OBC Business Items for January 2014

01/02/2014 11:53 PM | Deleted user

At the January meeting, the OBC board will be seeking the membership’s approval on to out-of-budget spending items:

1. $1000 towards reimbursing members’ attendance at the 2014 National Homebrewers’ Conference. $250 per person for up to four people. If less than four people go, the club would split the sum between the attendees to cover their actual costs. If more than four members attend, we would reimburse up to $250 for four attendees via a lottery system.

2. $1000 towards reimbursing members’ expenses in brewing related education, incurred during 2014. Members that take courses (pre-approved by the board) would be reimbursed 50% of the cost of a course, up to a maximum of $200 per person, per course. Reimbursements would need to be pre-approved and are limited to available funds: first come, first served.

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Special Announcements - January Meeting Agenda

01/02/2014 11:45 PM | Deleted user

• The next general meeting for the Oregon Brew Crew is scheduled for Thursday, January 9, 2014, at F.H. Steinbart Co. at 7:00 pm. The education topic will be “Sampling and a discussion of winter ales.”

• January is due-renewal time, membership dues are the same rate as last year. When you log into our website, annual members will see a “renewal due” message in the lower right-hand corner of the page. For new members, dues are not pro-rated: all memberships are up for renewal in January.

• FREE Bottles! Owen Lingley of Craft Canning and Bottling has generously donated 39 cases of 22oz bottles to the OBC. These bottles will be brought to the January meeting and are FREE to all members to take home. Please find a board member at the meeting if you have any questions.

• As a reminder, general and board meeting minutes will be routinely posted on the Oregon Brew Crew Forums page. Please check the forums for the latest information.

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Calling All Volunteers for the 2014 Spring Beer and Wine Festival

01/02/2014 11:31 PM | Deleted user

Do you know anyone who likes free beer? Free admission to a beer festival? Free t-shirt?

Then sign up to volunteer for a shift at the Spring Beer & Wine Festival being held at the Oregon Convention Center on April 18 and 19, 2014! There are lots of shifts to fill! No experience necessary! No permit required!

Talk to your friends and family. If you volunteer to work at the festival, the perks include: a free t-shirt, free admission, a festival mug and tokens. Not to mention just the fun of hanging out with other beer-loving people.

Beyond the regular festival shifts, pouring great beers, we also need members to volunteer to pour Collaborator beers and work the OBC booth!

For more information about the festival or to register to volunteer visit the Spring Beer Festival website. If you have any questions about the OBC's information booth or would like to volunteer at the booth, please email Lee Hedgmon.

Remember that we need lots of help and this club is successful due to its volunteerism. So please, volunteer!

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The Presidential Pint by Ted Assur

01/02/2014 11:03 PM | Deleted user

As I write this New Year’s Eve, sipping a 10-Barrel Pray for Snow, I want to wish you each a Happy and Healthy New Year, and another year with the Oregon Brew Crew. To all our old members, thanks for supporting your club through the years. To our new members, thanks for joining this past year and for helping to support this great club. I really look forward to serving the club for the upcoming year, and I know your new board feels the same way.

Thank you to everyone who made the 2013 Holiday Party such a great success: everyone who brought food, beer, or prizes, and all the organizers.

I also wanted to thank everyone who completed the 2013 Member Survey. To the one anonymous respondent who had nothing good to say except Good-bye, I’m sorry the club just wasn’t what you were looking for. I doubt you’ll find a better homebrew club within 1000 miles. To the rest of our members, we got a lot of great feedback and learned some great new things about our membership. We’re publishing some of the more interesting results in this month’s newsletter. If you indicated you were interested in volunteering, expect an email from a committee chair soon.

Many of the changes you’re going to see and ideas we’re going to bring to you this year come directly from your feedback: clearer communication, more focus on benefiting club members, tweaking the Homebrewer of the Year (HBOY) and OBC Cup Awards to be more distinct and clear, and helping new members know the club benefits available to them.

At the same time, I don’t expect much to change in the spirit of the club from the last few years. I really think the club is in a great place: We’re fortunate to have a robust, active and interested membership. Half of our members are relatively new. We’ve struck a balance in club purpose between socializing, education, and competition. We’ve got a motivated and collaborative board. I see a vibrant club, and that’s owed entirely to the spirit of its membership.

