Notes from the Orval Office

Back in the day BFD had a newsletter -- which was a pain to get pubished each month, but was excellent for the people who got to read it. One of the features of the newsletter was a column from the President -- from the Orval Office. I decided it would be nice to reinstate this particular BFD tradition and plan to write an Orval Office posting on the blog each month beginning with this one.

We had an excellent meeting last night at Erin & Brian Parda's house in Concord. Lots of great food (thanks to our hosts!) and, as always, a good selection of homebrew. The business meeting took a little less than 30 minutes and then we were on to Bill Herlicka's presentation about barrel aging beers. Bill gets his barrels from Thousand Oaks Barrel Co. and he has been very pleased with the beers he has aged that way. The Imperial Stout aged in a "scotched" barrel that Bill shared with us was certainly excellent!

A few reminders from the meeting:

• The deadline for entering beers in the Boston Homebrew Competition is February 13th. The drop-off location in New Hampshire is Jasper's Homebrew Supply, 4 Temple Street, Nashua, (603) 881-3052, jaspers@boomchugalug.com. This is a BJCP sanctioned competition and will be judged in Boston on March 1, 2008.
  
• If you want to go to the AHA Conference in Cincinnati, you need to book your room and register for the conference while there are still spots available. It is filling up fast.
  
• The club will not be holding a March meeting, but will be gathering at Ebenezer's in Lovell, Maine on March 15th.
  
• Our next official meeting will be April 11 in Merrimack and Bert Bingel will be doing a presentation on Mead.

Second Annual New England Regional Home brew Competition Raises $2000 for American Cancer Society

Manchester, NH • December 20, 2007 — Brew Free or Die (BFD) and Southern Maine Home brewers clubs today donated $2,000, raised at their joint event, the Second Annual New England Regional Home brew Competition. The event was held at Milly’s Tavern in Manchester , NH , on Saturday, November 3^rd, 2007. The donation to the American Cancer Society is made in honor of Don Merkey, a member of BFD who succumbed to cancer in 2005.

"We are grateful that The New England Regional Home brew Competition chose to donate their proceeds to the fight against cancer," said Brigit Ryan of the American Cancer Society. "This money will go toward cancer research, services for patients, and prevention and detection programs."

The New England Regional Home brew Competition, sponsored by Gritty McDuff’s, with 250 entries, is the largest homebrewing competition in New England , and is sanctioned by the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). The competition awards gold, silver and bronze medals in 28 beer-style categories. Home brewer, Cidermaker and Meadmaker of the year honors, plus the Best of Show Award, are awarded to the top amateur brewers as determined through the competition. A complete list of winners is available on the competition website, http://www.bfd.org/NERHBC.

Brew Free or Die, New Hampshire’s Oldest Home brew Club, and Southern Maine Home brewers wish to thank all the entrants and sponsors of the event, including Gritty McDuff’s of Maine, Shapleigh Hops, White Labs, Samuel Adams, Sky River Mead, and Giles Apple Farm among many other local and national firms. A complete list of sponsors is available on http://www.bfd.org/NERHBC.

“We are glad to have the opportunity to contribute to this event and the American Cancer Society”, said Eric Sprague of Southern Maine Homebrewers.

"Don was a past president of BFD and was very enthusiastic about the idea of a New Hampshire based national homebrew competition." said Mary Russell, BFD President 2008. "It is wonderful that our brew clubs have been able to put this competition together and I hope that we will be able to build on this year's success and continue this competition as a tribute to Don."

Brew Free or Die (BFD) is New Hampshire 's first, and most active, homebrew club. It was founded in 1991 to foster the brewing and appreciation of craft beer in Central and Southern New Hampshire . Many BFD members have won awards for their brewing. BFD members have served as both judges and stewards at numerous regional and national competitions. Among the BFD membership is a Grand-Master BJCP beer judge.

Southern Maine Home brewers is Maine ’s most active homebrew club. It was founded in 2004 to preserve and promote the time honored tradition of home brewing; to educate members about beer, cider, mead & wine. Southern Maine Home brewers also maintains involvement with the AHA and their competitions through club sponsored entries and activities. Many members have won top honors at some of the most prestigious AHA/BJCP sanctioned events.

Dear New England Homebrew Club,

I have been asked to organize the judging of the Sam Adams Patriot Homebrew Competition. This is a BJCP sanctioned competition to include styles 1 to 23, judging will take place on Saturday January 26th at Gillette Stadium (home to the New England Patriots).

I have setup a on line registration page for judges and stewards. Please see http://www.nhbrewers.com/Patriot/registration.php to register.

