BFD News

July BFD Party / Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (MaryR) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:26:00 +0000

Our July meeting will be a potluck BBQ at the Gosselin's on SATURDAY, July 12, starting at 2pm.
Please add a comment to this post indicating what you will be bringing by way of food and beverages (including soda, etc.) I know of at least 2 kegs that are anticipated (both local brews) and several club members offered the leftovers from the kegs they sent to AHA so those may turn up as well.
I hope to see everyone in July!
________________________________
Directions to The Gosselin’s home; 8 Overlook Drive, Pelham, NH
Tel: 1-603-635-8014 cell 603-508-0072

From Manchester, NH take 93S to exit 4 and turn right onto Rt 102. Continue on rt 102 and turn left at the intersection of rt 102 and rt 128S (Mammoth Rd.). Follow 128S straight thru intersection of Rt 111. Follow for 4.3 miles. Take a right on Jeremy Hill Road. Go up hill to second right, this will be Overlook Drive. Follow to end. Our house is the yellow colonial on the right at the end of the street

From Nashua, NH.. take East Hollis St east to Rt 111 east. Follow to intersection of Rt 128. Take a right onto Rt 128 south. Follow for 4.3 miles. Take a right on Jeremy Hill Road. Follow last part of above directions.

From Lowell, Ma..easiest way is Mammoth Road ( RT128 north). From school street bridge, follow Mammoth Road north for 7 miles. After entering NH, be sure to stay left at first fork in the road. Do not go towrd Pelham center. At 7 miles take left on Jeremy hill road. Follow last part of above directions.

From Worcester, Ma.. Rt 290 east to Rt 495 North. Follow to Rt 93 north. Follow into New Hampshire. Follow to exit 3. Go left at end of ramp and follow Rt 111 west for 4.6 miles to intersection of nh route 128. Take left onto Rt 128 south and follow for 4.3 miles. Follow last part of above directions.

From 93N, Take Exit 1 Salem, NH. Stay to the right and follow signs for Rt 38. Take a left onto Rt 38 and follow approximately 4 miles. At the set of lights take a right onto Nashua Rd. Continue until you reach Mammoth road (you have to take either a left or a right turn) Make left hand turn onto Mammoth rd and take you next right onto Jeremy hill. Go up hill to second right, this will be Overlook Drive. Follow to end. Our house is yellow colonial on the right at the end of the street

Congratulations John!

noreply@blogger.com (MaryR) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 02:38:00 +0000

The AHA competition winners were just announced (they will be posted in a little while). BFD's own John Allin took the bronze medal in the French and Belgian Ales category! The Brewing Network did a live broadcast of the awards ceremony. Congratulations John!

Meeting at Martha's

noreply@blogger.com (MaryR) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:35:00 +0000

The next club meeting will be Friday, June 13 at 7:00pm. We will be meeting at Martha's Exchange in Nashua, hosted by brewer Greg Ouellette. The meeting will be in a private room (ask the hostess to direct you when you come in). Directions are on Martha's website.

A jockey box for club night.

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Fairbrother) — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:55:00 +0000

Jockey Box

A jockey box is a portable dispensing device that's used to chill beer just in time for serving, removing the need to keep kegs of beer cold when serving. A jockey box needs to be functional, easy to use, and ideally pleasant to look at as you are showcasing all the craftsmanship that went into making your homebrew.

It works on the principles that the kegs of beer are sitting at room temperature, and when the beer passes through the heat exchange (coil or cold plate) located in the cooler box the beer temperature will drop to the ideal dispensing temperature. It is the perfect system for large parties or special events such as a family reunion, company picnic, camping, or club night at the National Homebrewers Conference (NHC). As it does not require any electricity it can be set up anywhere. CO2 gas is used to pressurize the keg for dispensing.

Brew Free or Die will be serving it's homebrew at this year's NHC, this is will be our third year of attending and serving beer at club night. Last year we took top honors by winning best beer at club night with a Zeus IPA from Todd Russell. The jockey box that I had previously built consisted of a 5-way cold plate (capable of serving 5 beers at one time). It had worked great over the last several years, but I really wanted to increase the number of beer/mead/cider that could be on draft, and I really showcase our homebrew, here's how I went about it.

I found a 7-way cold plate on ebay. I have had very consistent results with both types of heat exchangers (coils, cold plates), however I am not sure it's practical to have 7 coils inside one cooler. A cold plate consists of cast aluminum block with stainless steel coils inside of it, the cold plate for this project weights in at 26 lbs.

