NEXT MEETING
May 8th at The Void Sake Company 7 PM – 9 PM |
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Froth is back, baby!
Thanks to Rock House Brewing for hosting BOCK in the cozy confines of Building 1, aka THE Rock House! Special thanks to BOCK member and head brewer at Rock House Brewing, John Spicer, for slinging beers and engaging conversation about all things beer. |
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BOCK University
One of BOCK’s core missions is to educate homebrewers about how to improve their brewing processes. Thanks to Tony Aiken for leading this month’s discussion of “lightstruck” and “metallic” flaws sometimes found in beer. A well known commercial pale ale was spiked separately with the off flavors and meeting attendees compared flavors and aromas of spiked samples to an unadulterated control sample.
Many participants immediately picked up on the skunky thiol notes of the “lightstruck” sample, while fewer participants were able to pick up on the subtle character of the “metallic” sample. Thanks to Jeff Lehmkuhler for preparing the samples! For more information on “lightstruck” off flavor/aroma, see Off-Flavor of the Week: Lightstruck (Skunky) | Craft Beer & Brewing and for “metallic” flaws see Off-Flavor of the Week: Metallic | Craft Beer & Brewing. |
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| Upcoming Educational Opportunities
BOCK will visit South Fork Malting Company on Saturday May 13th. Owner RT Case will give a tour of the operation and an overview of the malting process. If you want to attend, but did not fill out the survey or sign up at the meeting, please contact Primary Fermenter Drew Speer (drew@bockbrew.com).The July BOCK meeting will be held at West 6th Farm on Monday, July 10th, 7:00 PM. The education topic will be hops and we will tour the hop field and hear a brief presentation from the farm manager.
Be on the lookout for Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) class signup toward the end of the summer. In this class, you will learn how to judge beers according to the BJCP guidelines, which are used at most homebrew competitions around the world. This is a wonderful opportunity to prepare for the BJCP entry and tasting exams! |
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| Competition Reminders
Turn-in for the Wisebird cider competition is at Wisebird before close of business on Friday, April 21st. Judging will take place on Saturday, April 22nd. Two 12 oz bottles with a BJCP label attached BJCP bottle ID form (with a rubber band, no tape please) are required. We need judges to help Wisebird owner Tim Wright and staff pick a winner! Please contact Drew (drew@bockbrew.com) if you can help judge.
Turn-in for the West Sixth competition is at West Sixth (Lexington) before close of business on Saturday, April 29th. The winner will be announced in the West Sixth Barrel Room during Lexington Craft Beer Week, Wednesday, May 17th at 6 PM. Three bottles are required with brewer info, contact info, style, and informative description if it’s not within a standard style BJCP bottle ID form.
Lemons Mill Brewery is holding a homebrew competition with cash prizes! Four bottles required per entry. $10 per entry for first three entries, $5 per entry for additional entries. Final turn-in window is Friday, April 20th from 4-9 PM with earlier turn-in windows available. Please see Lemons Mill Contest for more details. |
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| Brewer Dude Happenings
BOCK is very fortunate to have such a great partnership with Brewer Dude Homebrew Supply! Brewer Dude will once again offer bulk malt purchase of most of their malt types. Full sacks (50-55 lbs.) only please. Look for an email later in the Summer. This is an excellent opportunity to get a great price on base malt to use for the BOCK barrel project coming up in the fall.
Brewer Dude is also initiating an “Expert Brewer” program, where they plan to host an experienced brewer in the shop for a couple of hours on the weekend. During this time, less experienced brewers can stop by the store and have their questions answered directly by a seasoned brewer. If you didn’t sign up at the meeting, but wish to participate as an expert brewer, please contact the Brewer Dude himself, Kagen Katzenmaier kagenmoore@gmail.com. |
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T-shirts
BOCK is in the process of designing and ordering more club t-shirts. Please help us get an idea for how many to order by emailing Drew (drew@bockbrew.com) with the number and size(s) of shirts you would like to order. If you have ideas you would like to see incorporated into the design of the shirts, we would love to hear them! |
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