Being in the club for a few years has provided me the opportunity to learn about the different reasons people join. The club offers a lot to all members and I think this year, we will continue to do that: I don’t plan on upsetting the beer cart. I just want to pave the road a bit.

Besides that, my goal for this year is to brew more than last year. Serving as Competition Chair felt like a second job for me, and sadly precluded nearly all brewing time. I hope to be offering up some of my beer to you all in the near future.

Thank you for your continued support. My glass is empty.

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Last Presidential Pint of 2013 / OBC Holiday Party Speech

12/17/2013 10:59 PM | Anonymous

So instead of coming up with something meaningless to talk about in this last Presidential Pint I figured I would post my speech from the Holiday party for everyone to read. I appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed being your president and I would like to thank everyone who helped make this the best club there ever was.

Thanks

Chris Hummert

President

Oregon Brew Crew

Intro

For those of you who still don’t know me, I’m Chris Hummert and I would like to welcome everyone to the 2013 Oregon Brew Crew Holiday Party (toast)

I also want to start this event off with a Woohoo!!! This is the last time I have get up here and talk.

I’ve never been much of a public speaker. I remember that the first time I had to get up in front of the club was at the 2012 elections meeting when Mark couldn’t make it to the meeting. I remember being nervous as all hell and in a mild state of panic as I was talking to everyone. Thankfully I have to say I think I’ve gotten better as 2013 went on. Being your president has conquered the fear of public speaking for me and I appreciate the opportunity.

As most of you know I’m from Salem. I’ve had a lot of people ask me why I drive all the way up to Portland every month to go to Brew Crew meeting when there are clubs down in my area. So I thought that I would share that story tonight.

About 10 years ago my friend Brian Mathweg started making homebrew. I tried a few of his beers and when I didn’t go blind I realized that this was a hobby I could really get into. We took a road trip down to Standford for and Oregon State game and on the way we stopped by More Beer and pick some equipment up for me.

A few weeks later he drove up from Medford and helped me with my first batch. I was impressed with my first results and continued to brew on my own for about a year. During this time I was writing a weekly article on College Football betting and I mentioned I started homebrewing in it. One of our members at the time, KeAloha told me about the Oregon Brew Crew and said I should come up and check it out.

The first meeting I went to I meet Mark Easton, Bill Schneller, Bob Farrell and a host of other people. Everyone was sharing their homebrew and there was some education topic of some kind and from then on I was hooked on the OBC. There were lots of people that were passionate about this club and I was exposed to the wide world of homebrewing.

Over the years I’ve gone to meetings at other clubs, but I keep coming back to the Oregon Brew Crew. The people of this club are a real selling point and I’m proud to say I’m one of you.

Awards

Speaking of outstanding people it’s time to recognize the efforts of some of the outstanding members of the club. With that, let’s present the 2013 Oregon Brew Crew Bung Awards

Pulp Bung
This award expresses our appreciation for the efforts to promote craft beer appreciation and education through the printed word.

The Oregon Brew Crew would like to present this award to Ginger Johnson for her efforts in running womenenjoyingbeer.com

Jim Kennedy Entrepreneurial Bung
Jim Kennedy was a long time supporter of the club, and went to extraordinary efforts to promote the understanding and appreciation of good beer as an owner and manager of local beer distribution firms. This Bung honors that same spirit in the owners and/or managers of local craft beer related enterprises.

The Oregon Brew Crew would like to present this award to Crosby Hop Farm for their efforts this year in promoting homebrewing

Merle Gilmore Memorial Bung
Formerly the Orange Bung, this award acknowledges exemplary volunteer service to the club. This award was renamed in honor of the 2006 recipient, who passed away the following year.

This year we has a member named Dave Cato pass away. His estate gave his beer engine to the Oregon Brew Crew. Unfortunately we had no way to mount it up at meetings. The board decided to ask the membership for help. This member stepped in and created a beautiful cabinet for it that hopefully everyone has had a chance to see and use tonight. Because the effort that this member made, the Oregon Brew Crew would like to award the Merle Gilmore Memorial Bung to Brian Haslip

(Special) Smashed Bungs
Over the years the board has created special bungs. Last year we awarded Warren Johnson with the Rubber Meets the Road bung for his efforts in organizing bus trips. In the past the board has awarded a Green bung for Worst Homebrew of the Year, The bone bung to Alan at Hair of the dog and a Shutter Bug bung to Bob Brewer for taking pictures at OBC events.

