Last meeting some of the members wanted to explore the idea of changing the starting time of our monthly meeting from 07:30pm to 07:00pm. After the discussion of pros and cons we held a vote on the starting time for the monthly meeting. It was a unanimous decision to keep the start time at 07:30pm.

We also received our second shipment of grain and after it was dispensed we still have 27.5 lbs of Weyerman pale malt for sale at 0.70 per pound. Just contact me if you want some or all of it.

We are still working on the Schnebly Redlands winery tour and will get in touch with all of you as soon as I have the information.

The 14 Annual Commander SAAZ Interplanetary Homebrew Blastoff is being held this weekend. It is one of the best competitions to attend. Go up and have a blast, enjoy some good beer and talk homebrewing with other brewers.

Vice President Russell gave an account of his recent brew day using corn grits. He covered way you do a cereal mash, the how you do a cereal mash and he covered the how not to do a cereal mash. The last part sounded like he had a lot of experience at it. The talk was informative and practical. Thank you Russell for taking the time for the tech talk it was greatly appreciated.

Last months BOTY style was Pilsner BJCP category 2 with a slightly less then anticipated number of entries, ok there was only one entry. We need to step up the brewing for the monthly competitions or our meetings may get real boring. The lone entry was a German Pilsner (Pils) category 2A brewed by myself, it was tasted and received first place.

Next months BOTY style has five categories combined. The categories are 24 Traditional mead, 25 Melomel mead, 26 Other mead, 27 Standard cider & perry and 28 Specialty cider & perry. This is the first time we have included Ciders and Perrys in our BOTY and we are hoping for a good and tasty turn out. Historically our Mead BOTY has many entries so we thought we would add the cider and perry to it in case there was not many cider and or perry entries. So I hope you squeezed your apples and squished your pears a couple of moths ago.

Next meeting we will start the process of choosing the BOTY styles for 2009. Think about want you want to and will brew and in which month you would like to do so.

Till next meeting keep brewin!

Darryl Hickey
Miami Area Society of Hombrewers President.
Hickey Family Brewing & Meadery.
Brewing at ten feet above sea level with bar stool correction.