Category Archives: Regular Meetings

October 8th @ Union

• BaltiBrew has a table for the Guild Holiday Party on Saturday, December 2nd. We have a group committed but anyone who wants to help out is encouraged to join! More information to come but it tentatively looks to be held in Jessup.
• A few members did a tour of the Baltimore Spirits Company and they said they'd love for the club to swing by for a tour/potentially host a meeting (blending your own whiskey bottle would be extra). We are looking at November or January.
• There is interest in organizing another cider buy this year. More to come.
• A few BaltiBrewers are competing in the Checkerspot Homebrew Extravaganza (supporting BARCS) on Wednesday, October 18th from 6-9PM. Tickets are $10 at the door. It would be great for the club to come out and support them.
• Monument's Festival der Lagerbier is this Saturday and several BaltiBrewers are attending. Tickets are still available http://www.monumentcitybrewing.com/festival-tix.
• Many thanks to Jon for coordinating a blind ingredient tasting/discussion. It was super fun/informative and a great test for the palate!

To accommodate other events, this Sunday's meeting will be moved forward to 1PM.

June 11th @ Union

Pints for Paws

• Thank you to Gerry and Emily for representing at Pints for Paws! It sounds like there were around 600 people at the event which means they once again raised a ton of money for the SPCA of Anne Arundel County. Woohoo!

Mashout

• Camp Mashout is back for 2023 and registration is now open! This is a 4-day outdoor celebration of the homebrewing hobby held, this year, in Cumberland, MD. This year the event will run from August 18th-21st. For a schedule of events or to get tickets visit https://mashout.ticketspice.com/mashout.
• BaltiBrew members interested in attending can coordinate on campsite/transportation with Jon.

Terrapin Homebrew competition

• Congrats to Kevin for winning a first place prize!

Guild notes

• The May Guild Meeting Minutes are attached. There are a lot of awesome events kicking into gear including a BJCP class organized by BURP.

Website

• The BaltiBrew website could use a refresh. Anyone with design or web skills can reach out to the board to help.

Ed Topic

• This month's ed topic was all about Baltimore’s water in anticipation for our tour of the Ashburton Filtration Plant this Friday at 2:15 PM. You can check out the original blog posts from 2018 here. If you’re planning to come on Friday please plan to arrive at the parking lot at 2 PM to meet the rest of the group.

Iron Brewer

• Iron Brewer California Common a.k.a. Steam Beer will be held at the August meeting. Brewers are to use lager yeast but ferment at ale temperatures.

Homebrew Swap!

Due to a conflict with Mother's Day, the May BaltiBrew meeting has been moved back one week to Sunday, May 21st.

This month's BaltiBrew meeting has been moved back one week to Sunday, April 16th.

March 12th @ Union

Brübakes IV

• Brübakes is coming up on Sunday, April 23rd, 2023 at the Duckpin Room in Union. Judges are lined up from Dangerously Delicious, Checkerspot Brewing, and BaltiBrew. 11 teams are slated to compete. If you are interested in helping out or if you have an in for a prize donation please reach out to Max or the board. We are capping attendees at 80 as the bakers needs a maximum number to plan for. Tickets are available at https://baltibrew.ticketspice.com/brubakes-iv. There will be one more general membership meeting before the event.

Pints for Paws

• AHBC is doing PINTS 4 PAWS again this year. It will be on June 10th 2023. They are looking for more homebrewers for this event. AHBC has reached out to coordinate with BaltiBrew this year so it would be a great opportunity to show our support for their club. This year the event will be larger, and they are raising the number of tickets from 500 to 750. Last year they raised over $28,000 for the SPCA of Anne Arundel County. Tickets are available at https://facebook.com/events/s/7th-annual-pints-4-paws-homebr/192055410182347/.

Mashout

• Camp Mashout is back for 2023. This is a 4-day outdoor celebration of the homebrewing hobby held, this year, in Cumberland, MD. This year the event will run from August 18th-21st. For a schedule of events or to get tickets visit https://mashout.ticketspice.com/mashout. BaltiBrew members interested in attending can coordinate on campsite/transportation with Jon.

Guild notes

• The March Guild Minutes are here. There are a lot of events kicking into gear.

Website

• The BaltiBrew website could use a refresh. Anyone with design or web skills can reach out to the board to help.

Ed Topic

• This month's ed topic was all about grist and milling. The slide deck with speaker notes is here.

Iron Brewer

• Iron Brewer Tea will be held at the March meeting. The two reigning Iron Brewers have decided that this is not a beer specific challenge. Any fermented beverage with tea in it is fair game!

Homebrew Swap!

February 12, 2023 @ Union

Sensory Tasting Panel (Part 2 of 2)

• This month we finished the second half of the Seibel's barrel aged compound tasting panel by sampling the following flavors/aromas:
  • Almond
  • Exotic
  • Woody
  • Smoky
  • Whiskey

Iron Brewer Cider

• We had seven entries for Iron Brewer Cider! There was a tie between Jude's Aged Cider from 2019 and Dan's fermented cider from this year's buy from Weber's farm! The two of them decided jointly that the next Iron Brewer will be Iron Brewer Tea (black, green, herbal, etc). They have also decided that this does not need to be a beer based Iron Brewer. Other beverages (such as kombucha) are welcome. We typically allow at least two months so folks can plan and execute their ferementations, so we will decide next month whether to judge Iron Brewer Tea at the April or May meetings. Congrats to Jude and Dan!

Ed Topic Stipends Reminder

• To encourage engagement, BaltiBrew is offering a stipend for members that would like to experience and report back! The specifics are still to be worked out, but the idea is that if a member has an idea on an experiment to run, the club would reimburse for the cost of materials (up to $40 or so dollars) on the stipulation that regardless of how the experiment turns out, that an ed topic would be presented by the brewer. If you've been on the fence about diving into a novel technique, ingredient, or side-by-side brew this is an opportunity to dive in with support from the club. Ping the listserve or the board and let us know what you're considering!

BruBakes IV!

• BruBakes is returning on Sunday, April 23rd! Our competitor roster is almost filled out. Now it is time to promote the event. Max brought fliers for anyone who knows of businesses that are willing to promote the event. We are also soliciting for the prize pool. BruBakes is a homebrew & baked good competition. Contestants brew a saison and make a baked good with a portion of the spent grain (at least 5% by weight of the baked good must be spent grain). This is a fundraiser for the club and we normally treat it as a club showcase, with most of the contestants being BalitBrewers. Contestant tickets are free, attendees will be 20 dollars. It's a smaller, low key event (we normally shoot for 60-100 attendees). Tickets are available at https://baltibrew.ticketspice.com/brubakes-iv. Please spread the word!

Upcoming Events

• While BaltiBrew hosts several events each year there are a number of other events in the state that it would be great to make a presence at as a club.
• MASHOUT is returning again in 2023 from August 17th through the 20th. It is a 4-day outdoor celebration of the homebrewing hobby and is attended by a large number of brewers and fermentationist from around the area. The MASHOUT website and more information is available at https://mashout.ticketspice.com/mashout. Jon, Jude, and several others are very interested in attending this year and seeking to find other BaltiBrewers to have a presence.
• The Annapolis Homebrew Club has directly reached out to us to try to organize some intra-club events. We have extended the invitation to BruBakes in April. One of their marquee events is the Pints 4 Paws Homebrew and Craft Beer Festival. It's been held on June 10th this year and several members are interested in competing/attending. https://annapolishomebrewclub.com/pints4paws/ 
• We will publicize other events as they are announced this year.

Home Brew Swap!

• Our next meeting will be Sunday, March 12th at Union (to be confirmed)! Cheers!

To accommodate the Super Bowl later in the evening, the February meeting on Sunday the 12th has been moved forward to 1PM. The meeting will still take place in the Duckpin Room at Union.

January 8, 2023 @ Union

Sensory Tasting Panel (Part 1 of 2)

• In March of 2020, the club procured the Siebel's Barrel Aged Compound Tasting Panel kit with the intention of splitting it over two club meetings(spoiler: that didn't happen). This month we cracked it open and held a sensory tasting panel and discussion on these flavors/aromas:
  • Vanilla
  • Coconut
  • Caramel
  • Tobacco
  • Peat-like
  • Barnyard
• We will pick up next month with the rest of the kit:
  • Almond
  • Exotic
  • Woody
  • Smoky
  • Whiskey

Guild update

• Max is headed to the guild meeting tonight and will forward the minutes when he receives them. He provided a preview of some of their agenda:
  • The guild holiday party was a success and they will share information about the charitable donations.
  • The annual guild picnic is on for the first Saturday in June.
  • Judging for the MALT Turkey Shoot competition is scheduled for January 22nd. If you plan to enter now is the time to do so (https://turkeyshoot.brewcompetition.com/).

Ed Topic & Stipends

• In February the club will finish the Barrel Aged compounds tasting panel and in March the plan is for a demo & discussion on the effect of grist milling on mash efficiency. As Union has provided a stable home for the club and meetings have moved to Sunday afternoons rather than Thursday evening, the event space and event time are more conducive to doing working/interactive sessions rather than presentations. Kevin is going to follow up with the board to get an understanding of what Union is comfortable with.
• To encourage engagement, BaltiBrew is offering a stipend for members that would like to experience and report back! The specifics are still to be worked out, but the idea is that if a member has an idea on an experiment to run, the club would reimburse for the cost of materials (up to $40 or so dollars) on the stipulation that regardless of how the experiment turns out, that an ed topic would be presented by the brewer. If you've been on the fence about diving into a novel technique, ingredient, or side-by-side brew this is an opportunity to dive in with support from the club. Ping the listserve or the board and let us know what you're considering!

BruBakes IV!

• BruBakes is returning this spring! We have tentative pencilled in the afternoon of Sunday, April 23rd for this year's BruBakes competition. Kevin (thanks again) is going to confirm if Union will allow us the use of the Duckpin room for the event. If so, we will spin up the ticketing site and get to work on organizing. We need about 8-12 entrants to make BruBakes happen. As a refresher, BruBakes is a homebrew & baked good competition. Contestants brew a saison and make a baked good with a portion of the spent grain (at least 5% by weight of the baked good must be spent grain). This is a fundraiser for the club and we normally treat it as a showcase of the club, with most of the contestants being BalitBrewers. Contestant tickets are free, attendees will be 20 dollars. It's a smaller, low key event (we normally shoot for 60-100 attendees). If you are interested in brewing, baking, or helping organize the event, please ping the board!

Club Bylaws

• The current club bylaws have not been updated in a long time. They were written at a time when homebrewing was in the public zeitgeist and engagement was much higher. For anyone interested they are online here: https://www.baltibrew.org/about-us/. While not a pressing issue, the club should consider updating them to better reflect the needs of the membership.

Iron Brewer No Hops!

• Congratulations to Rajesh for taking home the BaltiBrew Iron Brewer cup in battle No Hops! His Raspberry Gose defeated Jude's Mead and Kevin's Sahti to claim the prize. With a new reigning Iron Brewer the door is open for more club challenges!

Home Brew Swap

• Many apologizes for leaving anyone out who brought beer to share. Kevin's English Bitter, the Reed's two-way Mexican Chocolate-Pepper-Coffee Ale, Emily and Jerry's Imperial Stout, and my own small english ale were sampled, along with some tasty beer from our host, Union Brewing. Looking forward to our next meeting, Sunday, February 12th at Union! Cheers!

Our monthly meeting will be at Pickett Brewing on Saturday, October 15th at 3 PM. This is a social gathering to relax after Chilibrew XIV. No homebrew is allowed, but stop by to sample some of Pickett's offerings and talk shop!