Kearney Area Brewers

August 7, 2010

Location: Kim & Mary Ann Herald’s Home

1st priority was to celebrate AHA Mead Day. Lou Bruckner & Al Stuehm brewed a batch of Cherry Mead during the gathering.

The Cream Can Supper was a real hit. Brats, Cabbage, Potatoes, Onions, Carrots, Cauliflower, Sweet Corn, and etc… Many thanks to Kim, Mary Ann & Albert for a great supper!!!

President Monty Splitter called a short meeting to order at 8:30PM at Albert Loeffelholz’s request. We discuss how the club could show it’s appreciation to Trevor Schaben & Thunderhead Brewing for hosting the Buffalo County Fair Beer/Mead/Wine Competition. It was decided we would purchase a gift certificate @ The Venue Restaurant.

Next Meeting:
Tuesday September 14, 2010 @ 7:30PM – Thunderhead Brewing Co

July 13, 2010

Location: Kim & Mary Ann Herald’s Home

President Monty Splitter called the meeting to order at 7:30PM with the traditional “What’s Brewing”.

Minutes were read & approved.

Treasure’s Report was read & approved.

Old Business:
Doug Kramer & Tom Hamilton gave an update on the Buffalo County Fair Beer/Mead/Wine competition. On-line registration is working albeit a little kludgey. Entries are coming in from local brewers as well as from outside the area. We’ve received many donations for the competition as well.

New Business:
Doug Kramer, Albert Loeffelholz, Tom Hamilton and Shaun Clark will label entries & update the Contest Database on Wednesday July 21 @ 5:00PM at Thunderhead.

The Club approved payment to Doug Kramer for $17.69 for shipping of Fair donations and $20.00 for a gift certificate from Kirk’s Homebrew.

Albert Loeffelholz offered to help Kim Herald with the Mead & Wine Judging.

Discussed how to thank the Judges for their gracious contribution of time & expenses. Doug Kramer is looking into merchandise from Thunderhead and lunch after the competition.

No update from the Honors Committee.

Michael Graves is our newest Club member. He brought some of his wine for Club members to sample. Michael will be a good member if he’s anything like his wine!!!

Open Forum:
Nothing new to report this month.

Next Meeting:
Saturday August 7, 2010 @ 6:00PM – Kim & Mary Ann Herald’s home @ 4604 Avenue E. We will celebrate Mead Day with a Cream Can Supper, and of course brewing mead as well as enjoying an abundance of excellent mead prepared by our club members!

50/50 won by new member Michael Graves. Michael donated his winnings (less his investment) back to the club. A BIG THANKS goes to Michael for his financial contribution!!!

June 8, 2010

Location: Emmett & Carol Jean’s home

The meeting was also a social potluck with our significant others.

President Monty Splitter called the meeting to order at 8:30PM after the potluck dinner with the traditional “What’s Brewing”.

Minutes were read & approved.

Doug Kramer was absent so a Treasures Report was not available.

Old Business:
Tom Hamilton gave a brief update on the Buffalo County Fair Beer/Wine/Mead competition registration. It’s on-line now but pricing is incorrect. The Competition Committee is working to rectify the problem with the County Fair Board.

New Business:
A meeting with the Competition Committee will be scheduled in the near future. It’s time to start lining up judges for the Buffalo County Fair Beer/Wine/Mead Competition.

Open Forum:
Nothing new to report this month.

Next Meeting:
July 13, 2010 @ 7:30PM – Kim & Mary Ann Herald’s home @ 4604 Avenue E

50/50 won by Albert Loeffelholz – again….. And again Albert donated his winnings (less his investment) back to the club. A BIG THANKS goes to Albert for his financial contributions!!!

May 1, 2010

Location: Emmett’s Garage

The May meeting was celebrated concurrently with the AHA Big Brew Day with 4 batches of beer brewed & a potluck.

April 13, 2010

Location: Thunderhead Brewing Co.

President Monty Splitter called the meeting to order at 7:30PM with the traditional “What’s Brewing”.

Minutes were read & approved.

Doug Kramer was absent so a Treasures Report was not available.

Old Business:
Tom Hamilton gave a brief update on the club’s web site. Suggestion was made to change the part about interested parties from contacting club officers to the club email account instead. The Buffalo County Fair Beer/Wine/Mead competition registration isn’t ready on the Fair’s web site yet.

New Business:
President, Monty Splitter mentioned that Gary Jackson’s wife had contacted him and was grateful for the flower arrangement from the club & for the members who attended the funeral.

The AHA Big Brew Day will be on Saturday May 1 commencing at 10:00AM at Emmett Maul’s Garage. Albert Loeffelholz offered his building as a backup. The club will provide brats & buns and the club members are encouraged to bring a side dish. The Big Brew Day will double as the May club meeting as well.

Club members interested in attending the NE Shootout in Lincoln will meet at Emmett Maul’s on Saturday April 24 for a 10:00AM departure for a 12:30PM arrival at the Bricktop in Lincoln. There will be a potluck afterwards. Attending members are encouraged to bring a side dish. Winning club members from tonight’s competition can either bring their 2 entries with them to Lincoln or drop them off at Thunderhead no later than 5:00PM Friday April 23. Tom Hamilton will supply entry tags to the winners and will collect the entries to transport to Lincoln.

Open Forum:
Nothing new to report this month.

After the meeting Trevor Schaben judged the club member’s entries for the NE Shootout. There were 24 beers entered in the 5 styles.

