March Meeting
This is a friendly reminder that we will be having our normally monthly meeting this coming Monday, March 17th (St. Patrick's Day). We're excited that Jeff Steinman from Hop Head Farms will be giving a presentation on breeding and under-utilized varieties. You'll also get a chance to ask all your "hop expert" questions including growing your own at home. You can download his hand-out in advance so we can save a few trees if you read it on your smartphone or tablet. And don't forget: if you order hops from HHF's website, you can elect for free delivery at our meetings. Place your order before noon on Friday and use the special promo code just for KLOB members in good standing.
Just as last month, we will be meeting at Boatyard Brewing Company at 423 E. Paterson in downtown Kalamazoo. To help transportation and limited parking, we suggest carpooling if at all possible. Our formal announcements and presentation will begin promptly at 7pm in the front room. That room is still in development with limited seating so we encourage you to bring your own chair in you need it. Socializing will take place in the rear area near the brewhouse to give our officers and presenter everyone's full attention. Sampling and sharing homebrew is welcome but we please ask that you do it in 3 oz. samples to keep us within the letter of the law. If you have membership or other club business to attend to, we recommend arriving before 7pm or meeting with one of the officers after the formal presentation. And please help us tidy up and be on our merry way by 9pm.
National Homebrew Conference
If you took part of the initial registration, you should have already received the good news that all registrants made the cut and completed the process to get your tickets. Don't hestitate to make your hotel arrangements ASAP.
If you skipped your first opportunity, the even better news is that tickets are still available! The second round of registration will begin tomorrow, March 12th starting at noon EST. Check out all the details on the AHA website.
To help our organizing effort between now and the event, we are setting up an additional newsletter list. You can sign up for it using the form on our website. We'll be sending more updates and collaborating to try to make KLOB one of the best represented clubs in all the nation.
The club will be pouring beer during two different times during the event: a session at the Social Well/Expo and the Club Night on Friday. We are looking for twelve 5 gal kegs for each and want to have it be the best beer our club can offer. We have set up a sign-up form on the website to help us manage the quantity and variety of beer everyone is able to donate. If you have a special recipe you have been working on or a killer spin on a style that you think would impress fellow homebrewers, let us know!
Additionally, member Geoff Groff is organizing a special batch for the NHC. We are coordinating with our fellow clubs in Michigan to have a common beer to set us apart from the rest of the country. We voted to have each club bring their own take on the Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout. It's not necessarily a clone but a more a tribute and it will be interesting to see each club's take on the idea. If you want to help plan the recipe, participate in the brew day or fermentation process, please contact Geoff and get involved.
Spring Bus Trip
As we mentioned in previous emails and at the February meeting, we are planning a club bus trip for Saturday, March 29th. We will leaving from Kalamazoo and heading to Ann Arbor stopping at several breweries along the way. Check out the full itinerary on our website. Tickets are $20 for members and $25 for guests. We are nearly sold out so don't hesitate to reserve your spot ASAP. If you want to reserve your seat or add an additional guest, please contact president Chris Elston. Tickets reserved via email will need to be paid in full at the March meeting or your seat will be made available for another member.
Taster Glasses
We sold out of our original batch of 5 oz. taster glasses so we commission a second run. The prices are the same: $4 for one or $7 for two. Get yours at the next meeting!
PPBC Competition Results
Congrats to Jay VanBuskirk, Mark Pangle and Ken Lemmer for making the top list at the Paw Paw Brewing Company homebrew compeition. Way to represent the club! Hopefully they'll bring some samples to the next meeting...