1) A big turnout with lots of great beers, including both commercial and home-brewed New England IPAs and sours; and a crowler of Two Paws, a collaboration between Checkerspot and Flying Dog. (Some CRABSters went to the Two Paws release at Flying Dog last Friday.)
2) Rob Farrell will host the food-beer pairing this 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
3) 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). If you want to buy a Guild work shirt (about $35), send your shirt size to John Jester (johnjester.md@gmail.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
4) 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.
5) Ty Ming brought a big bag of Willamette hops to share.
6) Congratulations to Zach Keim and Rob Farrell, who won ribbons in the Battle of the Bubbles. See http://bob.brewcomp.com/ for full results.
7) The 4th annual Catonsville Co-op Market’s Hometown Brewdown is scheduled for Saturday August 5. It is a local fundraiser where homebrewers share their wares. Cost is $25 to attend, or you can donate beer. CRABS has had a few members pour every year so far. 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.
8) MASHOUT will take place August 17-20 at a new location: Fort Royale Farm in Bedford PA. Registration will open on June 1. Last year CRABS constituted 26% of the attendees. And 98% of the mayhem. See http://campmashout.com/
9) Tonight, Thursday May 18, Heavy Seas will serve a cask of their 21st Anniversary Ale at the brewery.
10) This Friday May 19 at 5 PM, Checkerspot will release a casked saison called Lovechild at Wiley Gunter’s. See http://wileygunters.com/ for the address.
11) The “Reform on Tap” Task Force will be holding its inaugural meeting on Wednesday May 24 at 3 PM at Johns Hopkins University’s Charles Commons, 3301 N. Charles Street, Baltimore. The purpose it to create an understanding of the current legal framework that governs the manufacturing, distribution, and retail sale of beer in Maryland. Email REFORMONTAP@comp.state.md.us if you plan to attend. The proceedings will be live streamed on Reform on Tap’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/reformontap/
12) Hysteria Brewing will be opening soon in Columbia, walking distance from Black Flag. The tentative date is June 16. See http://hysteriabrewing.com/ for the address.
13) Friday May 26 will be craft beer night at The Breadery in Catonsville, starting at 4 PM. See http://www.breaderyonline.com/contact for directions.
14) This month’s competition was Belgian and Trappist. There were 6 entries. Winners were:
5th – Andy Naviasky
4th – Craig and Rachel Szczesiul
3rd – Rob Kiernan
2nd – Rob Farrell
1st – Bob Mosier
15) Next month’s competition is session beers (under 4.5% ABV).
16) Go to http://crabsbrew.org for CRABS-related information.
17) See http://crabsbrew.org/Other_Competitions for a list of upcoming local homebrew competitions.
meeting_date:
May, 2017