4C. Schwarzbier (Black Beer) – 3 entries
Monty Splitter – 2nd Place
Tom Hamilton – 3rd place
Dave Stewart – 1st Place (Dave did not have any left for the NE Shootout Comp so we are going with the 2nd & 3rd place winners)

9E. Strong Scotch Ale – 4 entries
Ken Anderson – 1st Place
Doug Kramer – 2nd Place

15A. Weizen/Weissbier – 6 entries
Tom Hamilton – 1st Place
Dave Stewart – 2nd Place

22B. Other Smoked Beer – 1 entry
Tom Hamilton – 1st Place (Sub Style 12B: Robust Porter. Special ingredients – Alder Wood)

Open Class “BDB” Best Damn Beer – 10 entries
Robert Ficociello – First Place (Style 22C Wood Aged. Sub style 9C Scottish Export 80/-. Special Ingredients – Bourbon Oak)
Tom Hamilton – 2nd Place (Style 23 Specialty Beer. Sub style 13B Sweet Stout. Special ingredients – Vanilla & Jack Daniels Whiskey)

Score sheets will be given back to the brewers at a later date.

Next Meeting:
May 1, 2010 @ 10:00AM – Emmett Maul’s Garage

50/50 won by Albert Loeffelholz. Albert donated his winnings (less his investment) back to the club.

March 9, 2010

Location: Platte Valley Brewery

President Monty Splitter called the meeting to order at 7:30PM with the traditional “What’s Brewing”.

Minutes were read & approved with one change. (Added Trevor Schaben to the Competition Committee.

Doug Kramer provided a Treasures Report which was approved.

Old Business:
Doug Kramer & Tom Hamilton gave an update on the Buffalo County Fair (BCF) Beer/Wine/Mead competition. Doug registered the competition with the AHA/BJCP as a sanctioned event. Doug also signed the club up to use the BeerContestDB web-based system to manage Beer & Mead entries & Judges. A big THANK YOU goes to Trevor for the $50 donation to use BeerContestDB! Tom has the links set up in the KAB web site. Tom is in contact with Scott McLaughlin (Heartland Hosting) who manages & hosts the BCF web site. Scott is in the process of developing the 2010 BCF web site & will test with Tom when ready. Wine entries will be handled the same or similar to how they were done in the past since the BeerContestDB is a BJCP application which doesn’t include wine. Albert Loeffelholz visited a recent wine conference in Kearney (The NE Grape Growers/Wine Makers Conference) and came back with judge contacts & the possibility of having a amateur and commercial competition at the fair. Doug Kramer will contact Dr. Paul E. Read, Professor of Horticulture/Viticulturist at UNL about wine judging at the fair as well.

The club competition for the Nebraska Shootout (All state club competition) will be held during the April meeting on April 13, 2010 at Thunderhead. Trevor Schaben announced the judging will be based on the BJCP Style to insure the club puts forth the best beers for the Shootout competition. Only one beer is needed for each style for the club competition except for the BDB, which can be multiple different beers. Tom circulated a sample registration sheet the members will use for the club competition listing the following styles for the Shootout:
4C. Schwarzbier (Black Beer)
9E. Strong Scotch Ale
15A. Weizen/Weissbier
22B. Other Smoked Beer
Open Class “BDB” Best Damn Beer (Tiebreaker beer, does not move to BOS)
The NE Shootout will be held in Lincoln on April 24 @ 1:00PM. Judging & Potluck.

New Business:
President, Monty Splitter thanked the club members who attended Gary Jackson’s funeral last Saturday. The club ordered a plant for the funeral. Monty offered a club toast in Gary’s honor.

Doug mentioned the changes to the KAB web site that Tom recently made.

Open Forum:
A brief discussion was had regarding the use of the stainless steel braid from a water supply line to filter a mash tun runoff.

Next Meeting:
April 13, 2010 @ 7:30PM – Thunderhead Brewing Co.

50/50 won by Ken Anderson

February 9, 2010

Location: Platte Valley Brewery

President, Monty Splitter called the meeting to order at 7:30PM with the traditional “What’s Brewing”.

Minutes were read & approved.

Treasure Report was read & approved.

Old Business:
Complimentary memberships were discussed & approved for Emmett Maul (for the use of his garage for club brews), Trevor Schaben (for the use of Thunderhead Brewery for club meetings & the Buffalo County Fair Beer/Wine/Mead judging) and Adam Daake (for the use of Platte Valley Brewery for club meetings)

Doug Kramer gave an update on the Buffalo County Fair Beer/Wine/Mead competition and circulated a copy of the proposed communication. Requested the club pay the $30 AHA/BJCP registration fee. Motion carried.

The internal competition for the Nebraska Shootout (All state club competition) will be held during the April club meeting on April 13, 2010. The club will determine the best beer to submit to the Shootout for the following categories:
4C. Schwarzbier (Black Beer)
9E. Strong Scotch Ale
15A. Weizen/Weissbier
22B. Other Smoked Beer
Open Class “BDB” Best Damn Beer (Tiebreaker beer, does not move to BOS)

New Business:
President, Monty Splitter assigned two committees to represent the club:
Competition Committee – Albert Loeffelholz, Doug Kramer, Tom Hamilton (BJCP) and Kim Herald (Wine & Mead)
Honors Committee – Albert Loeffelholz and Emmett Maul.

Shaun Clark proposed a different meeting night due to some members not able to attend on Tuesdays. Topic was discussed & determined that other nights of the week would have a similar or greater impact on others. The 2nd Tuesday of the month was retained.

Open Forum:
Monty Splitter discussed a new Stir Plate he recently purchased for $42.

Next Meeting:
March 9, 2010 @ 7:30PM – Platte Valley Brewery

50/50 won by Tom Hamilton