More information about lodging etc. will be provided to those that register, once I get the information from Boston Beer Co.

Also I could some help in running the competition, if anyone wants to volunteer please have them contact me.

Michael Fairbrother
Brew Free or Die

In Memory of Don

Brew Free or Die and Southern Maine Homebrewers held it's second annual New England Regional Homebrewers competition on November 3, 2007 in Manchester NH, raising $2000 dollars for the American Cancer Society in memory of Don Merkey.

Don always wanted BFD to get more involved with the running of a big homebrew competition. Well it brings a tear to my eye, but with two successful years of running this competition, it's clear we have finally done it! I think Don would be proud of us, as the NERHBC by all measures was a tremendous success!

Competition stastics:

• 250 entries (including beer, cider, and mead) from 16 states across the entire country.
  
• 36 sponsors including:
  
• Competition level sponsor - Gritty's
  
• Best of Show sponsor - White Labs
  
• Brewer of the Year sponsor - Boston Beer Co.
  
• Meadmaker of the Year sponsor - Sky River Mead
  
• Cidermaker of the Year sponsor - Gile's Family Farm
  
• We raised $2000 for American Cancer Society, in Memory of Don Merkey.

It took a combined effort of many members of both homebrew clubs to organize the competition, raise sponsors, catalog and process all 750 bottles.

Also we couldn't have done it without all the help from the stewards, BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) judges, and professional brewers who spent the day processing and judging all 250 entries, so that feedback could be provided to all the entrants.

Here are the top winners:

• Best of Show winner: Mark Healy with his Peach Cider.


• Brewer or the Year: Rick Rocheleau


• Meadmaker of the Year: Michael Fairbrother


• Cidermaker of the Year: Eric Sprague

For a detailed list of all the winners and sponsors vist http://www.bfd.org/NERHBC

A Musical Tour of Dogfish Head Brewery

A friend sent me this video link and I thought others might be interested: Dogfish Head Brewery

Stone Launch in New Hampshire

Stone comes to Manchester, New Hampshire on Wednesday, October 24. The event will take place at Penuche's (formerly New Cheese) Grill, 96 Hanover Street. Starting at 7 p.m., Stone will be pouring its Pale Ale, IPA, Ruination, Smoked Porter, and Arrogant Bastard. Come meet Stone's New England Rep Michael Saklad and Stone's Head Brewer (and BFD member!) Mitch Steele. Maybe one of them will buy you a beer . . .

NERHBC -- entries from 14 different states (so far)!

The Second Annual New England Homebrew Competition, scheduled for November 3rd in Manchester NH.

Our sponsorship drive has been an overwhelming success, with sponsors lined up for all 28 BJCP categories. Please see our sponsors page! As a reminder this competition is being hosted by Brew Free or Die and the Southern Maine Homebrewers, where all proceeds are going to the American Cancer Society in honor of Don Merkey, a member of Brew Free or Die and a BJCP judge.

Currently we have entries being registered from 14 states, from all corners of the United States. It's not too late to enter please see shipping and drop off locations, we have an entry deadline of October 26th.

Also if you are a BJCP, or professional brewer we are in need of judges, please register here.

Bourbon Barrel Baltic Porter

We discussed the next beer to place in the bourbon barrel at the October BFD meeting and decided on a Baltic Porter. Here is a five gallon recipe brewed by Mitch and Todd that placed 1st in the BFD Imperial Challenge 2006:

• 15 lb. Pilsner malt
• 12 oz. Chocolate malt
• 8 oz. Caramunich malt
• 8 oz. Crystal 90L malt
• 4 oz. Black Patent malt
• 1.5 oz. Perle hops (bittering - 60 minutes) - 9% AA
• 1 oz. Hallertau hops (flavor - 30 minutes) - 6.5% AA
• 0.5 oz. Hallertau hops (aroma - 15 minutes)
• Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager yeast)
• O.G. 1.076

We are shooting to place the Porter in the barrel by the December holiday party, so let Todd know your thoughts on the recipe and let's get brewing!

Single Hop Competition Results

Eight beers vied for the title of the best Single Hop and three came out on top. Without further ado, here are the results:

• 3rd Place: Dave Lagueux's Centennial American IPA
• 2nd Place: Billy Kannenburg's Amarillo American Pale Ale
• 1st Place: Dave Lagueux's Summit American Pale Ale
  

Cheers to Mary, Brian P., Billy, and Michael F. for judging all eight entries.

We will be skipping the November BFD-only competition to focus on the NERHBC.