This year we had someone that stepped up and the board felt they needed reconizition for all of their efforts. This person created our SMaSH program (which stands for Single Malt and Single Hops). He organized brewers, made sure we had feedback forms at the meetings and then he gathered all that data and put it all together for us on the website. For his efforts this year the Oregon Brew Crew would like to aware the Smashed bung to Tim Brinson

Red Bung
Also known as the “Beer Lover’s Award”, this recognizes the recipient’s unbridled passion for good beer, and distinguishes their efforts to share that enthusiasm with others

This year the Oregon Brew Crew would like to present the award to Jeremy Frey for his efforts at Steinbarts in promoting the creation of good homebrewed beer.

Silver Bung
“Homebrewer of the Year” This is awarded to the winner of the Oregon Brew Crew’s annual Homebrewer of the Year (HBotY) points competition. Members accumulate points for entering, winning, and otherwise participating in competitions, as well as volunteering to help in general club activities.

The Oregon Brew Crew would like to present the Silver Bung to Jason Barker

OBC Cup –
Chuck Macaluso

Golden Bung
This award is intended to honor a craft beer or homebrewing industry personality for efforts to promote or support the trade from a commercial perspective.

The recipients of tonight’s award did something we all thought involved a little bit of insanity. If you know them then you probably question their sanity too. These guys gathered kegs of beer from clubs here in the Northwest, drove them from Portland Oregon all the way to the National Homebrewing Convention in Philadelphia. From following their journey on Facebook I believe it was about 3 and a half days’ worth of driving

For those efforts, the Oregon Brew Crew would like to award our 2013 Golden Bung to Brew Brothers

Recognizing the 2013 Board

First I need to recognize my wife, Josie. I’ve been on the board for 4 years in a row and I’ve spent countless hours away from the home doing work for the Oregon Brew Crew. During this time she’s taken care of the kids while I’ve been out of the house enjoying beer without her. I don’t think that I’ve heard her grumble about it because she knows about my passion for this club. When I told her I was going to do the education chair position in 2014 I do think she rolled her eyes, but I thank her once again for being so supportive.

Volunteer Committee Chair – Lee Hedgmon
Lee has done one of the best jobs setting up and organizing our booths at the various events we participate in that I can remember. She was always on top of having plenty of pamphlets for our booth, organizing displays, and the real thankless part of this job which is organizing people to staff the booth during these festivals.

Burgermeister – Josh Huerta
I believe there were a couple of board meetings where Josh would tell us his ideas for food for a in or out meeting and I would think in my head “I’m not sure this is going to work out.” Fortunately Josh proved me wrong every time. Josh has done wonderful job of organizing food for the meetings and making sure we have something in our stomachs before we start drinking.

Communications Chair – Seamus King
I have to give out a special thanks to Seamus for putting up with me and being late on articles. Seamus stepped up and took over the communications chair position after the person elected to do it off and left for Colorado without telling us. So I’m thankful that he stepped up and volunteered his time like that. Now I’m the type of person that can talk and talk and talk about a subject to no end, but when I have to sit down in front of a computer and push buttons to get my thoughts out, its pure torture. I’m glad Bruce didn’t tell you how bad I was before you took this job but I also have to say thank you for doing the job.

Education Chair – Arron Hanson
Aaron stepped up and brought the education chair up to a new level this year. We had multiple events where we would have handouts, power point slides and other more interactive ways learning. He was also responsible for getting the OBC projector and screen which will allow future education chairs to have the option to do those things too.
 

Treasurer – Will Minderhout

Being the treasurer is no easy task. You basically get thrown into the fire in January and you get a really quick crash course from the previous treasure on how everything should go before you get thrown to the wolves and put in charge of a 5 figure bank account. Will stepped up did a wonderful job keeping our finances organize and doing anything else asked of him. I heard nothing but great things about his job as cellar master at this year’s Fall Classic and I was impressed by his level of organization.

