Category: Newsletter

As the warm weather arrives it’s time to start thinking about summer smashable beers to brew and what could be better than a simple well-made pilsner? This Wednesday we’re meeting at the German Club for what is probably the final time before the building goes under the auctioneer’s hammer. We’ll meet from 7pm. The kitchen is open and if want to eat, it’s advisable to get there early

The theme in part will be German beers — last year Gary presented a history of altbier, this year it will be lager. We’ll have lots of tastings too — a couple of German beers but we’re also welcoming anyone who wants to share any beers they’ve made with the Vic Secret hops many members got as a gift baggie. If you’ve got a beer to share, let us know ASAP by email.

Bottle swaps. If you just want to bring a just a single bottle or two to swap and taste later, that’s fine too. We’re trying to encourage more one to one random bottle swapping at meetings. Bring it in, label what it is, who you are and a contact if you like — even get fancy and link to the recipe online — and drop it on the beer bingo bench. If you bring a beer, you leave with a beer. Simple. Feedback to the brewer is encouraged.

The committee is also planning the next six months soon. If you have a meeting idea, want to present a talk or an experiment, let us know by email. All ideas welcome.

Events

Last Saturday a group of members had a brew day at Left Barrel Brewing at Balhannah while the rest of us stood around the bar watching and enjoying the beers. By all accounts it was fun and a bit of a learning experience and they’re all looking forward to tasting their beers that are now fermenting separately with brewer’s choice of yeast and dry hops. The results will be presented at the December Xmas drinks meeting. Thank you to everyone who signed-on. We’ll do it again next year.

While on Christmas, our club end of year event will be on Saturday, December 8 at the Flinders Uni Tavern. Put the date in your diaries now. As always, it’s free for members and that includes a meal by Burger Theory and some homebrew tastings. The bar is open with a wide range of ‘crafties’ on tap too. Guests welcome – non-members ticket price TBC.

We’re also announcing a breweries tour by bus in February at Wednesday’s meeting too.

Free beer. The Wheaty is presenting Bridge Road Brewers – Mayday Masterclass with Bridge Road founder Ben Krauss this Thursday, October 18. Jade has offered a free pint to SABC members who want to go. You need to get your name to us by email by 5 pm Tuesday to get on the list.

Membership

Phew! thinking about what’s been happening and putting a value on it — brew day wort, hops, free pints, Xmas party meal as well as raffles and meetings — it adds up to more than the cost of membership. That’s pretty good. If you’ve got a friend who’s interested in joining, or you’re reading this and have a membership that has lapsed, now’s a great time to join SABC.

Forward dates

October 25-37: Aust Nat. Homebrew Conference, Melb.

November 21: November monthly meeting

Dec 8: SABC Summer event at Flinders Tavern.

December 19: December monthly meeting – Christmas drinks at The Wheaty

January 16: January catchup at Little Bang’s new digs.

February 20: Monthly meeting.

Thank you to all the members who attended our July meeting for the winter competition judging and prizes and the club’s AGM. We had an unprecedented 52 entries. A big thanks to Gary and Julien for wrangling it so well along with everyone who judged and stewarded.

The results and judges’ comment sheets will be available through the portal in the coming week.

Thanks to the generosity of the club’s sponsor BeerCo, our prizes were awesome this year with some excellent ingredients packs. A ticket to ANHC was also a prize — the decision made by the committee to offer this as a prize was to aim to continue to grow our competitions and add great value for our membership by offering prizes of significant value.

The State Amateur Brewing Competition of SA (SABSOSA) is just around the corner so don’t drink your winter comp entry just yet and get brewing for state and national glory. The entry portal for SABSOSA is now open too.

While on SABSOSA, the AGM voted in favour of an amendment to our constitution to incorporate SABSOSA into SA Brewing Club as a subcommittee. It’s in line with how the peak state comps are managed in other states and sees SABC, the state’s top club, manage the state’s top brewing competition. It’s a great opportunity for the club and to help SABSOSA move strongly into its third decade.

The AGM was held and we heard from outgoing president Clinton Fisher who delivered his report on the successes and growth the year had seen. Clinton is reluctantly stepping down due to work commitments this year. On behalf of the membership and the committee, we thank him for all of his hard work as a committee member and president over recent years.

I know it was a tough decision for him and I thank him for his steady hand on the helm and vision (pun also intended… Specsavers Rundle Mall for all your optical needs). The club membership has grown by around 30 per cent, is financially sound and has a great structure for meetings, events, competitions and general good vibes.

The SABC incoming committee is: Luke Moran (VP), Jo Morgan (secretary), Edward Shorne Holden (treasurer), Julien Gibson (IT), Lachlan Johnson (events), Samantha Wallwork (comms and social media), Glen Phillis (general committee and meeting night co-ordinator) and, me, Gus Kingston, president.

