1) CRABS won the club table competition at the Guild holiday party, and we will do the watermen theme again at the National Homebrewers Conference (NHC).  The event drew 295 people, and well over $7000 was raised for various charities.

 

2) Get your 2016 club dues to Don.  They are $25 for individuals and $40 for families.

 

3) 2015 Homebrewer of the Year ribbons were given out.  See http://crabsbrew.org/2015_competition_winners for the winners list.

 

4) We should form an NHC committee to discuss what we need to do for setting up the club table, get a tally of how many kegs we’re bringing, etc.  There will be plenty of opportunities to volunteer to help both at the conference and at pre-conference events.  One suggestion for our table was to have McCormick give or sell us some small bags of Old Bay which we could give out with a recipe for making beer with it.

 

5) Upcoming events:

·Brew University: 6 beer appreciation classes are scheduled at the Maryland Ag Center, where the Comptroller’s Cup was held, on an old farm in Baltimore County on Shawan Road off I-83.  See http://marylandagriculture.org/brew-university for schedule/cost.  Any interest, please contact Les at fshcg@yahoo.com

·Registration for the National Homebrew Competition: February 1-7.  See http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/competitions/national-homebrew-competition/competition-information/ for more info.

·Max’s Belgian Beer Fest: February 12-15.

·Duclaw AHA rally: February 20.

·Ales Through the Ages: March 18-20.  See http://www.cvent.com/events/ales-through-the-ages/event-summary-e6b884998579482fad8ed01d723279fd.aspx

·Registration opens for NHC: March 8.

·MALT’s bus trip to Richmond: March 19.  Email hopheadguy@gmail.com for info.

·DC Homebrewers Cherry Blossom competition: March 26.  See http://www.dchbcompetition.com

·Annapolis Beer Week: April 1-8.  See http://www.annapolisbeerwk.com

·Annapolis Homebrew Club’s Pints for Paws: April 8.  See http://www.annapolisbeerwk.com/events/pints-for-paws

·BURP’s Spirit of Free Beer: Second week of April.

·Beer conference in Lucketts VA: Sometime in April.  Joel will get more info.

·Big Brew at MDHB: May 7.

·Guild picnic: May 28.

·NHC: June 9-11 (with pre-con events for a few days before).

·MASHOUT: August 18-21.

·Guild crab feast: September 17.

·Union Mills fest: September 24.

·Baltimore Beer Week: October 7-16.

·Das Best Oktoberfest: October 8.

·Guild holiday party: December 3.

 

 

6) This month’s competition was brown ales.  There were 15 entries.  Winners were:

 

5^th – John Jester

4^th – JD Oltman

3^rd – Zach Keim

2^nd – Rob Farrell

1^st – Tim Paulin

 

7) Go to http://crabsbrew.org for CRABS-related information.  The 2016 CRABS competition schedule is at http://crabsbrew.org/competition_schedule