I wanted a wooden exterior for the jockey box. While on my way to the hardware store to pick up the raw materials that I would need to build one from scratch, I took a quick tour of HomeGoods and I found exactly what I needed. It's a outdoor wooden cooler that's meant to match the deck furniture. The price was about half that of anything I had found on line. It was unfinished, designed to be taken apart with a hex wrench, and designed to take the abuse of being outside for extended periods of time. All it needed was to be finished, and some other minor changes.

Getting the cooler home I completely disassembled it so that I had 5 panels, where I proceeded to sand, and polyurethane. Each layer of polyurethane must be allowed to dry completely (24 hours), then sanded with at minimum 200 grit paper, cleaned of dust and then a new layer of polyurethane applied.

I enhanced the structural integrity of the wooden exterior so that I could add handles to the side for easier jockeying around, and I wanted to ensure that the faucets would have enough support. Taking a 1/4" thick piece of plywood, I glued and secured the plywood to the slats on the sides where the handles were going, and the where the faucets were going to be paced.

Here's what the jockey box looked like after getting polyurethane applied:

Given that the hinges and the connectors had a brass finishes, I choose to keep all the accents in brass, including the drip tray, handles for carrying, and additional accents pieces, etc.
Here's a photo of the interior of the jockey box:

Given that a jockey box is often on a table, I didn't want the inbound tubing exiting from the back of the jockey box, where it would be visible. So with the cooler disassembled I drilled the 7 holes for the inbound beer lines, and then ran them down between the wooden exterior and the cooler. I connected the in and out lines in the picture above so I could keep track of which line is going to be which for final assembly. I am using 3/16" ID PVC tubing for the beer line, ordered a 100' as it was more cost efficient. I use hose clamps on all fittings. Nothing worse than opening a jockey box and seeing it full of your beer... this did happen to me at an event quite a number of years back. The handles shown in the picture above provide easy way for carrying the jockey box.

Next up is working out the logistics of where to place the faucets. I had 17.5 inch surface to work with allowing me to center the faucets every 2.5 inches allowing them equally spaced. A 7/8" hole saw was used to cut the holes for the faucets. I was extremely worried about making a mistake at this stage, and measured twice to ensure I had accurate center marks before I drilled. Also of consideration is the height of the faucets.

Here's a photo of the drip tray slider that I built, likely easier ways to do this but this is the best I could come up with that would allow me to hide the drip tray for storage and shipping, and allow for it to be extended without visible supports. This photo shows the underneath of the jockey box, I used two 5 inch sections of copper pipe, and a 10" dowel. It's set back 5 inches from the edge of the jockey box, a section of plywood is attached to the two dowels, and then I secured the support tray (oak board pictured) to the piece of plywood. Using a screw at the end of each dowel prevents the drip tray from being extended too far.

Here's a photo of the drip tray hidden:

Here the drip tray is extended:

Michael Fairbrother
Treasurer Brew Free or Die
Life time member of AHA

BJCP Category 16 (Belgian & French Ales) Club Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Todd Russell) — Sun, 11 May 2008 17:45:00 +0000

It's time to brew up something funky for summer! The winner of the Brown Ale Competition picked Belgian and French Ales for the next club competition. This is BJCP Category 16 under the 2004 Style Guidelines. Brew a Witbier, Belgian Pale Ale, Saison, Biere de Garde, or Belgian Specialty Ale in time for tasting in August. Regardless of what you brew, it will be judged in one of those sub-categories.

The same competition rules apply as always:

The beer must be ready to drink by the August 2008 BFD meeting at Bert and Harriet Bingel's house. It must be labelled with the brewer’s name and submitted in one of the following containers: 2 12 oz. bottles, 1 22 oz. bottle, or 1 container with at least 22 ounces of beer (i.e. growler, plastic soda bottle, etc.).

Contact any of the members of the Competition Committee (Todd, Phil, Billy K., Bill R. or Mary) if you have any questions.

Why it's not a good idea to miss club meetings

noreply@blogger.com (MaryR) — Sat, 10 May 2008 21:20:00 +0000

Billy and Sue Kannenburg hosted a FABULOUS meeting last night! In addition to the usual excellent assortment of snacks and homebrews there were beers Sue brought back to share with us from her trip to Seattle. I thought the Elysian Ambrosia Maibock and the Alaskan Smoked Porter were standouts. The dip that Billy made was also outstanding. (Hint: Recipes can be added as comments to this blog post.) Jim Prucha explained how he makes excellent beer from extract, and brought some delicious samples (I liked the 10th anniversary beer especially).

