News You Can Use 07062012

I hope that everyone had a great Fourth of July and is looking forward to another hot weekend. A few beer-related notes to get your weekend off to a good start.

1. Tomorrow is our big trip to Krebs for the Choc Brewery tour. We have 16 people confirmed and RSVPed to the brewery. IF YOUR NAME IS NOT ON THE LIST BELOW AND YOU ARE PLANNING TO GO, I NEED TO KNOW ASAP SO I CAN UPDATE OUR HEAD COUNT WITH THE BREWERY!!! The cost is $25, and that includes the tour, tastings, lunch, a glass and a tshirt. We are meeting in the south parking lot at the State Capitol (2300 N. Lincoln) tomorrow morning at 8:45 to carpool down. Confirmed attendees: Brent and Paula Adams, Julie Bennett, Ben and Katie Dickey, Wes and Robbyn Glinsmann, John Hobbs, Brandon Jones, Richard and Rebecca Magann, Adam and Andrea Silvas, Sue Wilson and Dave and Nancy Yockel.

2. Congrats to Richard Magann, who took 1^st and 3^rd place and to Julie Bennett (2^nd place) for their strong showings in last month’s club American IPA tasting. It was our strongest showing yet with more than a dozen entries and some really great beers. And a big thanks again to Patrick Lively and the other guys at COOP Aleworks for hosting us. We always have a great time there and look forward to coming back again. Click here for a full wrap-up of the meeting.
3. Our next regular club meeting is Thursday, July 26^th. Location is TBA, but probably at Jess and Tony’s neighborhood clubhouse (I just haven’t had a chance to talk to them about reserving it). This will be our porter (BJCP #12) tasting so bring your entry for that if you have one. If not, just bring some of your own homebrew or craft beer to share and just have a good time.
4. Speaking of meetings, at last month’s meeting, a motion was made and approved that we consider moving our meetings from Thursday to Friday. (There was also some discussion of Saturday, but general consensus is that we’d lose too many people once football season starts. J). To that end, I have set up a new survey. So please vote today and let us know what you think: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PPT9J6M
5. The new Red Earth Brewers website is (finally) up and running. It’s still in the very, very preliminary stages and there’s a lot of work yet to be done. But it’s a good place to send people for more information if they’re interested in learning about us. www.redearthbrewers.com
6. Ross has been in touch with a distillery in the Dallas area that is willing to cut us a deal on used 5 gallon oak barrels. They retail for$89 apiece but, if we can commit to buying a whole pallet (27barrels), we can probably get them for about $60 apiece. They barrels have been used for blue corn bourbon, single malt whisky or a spiced rum. Be thinking about this as we’ll have to move quickly and round up enough people to commit to buying 27 barrels before we can pull the trigger. So, if you are interested, please let me know ASAP.
7. Some OK craft beer notes:

· Battered Boar Brewing Company announced a summer seasonal to be released soon. Lion’s Tooth Floret is a farmhouse ale apparently brewed with dandelions. 5.5% ABV. No word yet on a specific release date.

· Firkin Friday this week at McNellies is this year’s Wild Brew, a collaboration between Choc Brewery and the folks with the FOAM homebrew club in Tulsa. This year’s version is a saison brewed with rye, and I’ve heard from some reliable sources that it’s pretty tasty. So try to make it out.

· Tapwerks has announced their second annual “IPA Day” on Thursday, August2. If you remember, last year’s celebration not only featured special firkins from Choc, COOP and Marshall, but several new menu items that featured IPA as an ingredient. So mark your calendars for another fun day.

Have a great weekend!

FUTURE CLUB MEETINGS/BREW SCHEDULES

July 2012: Porter(BJCP #12)

August 2012: Oklahoma Beer (O.G. under 1.040)

September 2012: Social (if you have a light hybrid beer—BJCP #6—to bring for the AHA club only competition, please bring that)

October 2012: American Brown Ale (if you have an Old Ale—BJCP #19A—to submit for the AHA club only competition, bring that as well)

November 2012: Fruit/Vegetable Beer (BJCP #20 or #21)

December 2012: Un-Session Beer (O.G. over 1.040)

January 2013: Social

February 2013: American Barleywine (BJCP#19C)

March 2013: TBA

April 2013: Extract beer (50% or more of the fermentable sugar must come from extract)

May 2013: TBA

June 2013: Wood-aged beer (BJCP #22C)

July 2013: TBA

August 2013: Sour Ale (BJCP #17)

June meeting report

Richard swears he didn't just enter a bottle of Pliny
with the label removed. We have our doubts.

