This month’s joint meeting with DOZE, BAM, and Mad Zymurgists on August 15th.  The meeting place is Briones Regional Park - Newt Hollow picnic area at 11am, though you can come as early as 9:00am if you want to set up tents, tables, jockey boxes, etc.)

Link to the park information & map: www.ebparks.org/parks/briones.  Look for the Newt Hollow picnic area near the Bear Creek entrance on the park’s Southwest side.

This meeting was planned to provide an opportunity to meet some fellow brewers in close local clubs.  There is no official agenda other than sharing some good homebrew and discussing all things brewing.

As with all of our meetings, please bring some homebrew to share and be prepared to keep it cold or serve in your own cooler or equipment.  We are planning a potluck for food, so if you can bring a covered dish, a snack to share, or something to put on the grill we’ll throw it in the mix.

Specifics:

• Facilities: Eleven 10-foot tables, one 6-foot table, two double BBQs, seven single BBQs.  If you plan to BBQ, bring your own charcoal, tools, etc.  Bring your own grill if you can because space on grills will be limited (100+ people is possible)
• GADGET SHOW - bring your favorite homemade or commercial brewing gadgets to show off to your fellow brewers (even if you’ve presented them previously at DOZE meetings there will be lots of new folks to share ideas).
• The site has many trees and should be shaded, though easy-ups will guarantee shade
• Bring your own chairs & table if you have them (for gadgets, food & seating)
• Bring food items to share in a “pot luck” style (dont worry about feeding 100+ people, just bring enough to share with your own serving utensils)
• Bring water, sunscreen, hats/umbrellas to deal with any direct sun and heat
• Bring your homebrew to share
• Cups, plasticware utensils, plates, and napkins will be provided by the organizers

Please let Erik know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions.

Just a quick reminder that due to Memorial Day on the 31st, our May meeting is a week earlier than usual. See you all there.

MZ’s have availability for their bus trip on March 28th.  Details are below, for more information and registration see http://www.madzymurgists.org/.

Bus schedule is as follows:
Depart Dublin Pleasanton BART station: 9:45 AM
Arrive at Russian River: 11:00 AM
Depart Russian River: 1:00 PM
Arrive at Lagunitas: 1:30 PM
Depart Lagunitas: 3:30 PM
Arrive at the Trappist: 4:30 PM
Depart Trappist: 5:30 PM (some may choose to stay longer, and depart on BART as needed).
Arrive Dublin / Pleasanton BART: 6:30 PM

The Wet Hop event is Saturday, October 3rd at The Bistro.  There’s not a lot of information on the website, but I’m told by several people that it’s a fun event and worth the trip down to Hayward.

The Bistro • 1001 B Street • Hayward, CA 94541 • (510) 886-8525

The Lafayette Park Hotel is hosting a Beer Maker’s Dinner on July 31, 2009 at 6:30pm.  The dinner will feature 5 beers from the Russian River Brewing Company paired with 5 courses.  The dinner is $75 per head (which doesn’t cover tax or gratuity).  I anticipate this to be a very popular event, so if you are interested book soon. For reservations, call: (925) 283-7108.

Menu & Pairings:

APPETIZERS
CHEF’S SELECTION
Redemption,  Blonde Ale

FIRST
CARAWAY-DUSTED DAY BOAT SCALLOPS
Beer Braised Red Thumb and Russian Fingerling Potatoes,
Pine Nut Upland Cress Pesto
Blind Pig,  I.P.A.

SECOND
CINNAMON-SEARED DUCK BREAST
Roasted Apple, Barley and Duck Confit Risotto, Sour Cherry Jus
Consecration, Strong Dark Ale

THIRD
SPICE-RUBBED BEEF TRI-TIP
Grilled Asparagus, Fresh Corn Puree
Pliny the Elder,  Double I.P.A.

FOURTH
ARTISAN CHEESES
A selection of Farmstead Cheese from Local, Small-Scale Producers
Temptation, Blonde Ale

A couple of our members won the Sam Adams Longshot competition in 2007 and 2008. Alex & Mike will be pouring their beers at the Walnut Creek (N Main) BevMo on Friday, 4/24 from 4pm to 7pm. Easily walkable from BART.

No droids, no Wookies, and unfortunately no Princess Leia in a white silk robe.

9 of us DOZERS did however have a fun evening out, with dinner and beers at Pyramid followed by the Beer Wars premiere.  The movie detailed Sam Adams, Stone Brewing, and Dogfish head.  It provided some insight into the plight of the craft brewer and exposed some dirty tactics employed by the Big 3 to thwart the little guy.  BMC baching grew a little tiresome, but the contributions from the craft brewer interviews and live session at the end made it a worthy event.

Looking forward to more fun DOZER outings in the future.

DOZERS, a quick correction.  The Boonville Beer Fesitval is May 2, 2009 this year (accidentally reported as May 9th at the February Meeting).  Please adjust your calendars accordingly.

Dick Fox is rescheduling the Beer Bus for the correct weekend.  Tickets are still on sale at B3.

Festival Details

Greetings DOZERS.  I’m disappointed to miss the February meeting, but find myself out of town at a family wedding.  I would like to encourage everyone to look at the committee list for this year, and consider working in one or more areas.  A small effort from a lot folks will help us achieve another great year for the club.

Competition: This committee is split into two parts, external and internal. External will focus on DOZE participation in outside competitions, including keeping members informed of upcoming dates, recording member results, and possibly coordinating packaging parties.

Nor Cal Homebrew Festival: Many folks have lent a hand here in the past, and this year should be no exception. Coordinating volunteers for Hoppy Hour pouring, Hoppy Hour beer selection, campsite reservations, and Saturday pot luck dinner.

Barrel: For folks interested in contributing to or learning about the DOZE barrel project (currently an Imperial Porter aging in a Bourbon barrel).

National Homebrew Conference: Our club efforts are represented by Mike McDole but we’ll need a team of folks to help us find a club theme, coordinate outfits, and make sure our club night booth is rockin’.

Social and Events: Personally, this is my most important area for the club. I’m hoping 2009 will bring many more brewery tours, pub nights, bbq’s, and big brews.

Newsletter: I’d really like to keep the newsletter going. Anyone interested in helping with either content or format and published would be most appreciated.

Website: Anyone with web skills or ideas is encouraged to get involved and beef up our online presence.

Share on Facebook