Friday morning also brought exciting news for BFD: the results from the first round of the National Homebrewers competition were announced. Winners in the North East region included:

John Allin, 2nd place in Belgian and French Ale

Chris Dodge 1st place in Scottish and Irish Red

Chris Dodge 1st place in American Ale

Michael Fairbrother, 1st place in Traditional Mead

Jim Prucha 2nd place in Dark Lager

Todd Russell, 1st place in Porter

Way to go BFD brewers!

May Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Todd Russell) — Sun, 04 May 2008 20:24:00 +0000

The next club meeting will be Friday, May 9 at 7:00pm.

Billy and Sue Kannenburg will be our hosts and Jim Prucha will do a presentation on brewing good beers with extract. He will also share some samples of his award winning beers.

Please remember to bring some brews (extract-based ones if you have them) to share and snacks for the potluck.

Directions to the Kannenburgs:

54 LaFrance Road
Weare, NH
H# 603-529-7517
C# 603-491-4796
C# 603-361-3710

DO NOT FOLLOW ANY MAPQUEST DIRECTIONS AS THEY WILL BRING YOU DOWN A UNMAINTAINED ROAD. GPS MAY DO THE SAME.

FROM THE SOUTH

I93 to I293 or Route 3 to Route 101 West - following signs to Rte 114 Goffstown.
At last light take a left onto Rte 114 (Henniker & Goffstown).
You will pass the Women's State Prison, go through Goffstown center, pass Sully's Market into Weare.
You will pass Lanctots/Dunkin Donuts, Cold Springs Campground and Granite State Telephone.
You will then see Country Three Corners (Sunoco gas/lumber yard) on your left and the Weare Town Grill on the right. There will be a sign Rte 149/77.
Take left at the Sunoco gas station, then a immediate right onto Rte 149 toward Deering. There is a brick building on the corner.
Go up sharp S Curve, and take your 2nd right onto Mt. Dearborn Road. The first right is Corliss Way. There will be a white church on the Corner of Rte 149 and Mt. Dearborn Road.
We are approximately 2 miles from this point. First mile is pavement, you will pass the Grant Family Pond Sugar House and the road will change to dirt.
Take your 2nd right (it actually is kind of a Y in the road) onto LaFrance Road (sign is missing so we will try to get a balloon there). The first right is Maplewold.
We are the 4th house (not driveway) on the right on LaFrance Road. Only log house on the road, horse in back yard.

Alternatively, you could take the Goffstown back road (AKA Elm Street) from Manchester into Goffstown and take right at end (stop sign) onto Rte 114. You will be right at Sully's and follow the rest of the directions.

FROM THE NORTH

I93 South to I89 North. Take Exit 2 Clinton Street Exit.
Take left at end of exit onto Rte 13/77 toward Dunbarton.
Follow through blinking caution light (it changes to Rte 77 here) pass Page's Country Store, keep going all the way until the road ends.
There will be a stop sign 4 way intersection (Weare Congregational Church on the left).
Take left onto Rte 114 south, follow through Weare Center (30mph!).
Then up hill past Dimitri's Plaza.
Follow sign for Rte 149/77 you will bear right when you see Country Three Corners.
Then take immediate right onto Rte 149 toward Deering. There is a brick building on the corner.
Go up sharp S Curve, and take your 2nd right onto Mt. Dearborn Road. The first right is Corliss Way. There will be a white church on the Corner of Rte 149 and Mt. Dearborn Road.
We are approximately 2 miles from this point. First mile is pavement, you will pass the Grant Family Pond Sugar House and the road will change to dirt.
Take your 2nd right (it actually is kind of a Y in the road) onto LaFrance Road (sign is missing so we will try to get a balloon there). The first right is Maplewold.
We are the 4th house (not driveway) on the right on LaFrance Road. Only log house on the road, horse in back yard.

WE ARE ABOUT 30 MINUTES FROM MANCHESTER OR CONCORD.

Brown Ale Club Competition Results

noreply@blogger.com (Todd Russell) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:19:00 +0000

Thanks to Billy, Sue, Joe, Maureen, Eric, Jim, and Mary for judging the 10 entries on Friday. Cheers to all the brewers who submitted beers ranging from Northern English Brown ales to a Honey Brown with Sour Cherries. I look forward to seeing the same level of participation and quality at the next competition.

Without further ado, here are the results:

3rd Place - Jim Prucha - Northern English Brown
2nd Place - Billy Kannenburg - Northern English Brown
1st Place - Todd Russell - Mild

The winners all received fantastic new BFD ribbons courtesy of Brian Parda.