Secretary – Rick Okamura
Rick did a great job of writing down the importation parts of our board meetings and leaving out some of the crazy things I say. He did a great job of getting the notes for both the board meeting and the general meetings posted online for people to see. In addition he looked out for the club by taking a look at our liability insurance and getting us protected where there were gaps in our coverage. I know that our current board thanks you for your efforts and that future boards will also be thankful that you looked out for them.

Vice President – Warren Johnson
Warren was the master of getting the out meetings set up. At the beginning of the year I thought setting up out meetings was a task I could take on in addition to all my other duties but I believe Warren saw that I was getting overwhelmed and stepped up to do the job. He did a fantastic job getting all the bits and pieces involved in and out meeting together. He also organized our canning event which was a fantastic experience for everyone and I hope we’re able to do it again. Warren was my rock and I knew that I could count on him for whatever task was needed.

Past President – Mark Easton
I don’t think I can count the number of times I started a text or phone call to Mark with “Hey I need to know what we did last year in this situation” Some OBC past presidents have disappeared never to be heard from again, Mark didn’t do that and was there for me in my times of need

Competition Chair – Ted Assur
For everyone that thought “hey you forgot about the competition chair, well I saved him for last for a reason.

Before this year I really didn’t know Ted very well. I interacted with him a few times at meetings but never really got the chance to talk to him. For those of you that know me I can come on pretty strong at times. Yea I know, real shocker….Sometimes my personality just doesn’t work out for some people and at the beginning of the year I thought that we were going to have problems. I can be like that square peg you’re trying to put into that round hole. Thankfully as the year went on that didn’t hold us back.

Ted brought back the skills competition program and revitalized club interest in it. He actually got people entering it all year long which was the challenge that I think every competition chair in the history of the Brew Crew has had. Then he came up to me and proposed the idea of doing the Heart of Cascadia competition and I thought in my head “you’re crazy to take on another competition” but it turned out wonderful.

Then if that wasn’t enough, he went out and talked smack to some wanna be hop enthusiasts from Tampa Bay and created a cross nation, club vs club competition. Which we only lost due to lousy judging ☺

Finally he helped revitalize the Fall Classic and brought the number of entries back up to the levels we saw back in 2005 and 2006. When all was said and done he had XXX entries. He was responsible for organizing people to help sort that mess, get bottles to where they were needed and getting them evaluated. I heard lots of great feedback about the job that Ted did in organizing and putting on the event.

Those are just a touch of some of the things he has done for the club. I would like to personally say to Ted that he has done a fantastic job this year and I’m proud to be formally handing the reigns over to him. He has a wonderful passion for the club and an enthusiasm that I haven’t seen for years. I think that with his leadership we are all going to have a great year. Let’s welcome your 2014 Oregon Brew President, Ted Assur

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DANIEL RUSSO TOPS THE PACK AS RECIPIENT OF FALCONER FOUNDATION AMERICAN BREWERS GUILD SCHOLARSHIP

12/17/2013 10:57 PM | Anonymous

From an outstanding group of talented applicants, Daniel Russo from Oakshire Brewing (Eugene, OR) has been named recipient of the 2014 Glen Hay Falconer Foundation scholarship to the American Brewers Guild. Dan will be attending the American Brewers Guild's Intensive Brewing Science & Engineering course that runs from January through June 2014. The Intensive Brewing Science & Engineering course is a 22-week distance education program with a final week of residential instruction. The course is designed for brewers and homebrewers who lack formal training in brewing science and covers all the fundamentals of beer production and quality assurance.

In making its final decision, the Selection Committee members were impressed by Dan’s passion, dedication, and work ethic. They cited his roots as an innovative homebrewer, tireless contributions to the broader brewing community and genuine interest in living the ideals of the Falconer Foundation. In the words of a committee member: "Dan possesses a great combination of brewing talent, diligence, and understanding of the many disciplines of running and promoting brewery operations. With the ABG education and his front-of-the-house experience, Dan will be an enormous asset to the success of the overall brewery." The mission of the Foundation resonated in Dan, as another committee member highlighted: "What struck me about Dan was that he took the time and energy to learn about Glen and the Foundation."

The brewing scholarship is a full-tuition grant along with travel stipend that is offered in collaboration with the American Brewers Guild. The American Brewers Guild is a premier school for the craft brewing industry dedicated to providing a comprehensive learning experience that focuses on the technical, scientific, and operational matters and issues that brewers face in a craft brewing environment.

