Club Posts

Baltibrew General Meeting

May 17, 2018 @ Jon's House

• Introductions

• Guild Update - Kris

  • There are lots of guild events coming up, please check the calendar and listserv for updates. Minutes from the meeting are available for review. (Guild Minutes May 2018)

• Bylaw Revisions - Status Update

  • An e-board is meeting next Tuesday. The bylaw changes will be on the agenda for that meeting. More to come.

• Discussion of Baltibrew Events

  • Brubakes Recap
    What a great event! Thank you to all the contestants and attendees. Paul from De Kleine Duivel is be interested in hosting again next year with an increased number of tickets. Attendance this year was about 40-50.
  • Brewtherville Big Brew Recap
    Greg and Christoph dropped in on Brewtherville’s event. BC Brewery looks great and the beer is tasty. They have filled 18 of their 24 taps and looks to have the space to grow their operation considerably. It’s right off the light rail. Anyone who has a chance to check it out should drop by.
  • Sensory Classes @ Jon's
    Due to scheduling conflicts the dates of the tasting panels have been moved to July 14th/15th. Reach out to Jon to sign up. The cost is $20 for one session, $35 for the pair.
  • Orioles Outing
    July 28th is the same day as Union Collective grand opening which many members plan to attend. Since the tasting panel has been moved to July we’re going to cancel the July Orioles outing in lieu of supporting Jon’s event and the Union event.
  • August Bus Trip
    Greg and Jacob are working up the itenary. More to come on this trip. Looking at an early August weekend.
  • ChiliBrew XII
    Anyone interested in helping out with ChiliBrew should contact Jacob. Baltimore Beer Week has not finalized the exact week in October yet. Since we try to schedule ChiliBrew as a kickoff event we’re waiting on that decision. It will likely be October 12th but could possibly be on the 19th. Stay tuned.

• Social/Event Updates - Jacob

  • Brewscape @ Birroteca, May 20th
    (https://www.facebook.com/events/858581900996052/)
  • Brew at the zoo, May 26th
    (https://www.facebook.com/events/370328426782270/?event_time_id=370328446782268)
  • MD Guild Wheat Beer Comp and Picnic in Patapsco State Park, June 2nd (Hollofield Pavilion 301 Directions)
  • MDHB Beer Education Classes
    • Troubleshooting My Beer ($15), June 3rd
    • Recipe Formulation ($10), July 22nd
  • Annapolis Homebrew Club’s Pints for Paws Homebrew and Craft Beer festival, June 22nd
    (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-pints-for-paws-homebrewing-and-craft-beer-festival-tickets-44105596025)
  • Mashout!!! August 16-19
    (www.campmashout.com)
    

• Other New Business/Member Announcements

  • Feedback Sheets for Beer Evaluation @ Meetings
    The Baltibrewer survey revealed the desire for a slightly more formal procedure to request feedback on homebrew during the monthly meeting. A draft feedback sheet based on the BCJP score sheet was circulated. The general consensus was that it was too busy. A revision featuring more hedonistic categories will be available at the next meeting.
    Draft Homebrew Feedback Label
    Draft Homebrew Feedback Form
  • Iron Brewer Update
    Due to waning interest in the current Iron Brewer format, the contest will change from a recurring Chopped format to more of an on-demand Bobby Flay’s Throwdown competition. The rules discussed were:
    • There is no scheduled Iron Brewer contest.
    • Any club member may challenge the current Iron Brewer to a competition on a given style/ingredient.
    • It is up to the challenger and the Iron Brewer to come to a gentlepersons agreement on when the finished beer will be judged. We can’t expect the Iron Brewer to defend challenges at every meeting.
    • If the Iron Brewer repeatedly refuses to defend their title, it will be abdicated.
    • Once a challenge is issued and accepted, any other club members may brew a beer for the competition.
    • Judging will remain hedonistic.
    • The prize remains glory and possession of the sweet Iron Brewer mug.
    • The current Iron Brewer is Will.

• Ed Topic - Kris

  • Baltibrew Yeast Capture! - Collection of captures
    Many of the captures are showing mold or fungal growth. Fingers crossed that some of the recent captures show more promise.
  • Baltimore’s Water System!!!!
    Look out for a blog post in the Education section summarizing the presentation. The tour of the Ashburton treatment plant is June 21st @ 10AM. Kris will send reminders.