As announced previously, the winner will get to choose the category for the next competition. Stay tuned for an update at the May Meeting.

Here's one for you Kevin

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Fairbrother) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:02:00 +0000

Kevin,

What can I possibly say... other than rest in peace, you will be missed!

You made some incredible food that was bold and spicy, and were an inspiration to others who were just getting into brewing, you had a great sense of humor and a wonderful appreciation of all things beer, cider, and mead!

I will kick one back in your honor tonight.

Michael

April 2008 Meeting Directions

noreply@blogger.com (MaryR) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 14:59:00 +0000

The next club meeting will be Friday, April 11 at 7:00pm.

Joe & Maureen Moore will be our hosts and Bert will do a presentation on MEAD including history, info on honey, and some samples.

Please remember to bring your Brown Ale Club Competition entry, brews (meads perhaps?) to share, and snacks for the potluck.

Directions to the Moore house
6 Bowman Court, Merrimack
603-429-8352

From Manchester
Take Rte 101 west.
Get off at South River Rd in Bedford. (Bedford Mall / Macy's)
Follow South River Rd. south to Merrimack. (It becomes D.W. Highway in Merrimack)
Immediately after passing Silo's Steakhouse, turn right at the trafficlights onto Bedford Rd.
Follow Bedford Rd. to the traffic lights.
Turn left onto Joppa Rd.
Take your 3rd right onto Derry St.
Follow Derry St. to the Stop sign.
Take a left at the Stop sign onto Burt St.
Take your first left onto Bowman Court.
We're the 3rd house on the left, number 6.

From Nashua
Take F. E. Everett Turnpike north to exit 11.
Turn right at the bottom of the exit ramp onto Continental Blvd.
At the traffic lights turn left onto D.W. Highway (heading north)
Turn left at the traffic lights onto Baboosic Lake Rd. (at the Mobil station)
Follow Baboosic Lake Rd. over the highway.
Stay to the right at the fork in the road.
Immediately after the fork turn right onto Joppa Rd.
Take the 3rd left onto Derry St.
Follow Derry St. to the Stop sign.
Take a left at the Stop sign onto Burt St.
Take your first left onto Bowman Court.
We're the 3rd house on the left, number 6.

What are you entering in AHA?

noreply@blogger.com (MaryR) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:59:00 +0000

The American Homebrewers Association National Homebrew Competition is approaching and the time has come to decide what you are entering and send it in.

IMPORTANT DATES
First Round Entries Due March 31 - April 11, 2008
Second Round Judging, June 19, 2008
Awards Ceremony June 21, 2008, at the National Homebrewers Conference.

Excellent Event at Ebenezer's

noreply@blogger.com (MaryR) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:15:00 +0000

Ebenezers's Restaurant and Pub in Lovell Maine was the site of a great BFD event this weekend. Thanks to Jeff & Pam Goyette who arranged everything, and to owner Chris Lively who provided us with a wealth of outstanding beers from his cellar. Among the great beers that I got to try were Black Albert, Russian River's Salvation (batches 1 + 5), and Chris's custom blend of Boon Geueze and Cantillon Kriek (totally yummy!) Fifteen of us made up the BFD party at Ebenezer's and I encourage those of you who were lucky enough to be there to add comments to this posting and let everyone else know what they missed.

FOAM Homebrewer's Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Todd Russell) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:14:00 +0000

The folks in FOAM (Fitchburg Order of Ale Makers) are holding a Homebrewer's Challenge to benefit charity, and are looking for brewers to participate. Their president, Joe Zadrozny (of Z Street Brewing fame) sent the following invitation:

The Date: April 26, 2008

The Event: 20 brewers will have their beer available for the public to taste and to judge. The winner as judged by a Peoples Choice ballot will receive a handsome plaque, and bragging rights! Tickets will be sold, and proceeds will go to Andrews Helpful Hands and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Requirements: One five gallon batch of your most popular beer, in a corney keg. You may also serve your beer from bottles, along with other beverages for people to sample if you wish.

Name___________________________________

Email___________________________________

Phone___________________________________

Beer You Are Donating_____________________

Will you be available to serve your beer? Y or N

Thank you!! Email info to joez3@verizon.net

There is still room for a half dozen or so brewers. The brewers will get a commemorative glass and the chance to sample the other brewers wares for free. There are going to be raffles and food available. It should be a fun evening!!

