Monthly meeting tomorrow!

We'll have our monthly meeting at 8pm tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Bridgeport VFW (32nd and May). Bring yourself; bring a friend; bring a homebrew! The tasting will be Old Ales, so don't miss it. Oh, and if you're curious, the best Old Ale I ever had was a Bell's Third Coast Old Ale that had been cellared for two years. Incredible stuff!

A hot time in Andersonville this weekend!

We may be Homebrewer's Pride of the SOUTHside, but we're certainly willing to head up north when the right opportunity presents itself, and this Saturday is such an opportunity. For starters, at 4pm I highly recommend you head over to Hopleaf for the Drinking & Writing Brewery's "To Cure A Hangover." Those of you who saw "The 12 Steps of Christmas" back and December know how funny these guys are. And as an added bonus, it's at Chicago's Mecca of Belgian beer, Hopleaf. Tickets (available here) are a mere $15, and if you can't make it this Saturday it's just been extended two more Saturdays (January 23 and 30, to be specific).

Later on, Transistor will be hosting "Refrigerator Art," a fundraiser to help local artists Alaric Rocha and Ren Velarde produce "Winter in Louisiana," a film about a prisoner who escapes a Louisiana chain gang with the help of Santa Claus. (I know what you're thinking... hasn't that been done a million times? Yes, but this one has an M. Night Shyamalan twist at the end!) If you've attended either of the last two Beerfly Alleyfights, you should know Ren; he's won best artist two years running! Anyway, $20 gets you drinks from 8-11pm, as well as what promise to be some hilarious short films.

So there you go. If you find yourself sitting at home Saturday night watching reruns of Mama's Family, you've got nobody to blame but yourself.

"12 Steps" to a beery meery Christmas

If you're not in the know about the Drinking & Writing Brewery, well, you better do something about that and do it soon. The Drinking & Writing Brewery is the brainchild of Sean Benjamin and Steve Mosqueda (of Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind fame) and Pete Crowley (of Rock Bottom Chicago brewmaster fame). Exploring the connection between creativity and alcohol, the folks at D&W have a monthly radio show/podcast (which has recently featured yours truly being interviewed to promote our Oktoberfest party and our own Tom Saldana being interviewed AT our Oktoberfest party) and host all sorts of wacky events around Chicago including Beerfly Alleyfight and the Drinking & Writing Festival.

So why am I bringing this up now? Well, each of the next three Saturdays you can get into the holiday spirit as Sean and Steve perform Drinking & Writing Volume IV: The 12 Steps of Christmas. If that's not enough, it's being held at one of Chicago's (and the world's) premiere beer bars: Hopleaf. And if THAT'S not enough, this Saturday's performance will be followed by a Doppelbock tasting courtesy of friends of HOPS! Metropolitan, Goose Island and Rock Bottom.

Shows are at 4pm, tickets are $15, and you must be 21 or older to enter. For tickets or to get more info, follow this link. I'll be there this Saturday... hope you will be too!

AHA club-only competitions... let's get brewing!

Different people have different strategies for brewing. Some brew clones; others brew crazy stuff they make up. Some keep tweaking the same recipe until it's just right; others jump from style to style trying something new. Some map out their brewing schedule months ahead of time; others wake up on a Saturday morning, look at what grains and hops they have in stock, and throw something together on the spot. Different strokes for different folks (and we all know it takes diff'rent strokes to move the world, yes it does).

Well, this year the folks at the American Homebrewers Association are running a series of club-only competitions.
Here's how it works. They pick a style. Our brewers each individually brew to that style. We then pick the best beer Survivor-style (well, maybe not Survivor-style, but we pick the best beer) and submit it to the national competition. In the process, brewers are challenged to broaden their brewing horizons, and our club's members get to really pick a part a style and see how different recipes and processes produce different results.

