January 1998

[Greenblood]

The Next Meeting is January 8th at 7:30 P.M.

We will be electing officers for 1998. Also 1998 membership dues are due. Membership is $16.00 per year for individuals and $22.00 per year for families. So bring your checkbook to the next meeting. Remember that we voted last November to raise the commercial tasting fee to $2.00. The style for the month of January is Mead. The seminar subject is "Making Labels" with Barry Fitzgerald.

Web Site: Obviously you have found the Guild's web site. We want to make this a fun and informative spot for the members and anyone else interested in homebrewing. All the members are encouraged to contribute recipes, links, and any suggestions you have to Pete Clouston.
Message From the President (Soon-to-be Past!)

Another year has passed and the Guild is going strong! Our membership has grown along with member participation. The excitement and enthusiasm each person brings with them to the Guild has strengthened our organization. It is now time for a changing of the guard. The current officers have performed their duties admirably and should feel comfortable in relinquishing their responsibilities to a new set of officers. The one point that I would like to stress is that the ultimate responsibility for the Guild's success lies with the members! The sole reason that we are still a club is due to the contributions and determination of dedicated members. One person did not form nor perpetuate this Guild; the active members made this organization what it is today and will continue to propel it into the future.

There are numerous people to whom I (and the rest of the Guild) owe thanks for their help, encouragement, dedication, and contributions. I can't begin to list them all, but I do want to say that I appreciate all the help I've received over the last couple of years, and I want to encourage people to keep contributing to the Guild to ensure its success! I'd like to note that when I approached Barry about being nominated for President that he was reluctant because of the perceived work load (he thinks his tenure process should preclude his responsibilities to the Guild!). However, I assured him that my contribution was minimal (mainly running the meetings and delegating tasks) due to the members' contributions. Over the last couple of years I have become increasingly in favor of the use of sub-committees to expedite business matters. This allows for interested members to express their opinions and reach a conclusion (or recommendation) without wasting time during the business section of our Guild meetings. Anyone that feels strongly about a sub-committee's task should join that sub-committee so that they can participate in the discussion.

The nominating committee would like to nominate the following members for the indicated positions:
President: Barry Fitzgerald
Vice President: Ellen Jensen
Treasurer: Joe Yoder
Secretary: Robert Johnson
Biermeister(s): Lisa and Andrew Suddith

I also would like to thank Dwight Burnham for volunteering to write, edit, and distribute our monthly newsletter. You have done a fabulous job, and the Guild is greatly indebted to you!

Doug Holub

Christmas Party!
A big vote of thanks is due the Jensen's for hosting the Guild's Christmas celebration. On December 12th, thirty three people descended on the Jensen's domicile to snack on all sorts of goodies provided by all sorts of people and to drink all sorts of beer. If you missed this affair, you missed out on a great party. And we have the pictures to prove it!

jeff.jpg
Our humble host,
Biermeister Jeff Jensen.

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Joe Yoder and Liam Riggs examine
the newest wonder of German engineering.

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Dwight Burnham and Barry Fitzgerald listen to Doug Holub
lament about the plight of a lame duck President.


The Plastic Faux Pas
The other night, Jeff and I went to the Sports Page brewery for dinner and some brew. When our waiter told us the specialty beer was an English bitter, we both immediately and somewhat triumphantly smiled and said "Yeah, that's what we want!" An easy-drinking tasty session beer fit out mood perfectly, and it was dollar night to boot. The gods were smiling down on us. What we didn't realize was that they were actually laughing at our expense.

The waiter brought our beers in plastic cups. Speechless, we looked at each other in horror, and, finally, when we had gathered our wits together, we looked around and noticed that almost everybody else was drinking out of glasses. When the waiter came by a little later, we asked him what was up with the plastic. He explained that it was some kind of special thing they did on weekends with the specialty beer, I suppose to save on glass washing? He told us that you could always request glass. Well, we would have had we known.

We tried to justify why a brewery would serve their beer out of plastic cups and really just couldn't do it. We could understand if they were simply schlepping Bud Light, but they did this with their own beer-the specialty beer, no less. Perhaps if the beer had been a stout or porter, then maybe...but the beer was a bitter, and true beer drinkers like to enjoy the color as well as the taste, and how do you do that out of a plastic cup?

So, you are duly warned. You might want to double check the serving vessel if you're drinking at the Sports Page-just in case.

Ellen Jensen


Kansas City Bier Meisters 15th Annual Homebrew Competition
The Kansas City Bier Meisters are once again holding their annual homebrew competion. The festivities are scheduled for February 20 and 21. The deadline for entries is February 7. Entry forms are available at Bacchus and Barleycorn, 6633 Nieman, Shawnee Mission, KS (913) 962-2501 or online at http://www.sound.net/~jweerts/kcbm.html. This is an American Homebrewer's Association sanctioned event as well as a Qualifying Round of the Masters Championship of Amateur Brewers. Hopefully the Lawrence Brewer's Guild will be well represented. If you've never entered a competition before, you should really consider it. The feedback you receive from the judges is great for developing your brewing skills.