Dear Westgaters,

Well, last months meeting was apparently good and we did well
at Beerfest!

Apologies again about last month. Unfortunately, we had a  change of circumstances, as I wasn’t able to attend, but Neale informs me that you all behaved. That is most pleasing.

He also said that the quality of the competition was very good with many entries. My beer was the calibration beer, so its no wonder that you all scored well, as my beer was very green. With moving house and kids etc, I made my entry 2 weeks before the competition. Poor form. And it was reflected in the scores. Planning is the key with brewing. You need to know when to serve your beer, so it will be at its optimum. Look at the calendar and track backwards. Of course, I didn’t do that and look at the result.

Speaking of results, shout outs to all that went to and or entered in Beerfest! I was very pleased to see some newer club members place in the top three places and some older hands continue to represent. Bayside continue to be the gold standard in a lot of these competitions. We can learn from the above, seek advice at the club and enter as many competitions to get feedback and try and improve our beers. Don’t ever let laziness make your beer ordinary.

By now, everyone that has bought a club subsidised Good Beer Week Gala Showcase ticket, should have paid Grant last meeting or deposited your $25 into the club account. If you have not already, it is too late. Tickets have sold out. Noting that it starts at 5 pm on Friday and finishes at 9 pm. I will be there when I get there. For all of us that have gotten a ticket, I look forward to sharing the experience.

Whilst the club is spending some of our money, subsidising us, we have also purchased a “taint” kit. We will be running a taint session this Sunday kicking off at 1.00pm sharp so don’t be late. The kit is different to the one that we purchased two years ago. This one is from Siebel and is allegedly very good. Grant has spent a lot of time researching this and will overseer the running of the sensory session.

Speaking of sensory sessions, there was a fantastic night had at The Royal Mail Hotel, in Spencer Street, that was attended by quite a few club members. The brief was to brew a beer using South African Hops that were sourced by HAWKERS BREWERY. Neale organised the whole thing and we met with Macedon Rangers Brewers and had a few beers. Thanks to Kevin for his NEIPA, Neale with his African Pils, JK with his Afrikaans Pils (500gm of hops) and I did an IIPA. We all need to change what we expect from hops. Not all of them are pine and citrus. A very enjoyable night.

BOTY has become a 4 horse race. Except for me. I’m out of the race. The wet sail broke. However, I’m still going to brew a low alcohol beer for the April comp. What will I brew? Probably a Mild as its one of Riggers favourite beers. But then again, a Malty Scottish light isn’t a shabby beer either.

Merri Mashers IPA competition is coming up, as is Yarra Valley Brewers Belgian Beer Competiton. If you have an entry, its the usual drop off places.

I will see you all at the next meeting.

Cheers
Ferg
President.

Westgate Brewers - BOTY Schedule ​


15 April 2018

Low Alcohol
1.1 Light Australian Lager
1.2 Scottish Light
1.3 London Brown Ale
1.4 Dark Mild
1.5 German Leicht Bier
1.6 Czech Pale Lager
1.7 Ordinary Bitter