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Roctober is here which mean the count down to the stupid season has started. Time to get your festive season brews done and those slide back, smooth sipping by the pool session brews. Eish, I am getting thirsty. So on with it:
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Final (emotional) report back from our outgoing Chairbrewer, Dough Berry:
"The club has had another successful year and I would like to thank all our members for their participation in the Club’s activities during the past year.
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A huge increase in entries to BTS has come with some necessary improvements to the judging layout, with more judges being added to give more feedback and impartiality! Big thanks to Zack for contributing to the ever-evolving process. Papa needs some wheat beers next year…just a suggestion.
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SIDE CHALLENGES and EDUCATION
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Side challenges were a new addition this year and I personally think they have been something of a revelation, forcing participants to get out of their comfort zone! So far: 5am Saint, Express Brew and Belgian Tripels! Next up, SMASH using 1 base malt, treated however! Can’t wait.
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A huge thanks to Seth for stepping up to take over education portfolio from Brad, so far, the presentations have been incredibly well researched and presented!
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OUTGOING COMMITTEE MEMBERS
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A big thanks to those present and absent who will not be standing for committee next year. Brad Vincent, Scott Bevan, Jason Smith and potentially Craig Bax will all be stepping back from the committee and the duties of their relevant portfolios. It’s been a big year for the club in various ways and the guys have elected to take a much-deserved break and get back to brewing without the headache.
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COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO HAVE SERVED
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Thanks to all of you for helping to formalize the club that much more. We finally had a bank account opened (albeit an irritating one) and a proper treasurer in place. Schalk has been keeping the records better than any of us have to this point and Adrian Ryley has been counting the tickies all year long. A big hoot to Adrian Garrett for the newsletter, website and calendar management and to Craig Bax for providing prize glasses for BTS and keeping us in venues! Ryan Swart as vice chair, thanks for being counsel when I have needed it and for going out of your way to help with treasury duties despite the inconvenience.
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ALES FOR TAILS AND CRAFTFEST
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Wow, a record number of charity events that DHB has been a part of in various capacities and prouder of the efforts, I could not be! My conservative estimate is at least R80 000 raised between the various events, going to various causes! SARDA, UMDUDUZI and others have all benefitted from your generosity. Special mention of several people, such as Francois, Warrick and others who never fail to step forward in this regard. Special mention as well of Shaun Standeaven and his family for not only sponsoring much of the brews for Craftfest but for providing an awesome facility at their own cost. Ditto to Beerbros for getting involved and making it possible for us to cut costs on the brewing process to maximise output for the charities
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As another year draws to a close, in my limited capacity as Chairman I couldn’t have been more chuffed to have been part of this ever-growing herd of home Brewster’s who at each available junction, up their game and step forward to show what can be done with some passion, some relatively simple equipment and a lot of heart.
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Beer will save the world, one litre at a time! Cheers"
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Next lady for a shave.....
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Do you have a nickname and what is it?
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How long have you been brewing?
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Longer than you'd think, had you tasted some of my beers haha, probably 8 or 9 years?
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How did you get into brewing?
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I'm a DIY kinda guy, always going "Pay $x for that!? Pfft, I can make/bake/build/grow that myself!". Was only a matter of time before I thought about beer. But the ingredients & sourcing of it intimidated me. I made ginger beer/wine for a while.
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Then one day I had a Kilkenny at an Irish pub in Mackeurten (way before Connors) and I was like "Daaaang! Frak Black Label!" That settled it, I was gonna start brewing! Bought a coopers kit, which never arrived. Bought another 1 and I was hooked!
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How many brews have you done?
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42 brew logs on brewtoad.com, plus say 8 or so from before that, then about 5 on brew.grain father.com, so about 55!?
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What is your favorite step when brewing and why?
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The drinking step! But, I like the planning and anticipation part too and the satisfaction of hearing the airlock telling me IT'S ALIVE! never fails to make me do a little happy dance.
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What is your least favorite step when brewing and why?
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Bottling, it''s the pits. I'm supposed to bottle today so that I can brew today and have space in my fermenter. But I really just don't feel like facing those bottles. I'm rather just gonna but another keg (anyone selling a corny?) and brew next week.
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Whats your favorite style of beer to brew and why?
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Something super malty and full of body, like Scottish 80/- or Bock, because it is liquid dessert man!
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I suspect I really love old Kent Goldings. There is a beer in Belgium, Martin's Pale Ale and it has just the best taste ever. Apparently they use Kent Goldings.
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Favorite speciality malt?
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US-05, I need all the help I can get to get my beers tasting "clean".
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Best beer you have ever had?
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Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn! Innis & Gunn!
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Whats your choice of pouring?
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Have you ever had a 'bottle bomb'?
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I've had a few yes! My favourite one was when the sound effects proccessor in my dreams made the explosion sound like a box of LEGO being kicked.
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Then of course there was the time the whole neck of the bottle found its way onto the TV cabinet, that was a bottle rocket!
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Do you brew strictly to a recipe or do you tend to do your own thing?
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I follow recipes mostly, unless I'm making something crazy and experimental.
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Are you pedantic about keeping records of everything you do?
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I do log my brews so I have the stats, but honestly, I try a different recipe every time so I rarely repeat the same thing and change as per notes from previous time.
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Favorite piece of equipment?
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Grainfather just makes me happy looking at it. But, the most crucial piece of kit is the STC-1000.
