Att: Richard Swindells (Chair), James Pettifor, Colin Miller, Steve Plampton, Alan Osbiston, Gerrard, Dom Antony, Tony Tilbury, Kevin Warnes, Nik Leng, Graham Smith,
The first Saturday of July was the 6th and we all met at 12pm in the Victoria Inn, North Station Road, Colchester. This venue gives us all easy access with a max 10-minute walk from the mainline train station. A good turn out made for an interesting meeting with lots of varied questions.
The agenda for the day was set and strictly kept to as the England game was due to kick off at 5pm sharp. The game was being shown live in the upstairs room and some stayed to watch, while others left to watch with families.
Agenda (updates in bullets)
(12:30) Start: Introductions.
(12:35) Homebrew Comp planning updates:
- Date was set to 16/11/24 with updates needing to go out to various channels.
- Minimum of 12 judges required.
- James P to sort the website.
- Competition will be for American beer styles.
(12:40) AGM venue updates:
- Graham Smith, Manningtree pub as venue.
- Date given for the 2024 AGM of 12th October at the Red Lion Manningtree.
(12:50) Hook Norton brewery tour update:
- Colin Miller gave updates on the tour and communicated out to those concerned by email.
- Clone beer challenge set to Old Hooky.
(13:00) James P Yeast Farming presentation/questions (45 mins).
(13:45) Break for lunch (Tony T ordered in pizza to have in the room)
(14:15) American Hop beer challenge – 1hr
(15:15) AOB – 1 hr.
At 1300, James commenced his talk on Yeast Farming, covering the basic aspects for collecting and growing your own yeast from slants. The talk was well received and very interesting, sparking many questions.
After the yeast talk, we commenced the beer challenge which was American Hop beers. There we had a range of beer styles and with a table full of challenge beers, we set about tasting them and scoring to the base style. Always aiming to find the best beer, which is usually the well-balanced and highly drinkable selections.
This time we voted James P’s beer as the best example with a well-balanced malt and flavoursome hop profile as the best beer. Tony T took second place with Alan O’s beer in third. Steve P was fourth and Rich S last.
The AOB brought more beers out with Graham Smith and Dom Antony, Rich S all highlight beers with a Portrer, Berliner Weiss and American Pale Ale respectively.
After the AOB section, the very enjoyable meeting was called to a close. We cleared the room and brewers quickly made their exits or stayed and watched the game in the pub.