Brown Ale Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Todd Russell) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:56:00 +0000

It's almost Spring time and that means brown ales! Okay, that's not really the case, but nonetheless we are having a Brown competition in April. This is BJCP Category 11 under the 2004 Style Guidelines. Brew up a Mild, a Southern English Brown, or a Northern English Brown and don't hop it too much.

The same competition rules apply as always:

The beer must be ready to drink by the April 2008 BFD meeting at Joe and Maureen Moore's house. It must be labelled with the brewer’s name and submitted in one of the following containers: 2 12 oz. bottles, 1 22 oz. bottle, or 1 container with at least 22 ounces of beer (i.e. growler, plastic soda bottle, etc.).

Contact any of the members of the Competition Committee (Todd, Phil, Billy K., Bill R. or Mary) if you have any questions.

2008 Boston Homebrew Competition

noreply@blogger.com (MaryR) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 02:11:00 +0000

Today's Boston Homebrew Competition was a great event. Michael Fairbrother, Dan Hall, David Rosenbaum, Todd and I were all on hand to help the Wort Processors with the judging and stewarding duties. The official results will be posted on the competition site soon. One of the competition organizers was kind enough to share preliminary results with me so I could put them here on our blog right away. Eleven brews made by 5 BFD members placed. (The beer names are based on my notes scribbled on the back of a judging sheet - not the Wort Processors paper work.)

First Place
Jim Prucha - Schwartzbier
Jim Prucha - American Brown
Michael Robinson - Bock
Bill Herlicka - Specialty beer (aged in scotch barrel)
Todd Russell - Porter

Second Place
Lyn Howard - American Pale Ale
Michael Robinson - Kolsch
Michael Robinson - Baltic Porter
Michael Robinson - American Barley Wine

Third Place
Todd Russell - Saison
Michael Robinson - Old Ale

It's all about da mead

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Fairbrother) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:47:00 +0000

Being as passionate about mead as I am about beer, I flew out to judge at the International Mead Festival Home Mead Makers Competition that was held on February 9th in Boulder Colorado. This event attracts a large number of professional judges as well as other very dedicated mead fanatics from across the entire United States and Canada.

While the purpose of the trip was mead related, I did get a chance to go to Avery Brewing Company. I wasn't able to tour the brewery, but was able to go its hospitality suite and enjoy the wonderful beers. My favorite was the "Collaboration not Litigation" ale that was "secretly" on draft, helps to be a beer geek who knows how to ask the right kind of questions. Ended up with a couple of bottles, of batch #2, which aren't officially on sale yet.

After enjoying as much beer as I liked, I was off to check into the hotel room. Where I got to meet some peers in the industry. While Moonlight Meadery is officially, I still have quite a long road ahead of me before we are in production.

Friday night was filled with various seminars, and an abundance of wonderful commercial meads. Jet lag won over and I went to bed fairly early, missed getting to hear Ken Schramm get to talk.

Saturday morning... woke up before dawn, and hit the gym, it was going to be a big day of judging, was planning on evaluating 16 meads over the course of the day... little did I know what the organizers had in mind for me.

Had a big breakfast, and was ready to start judging. I was asked to head one of the three tables of judges who were doing dry meads. One we finished our flight of eight, I was asked to sit on the mini-bos table. All the meads were very well done, the faults were little things like the mead might have been too sweet for style, etc.

Lunch was a nice collection of sandwiches and cookies. I grabbed a Fat Tire on draft.... hmm one of my favorite beers.

After lunch I was tasked with the open category of meads, again I was asked to head the judging, of a flight of 8 meads. We had a range of dry, semi-dry, and sweet meads to evaluate. Again I was asked to judge the 10 more meads in the mini-bos with other great judges like Curt Stock, Petar Bakulic, and Julia Herz.

Now I am thinking with 34 meads under my belt and a beer... the day must be done...

I was asked to be on the BOS (Best of Show) table for the entire competition, an incredible honor, and reward! As the meads at this level are the best of the best! The BOS table consisted of 5 judges, and our job was to pick the best out of the 10 meads.

So I ended up evaluating 44 meads over the course of the day, it was a ton of fun.

