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Writer's pictureJohn Litak

May 2021 Lehigh Valley Homebrewers Newsletter




Greetings Brewers! I hope you are as excited as I am - We're meeting in person this month! Please come out and join us for the May meeting at Yergey's Brewing & Triple Sun Spirits in Emmaus. Bring your entries for the current flight of Homebrewer of the Year (HbotY), a coffee flavored beer, to be judged at the meeting. Please RSVP for both events so we can keep track of attendance and entries. To celebrate getting together, the club will be providing pizza (as there won't be a food truck on Tuesday).


I'd like to thank our special guest speaker from the last meeting, Nate Walter, Barrel Aging Program Manager at Free Will Brewing for joining us and sharing details about their barrel aging and sour program. Additionally, I'd like to thank Chris and Tiffany Becker for hosting Big Brew on May 8th! It was great to see everyone who came out and finally try some of our members recent brews. I'd also like to thank Joe Kalinosky for helping with some logistics including loaning us his large canopy tent to help fend off the spotty weather of the day. I'd also like to thank Joe and Mel for working the grill that day. Also, Becker smoked some pork loin which received rave reviews!


Also, we have a couple other exciting items in the works - a new meeting venue for June, a mini-beer festival to pour at in July, and more!



John Litak

LVHB Club President


Ken and Scott brewing at Big Brew:


Future Meetings:

May 25th - Yergey's Brewing - RSVP Here


Beer Homework:

Cancelled for Summer!


The May Meeting Agenda will feature:

  • Announcements

  • HbotY 2nd Round Judging and Feedback

  • Yergey and Triple Sun sampling

  • Sharing Homebrew!!!



Meetings are open to anyone (21 and older) who home brews (beer, wine, cider, mead) or is interested in learning about home brewing.  Our club has over 30 certified judges and several members who have "gone pro" by opening their own brewery, meadery, or distillery! - So bring your latest craft creation and get some constructive feedback and/or accolades!

 

Meeting Minutes from Last Month


March Meeting - Tuesday, 30 March 2021


For April, we continued with our zoom virtual meetings. We had 33 Zoom participants. Our Agenda included:


  • Announcements and updates on club activities and competitions.

  • Special Guest Presenter: Nate Walter from Free Will Brewing, Wild/Sour Ales

  • AHA Diversity Report and Discussion

  • Scottish Light - I Kilt You recipe review by Ryne Gade



Here is the presentation from the meeting:






 

UPCOMING CLUB EVENTS

Here are some upcoming events, we'll add more specifics as we work out the details for these events.



  • HomebrewCon - June 17th-19th (Early Bird Registration ends May 31st)

  • BJCP Classes - July/August 2021 - Sign-ups now available! (limited spots available! Note, if you plan on taking the test, you'll need to RSVP to both events)

  • Members Picnic - Summer 2021

  • Malt Madness - August 2021

  • Learn to Homebrew Day - November 2021

  • Holiday Party - December 2021


 

OUR BREWERS (are awesome)


As shared at the last meeting, 3 of our brewers placed in the "One and Done" competition:


  • Strong Ales, Bronze Medal, Chuck Lysakowski, "A Meal with Crackers" - English Barleywine

  • Brits and Scots, Gold Medal, Judy Parsons, "Jim Does Not Like Light Beers" - Scottish Light

  • Amber Bitter/European Beer, Gold Medal, John Litak, "Reign of Ruxin" - Vienna Lager

Join us at the next meeting to hear about the successes and contributions of our brewers to the homebrew and professional brewing community.

 

CLUB COMPETITIONS


Lehigh Valley Homebrewer of the Year

The second flight in the competition will have its entries due at the Club Meeting on May 25th.

Check out the details here. Start planning your next entry!



 

UPCOMING BJCP COMPETITIONS

Full list is available here.



BUZZ OFF 2021

  • Registration: Now until 5/22 (unless limit reached)

  • Shipping Window (Keystone Homebrew drop-off is available): 5/8-5/22

  • Judging: Virtual, 6/5-6/19 (Best of Show)

  • $5 per entry

  • https://www.brewdrinkrepeat.com/buzzoff/


25th Annual New Jersey State Fair Homebrew Competition / SCUBA


Start planning your entries for Malt Madness in August!

 

OTHER CLUB INFO


The details for most of our happenings (news, events, etc.) will either be included in the monthly newsletter or will be found on the LVHB Website Club Info page.   More random thoughts, photos, and links will be shared via the club Facebook page.   Find photos of our brewing activities on Instagram!  @lehighvalleyhomebrewers


LVHB T-Shirts

LVHB t-shirts are being redesigned for 2021.



Member Benefits

Keystone Homebrew Supply offers 10% off online and in-store purchases for LVHB members as well as a points based loyalty reward program.  They offer weekly local delivery on Saturday at Bonn Place in Bethlehem (just place your order by Thursday).  Keystone offers full sacks of grain as well as a large selection of brewing and wine making equipment.  Also, for most local competitions they provide a drop off point so you don't have to mail in your entries!   https://www.keystonehomebrew.com/ Hop and Grain offers members 20% off purchases on their online store, free shipping and flexible local pick-up options.  You'll find them very accommodating, even if you require a special order.  https://hopandgrain.us/


There's no excuse not to brew because you can't get ingredients or equipment!  Thank you to the local shops that support our club!


See all the benefits of membership as well as how to join here.



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