1. Midnight Homebrewers will be running the homebrew contest at the Maryland Microbrewery Fest at Union Mills on Saturday September 26. They are looking for judges, beer entries (American styles only), and especially stewards. Volunteers get breakfast, lunch, and free admission to the beer fest afterwards. This Friday 9/18 is the beer drop-off deadline at Maryland Homebrew and Flying Barrel. The competition page is at https://brewingcompetitions.com/mdmicrobrewfest/ . Email Justin at jwredhead at gmail dot com if you have questions.
2. Crabs4CRABS will be on Sunday September 27 at Guilford Park pavilion, our usual location. Free for members and only $20 for guests. Kids under 14 are free. Sign up at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13SWaYjFNXHYoxgYZ_WtS2HutyeHL8_lFyEYmOL73Ar4
3. Checkerspot’s Homebrew Extravaganza will be held on Wednesday October 14, 6-9 PM. Brewers can start setting up at 5:00. Attendees get all they can drink for $10, and all proceeds go to BARCS.
4. Les brought some makgeolli (Korean rice wine) from J.S. Brewery, located in the same plaza as Sapwood Cellars. They offered their location as a CRABS meeting place. Their website is https://jsbrewery.com/
5. Tom Flavin is projected to be hospitalized with pancreatitis until November.
6. Possible dates for the Guild holiday party are January 30 and February 6. Neither will conflict with the NFL, as the AFC and NFC championship games will be on January 31 and the Super Bowl will be on February 14.
7. Several of us are still planning to fill the quad barrel with gueuze. So far the participants are Jason, Frits, Justin, and Ben. Speak up if you want to contribute. You don’t even have to brew anything sour; just a low- or no-hopped pale ale will do, as it will be soured in the barrel. Or, if you have an old pale ale / saison / lager that you want to get rid of, we'll gladly add that.
8. Das Best Oktoberfest will be on Saturday October 10 at the MD State Fairgrounds in Timonium. Website is https://baltimore.dasbestoktoberfest.com/
9. The Turkey Shoot homebrew competition, organized by BADASS, will be in November. See https://brewingcompetitions.com/turkeyshoot/ for entry/judging information.
10. SMASH will be hosting their 5th annual brewers challenge on Saturday October 17, 1:00-5:00, at Mully’s Brewery. Eight homebrews will be judged. It is a fundraiser for Safe Harbor Residential Shelter.
11. This month’s competition was pale/bitter/hoppy. There were 10 entries. Winners were:
- 5th (tie) – Chris+Christa
- 5th (tie) – Joe O’Keefe
- 4th (tie) – Bob Baroncinni
- 4th (tie) – Craig Bryant
- 3rd – Brian England
- 2nd – John Jester
- 1st – Justin Wilson
12. Next meeting: Wednesday October 21. Competition will be amber/dark/malty lagers.
13. Go to http://crabsbrew.org for CRABS-related information. The 2026 CRABS competition schedule is at http://www.crabsbrew.org/competition_schedule