Here's the results:

2008 International Mead Festival Home Mead Maker Competition Results 188 Total Entries
Table 1 - 241 - Dry Mead (19 Entries)
Joshua Archer	Traditional Dry - 1		1
Joshua Archer	Traditional Dry - 2		2
Joshua Archer	Traditional Dry - 3		3
Table 2 - 242 - Semi-Sweet Mead (14 Entries)
Jonathan Jordan	Straight Nyssa	Hogtown Brewers	1
Mark Healey	Moose Pond Mead	Southern Maine Homebrewers	2
Rick Reilly, Ron Stroh		Prairie Homebrewing Companions	3
Table 3 - 243 - Sweet Mead (14 Entries)
Rick Spaziani	Liquid Gold		1
Michelle Moyer, James Moyer	Admiral's Gold		2
Edward Walkowski	2006 Orange Blossom Mead		3
Table 4 - 251 - Melomel - Cyser (11 Entries)
Christopher St. Mary	Son of Circum-Cyser	Sultans Of Swig	1
Michelle & James Moyer	Captain Pete's Farewell Kiss		2
Todd Leatherman	Super Cyser		3
Table 5 - 252 - Melomel - Pyment (15 Entries)
Kim Herald	Northern Lights	GotMead International Brewmasters	1
Steve Fletty	Chateau Fletty Gewurtztraminer	St Paul Homebrewers Club	2
Mitchell Omichinski	Valient		3
Table 6 - 253 - Melomel - Other Fruit (24 Entries)
Ron Kloth	Watermelon	Arizona Society Of Homebrewers	1
John Miller	Favored Concubine		2
Curt & Kathy Stock	Cherry Bliss	St Paul Homebrewers Club	3
Table 7 - 254 - Melomel - Berry (22 Entries)
Daniel Hempy	Strawberry Melomel	Brewcommune	1
John Charlesworth, Mark Parsch, Thad Williams			2
Rick Reilly, Ron Stroh		Prairie Homebrewing Companions	3
Table 8 - 261 - Metheglin (23 Entries)
Don Larsen, Bernie Ashe	Smoked Chili Mead		1
Mitchell Omichinski	Prairie Dew		2
Steve Fletty	El Diablo	Saint Paul Homebrewers Club	3
Table 9 - 262 - Braggot (14 Entries)
James Sites	Cerveza de los Muertes		1
Kurt Bormann	Brown Maggot Braggot		2
Sheron Rowland, Pamela McAlpin	2 Old Broads Old Ale Braggot	GotMead International Brewmasters	3
Table 10 - 263 - Open Category Mead (32 Entries)
Rick Spaziani	Agave Gold		1
Edward Silverman	Matt's Memorial Mead		2
Wayne Boncyk	Christmas Spice	GotMead International Brewmasters	3

2008 Best of Show
Don Larsen & Bernie Ashe	Smoked Chili Mead	Congratulations to Don and Bernie!
HONORABLE MENTION
Rick Spaziani	Agave Gold	Another fine Mead!

Special Awards
Best Name	Son of Circum-Cyser - Christopher St. Mary
Farthest Entry	Stepanie Krieger - Hawaii
Best Packaging	Nedra Headen - Foam wrap "Mummy" Madness

Notes from the Orval Office

noreply@blogger.com (MaryR) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 17:48:00 +0000

Back in the day BFD had a newsletter -- which was a pain to get pubished each month, but was excellent for the people who got to read it. One of the features of the newsletter was a column from the President -- from the Orval Office. I decided it would be nice to reinstate this particular BFD tradition and plan to write an Orval Office posting on the blog each month beginning with this one.

We had an excellent meeting last night at Erin & Brian Parda's house in Concord. Lots of great food (thanks to our hosts!) and, as always, a good selection of homebrew. The business meeting took a little less than 30 minutes and then we were on to Bill Herlicka's presentation about barrel aging beers. Bill gets his barrels from Thousand Oaks Barrel Co. and he has been very pleased with the beers he has aged that way. The Imperial Stout aged in a "scotched" barrel that Bill shared with us was certainly excellent!

A few reminders from the meeting:

The deadline for entering beers in the Boston Homebrew Competition is February 13th. The drop-off location in New Hampshire is Jasper's Homebrew Supply, 4 Temple Street, Nashua, (603) 881-3052, jaspers@boomchugalug.com. This is a BJCP sanctioned competition and will be judged in Boston on March 1, 2008.
If you want to go to the AHA Conference in Cincinnati, you need to book your room and register for the conference while there are still spots available. It is filling up fast.
The club will not be holding a March meeting, but will be gathering at Ebenezer's in Lovell, Maine on March 15th.
Our next official meeting will be April 11 in Merrimack and Bert Bingel will be doing a presentation on Mead.

February 2008 Meeting Directions

noreply@blogger.com (Brian P.) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:25:00 +0000

The February meeting will be hosted by Brian & Erin Parda in Concord, NH on February 8th, starting at 7:00 PM.