The Selection Committee, consisting of Ben Dobler, Innovation Brewer at Widmer Brothers Brewing/Craft Brewing Alliance, Christian Ettinger, Brewmaster-Owner of Hopworks Urban Brewing, Scott Frietas, Brewmaster & Co-Founder of Latitude 42 Brewing, Alan Moen, Editor of Northwest Brewing News, Shaun O’Sullivan, Brewmaster and Co-Founder of 21st Amendment Brewery, and Steve Parkes, Owner and Lead Instructor of American Brewers Guild, were given the difficult decision of selecting a single recipient from a deep and talented group of deserving candidates.

The Foundation extends congratulations to Dan and a sincere appreciation to all the applicants for their interest and enthusiasm for the Falconer Foundation American Brewers Guild scholarship. The Foundation thanks the Selection Committee for its hard work and energy and extends its gratitude to the American Brewers Guild for its long-standing support for the Foundation’s brewing scholarship program.

The Falconer Foundation has granted 25 scholarships over the past decade and is dedicated to promoting knowledge and expertise in the craft brewing industry in memory and honor of Glen Hay Falconer.

For more information on the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation, visit www.glenfalconerfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook.

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2013 Election Meeting Results

11/19/2013 9:08 AM | Deleted user

OBC Meeting Minutes

Date: November 14, 2013
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Breakside Brewery
Members Present: 106 of 299 (35 % Attendance; 27 Absentee Ballots Counted)
Next Meeting: Holiday Party @ the Village Ballroom, 700 NE Dekum St., Portland, OR 97211

2013 ELECTION MEETING RESULTS (44% of Membership Voting):
President: Ted Assur
Vice President: Will Minderhout
Treasurer: Dylan VanDetta
Secretary: Rick Okamura
Competition: Joel Sherman
Education: Chris Hummert
Communications: Warren Johnson
Festival Coordinator: Lee Hedgmon
Burgermeister: Jason Barker

Bylaw Amendment #1 – Forced Removal of Board Member
Yes – 113
No – 13

Bylaw Amendment #2 – Board Member Indemnification
Yes – 117
No – 6

Budget
Balanced Budget – 27
Unbalanced Budget – 101

McCracken Scholarship
Yes – 119
No – 4

Falconer Foundation Scholarship
Yes – 110
No – 25

Bottler’s Mausoleum
Yes – 106
No – 25

Tent Purchase
Yes – 127
No – 1

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November Presidential Pint

11/09/2013 11:06 PM | Anonymous

To cut this short and if you haven’t read the past 2 months’ worth of newsletters, the board has proposed changing up the bylaws. If you want to read them ahead of the November meeting and help us keep the number of questions down so we can enjoy this out meeting please view the full text of the changes and discussions about them at the following locations:

Bylaw Discussion

http://forums.oregonbrewcrew.org/showthread.php?1005-Club-Bylaws-Amendments

2014 Budget Discussion:

http://forums.oregonbrewcrew.org/showthread.php?1014-2014-Proposed-Budget

In addition if you can’t make it to the November meeting, then please make sure to request an absentee ballot. Since we have bylaw changes this year it’s very important that every member votes, because if we don’t have a quorum then none of this will count. The board has put a lot of time and effort into this project and we would appreciate your help. You can request an absentee ballot by emailing me at president@oregonbrewcrew.org or at chris.hummert@oregonbrewcrew.org

Ballots will be sent out starting Monday morning and you will be able to vote up until 3pm on Thursday November 14^th. We have to cut it off by then so we can have a count tallied up and ready to go for the club meeting later that night. I will also be sending out an email on Sunday/Monday reminding everyone about absentee ballots.

Our November meeting will be at the new Breakside location in Milwaukie. With this being both an “out” meeting and an elections meeting the format is going to be a little bit different. First we are encouraging everyone to show up early. We can’t vote without a quorum present so the faster everyone shows up, the faster we can get the elections over with. Second when you check in you will be given a ballot and a ticket good for one beer. After (and only after) the elections portion of the meeting is over, you will turn your ballot in and receive your second ticket for beer. You can feel free to not pay attention to the elections, candidates and budget then fill in your ballot and do whatever, but your ballot will not be accepted until after the election portion of the meeting has finish and you will not receive your ticket for beer until then. As a counterpoint to this, I promise to keep the elections portion of the meeting on track and moving along. Finally we will have a food cart called “Bro Dogs” there providing everyone with an opportunity to have something to fill their stomachs.

