the club!

IV. Current Business

• Sunshine Challenge 

  • Congrats are in order to the following members who medaled:

  • Bob Billany - Gold - Smoked Pilsner

  • Matt Waldron - Bronze - (Wee Heavy)

  • Dave Kirsten & Bob Billany - (Cream Ale)

  • These placings bring MASH to 8th​​ place in the​​ Florida Homebrew Club Standings.

  • We have two more comps left where we can boost our ranks. Enter your beer and help bring MASH’s placement up!

• Joan Garcia and Dan Barrett will be taking over as BOTY Competition Coordinators.​​ 

• Marie Waldron & Dan Barrett​​ will be managing the Club Website.

  • They are revamping the website to improve its functionality, and to add features.

  • A forum and a blog are in the plans.

  • A photo gallery was also suggested to be added onto the website

• MASHups​​ –​​ Josh Hubner is coordinating social events such as bottle shares.

  • Next Wednesday (Aug 3) – Potential Bottle Share at The Tank (on the north side of the Miami Airport). The Tank will host, and have a brewery tour. Need an interest of about 12 members to make this happen.

  • Later this summer: Bottle share will be scheduled at Box Elder.

  • More events to come, with the goal being to check out new places and have social fun as a club.

• MASH Poker Night​​ will be pushed back to late August or early September.

  • Matt Waldron is working to find an open date for this event.

V. New Business

• Upcoming Competitions

  • First Coast Cup (7/29-7/30 - Final Judging​​ is taking place.)

  • Commander SAAZ​​ 

    • 7/11-8/22 - entry window​​ is now​​ OPEN;​​ 

    • 9/16-9/17 - Final Judging

    • Anyone interested should go up for the final judging weekend. There will be social events scheduled such as pub crawl and beer brunch. Bonus – Commander SAAZ will be there in costume!

    • Can get a feel of how other clubs manage competitions.

  • Best Florida Beer Competition​​ 

    • 8/13-9/10 - entry window not yet open;​​ 

    • 10/8 - Final Judging

    • This is the last competition for the 2016 Florida Beer Circuit Competition.

  • Check ReggieBeer for other competitions

• Key West Brewfest (9/1-9/5)

  • This festival is a lot of fun,​​ according to​​ previous attendees.

  • It has a large turnout.

  • MASH is considering participation in the event, if there is interest.

• GABF (10/6-10/8) @ Denver, CO

  • Member pre-sale (8/2)

  • General public sale (8/3)

• Upcoming Events

  • Veritage (10/5) @ Wynwood Walls​​ –​​ Wynwood

    • Fun event in the heart of Wynwood.

    • Upscale food samples

    • Event is put on as a Charity fundraiser.

    • MASH needs kegs contributed.

  • Grovetoberfest (10/15) @ Peacock Park - Coconut Grove

    • This is right after Veritage, so we need MASH members to be actively brewing this fall!

    • MASH will compensate club members for kegs that are donated for these events.

VI. Education

• How to grow a “Lincoln’s Beard”

  • Thank you John Falco, for describing some of your experiences, and the process you have gone through in opening Lincoln’s Beard.

• John modestly considers himself “a novice brewer. Definitely a novice commercial brewer.”

• He advises that the very act of transitioning from home brew to commercial is selling out, at least a little bit.​​ (But that’s ok.)

  • Charging for beer​​ shifts focus to cost. Even at 7 barrels, a dumped batch has strong financial consequences. Less risks are taken, so some art and creativity is lost.

  • Government restricts both production and selling of beer. (e/g: No brewing within .5 miles of school or church.)

• ​​ The start up.

  • It took about 7 months to go from owning a brewery location, to actually brewing, and that was with many things going right.

  • Advice: plan your budget out. Figure the cost required to open, and then multiply it by 3 or 4 times, and you will have a realistic amount to cover the unexpected.

• John is setting up Lincoln’s Beard with a 7 barrel system, roughly​​ 180​​ gallon batches.

  • Brewing​​ at​​ this larger scale is in some ways easier​​ than home brew. (equipment, and stability of temps. Mash will not lose temp, because it is massive.)

  • Lincoln’s Beard has a fairly manual system.​​ 

  • Those who are interested in seeing the brew house run should reach out​​ to Lincoln’s Beard.​​ John is open to having people around while he is brewing.

• When opening/running a brewery, community interaction is important.

  • Current brewers and establishments will help if asked. They can give advice on what you need, and what pitfalls to look out for.

  • Once into production, these relationships can be beneficial in scenarios where ingredients or other help is needed.

  • Beyond breweries, community involvement is key. “Never say no.” Be a venue to clubs, community events, etc.​​ A brewery/brewpub should be a social hub.

• If anyone has interest in opening a brewery, even if it’s just at “napkin scribbling” level, feel free to come to John with questions that arise.

VI. BotY

• July: Belgian Strong Ale

  • 1st​​ – Daniel Kinard: Belgian Dark Strong

  • 2nd​​ – Michael Moussa:​​ Belgian Blonde Ale

  • 3rd​​ – Dan​​ Barrett: Belgian Dubbel

• Aug:​​ next month is​​ Fruit Beer.

Meeting adjourned. Next meeting is August 25, 2016.