Directions, to 57 West Street, Concord: From the South,

Take exit 13 off of 93 North
Take a left at the bottom of the ramp on to 3N/South Main Street
Continue straight at the light past the Common Man on your right
At the next light, take a left on to West Street (you'll be going between Vinnie's Pizza on the left and McDonald's on the right.
Continue straight at the next light, our house is on the left hand side between Dakin Street and Glen Street.
The house is tan with brown trim, please enter from the side door on Glen Street. Park any where you can on the street, keep in mind that West Street is one way.

Feel free to bring a snack and some homebrew to share.

January 2008 Meeting Directions

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Fairbrother) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:14:00 +0000

The first Brew Free or Die club meeting for 2008, will be hosted by Michael & Nancy Fairbrother in Londonderry NH on January 11th, starting at 7:00 PM.

Directions, to 4 Sheridan Drive, Londonderry:

From the South,

Take exit 5 off of Rt 93, and a right at the end of off ramp
Take first left onto Auburn Rd (Poor Boys, is on the corner)
Take first right onto Woods Ave. (aprox 1/2 mile or so)
Take first left onto Sheridan Drive
House is first on the right.

From the North,

Take exit 5 off of Rt 93, and a left at the end of off ramp
Take first left onto Auburn Rd (Poor Boys, is on the corner)
Take first right onto Woods Ave. (aprox 1/2 mile or so)
Take first left onto Sheridan Drive
House is first on the right.

Feel free to bring a snack and some homebrew to share. Also the club "holiday party" beer will be on draft.

Second Annual New England Regional Home brew Competition Raises $2000 for American Cancer Society

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Fairbrother) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 19:38:00 +0000

Manchester, NH • December 20, 2007 — Brew Free or Die (BFD) and Southern Maine Home brewers clubs today donated $2,000, raised at their joint event, the Second Annual New England Regional Home brew Competition. The event was held at Milly’s Tavern in Manchester , NH , on Saturday, November 3^rd, 2007. The donation to the American Cancer Society is made in honor of Don Merkey, a member of BFD who succumbed to cancer in 2005.

"We are grateful that The New England Regional Home brew Competition chose to donate their proceeds to the fight against cancer," said Brigit Ryan of the American Cancer Society. "This money will go toward cancer research, services for patients, and prevention and detection programs."

The New England Regional Home brew Competition, sponsored by Gritty McDuff’s, with 250 entries, is the largest homebrewing competition in New England , and is sanctioned by the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). The competition awards gold, silver and bronze medals in 28 beer-style categories. Home brewer, Cidermaker and Meadmaker of the year honors, plus the Best of Show Award, are awarded to the top amateur brewers as determined through the competition. A complete list of winners is available on the competition website, http://www.bfd.org/NERHBC.

Brew Free or Die, New Hampshire’s Oldest Home brew Club, and Southern Maine Home brewers wish to thank all the entrants and sponsors of the event, including Gritty McDuff’s of Maine, Shapleigh Hops, White Labs, Samuel Adams, Sky River Mead, and Giles Apple Farm among many other local and national firms. A complete list of sponsors is available on http://www.bfd.org/NERHBC.

“We are glad to have the opportunity to contribute to this event and the American Cancer Society”, said Eric Sprague of Southern Maine Homebrewers.

"Don was a past president of BFD and was very enthusiastic about the idea of a New Hampshire based national homebrew competition." said Mary Russell, BFD President 2008. "It is wonderful that our brew clubs have been able to put this competition together and I hope that we will be able to build on this year's success and continue this competition as a tribute to Don."

Brew Free or Die (BFD) is New Hampshire 's first, and most active, homebrew club. It was founded in 1991 to foster the brewing and appreciation of craft beer in Central and Southern New Hampshire . Many BFD members have won awards for their brewing. BFD members have served as both judges and stewards at numerous regional and national competitions. Among the BFD membership is a Grand-Master BJCP beer judge.

Southern Maine Home brewers is Maine ’s most active homebrew club. It was founded in 2004 to preserve and promote the time honored tradition of home brewing; to educate members about beer, cider, mead & wine. Southern Maine Home brewers also maintains involvement with the AHA and their competitions through club sponsored entries and activities. Many members have won top honors at some of the most prestigious AHA/BJCP sanctioned events.

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Fairbrother) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:37:00 +0000

Dear New England Homebrew Club,

I have been asked to organize the judging of the Sam Adams Patriot Homebrew Competition. This is a BJCP sanctioned competition to include styles 1 to 23, judging will take place on Saturday January 26th at Gillette Stadium (home to the New England Patriots).