• Homebrew Swap!

Due to weather related issues, BaltiBrew’s Monthly meeting will NOT be @ Nepenthe tonight.

Alternate location for meeting, May 17^th 2018:

Jon's

Please enter through the garage, go down the hall to basement door. Meeting in basement. Please be quite, children sleeping.

DO NOT RING DOORBELL!

Due to potential weather related issues, BaltiBrew’s Monthly meeting may be at an alternate location. Please check this site or our Facebook page for alternate location information.

Alternate location decision will be made day of meeting, May 17^th 2018.

Baltibrew members hail from a wide range of professional backgrounds, from the service sector to the arts to engineering and finance.  Among our ranks are several bonafide microbiologists.  Drawing on their expertese, the club has embarked on a challenging and multi-part project for the year: we're going to try to capture, isolate, culture, and evaluate a Baltimore native brewers yeast!

Finished capture kit for club members.

While a number of our brewers produce tasty beverages via spontaneous and mixed fermentation, there are a several challenges in an attempt to isolate a strain of yeast for brewing purposes.

1. Capturing anything interesting at all!
   Leaving our capture media outside doesn't guarantee we'll end up catching something that will ferment instead of just spoil.  We'll be casting as large as net as we can in the hopes of finding candidate organisms.

2. Capturing something that will ferment strongly on its own.
   In a mixed fermentation, the processing of various sugars into ethanol and other compounds is a team game.  We're looking to isolate a strain of yeast that can do the job itself and there's no assurances that the yeasts we might capture will be able to tackle the simple and more complex sugars found in wort.  After we've selected candidates from our captures, we'll need to test them to see if they are up to the job.

3. Capturing something that is not the Chico strain.
   We're brewers and we're surrounded by brewing yeast!  It's in our homebrew.  It's likely floating around our houses.  We'll need to take care that we don't end up "capturing" an organism that we've brought into our local environment.

4. Capturing something that makes a pleasing beer.
   And here's the big question.  Even if we capture and isolate a yeast or yeasts that are up for the job, there's no way of telling if they'll make a pleasing product.  After all, brewers yeasts has been living with humans for a very, very long time and have been heavily subjected to selection pressure.  People have been knowingly (and unknowingly) changing the organism by reusing pleasing results, selecting for attenuation, floculattion, expediency, and taste.  If we are successful in wrangling a pure strain of yeast that will ferment a wort of malted barley, are we lucky enough that it should make a tasty brew?

After discussing the challenges, we set about designing a simple protocol and capture media to distribute to club members at our April meeting, with the intention of collecting promising candidates at the next.  We prepared and processed the capture media into 8 oz mason jars. Starting with 1 liter of distilled water and 143 grams of DME, we calibrated a pH meter and added enough lactic acid (~.5 mL) to drop the solution below 4.50 pH. The wort ended up at 1.025 SG (as converted from a Brix reading of 6.4) and a pH of 4.38. We processed 20 jars filled with 100mL of the media and half of a hop pellet each in a pressure canner at 15 PSI for 15 minutes.

Pressure canner heating up.

While the canner ran, we crafted airlocks from extra mason jar lids, rubber grommets, and S-type airlocks.  The goal here was to provide a members with a simple way to limit oxygen exposure after capture, hopefully keeping some of the less favorable aerobic organisms in check.

Airlock lid for after capture.

The capture media, modified lid and airlock, clean cheesecloth, and a protocol sheet were bundled into a capture kit for members to take home.  Members may choose how to conduct their capture; either directly from a biologic sample like a flower or fruit, or from the outside air itself.  Admittedly, the odds are low but the fun is be in the attempt.  Read more as we take our captures into the lab!

Sterile capture media.

Thanks to everyone that helped make our first ever Brübakes competition a great success!

Competitor teams joined forces to brew a Belgian Saison and baked goods incorporating spent brewing grain. Thank you to everyone that entered, there were many excellent brews & baked goods had by all. Thanks also to De Kleine Duvel for generously hosting, and to everyone that attended and voted for your favorite team! We're already looking forward to next year.

• First Place: Max & Becky Reed with their Hoppy Table Saison and Cookies
• Second Place Split: Christoph Lepper with his Hoppy Standard Saison and Sourdough Bread
• Second Place Split: Jake Quaytman & Caiti Sullivan with their Lavender Saison and Challah with peach jam