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What is the biggest lesson you ever learnt about brewing?
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Something will go wrong. The fridge might be set to freezing or you'll spill beer all over the floor you've managed to keep clean ALL day. You'll have an off batch now and again. Don't worry about it too much, just relax and have a homebrew.
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Has being a member of Durban Home Brewers had any influence on your brewing?
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The collective knowledge of the group has helped me source well needed solutions more than once! It's good to know there are other crazy folk around mad about fermenting stuff.
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The one and only, Jay Venter.
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Last meeting:
The AGM/BTS meet at German Club. The AGM was over in a flash, the committee stood down and most stood up again. Sadly the committee says goodbye to Scott, who has always had good advise and suggestions for the committee. Your input will be missed, but I am sure its not the last we will see of you sir. Cheers to JJ who has been the main man behind the running, planning, coordinating and collating of brew to style competitions for some time now. Thanks JJ, your contribution has set a great standard and the competition is a success due to your commitment. Craig is also taking a back seat on the committee. Thanks Craig for your work in organising the meets for the last while and for organising the shirts this year and for your continued support for BTS with you awesome winners glass.
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BTS was a close one and has changed the leader board for Brewer of the year. In third place was Brett Langton with his American Amber Ale - 'Amber was her stage name'. In second, Ryan Ringer Swart's Irish Red Ale and in First place, our outgoing (introverted) Chairbrewer, Mr Dough Berry with his aptly named Irish Red Ale - Irish Red Ale. Well done guys. The competition was close. All 3 guys get a certificate to adorn their pub walls and 1st and 2nd get one of each brew entered (that's 20 beers each) and 1st also gets a personalized engraved beer glass sponsored by Craig Bax. Thanks Craig.
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Seth was a Mamba again and gave us a great comparative tasting between 5 different grains that had been mashed individually for around the same time. Wow, I think our eyes were opened to what we could do to improve our brews (unlike Doug below).
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Nice shorts Ryan, stick to the dress code next time please.
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Next meeting:
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Union Square Casual Steakhouse @ Oxford center, Hillcrest.
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Note: SATURDAY 27 October 2018 12:30, that's thirsty after 12 midday.
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But, you need to stop in a Bros before hand to check out the 'Buy - Sell - Swop' first.
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So if you not going to the swop meet at Bros, we will see you at Union Square around 13:00 for a burger and a few beers. Note, bring some of you brews along for sampling and appraisal. Bring your questions and stories too. Don't forget to bring extra beers to swop.
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Please try to be there, it's always good to have a decent crowd, besides, you need to stop in at the Bros to buy some ingredients and or equipment.
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Next Challenge:
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You should have started on this one. Word was put out on the group. In a nutshell, its a smash, but you can change up your grains by roasting or toasting your own grains. So you start with a pile of pale, roast and/or toast them to get different specialty malts and do your brew from there. Try not to make a hoppy beer as the idea of this challenge is to see how you are able to create your own special malts.
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Tasting will be done a the November meeting.
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More details on drop box under 'Challenge Series'
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R40 Discount for 'On Tap' magazine.
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On Tap Magazine has given DHB members the opportunity to get a R40 reduction when taking an annual subscription. So it will cost R120 instead of R160 per year. When applying online just reference DHB. Not sure if you subscribe but I have noticed a massive improvement in the last 2 editions and would gladly recommend you subscribe. Note, limited subscriptions available: www.ontapmag.co.za
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December BTS is the one many of you have been waiting for, IPA's, APA's and Pale Ales. Dates have not been finalised, but we hope to get details soon. In the mean time get your brew on and enter. Its not about winning, ask Ryan and Zack, its about testing your own ability to brew, to see where you can improve and next year, to see how much you have improved. Please do enter, we want to see what is being produced out there. If you are a paid member, your first entry to each BTS is included in your annual membership fee. Each entry there after is R50.00.
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Brewer of the year:
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As you should know, we are using the BTS competitions to decide on our brewer of the year, kinda like "brew league". Anyway, how it works is each brewers best 3 BTS scores (out of 4 comps) are added up to give them a total score. Highest score is brewer of the year. Here are the top 10 currently:
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Name |
Lagers |
Porters & stouts |
Ambers & reds |
IPA's APA's |
Total score |
| 1 |
Ryan Swart |
34 |
36,25 |
33,25 |
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103,5 |
| 2 |
Zack Buchan |
38 |
32,75 |
26,5 |
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97,25 |
| 3 |
Brett Langton |
34 |
27,5 |
32,66666667 |
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94,166667 |
| 4 |
Rob Watson |
31 |
29 |
30 |
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90 |
| 5 |
Greg Hardie |
29 |
30 |
30,125 |
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89,125 |
| 6 |
Doug Berry |
32,7 |
22 |
33,33333333 |
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88,033333 |
| 7 |
Schalk Vd Walt |
29 |
33 |
22,25 |
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84,25 |
| 8 |
Seth Deghaye |
37 |
23 |
24,25 |
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84,25 |
| 9 |
JP Otte |
25 |
30,5 |
24,25 |
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79,75 |
| 10 |
Deon Bosman |
33 |
20,25 |
25,5 |
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78,75 |
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Here is whats up for grabs, the DHB floating trophy made for us by Craig Bax. Dusting up a shelf in Greg Hardie's bar. We need it back in December Greg.
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