April Club Update:
With April 7th marking “National Beer Day” or the ending 88th anniversary marking the end of prohibition in the United States we should all find reason to celebrate. It is worthwhile to look for reasons that a culture should have, embrace, and cherish, great beer as well as other fine spirits. Beer is a companion in our life that joins us in all the highs and lows of life. What would a father's day be without a cold beer and some barbecue? What would a wedding be without a toast of the glasses? Or even as simple as a afternoon happy hour with some friends where the beer can be the starting point of conversation and relaxation from the grind of the week. In my house, having a beer with; my wife, a neighbor or a friend is a way I can share my craft and art with the people I love and want to surround myself with. This also highlights why likely so many people go into homebrewing, it is the drink of the people and it is an experience that is meant to be shared.
Thinking about the absurdity of a culture without beer makes me wonder where we would be without it. The inventions of alcohol production have fueled many of the sciences. Where would healthcare, and medicine be without the efforts of Louis Pasteur? Would industrial refrigeration have expanded so fast? Would process automation have taken off without the need to easily bottle hundreds of thousands of bottles a day? Would massive scale agriculture have advanced as early and as precisely without the large quantity of barley needed in beer production to quench the thirst of the many? It is known that some items were invented just for brewing such as the pH scale and the thermometer. Not only does alcohol consumption lead to innovation and advancements in society it also gives back tenfold in many varying ways.
This month I will be drinking with friends and family and giving cheers to the advancement of society and the sciences with my favorite crafted beverage, beer. Prost!
Special Guest Reflection:
Our guest speaker last month, Julia Hertz, gave us many things to think about. I did have a few takeaways that this talk shed light on for myself. I most certainly will never drink another beer made from a stale old Mr. Beer kit from Bed, Bath and Beyond. I am sure I threw out my Mr. Beer kit at least a decade ago but the point was well taken, it is a gimmicky trick to get many people into the process of homebrewing. We do in fact have a very rich brewing culture that exists in our club. As we can't know what we dont know (or experience), it was my assumption previously that we were not the anomaly for homebrew clubs (who knew there were so many lazy homebrew clubs out there?). This talk really enforced my belief that we are a great club but maybe for more reasons than I could see before, not only do we have a great culture and great people in the club we have also have found a way to push each other harder in the advancements of our own brewing and moving forward with our own brewing techniques and processes. I can always rely on one of the members of our club being available to answer questions, cite resources or give pointers; this I am thankful for as well as proud, that this group of individuals have found each other to geek out on some shit most people could care less about.
Her talk also gave me reflection about what it means to be part of the AHA. I historically have maintained my membership mostly for the articles in Zymurgy as well as availability to purchase GABF tickets; her talk made me also think about the likely importance of supporting an organization that in turn can support you back. Our club traditionally has not sought out involving ourselves in the activities of the AHA, maybe that is something that needs to change. I know months ago Colter mentioned to me that winning a Pro-AM would be a good goal to set for himself along with the club, or even as a club getting together to compete at a regional level. As well, Julia and I spoke about getting our clubs together this summer for a field trip drinking event, which sounds like a lot of fun, I also have thoughts about wanting to see how her club's beers rank against OTMP beers. We all reap the efforts of the AHA by them pushing for legislation as well as businesses to advocate for us, the homebrewers.
All of us likely had verrying takeaways from this talk, I have appreciated all the banter in the Discord regarding this meeting. Even if we don't all see eye to eye on the topics it does start good conversation. I think we can all agree that it was nice to break from our traditional format for once (even if it meant sacrificing us constantly filling our tasting glasses like we do). It is also worthwhile for us to reflect back on our club's success and look to the future of this club and attempt to see what else we can become if we have taken it this far, where else can we go? I know the last thing that any of us want to see in this club is getting comfortable and just becoming a commercial beer drinking gathering, blah! Cheers to the amazing brews this club produces!
Meeting Info:
Where: Chris's Brew Palace and Distillery (Lakewood)
Location:
14148 W. Cornell Ave, Lakewood
Date:
4-19-23
Time:
7:00 – Beer tastings
Notes:
We will be in the basement! Look for carpool information in the discord or ask about carpooling, the Arvada crew needs to represent!
RSVP:
Register Beers and RSVP to the meeting here.
March Meeting Recap:
Attendants: See attached notes in the Google Sheets
Meeting Recap / Beers: