Okay, I have put this off for a week now and just need to get it done! I may ramble on a bit because I will be typing and thinking at the same time.

This is a recap of the January 2016 meeting for those of you that were unable to attend and for those of you who forgot what happened at the meeting. I will hopefully include links to some websites and a general discussion of the major topics.

First off, we welcomed 5 new members, four of which brew all-grain, and another whom brews BIAB. Awesome! They seemed very enthusiastic about joining DOZE and contributing to the club.  We reminded everybody that this year’s dues ($30) are due!  It is critical to the club that everybody who attends meetings pay their dues. The Lindsay Museum has increased our rent this year to about $200 per night (last year it was $140). It was pretty much unanimous that the Lindsay Museum is an ideal place to meet, especially considering the cost of moving somewhere else.   Some members were even willing to bump up the membership back to $40 to keep things going. You guys are great.

Membership cards will be available at the February meeting.

Adam Wyss talked about the upcoming Homebrew Competitions, especially the NHC (National Homebrew Comp). The entry window is now open! Here is the  LINK   It looks like you can enter up to 6 beers this year. So, the more you enter, the better chance DOZE can get second round points. The AHA has tweaked the scoring for Homebrew club of the Year in 2016. Only second round points will be counted for this award. And, according to my calculations, the Austin Zealots would have won last year using this method. So it is very important to get beers to the second round and then score! The shipping deadline is March 9th, so you have time to brew some more beers. Also, you can re-brew the beer for the second round in Baltimore.  DOZE members brew some great beer as seen at our meeting and at the BOTM table, so enter comps!!  Members that brew ciders and meads, make sure you enter these often neglected categories, they count just as much and any other category.

The other upcoming comps are the WCOB World Cup of Beer in Berkeley. This is a wonderful local competition with good feedback and great awards. The award party on April 2nd at Faction Brewing is also great!

Bridging the Gap homebrew contest is put on by the Greenbelt Brewers and is another great comp to get in to. The deadline for it is February 28. Here is their info:   http://greenbeltbrewers.org/bridgingthegap/

Black Diamond brewery in Concord has graciously offered to brew the GABF Pro-Am beer for DOZE again. We are getting this info out early this year so you can plan your brews. Each DOZE member can submit 2 beers into the competition. They will be due on May 7th and the winners will be announced at the DOZE meeting at Black Diamond on May 23rd. Here is the info from Justin at BD:  See the Side Bar Document   You will notice that the yeast to be used this year does not include a lager yeast.

It was mentioned during the meeting that the Pleasant Hill Blues and Brews Festival would like to include a homebrew booth this year, however, the info is not on the website yet. More news to follow as the usual date of this fest is in July.

Speaking of festivals, the Brewing Network Winterfest (now Springfest) will be on April 2nd. DOZE normally pours and manages the Tasty Tasting Room booth at this festival. Approximately 3000 people attend this fest and it is a great way to share your brews to the public. More info about this one and the Martinez Bay Area Craft Beer Festival will follow. The BACBF will be on April 16th. If you put your keg on and pour at these events, it will get you entry to the festival. Keep brewing!

We had a pouring of two beers that you can still brew in time for the upcoming competitions. One was an Amber Ale (Full Sail Amber) and the other was an American Brown Ale (Moose Drool). We tasted these because they are classic styles of the NHC category 11a and 11b. They are the only two beers in that category. Here are the links to the two clone recipes:     Moose Drool … Full Sail Amber

Next month, actually this month, on February 29th we will have a guest speaker that will show us how to build a jockey box. We will also have a specific table for beers that you are not sure about which category they should be entered in. Hopefully, we will have several judges (tasters) that can help you plan your competition entries.