Anyway, enough on the process... let's talk beer! We're a little too late for the first competition of the season (Belgian strong ales are due Nov. 27th), but we'd like to get on board for the rest of the schedule. Here are the styles and relevant deadlines:

January/February 2010

The Session Challenge – English Brown Ales

Entry deadline is Tuesday, February 16, 2010. Judging will be held Saturday, February 20, 2010.

Hosted by Tim Hayner and the Impaling Alers of Kent, WA, this competition covers BJCP Category 11 styles. For more information, contact Tim Hayner at president@impalingalers.org.

March/April 2010

American Ales

Entries are due Saturday, April 3, 2010. Judging will be held Saturday, April 10, 2010.

Hosted by Bill Lynch and the Carolina Brewmasters of Charlotte, NC, this competition covers BJCP Category 10 styles.
For more information, contact Bill Lynch at brewcnc@yahoo.com.

May 2010

Extract Beers

Entries are due Saturday, May 1, 2010. Judging will be held Saturday, May 22, 2010.

Hosted by Ric Cunningham and the Niagra Association of Homebrewers of Buffalo, NY, this competition covers all BJCP beer categories (1-23).

So there you go. If you wanna get in on the action, plan your brew days accordingly. And stay tuned for more info on how we'll be determining our entry and relevant internal deadlines. Happy brewing!

Style of the Month: Oud Bruin

Oud Bruin or Flanders Brown is a reddish brown ale originated in East Flanders. It is significantly more malty and bitter than a Flanders Red. Oud Bruin is aged in stainless steel tanks, this prevents oxygen contact that contributes the acidic character associated with Flanders Red. Try some tonight!

HOPS get a few new judges

The wait is over and the unofficial results have arrived. Tommy, Michael and Bob are now Recognized BJCP judges. Michael and Bob both scored a very respectable 77. With the necessary experience points they are both on track to be Certified judges. Tommy having years of beer drinking experience was the high scorer with an awesome 81. 20 experience points and he will be a National ranked judge. Congrats to all!

Three beers I'm looking forward to this winter

As the days grow shorter and the wind colder, it seems appropriate to turn our thoughts to that which warms us up. No, I'm not talking about Snuggies; I'm talking about beer! The Oktoberfests and pumpkin beers are slowly giving way to barley wines and winter warmers, so I thought I would briefly discuss three beers I'm looking forward to trying this winter.

1. Friend of HOPS! Metropolitan Brewing has had its beers out on the market for almost a year now, and most Chicagoland beer geeks have tried their three regular offerings: Dynamo, Flywheel and Krankshaft. Well, this winter Doug and Tracy will be releasing their first seasonal: Generator Doppelbock. I had the pleasure of trying a test batch, and if the final product is even tastier than what I sampled this is going to be one delicious Doppelbock. The first batch will be draught only, so all the more reason to meet up at your local watering hole for some holiday cheer! [Full disclosure: Doug and Tracy Hurst are former (maybe even current?) members of HOPS! and several members are investors in Metropolitan, though I am not.]

2. Lakefront Brewing often finds itself in the shadow of New Glarus when it comes to Wisconsin breweries (and that's more a testimony to New Glarus than a slight to Lakefront), but their Holiday Spice Lager is second to nobody. I generally don't like my holiday beers too heavily spiced, and feared that a clean lager would only further accentuate the spices, but I was wrong. This is one smooth beer, and deceptively smooth at 11% ABV. Want to be the hero of the holiday party? Bring a sixer of this stuff and you won't need any stinkin' mistletoe.

3. Okay, this is really five beers in one, but Dark Horse Brewery just released the first of its five seasonal stouts. To be honest, I missed the first two last year and only got to enjoy Tres (a blueberry stout), Fore (a smoked stout) and Plead the 5th (an incredible Russian imperial stout). However, given how great each of those were, I'm looking forward to trying One (an oatmeal stout) and Too (a sweet stout) as well this year. Together these five beers really showcase the range of flavors that fall under the general term "stout."

So those are a few of the beers on my radar this late fall/winter. What are you looking forward to cracking open in front of a roaring fire?