August…., damn, it's still freaking hot. Luckily recently we've cooled down out of the 90s. Festivals are still going on and vacations are still on people's minds. Children are headed back to school….so shout out to our educators as their 9 month prison, I mean teaching sentence begins. Have a beer for our educators! They'll need it. Unfortunately I cannot make this month's meeting. Don't worry, you'll be fine. Charles will be herding the cats and taking notes on the tasty beers. From all the breweries and beer vacations I've taken my wife on, I guess it's her turn. I'll be taking her to Napa during the week of the meeting. But don't fret, since I'm in the area, we will be stopping by Russian River…..so win?
Oktoberfest is just around the corner and I'm hoping I'm ready. 10 gallons of Marzen, 5 gallons of Bohemian Pilsner, 5 gallons of Weissbier, 4 gallons of Mexican Corn Lager, and 4 gallons of Irish Red Ale. Already planning the next batches as I know a lot of that will be gone come mid-October. So far planning to do an Altbier named “Ctrl-Alt-Drink”. Distilling a spiced rum and making another berry mead are also on the schedule.
I mentioned it on Discord, but I'll make note of it here. The Colorado Homebrew clubs are having their first annual Colorado Homebrewer's Conference on 8/17/24 from 11am-6pm and hosted at The Brew Hut. Speakers and beer will be served. This was thrown together a little at the last minute given the AHA dropped the ball and pulled the rug out on us on the National Homebrew Conference that was supposed to be hosted here in Denver the same time as GABF. I cannot attend this year, but I'm hoping this becomes a recurring thing that we will, no doubt, participate in and attend.
September 7, National Beer Lover’s Day – Today, you deserve to celebrate yourself! Cheers to you! Hug that beer!
September 2, Labor Day – Sit back and enjoy some suds!
September 18, Oktoberfest Begins! – Oktoberfest begins today in Munich, Germany! You don’t have to travel all the way to Munich to celebrate – there are Oktoberfest celebrations happening around the world!
Rocky Mountain Homebrew Challenge 2024 – Competition is open for entries, enter and register beers here. You can also just sign up to steward or judge – recommend this if you've never done a competition.
August Club Update:
OTMP Club Membership Dues
To those that have not paid yet for FY25 dues, you can pay Chuck at this month's meeting or electronically below. Please try and get your dues renewed sooner rather than later. Chuck needs your first and last name and your AHA number (if you have one).
AHA reimburses our insurance premium if 75% of our members are AHA members. Last year with 26 members we had to hit 20 AHA members (almost 100%) to get reimbursed. If you are an AHA member please log into your account on the AHA site and select Olde Town Mash Paddlers as your home brew club. AHA takes our roster and checks the member database for club affiliation. We encourage our members to join the AHA and you get a $5 discount on your membership by being an OTMP member.
DUES: The dues are $30 annually.
PAYPAL- We have a club Paypal account – just sent payment to (paypal.me/OldeTownMashPaddlers / email: oldetownmashpaddlers@gmail.com).
2025 OTMP Bock Beer Competition!
It was decided at last month's meeting that it's far time to have another competition. So here are the details. The competition will be tournament style (no score sheets like last time). We will hold it during the April 2025 meeting being hosted by the Aikmans. This will be a Bock competition, meaning you can make your recipe of the following styles: Helles Bock, Duckles Bock, Doppelbock, Weizenbock, or Eisbock. It is suggested that you bring 2 bottles or enough to have it judged 2-3 times. Plenty of time to plan and brew!
AHA Club Night (October 9, 2024; 6:30pm-9:30pm)
Details are still coming out and more information will be provided as I get them. This is free for us to participate in. We must brew and provide kegs of beer to serve on the night to attendees that showcase our club. We are responsible for decorating, providing serving equipment and serving our beer. Here is some of the information we know:
- 6:30 – 9:30 Location: We’ve secured a wonderful brewery location near the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. (DBC Production facility on 44th and Jason St.)
- Clubs are responsible for bringing/shipping their kegs and providing all dispensing equipment. Delivery dates TBD.
- 21+ only, and all attendees/club representatives must be AHA members.
- Clubs must follow the Event Entry Policy and the AHA’s Code of Conduct.
- Booth space sizes and how booths are divided is TBD.
- Electricity is not provided.
AHA Membership:
As many of us are members of the AHA we get benefits from being members, from discounts, to early ticket releases we all now have another perk. OTMP is now a registered supporter of the AHA; meaning that if you use the discount code OTMP at checkout you will receive $5 off an annual membership as well as the club will be given $5. Feel free to share with anyone looking to join the AHA. This can be an easy way for those of us that annually renew to also roll some extra cash back to the club.
August Meeting Info: