President’s Message – January 2013

Greetings MASHers,

Welcome to the New Year. MASH has begun 2013 with a splash. We were well represented at the first Miami Beer Festival held at Marlins Park on Saturday, 1/24. The club poured 5 brews that were very well received by the beer-swilling public. Congrats to Josh Kritzer whose Coffee Milk Stout was the “buzz” of the festival. (If it existed, he would have won the People’s Choice Award.) The MASH booth was hopping all night long as folks came back again and again to sample the best homebrews in the city! Thanks to all who contributed their time, energy and beer to this event.

BTW – I received a call this morning from the organizers of the Miami Beach Beer Fest (Beach Brews) scheduled for February 2nd. I had to decline as we gave away all our inventory last weekend. (Time to get brewing!) However, if you’d like to attend the event, use the promo code: FB to obtain a ticket for $30 vs. the list price of $80.

We’ve got a lot to discuss at our monthly meeting this Thursday, 1/24 at Sports Grill in South Miami (7:00 p.m.) – with an emphasis on the upcoming Coconut Cup competition. The entry window is now open. Be sure to get your electronic entries in as soon as possible. Depending on the final number of entries received, we’ll plan some preliminary judging sessions.

As in years past, the Coconut Cup will be held at the American Legion Hall in South Miami. Bob Beard has reserved the hall for our use from Thursday, 2/28 – Saturday, 3/2. The tentative schedule is as follows:

Thursday, 2/28:

– Monthly Club Meeting to be held at American Legion Hall

– Transfer entries to hall & Initial Set-Up

 Friday, 3/1:

– Pre-Judging Session (Noon – ?)

Saturday, 3/2

– Final Rounds of Judging (9:00 a.m. – ?)

– Awards Ceremony & Raffle

– After Party?

There is another competition sneaking up on us. The Best Florida Homebrew Championship is scheduled on February 23rd. If you have not already registered, you can enter your beers here: Reggie BFBC 2013. Please bring your entries to Thursday’s meeting. I will be hauling them up to WPB on Friday morning – with a quick stop in Ft. Lauderdale to grab the FLAB entries. From there they will be transported by “railroad” to Tampa.

Remember that the BotY category for this month is BJCP Category 13: Stout. I anticipate a rousing competition.

Get some rest. It’s going to be a busy winter!

Cheers!

David Kirsten
MASH President – 2013