The committee might be the heart of the club but it’s the membership that is the blood. There are seven of us but 75 members. If you’d like to help with anything — organising a meeting talk, events, brew days, beer swaps or just something fun (quick quiz for prizes anyone?) — let us know in an email. or share your idea on in the Facebook group. Don’t be shy, all ideas are welcome.

Coming up soon: next month’s meeting is at the Wheaty on August 15 and our guest is local brewing legend and educator Stephen Nelsen for a Q&A, so get your questions ready.

Jade from Wheaty Brewing Corps has always been a great supporter of the club and last week she gifted us 5kgs of vacuum packed Vic Secret hops, the Australian hop said to be very similar to Galaxy. We’re not sure of the plans yet but suffice to say everyone at next month’s meeting will get some and we’re working on a comparative tasting experiment. If you are keen to brew an experiment let us know (Galaxy vs Topaz vs Vic Secret showdown?)

Also as I said before, SABSOSA is coming. Entries close on August 24 with judging on September 1-2 at the German Club. Entries to the Gawler Show are also open. See our website’s calendar for more info.

A final reminder that you can now renew your membership through the new membership portal on our site. More info on how to here.

Until next time, I hope you hit your OGs.
Gus

Winter is coming … hopefully that means the fermenters are filling with some dark winter warmers and a few brews for our upcoming Winter Competition.

Autumn has kicked off with a bang. Our SABC BeerBQ at Colonel Light Gardens Bowl club was a roaring success. Good Beer Wheaty followed shortly after. It was well attended by the SABC massive if the dodgy Facebook pics are anything to go by (Dave Pridham don’t give up your day job!). We then paid a visit to burgeoning Sweet Amber Brewing for May’s meeting. If you have brewed a beer for their bi-monthly competition, great job and thanks for representing SABC. Don’t forget, entries close 31st May.

As we head into winter, some good stuff is ahead with some notable dates for the diary:

June 20th: SABC Club meeting at the Wheaty. The theme is a faults tasting session. One not to be missed … so tell ya friends!

July 6-8th: Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival at the Showgrounds (Social Gathering).

July 18th: SABC Club meeting, AGM and Winter Competition judging at the Wheaty. If you are thinking of standing for the coming year committee, please have a chat with me at our next meeting. Your Club needs you!

The Club has just re-stocked with fresh merchandise; t-shirts, caps and hoodies. We can’t bring them all along to each meeting, so why not email the Club at info@sabrew.com to enquire about sizes so we can bring them along to the next gathering for you.

I look forward to seeing you all in a few weeks time.

Clint

Hoppy New Year, brewers!

Now that the festive season has come and gone and the kegs have been drained, time to get your brew on again! Its been a memorable 2017 for the club, with our biggest growth in membership to date, some enjoyable events and social gatherings, some great meetings and many great beers brewed over the year which have had success at state and national level.

We’ll be going even bigger and better in 2018 which promises to be our strongest year yet as our committee will be meeting this week to plan out the next 6 months activities. If you have any suggestions or input, drop us an email at info@sabrew.com

Dates for the diary in the next 2 months:

January meeting: 7pm Wednesday 17th at Little Bang Brewery, Stepney

Summer Comp: Entries close Thursday 25th January. Enter at our competition portal here: https://comps.sabrew.com/

Social Gatherings: West End brewery tour Saturday 3rd February at 1pm. Details to follow shortly. 

February meeting: Atomic Yeast presentation, yeast master-class and tastings. 7pm Wednesday 21st February at West Thebby Social Club. 

Late February (TBA) Hawkers Beer South African hops showcase event with special tastings by SABC and Hawkers Beer.

G’day brewers!

Lots to look forward to in the coming months for SABC members as we have been hard at work behind the scenes planning the coming months fixtures. Some events and dates to look forward to:

October Meeting: 

A change of scenery for October meeting, this month at the German Club https://thegermanclub.com.au on Wednesday 18th from 7pm. We can look forward to some fine German fare and beer to go along with a masterclass in Altbier (German Old Beer) brewing as Gary Waters has put a lot of time and effort in brewing 3 different beers for the event. One not to be missed.

November Social Gatherings: 

‘Systems Wars’ is the theme for our November social get together on Saturday 4th November (10m-3pm) at Beer Belly brewing supplies http://shop.beerbelly.com.au in Pooraka. We will be pitting the might of the Braumeister vs Grainfather vs BIAB in a live brew-off demonstration to showcase all grain brewing. See the systems in action and enjoy a sausage sizzle an some home-brew tastings and take advantage of a special discount offer from Beer Belly on the day. Members are encouraged to come along and join a ‘team’, help promote the Club and answer questions from punters that come by during the day.

Other Notable dates for the near future: 

BJCP course commences in the next fortnight, contact Gary Waters on 0417 893 321 to enrol. Please do so ASAP.

November meeting (15th November): Wheaty Presents: How to brew the beers of Wheaty Brewing Corps, a precursor to our Summer Comp in February (Spoiler alert – the prizes this year are off the chart, think flights to next year’s GABS!!)