In closing I would like to announce that we have changed up the location of our Holiday party this year. For many years it’s been at the Latvian Center but it’s become apparent that we’ve started to outgrow the location. This year we have booked the Oregon Public House which is just a little bit bigger and is in a more centralized location for everyone. I will give more details on the changes coming to this year’s holiday party in next months’ newsletter, but I’ll leave you with knowing that we will have a more streamlined club raffle that has been redesigned to not take all freaking night long.

Cheers

Chris Hummert

President

Oregon Brew Crew

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Widmer Brothers Steel Bridge Porter marks 15 years of Collaborator Projec

11/07/2013 1:19 PM | Anonymous

(Portland, OR) – Widmer Brothers Brewing has announced the release of Steel Bridge Porter, a limited release collaboration beer developed by Noel Blake, a local homebrewer and member of the Oregon Brew Crew. Steel Bridge Porter is the latest release in the Collaborator Project, an ongoing partnership between Widmer Brothers Brewing and the Oregon Brew Crew that began in 1998, where winning recipes from an annual homebrew competition are brewed by Widmer Brothers and released locally in the Portland area.

Widmer Brothers has been a longtime advocate for the homebrewing community. Kurt and Rob Widmer started as homebrewers before opening Widmer Brothers Brewing and have been a part of the local Portland homebrew club, the Oregon Brew Crew, for more than 30 years. The Collaborator Project began in 1998 after Oregon Brew Crew members were encouraged to develop a homebrew recipe using Widmer Brothers’ house yeast.

Since then, annual winners of the Collaborator homebrew competition have earned opportunities to brew their recipes at Widmer Brothers’ pilot brewery system and have their beers distributed locally.

“Every Collaborator brewer has been like a proud parent,” said Rob Widmer. “And I can relate. When you are a homebrewer, to your non-brewer friends you are a hobbyist, an amateur. But when you brew for the Project and can take your friends into a local pub and order your own beer, your friends look at you differently. Your position as a brewer is certainly elevated in their eyes undefined It’s a very proud moment.”

[ADVERTISEMENT BY CRAFTSHACK.COM]

The Project has been pushing brewing boundaries for the last 15 years, and the Oregon Brew Crew and The Collaborator Project take some claim in the remarkable innovation taking place within Portland’s craft beer scene.

“Former homebrewers have taken over,” said Blake, the creator of Steel Bridge Porter and 18-year member of the Oregon Brew Crew. “The inmates are now running the asylum, and innovation is oozing out of brewhouses all across the country. Ultra-hop beers are now a competitive sport, and souring, barrel-aging, hybrid styles, exotic yeasting, and yes, collaboration brews, are demanded by consumers in the leading craft beer markets.”

While Steel Bridge Porter can best be described as a chocolaty porter, it has depth that reveals an interplay of dominant chocolate character with toast, coffee, and orange notes. “The mouthfeel is rich, yet the bitterness just assertive enough to lead the finish to the dry side,” said Blake.

Steel Bridge Porter will be available in the Portland area for a limited time in 22-ounce bottles bearing the Collaborator logo. To find retailers carrying the beer, please visit Widmer Brothers Beer Finder. To learn more about the Oregon Brew Crew, visit its website or join the Crew for its open meeting the second Thursday of every month at FH Steinbart. To read a new interview with Rob Widmer and Noel Blake, please visit the Widmer Brothers blog.

About Widmer Brothers Brewing
What started as a dream for two ordinary brothers who just loved beer has now become a reality for two ordinary brothers who still just love beer. Kurt and Rob Widmer helped lead the Pacific Northwest craft beer movement in 1984 when, in their 20s, they dreamed of brewing unique interpretations of traditional beer styles. In 1986, Widmer Brothers Brewing introduced the first American-style Hefeweizen; today, the unfiltered cloudy beer is the company’s signature brew and one of the best-selling wheat beers in the country. Based in Portland, Ore., the brewery currently brews a variety of beers including Alchemy Ale, the Rotator IPA series, Pitch Black IPA, Nelson Imperial IPA, a limited edition Brothers’ Reserve Series and a full seasonal lineup. For more information about Widmer Brothers Brewing, visit www.widmerbrothers.com.

