The group thanked Nick for arranging the most excellent Gordon Biersch tour with Dan Gordon, which had 41.5 attendees! Ron wrote up the event and captured it in photos here.
The itinerary for the March 8 Santa Cruz Brewery Bus Tour was reviewed, with 5 destinations slated for one day: Santa Cruz Aleworks, Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, Sante Adairius Rustic Ales, Discretion Brewing, and Seabright. Approximately 30 people planned to attend. No doubt there will be a writeup/photos on the website in a couple of weeks.
The members-only off flavor tasting had been scheduled to replace the March Thirsty Third Thursday meetup, but logistics are dictating that we need to reschedule in April. The group considered several options for the March TTT meetup, then voted to go to Gourmet Haus Staudt in Redwood City on March 20. The group also agreed that the April TTT meetup will be April 17 at Steins Beer Garden in Mountain View. Derek W mentioned that Steins is also working on creating a beer pairing brunch, and they will keep him informed.
The Spring Club Brew day was tentatively slated for Easter weekend at Chris R’s house. More details will be sent out once finalized.
There will be just a handful of Sudzers attending the National Homebrewers Conference in Grand Rapids, MI in June. If the Worts of Wisdom decide to have a booth at club night and/or serve in the hospitality suite, we may join forces with them.
Derek W asked the group about the idea of a homebrew club bowling competition event. The response was so-so, but not met with wild enthusiasm.
Jim W reminded the group that we are planning a session beers competition within the club in July – all beers must be under 5% alcohol. Jim will lead a group to decide whether we want to develop more specific judging criteria.
As a novelty item, Derek W shared some Pat’s Backcountry Beverages pale ale concentrate that he brought back from Colorado. The consensus was that the convenience of the small pouches would be excellent for a serious hiking trip, and that the beer was not bad considering that it came out of a pouch, but it was not a favorite, especially after a lineup of particularly impressive homebrews had been tasted this month.
Justin V will be doing a presentation on mash temperatures at the May club meeting.
Homebrews:
Adam C’s Dunkel
Aimee & Phil’s Single Hop Simcoe Pale Ale
David’s Wild Cider
Rich’s Tiny Pliny
Duncan’s Ginger Stout
David’s IPA
Justin’s Little Red Rye IPA
Charles’ IPA
Justin’s Belgian Tropics Brett IPA
Derek W’s Dark Matter-ish Imperial Stout
Chris R’s 1st State American Barleywine (speaking of, congrats to Chris and Lisa Linda on their upcoming Delaware adventure!)
Jim W’s Bastard Son Of Younger Imperial IPA