President's Message

Happy New Year! Thanks for electing me President for one more year (I think). Congratulations to Patrick, our new Vice-President, and Bob, our Scrollkeeper. Mark and Scott remain, respectively, our Treasurer and Librarian (for life). As we enter 2004, there is already a lot to do. There are two Florida competitions coming up and it would be great if we could show our support to our brewing brethren by sending entries.

The Big Bend Brewoff is scheduled for January 24th. Keep checking the North Florida Brewer's League site for more information. Beers are due in Tallahassee by January 17th.

The Central Florida Homebrewers are holding their Meadllenium competition on January 31st. Entries are due by January 26th. Check the CFHB site for more details.

Our own Coconut Cup is coming up fast. We have already received registrations via the website. Our requests for sponsorship have been answered by several companies who have sent some really cool stuff for prizes. Check the Coconut Cup website for the most recent listing of our sponsors. We are still working on the details for the pub crawl and accommodations for out-of-town judges. For the Coconut Cup to really succeed, we need the full support of all MASHers. Enter as many beers as you can and join in the judging.

The Solstice Party, held on December 13th at the home of Scott and Janice Ross, was a lot of fun. Good food, good beer, and excellent company. Many thanks to Scott and Janice for their hospitality and their patience.

Scott, Patrick, and I attended the Walk the Line Barleywine Festival held December 6th in Dunedin. The Festival started Friday night with a club-only homebrew competition followed by a pub crawl in Dunedin. The following day, the festival commenced at the Dunedin Brewery. At least 30 commercial barleywines/imperial stouts/old ales were available for sampling. This took all afternoon and was followed by a pub crawl to World of Beers, Tampa Bay Brewing Company, and Hoppers. We missed the Sunday beer breakfast and pub crawl to Spanish Springs and Saint Sebastiaan breweries. The festival was an excellent experience. Thanks to K.K. and all the great people who worked so hard to make the weekend such a success.

The 2004 BoTY has begun. Our first competition was held at the Solstice Party. I've updated the Competition section of our website to include the AHA club only categories and filled in the rest of the year with items that seemed appropriate. I need feedback on the list - suggestions for changes or agreement on the categories. We had also discussed possible changes to the format of the BoTY. Please plan on addressing these at the next meeting.

It's a new year and there is a lot to do. The year is fresh and full of potential. Let's get busy. Cheers!

- Denise