Summer SABC Event: Save the date, weekend of 25th/26th November, TBA soon.

December Meeting (13th December): Xmas drinks with Secret Santa (Bring a bottle of your brew to swap) and a tasting of our Systems Wars brews. Please note the date will be changed forward from the usual 3rd Wednesday of the month.

Cheers and good brewing!

Clint

September update:

Its been a busy month for homebrewers in SA. With SABSOSA results released, a big congratulations to the following Club members who won places:

Adrian (Wol) Reich: GOLD for Amercan Pale Ale, GOLD for Speciality beer, BRONZE for Brown Ale and BRONZE for Stout

Dez Cook: GOLD for IPA, BRONZE for Strong Stout and BRONZE for Sour Ale

Clint Fisher: GOLD for Old Ale

Craig Milnes: GOLD for Stout

Luke Skrivens: SILVER for American Pale Ale

Greg Weider: SILVER for Low Alchohol

Matt Kennedy: SILVER for Brown Ale

Gus Kingston: SILVER for IPA

Mark Reed: BRONZE for Bitter Ale

Honourable mentions also to Greg Weider, Mark Reed , Clint Fisher and Kent Getsinger who had beer finishing in 4th, just outside the places.

Our September meeting held at the Wheaty had Adrian, Matt and Greg bring their outstanding APA, Scottish Export and Ordinary Bitters respectively. Some insights into their winning brews were shared and a few tales of the recipe development and some mishaps along the way were well enjoyed by a good turnout.

Club Merchandise: 

We have fresh stock of T-Shirts ($25), Ladies singlets ($25), Hoodies ($45) and Caps ($25). The new logo layout looks fantastic and we have a selection of high quality Flexfit caps in a choice of 3 styles available, a plain black, black trucker with rear mesh and a unique green and white high profile at the next meeting in October or contact the Club at info@sabrew.com if you would like to purchase earlier.

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BJCP enrolment: 

The upcoming year’s enrolment for the Beer Judge Certification Program starts next month in October and run by our resident Club comp guru, Gary Waters. If you want to become a certified beer judge, contact Gary to enrol. Its a fantastic way to learn to understand what makes a good beer, how to use and understand the effects of ingredients in the brewing processes and help you make a better beer at the same time. Contact Gary on 04178923321

Greetings homebrewers!

It’s the start of a new year for the committee of SABC and plans are afoot to make this year bigger and better than ever for our growing membership. We have an exciting next 6 months ahead, jam packed with all the craft beer and homebrewing goodness to expect from your membership. We plan to offer a host of benefits in the year ahead including sponsored events, bulk buys, special event offers and much more.

This month we are launching a new regular event called ‘Social Gatherings’. These are informal get togethers that will provide an additional opportunity to catch up with fellow club members when you cannot attend the monthly meeting at the Wheaty. We will aim to mix things up with a variety of locations and activities.

Dates for the calendar:

Saturday 19th August:
Social Gathering at Lady Burra
1 pm with a brewery tour by James Collison (head brewer) and a pizza and pint deal.

Tuesday 29th August:
Monthly meeting. (PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATE FROM NORMAL MONTHLY MEETING)
Brew comparison of Gladfields malts and selected Beerco hops as well as an informative presentation on brewing with fresh ingredients from Demott Dowling of Beerco.com on Tuesday 29th August at the Wheaty.

Wednesday 20th September:
Monthly meeting.
Content TBA

Wednesday 18th October:
October meeting will see a change of venue to the German Club, where we will enjoy and Altbier tasting and presentation by Club Comp guru Gary Waters. Enjoyment of German beers and food are encouraged.

With competition season upon us, don’t forget to get your entries in to Gawler Show and SABSOSA. Brewer of the year points are up for grabs and another chance to raise the bar on SA homebrewing.
Entries at:
https://gawlershow.org.au/services/home-brewed-beer/ and http://sabsosa.com/respectively.

Your committee for the next year is in the capable and enthusiastic hands of:

President: Clint Fisher
Vice President: Ben Till
Treasurer: Ed Shorne Holden
Secretary: Luke Moran
IT Officer: Julien Gibson
Social media: Gus Kingston
Competitions: Gary Waters
Events: Lachlan Johnson
Sponsorships: Alex Kiddy

Due to a mutually agreed change of roles, Ben Till has taken up the vice president role and Julien Gibson, the IT Officer role.

Annual membership can be purchased or renewed online at http://sabrew.com/join-sabc/ to continue to enjoy all the benefits that the South Australian Brew Club has to offer.

Communication about the club’s events will arrive come to you by email, Facebook event updates and Google calendar.

If you haven’t already done so, like our page on Facebook and join our discussion group for more news and updates.

If you have any suggestions or inquiries for the upcoming year, email the committee at info@sabrew.com.

Happy brewing and see you at the August meeting at the Wheaty on Tuesday 29th August.

Clint Fisher
President