I have setup a on line registration page for judges and stewards. Please see http://www.nhbrewers.com/Patriot/registration.php to register.

More information about lodging etc. will be provided to those that register, once I get the information from Boston Beer Co.

Also I could some help in running the competition, if anyone wants to volunteer please have them contact me.

Michael Fairbrother
Brew Free or Die

BFD Holiday Party

noreply@blogger.com (MaryR) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:39:00 +0000

The annual BFD Holiday Party will be at the Russell's this year starting at 2:30pm on Saturday, December 8, 2007. All BFD members and their guests are welcome!

Festivities will include socializing; drinking beer (the club is, as usual, purchasing kegs of cool beer for the party - specifics t.b.a.); a Yankee Swap for those who wish to participate (bring a $15 beer-related wrapped gift); a brief business meeting (including election of 2008 club officers); and lots of good food in our traditional pot-luck (see sign-up info below).

Directions to the Russell's -- 788 Hanover Street, Manchester -- a dark blue house with a red door. If you get lost call 603-641-8914

From the North: Take I93 to exit 8. Turn right off the exit and then make a left at the first traffic light (Mammoth Road), pass the golf course, and make a left at the first traffic light (Hanover Street). The house is on your left between Garmon and Salisbury. If you get to another traffic light you went too far. Park on either side of Hanover Street.

From the South: Take I93 to exit 6. Go straight off the exit to get to Hanover Street (about 1 block away, there are signs) Turn left at Hanover Street, you will pass McDonalds and the East Side Plaza after a few blocks. The house is on your right just past the traffic light at Lake Avenue (immediately after the East Side Plaza) between Garmon and Salisbury. If you get to another traffic light you went too far. Park on either side of Hanover Street.

Pot-luck sign-up
Please add a comment to this posting to let us know what dish you will bring to the party-- if it involves a crock-pot please specify that so we can be sure to have enough places to plug stuff in. If you have problems adding a comment send an email to Todd or Mary.

In Memory of Don

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Fairbrother) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:20:00 +0000

Brew Free or Die and Southern Maine Homebrewers held it's second annual New England Regional Homebrewers competition on November 3, 2007 in Manchester NH, raising $2000 dollars for the American Cancer Society in memory of Don Merkey.

Don always wanted BFD to get more involved with the running of a big homebrew competition. Well it brings a tear to my eye, but with two successful years of running this competition, it's clear we have finally done it! I think Don would be proud of us, as the NERHBC by all measures was a tremendous success!

Competition stastics:

250 entries (including beer, cider, and mead) from 16 states across the entire country.
36 sponsors including:
Competition level sponsor - Gritty's
Best of Show sponsor - White Labs
Brewer of the Year sponsor - Boston Beer Co.
Meadmaker of the Year sponsor - Sky River Mead
Cidermaker of the Year sponsor - Gile's Family Farm
We raised $2000 for American Cancer Society, in Memory of Don Merkey.

It took a combined effort of many members of both homebrew clubs to organize the competition, raise sponsors, catalog and process all 750 bottles.

Also we couldn't have done it without all the help from the stewards, BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) judges, and professional brewers who spent the day processing and judging all 250 entries, so that feedback could be provided to all the entrants.

Here are the top winners:

Best of Show winner: Mark Healy with his Peach Cider.

Brewer or the Year: Rick Rocheleau

Meadmaker of the Year: Michael Fairbrother

Cidermaker of the Year: Eric Sprague

For a detailed list of all the winners and sponsors vist http://www.bfd.org/NERHBC

A Musical Tour of Dogfish Head Brewery

noreply@blogger.com (MaryR) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:24:00 +0000

A friend sent me this video link and I thought others might be interested: Dogfish Head Brewery

November 2007 Meeting - Michael Fairbrother's house

noreply@blogger.com (David R) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:17:00 +0000

November 9th 2007 at 7 PM at Michael Fairbrother’s
4 Sheridan Drive, Londonderry, NH 03053

Directions:
FROM NORTH:
Take exit 5 on Rt 93 South, take left at end of off ramp.
Take first left (Poor Boys on corner) onto Auburn Rd.
Take first right (it’s at the crest of a hill) onto Woods Ave.
Take first left to Sheridan Drive
Michael’s house is the first on the right.

FROM SOUTH:
Take exit 5 on Rt 93 North, take right at end of off ramp.
Take first left (Poor Boys on corner) onto Auburn Rd.
Take first right (it’s at the crest of a hill) onto Woods Ave.
Take first left to Sheridan Drive
Michael’s house is the first on the right.