MASH held its 4th annual National Homebrew Day picnic on Saturday May 6th at the Hickey's house. Many thanks to them for their wonderful hospitality!
The morning started off with the brewing of the 2000 Big Brew beer. Darryl showed off his newly-constructed recirculating mash system, which was quite impressive. Aside from a very naughty hop cone making taking a trip that it shouldn't have, the process went smoothly. See the pictures page for some images from Big Brew site #187.
The picnic began concurrently with the Big Brew. A number of excellent brews were on draft: Joe B's Oatmeal Stout, Peter B's Cider, F&G's Smoked Beer and Pale Ale, Jamie R's Nut Brown Ale and Kölsch, and Scott R's Brown Ale. Several bottles of Peter B's award-winning Oatmeal Stout and Dunkelweizen were also passed around for all to enjoy. As usual, everyone brought great food to share and enjoy: smoked fish dip, sushi rolls, several salads, meatballs, jerked dolphin, wonderful desserts, and a bunch of other tasty treats. The club provided some delicious giant sausages which were boiled and grilled to perfection in a tag team effort.
While we were gathered together, we celebrated several non-brewing events: Bob B's birthday (a day late), Bob's daughter finally coming home from the hospital, and Herman's winning wager on the Kentucky Derby. We're still waiting for that check, Herman!
Some images from the picnic can be found at the MASH picture page. Thanks once again to everyone who pitched in to make this a great event. I'm sure that we are all looking forward to the 5th Annual National Homebrew Day picnic next year!
Congratulations to the Titanic Brewing Co. for becoming a finalist in the World Beer Cup 2000 competition!
Entries for the Central Florida Homebrewer's Sunshine Challenge were due May 8th. Good luck to everyone who entered!