Written by October 30, 2012
London Homebrewers Guild Meeting - Oktoberfest Theme
Location: 135 Seawood Ave., London, ON
Attendees:
Mike Heilandt, Ryan O’Donnell, Dustin Hill, Rob Williamson, Jon Rush, Ryan Harrison, Bryan Heit, Sean Russell, Colin Wells, Reuven Brandt, John Jenkinson, Craig Cooper, Ray Bradley, Chris Krascek, Diana Drabick, Sandra Cordoso, David Cardoso, Werner Rose, Suzanne Schmidt, Tim Wilson, Erick Desjardins, Chris Montcalm, Dave Reed, Milos (Pub Milos), Adil Ahmad, Eli Gibson, Brandon (Eli’s friend), Ryan Smith
Introductions:
Meeting began at 19:40. Introductions were made by each attendee with a few words about who they were and their homebrewing experiences.
Off Flavour Committee Update:
The committee has agreed to have at least one (or two) off-flavour tastings prepared for the next meeting in November.
Christmas meeting:
Mike suggested that since the December meeting was scheduled for Christmas Eve that the date for the Christmas meeting should be set one week earlier. It was discussed (finalized?) that the most likely location should be at Pub Milos (on the corner of Carling and Talbot- 420 Talbot Street). Milos from Pub Milos attended later in the meeting and further discussions ensued about finalizing this location.
Action Item- Mike Heilandt:
Follow up with Milos about ensuring this venue will work and can be booked. Update membership at the next meeting.
Monthly Beer Exchange:
It was discussed that since members would like more formalized feedback on their brews that a monthly exchange may be the best way to achieve this. Ryan O’Donnell suggested that a Database be set up and posted on the Guild Forum Website with the idea that members would exchange up to 8 beers each meeting. Ryan Smith expanded this idea with the idea that Mike Heilandt or Adil Ahmad could lead us in a semi structured beer tasting demonstration so that members had an easier time assessing each of the beers. The idea was to take 6-8 beers home and evaluate them (one at a time) with comments being entered onto a tasting feedback form that would be given to the brewer at the next meeting.
Action Item- Mike Heilandt:
Develop a quick tasting demonstration to be offered at a future meeting so that the membership can evaluate exchanged beer.
Action Item- Dustin Hill:
Work with Ryan O’Donnell to develop a simple database to track beer exchanges at the meetings and post this to the forum website.
Guild Swag Discussion:
Mike Heilandt and Dustin Hill worked on obtaining prices for swag (t-shirts, glassware, etc.) and handed out this information to the membership. Mike suggested that the membership reviewed this information and had a brief discussion about what direction the Guild may want to take. Mike suggested that we obtain 3 quotes prior to moving forward with this. Mike said that there were set-up fees, etc. that would affect the price so it would be difficult to buy small quantities of each item. Mike asked the membership what swag most people would like in order to narrow down the list. T-shirts, sampling glasses and “Dickie” style shirts were discussed by the membership. Dustin suggested that all members should have, as a minimum, a single style of shirt and a sampling glass. It was then suggested that this decision should be held over until elections were completed for the Guild Board of Directors (BOD) so that the BOD would be able to direct this.
Membership Fees:
Mike Heilandt discussed the necessity of initiating membership fees for the Guild. The idea is that the membership fees would be used to offset equipment necessary to run the yeast bank, administration fees for the website, the swag purchases, the meeting hall rental (if necessary), etc. The membership discussed the idea of having a tiered system of membership fees that would offer access to different services. Ideas were discussed about having an associate fee for those who wish to use the forum but not attend meetings, and an active membership for those who would. Also, there is access to the yeast bank services this way. The newly elected BOD would discuss the membership fees structure, etc.
Yeast Bank:
Bryan Heit has graciously accepted the task of running a yeast bank. The cost for a withdrawal is likely to be approximately $2. A discussion followed about setting up a database for keeping track of which yeasts are in the bank. Further, Bryan mentioned that he would develop a protocol on how to prepare the yeast for use.
Action Item- Bryan Heit:
Work with Dustin Hill to develop a simple database for use on the site to keep a yeast inventory for the bank, as well, develop a simple protocol on preparing the yeast for use.
Membership Pricing at Brewhaven:
Diana Drabick from Brewhaven has (graciously) prepared a set of membership pricing which was handed out at the meeting. The idea is that Guild members will be able to access this discounted pricing when purchasing from Brewhaven.
Meeting Locations:
Mike indicated that since the group was continuing to expand, that meeting locations were limited. The idea of holding meetings at St. George’s Rugby club (located near the Trail’s End market, on Dundas Street East) was discussed. It would be able to accommodate the size of the group and there would not be concerns with guild members bringing their own beer to the hall.
Nominations/Elections for BOD:
There was a discussion about establishing a BOD for the guild. Several nominations were made at the meeting, with the idea that a formal process would be set out on the website. Directors would likely need to meet once a month or every other month and would be tasked with building a charter on how to operate.
Action Item- Dustin Hill:
Dustin has agreed to develop a nomination thread on the website and nominations would then close in two weeks.
Diversifying the Guild to include Craft Beer drinkers:
A discussion was raised by Dustin Hill about whether the guild should expand to have not only homebrewers but also Craft Beer drinkers. Most members agreed that we should stay as homebrewers exclusively instead of expanding as there are other groups in the area that are already servicing the needs of Craft Beer drinkers. The Brew Sherpas are already operating this way so it was decided that the guild would continue as homebrewers only.
YouTube Video making:
Dustin Hill would like to offer his technical services towards generating videos for brew sessions to be uploaded to YouTube. Further, Dustin asked the membership if any members were interested in blogging their homebrewing experiences. Further, Erick Desjardins and Dustin Hill discussed developing the Homebrew Wiki links on the website.
Action Item- Erick Desjardins and Dustin Hill: Work towards developing the homebrew Wiki pages on the website.
Advent Beer Swap:
Jon Rush introduced the idea of an Advent Beer Swap. Essentially, members sign up to swap a brew of theirs for 24 other beers to be tasted (one per day) in December leading up to Christmas. This would involve not only the tasting, but also notes about the tasting would be generated and would be posted to the site as feedback for the brewers. A signup will be posted on the website to organize this.
Action Item- Jon Rush and Dustin Hill: Develop a signup sheet to be posted on the forum website for brewers to offer their brews for the Advent Beer Swap.
Personal Message from Milos of Pub Milos:
Milos was a special guest at the meeting and the floor was opened for him to offer some comments about homebrewing. Further, he indicated that there were two points of interest that the Guild may be interested in knowing: 1) Pub Milos offers monthly meet and greet events with Craft Brewers 2) On Saturday November 17th at 4 pm the Great Lakes Brewery will be hosting a “Total Tap Takeover” event. Further information about this event can be found on the forum website.
Meeting Adjourned at 21:40.