About Steel Bridge Porter

Since 1998, the Oregon Brew Crew and Widmer Brothers Brewing have hosted an annual homebrew competition where winning homebrew recipes are selected to be brewed at the Widmer Brothers brewery in Portland. This project is known as the Collaborator Project; these limited release beers are only available locally in the Portland area. Steel Bridge Porter is Noel Blake’s recipe and the latest release in the Collaborator Project. Steel Bridge Porter wears a beautiful dark robe with a creamy coffee-colored head. The mocha flavors are rich and seductive, yet dry and drinkable. The robust malt profile does not hide the hops, which are expressive and well-integrated into the overall brew.

MALTS: Pale, Caramel, Chocolate and Coffee Malt
HOPS: Alchemy and Amarillo
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 48

(Source: http://beerpulse.com/2013/11/widmer-brothers-steel-bridge-porter-marks-15-years-of-collaborator-project-1806)

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October Board Meeting Minutes

11/01/2013 11:27 AM | Deleted user

OBC Board Meeting Minutes
Date: October 22, 2013
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Ecliptic
Members Present: President, Chris Hummert; Vice-President, Warren Johnson; Treasurer, Will Minderhout; Secretary, Rick Okamura; Education Committee Chair, Aaron Hanson; Competition Committee Chair, Ted Assur; Burgermeister, Josh Huerta
Members Absent
(Excused Y/N?): Festival Coordinator, Lee Hedgmon (N); Communications Committee Chair, Seamus King (N)
Guests:
Next Board Meeting: December 8, 2013, 1:00 P.M. at Belmont Station

1) Communications: Newsletter format used last month that included the text of the articles is discussed as being preferred to only including links to articles. Ted mentions that this has the added benefit of limiting the communication to the relative privacy of distribution to the membership, rather than to the public at large.
a. Need to prepare candidate bio’s for the newsletter; Chris will send out an E-Mail reminder.

2) Fall Classic:
a. 375 Entries; 45 Judges registered
b. Bottle Sort was a success

3) Three Mugs OBC Social: Very poor attendance (3 members); The event likely suffered from inadequate marketing, possibly a travel issue for some members, or the fact that it was held so soon after the HOTD meeting; may have benefitted from an expanded audience (invitations to other homebrew clubs). Possibility of holding an out meeting at Three Mugs sometime during the summer was discussed.

4) November Election Meeting:
a. Mark Easton will put together a Survey Monkey ballot for E-Mail distribution as the absentee ballot. Chris will initiate the collaboration on this.
b. Ballots should be E-Mailed to the membership on November 7th.
c. Warren will assist Rick with the ballot validation.
d. Josh confirms the food vendor is set.

5) Warren was able to purchase a case of HOTD’s release, “Otto”. Bottles will be divided among the board and also raffled off at the holiday party.

6) Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day: Need to solicit demonstration brewers for FHS event. Should be able to scrape together a $150 food budget to grill burgers and dogs. Promote event (Website, E-Mail, and Facebook).

7) Liquor Liability Insurance: Chris will confirm that the liability insurance premium is paid.

8) New Candidates for 2014 Board:
a. President: Ted Assur
b. Vice President: Will Minderhout
c. Treasurer: Dylan VanDetta
d. Secretary: Rick Okamura
e. Competition: Joel Sherman
f. Education: Jacob Strohmaier & Paul Johnson (“PJ”)
g. Communications: Seamus King
h. Festival Coordinator: Lee Hedgmon
i. Burgermeister: Jason Barker

9) Holiday party: keep your eyes out for potential donations for the raffle.
a. $100 budget approved for children’s activities.
b. Funds are available to make a raffle prize purchase if necessary.

10) Bung Award nominees discussed.

11) Ecliptic should be approached about hosting an out meeting in February.

12) Chris will be taking over the SMaSH for Tim. The project will resume next year, probably with a revised recipe formulation.

13) Dues Change Proposal –Mark Easton: Board discussed the advantages/disadvantages of changing the membership dues structure. Discussion was tabled for future evaluation and a possible survey of the membership

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