It was another great meeting at COOP Aleworks. Patrick and the guys really go all out to help promote homebrewing, and we definitely appreciate their support.

This was our American IPA tasting, and it was our best one yet with over a dozen entries and some really great beer. Congrats to Richard Magann, who took first and third place, in the club competition. And Julie Bennett's hot streak continued with a second place finish.

Ross gave an update on an email that had gone out earlier--he has a line on some 5 gallon oak whiskey barrels from a distillery in Texas. They retail for $89 apiece but, if we can find enough people to buy a whole pallet (27 barrels), then we can get that price down to around $60 apiece (plus shipping). So REB is working with Gail at the Brew Shop to see if we can get enough people together to make this happen. If you are interested, or would like more information, email us at redearthbrewers@gmail.com.

COOP's Patrick Lively dropped some serious beer knowledge.

Wes gave an update on the REB trip to the Choc Brewery in Krebs. Due to some scheduling issues, the date has been changes to Saturday, July 7th at 11:30 am. He told everyone who wanted to go to RSVP as soon as possible, as he has to have a head count to Choc by next week.  The cost is $25 per person, but that includes the tour, tastings, lunch, a glass and a tshirt.

And last but not least, Gail has secured us two tables at KRXO's Beerfest to be held at Riverwind Casino on August 4th. If you are willing to help pour and/or donate some homebrew, please let us know ASAP. Remember--for this event, you MUST have your homebrew license from the ABLE Commission.  You can download it below.
Oklahoma Home Brew Permit Application

Hello and happy weekend Red Earth Brewers! Here is your semi-regular update on Red Earth Brewers and the OK beer scene.

1.       Don’t forget about next week’s club meeting. Thursday, the 19^th, at 7:00 PM.  The theme this month is Scottish and Irish Ales (BJCP #9), so there should be some great beers. Even better, grillmaster extraordinaire Brandon Jones and his lovely wife Julie have invited us to have the meeting at their place and he’ll break out the smoker for us. So come prepared for some great beer and barbecue. Please bring your own lawn chair and maybe a side dish or dessert to share. Brandon and Julie live at 220 N. Lakeside Terrace in Mustang (just off of Highway 152 between County Line and Morgan). Here is a map to their place. http://binged.it/HDwwwz

2.       If you haven’t paid your 2012 dues yet, be sure to bring your money to this week’s meeting. $15 will pay you up for the rest of the year. Where else can you get so much good beer year round for such a bargain price?

3.       We’ve had several requests for club t-shirts, so I just wanted to see how many would be interested. We’ve got several great graphic designers in our midst, so I’m sure we could put together something pretty cool. Anyway, I’ve created a survey just to see how many people would be interested in ordering a t-shirt if we get some made up.  Please click the link below to let us know your level of interest.  (Even if you’re not interested, please click it anyway just so we know whether or not it’s something we should pursue.)  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F9RQ9VQ

4.       Choc Brewery in Krebs recently opened a new taproom and is giving tours on the first Saturday of each month. I talked to the guys down there, and they say they can accommodate 30 or so people at a time. So we wanted to see who might be interested in joining us in a Red Earth Road Trip to Krebs for the Choc Brewery tour, some taproom beer and maybe lunch at Pete’s Place. Please take the survey (same one as above) and there is a question to see who might be interested. Be sure to leave your email address so we can contact you if/when the trip is going to happen.  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F9RQ9VQ

5.       Saturday, May 5 is the American Homebrewers Association “Big Brew Day”, which is a chance to celebrate homebrewing with friends. Wes will be hosting anyone who wants to brew at his house, and I believe The Brew Shop is doing an all-grain class that day as well. If you are planning to brew that day and are willing to join with some fellow brewers, let us know and we’ll help spread the word.

6.       Upcoming beer events:Beer Sprocket: Due to tomorrow’s impending tornadoes of doom, Old Germany’s Beer Sprocket event that was scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed to May 12.

Red Earth Brewers May Meeting: May 17McNellie’s Pub Run: May 19Oklahoma Craft Beer Festival: May 19

7.       The Brew Shop still has a handful of Hallertau hops rhizomes for sale. So if you’re interested in growing your own hops, give Gail a call or swing by the store.

8.       The weather this weekend is supposed to be pretty crazy. So everyone stay safe and be sure you have plenty of homebrew on hand tomorrow night for The Gary England Drinking Game.

Have a good weekend!

Wes