1) On April 8, many CRABSters plus a few significant others did a farm brerwery tour to Manor Hill, Brookeville Beer Farm, and Waredaca.  See write-up with photos at http://www.benbrew.com/CRABS/Farm/farm.html

 

2) We’re hoping to put together a trip to Asheville NC on September 15-18.  Let Joe (jfo363@verizon.net) know if you’re interested.

 

3) Rob Farrell will host this year’s food-beer pairing on Sunday May 21 from 1 to 7 PM.  This is a family-friendly event.  For the address and to sign up, see https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yIP8EpNRh3UvQiP8pd58wTaCwyF8hyQw_ISrPDNMJPA/edit

 

4) Crabs4CRABS will be held on Sunday September 10.

 

5) The Maryland Craft Beer Festival will be held on Saturday May 13 in Frederick.  If you don’t want to drive, buses will be providing round-trip transportation from several breweries.  Go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/maryland-craft-beer-festival-tickets-31967674174?aff=erelexpmlt for tickets.

 

6) Several CRABSters will be going to HomebrewCon in June.  The Guild will have tables at both Social Club and Club Night.  You may volunteer to serve beer.  Go to https://www.eiseverywhere.com/ereg/index.php?eventid=202360& to register for the conference.  The Guild will ship kegs to the conference by van.  If you’d like one of your kegs to be shipped, contact Rob K. (rmkst16@yahoo.com).  Also, if you’re looking for someone to carpool or share a hotel room with, see the spreadsheet at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uvZY9hp73-Ct6neH94nzCIox948D3xO9yhIp868xzeg/edit#gid=0

 

7) Big Brew will be on Saturday May 6.  Maryland Homebrew will hold its annual multi-club event in the back parking lot.

 

8) The Guild summer picnic will be on Saturday June 3, noon-dusk, at Patapsco State Park, Hollofield area, shelter 300.  There will be a wheat beer contest; you must be present to win.

 

9) Congratulations are in order for several CRABSters for winning ribbons in various homebrew contests:

·In BURP’s Spirit of Free Beer, Rob Farrell won the Pale Bitter European Lager category.  Zach Keim won the Spiced Beer category and took 2^nd in the Amber Bitter European Lager category.  See full results at http://sofb.brewcomp.com/

·In DC Homebrewers’ Cherry Blossom Competition, Rob Farrell won the Light Beer category, and took 3^rd in IPAs.  Ed Shea took 3^rd place in the Brown English category.  See full results at http://www.dchbcompetition.com/

·In the National Homebrew Contest 1^st round, John Jester took 3^rd in the Amber and Brown American Ale category at the Philadelphia judging center.  See results for all judging centers at https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/national-homebrew-competition/winners/

 

10) Tonight (Thursday April 20) some CRABSters will be going to Brewer’s Art to taste Caskadian Debris IPA, which Craig Bryant helped brew.  His winning recipe from the WTMD homebrew contest was used.  Doors open at 4 PM.

 

11) Would you like to have your homebrew in cans?  Well, you can!  Contact Sam Mussomeli at samscans301@gmail.com.  He’ll can your kegged, cold, carbonated beer for only 50 cents per can.  If you don’t keg, don’t fret, because he might also be able to can your primed wort for can conditioning.  He will be happy to discuss options.

 

12) The 4^th annual Catonsville Co-op Market’s Hometown Brewdown is tentatively scheduled for Saturday August 5 in Catonsville.  It is a local fundraiser where homebrewers share their wares.  CRABS has had a few members pour every year.  See http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/catonsville/ph-hometown-brewdown-photos-0803-pg-photogallery.html for photos from last year’s event.

 

13) Ben Schwalb will be having a pot luck cookout on Saturday April 29 starting at 3 PM.  Bring any food dish or something for the grill.  Beer is welcome of course.  Address is 550 Charington Drive, Severna Park.

 

14) The dates and location for MASHOUT have not been finalized yet.  It will probably be at either Organarchy or a venue near there.  It might take place the second or third weekend of August.  Details will be hashed out in the next week or two.

 

15) There is still time to register for FOAM’s Battle of the Bubbles homebrew contest.  See http://bob.brewcomp.com/

 

16) Pints for Paws will take place on Friday May 12 in Annapolis.  See https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-annual-pints-for-paws-homebrewing-and-craft-beer-festival-tickets-32658473373

 

17) The Guild crab feast will be on Saturday September 23, noon to 6 PM, at Goddard.

 

18) This month’s competition was same grain / same hop.  There were 10 entries.  Winners were:

 

5^th (tie) – Marty Mengele

5^th (tie) – Rob Kiernan

4^th – Brian Kaider

3^rd – Rob Farrell

2^nd – Jay Thorpe

1^st – Craig and Rachel Szczesiul

 

19) Next month’s competition is Belgian and Trappist.

 

20) Go to http://crabsbrew.org for CRABS-related information.

 

21) See http://crabsbrew.org/Other_Competitions for a list of upcoming local homebrew competitions.