July 2017 BIER Meeting

July 12, 2017

19 distinguished attendees;

Jim Burt                                  Bob Ciesla                   Chris Rhodes Chuck Rhoades           Matt Farrell

Gordon Dusinberre                 Dave Scheel                Steven Morrow           Tom DeSantis             Kristen Lyons

Donna & Bernie Kordula        Dave King (2)             James Dunn                 Joan King                    Jason Gardner

Kris Kinne                               Rich Andel                  Jim Jakupco    

July's Beer Talk

Bob brought popcorn, Binghamton Brewing got a sheet of pizza, and Joan and James Dunn Stewarded for us.  Thanks!   BIER-July2017-Sml.jpg

Joan and I stopped and spoke with Chris Rhoades, Operations Manager and Brewer for Beer Tree Brewing in Port Crane, a couple weeks ago.  They’re making great progress on their farm brewery.  The tap room and brewery are nearly finished.  The fermenters and bright tanks are in place, with the 10 bbl brew house to be delivered very soon.  With the Fed. License in hand, it won’t be long before they have the state license and the brews will flow.  Chris attended our meeting and told us about their progress at the meeting, and brought us 2 of their beers to try, both very good, see below.  A fall opening is projected.  BeerTreeBrewSml.jpg

WilletHop&GrainSml.jpgThe building is amazing, with huge trusses.  Check out the photos on their web site and on Facebook.  They’re on the road to State Park, just get off Rt. 88 at Port Crane, and head North, about ¼ mile on the left. 

Chuck Rhoades, Chris’ father, told us about Willet Hop & Grain.  His farm is in Willet, near Lyle, NY.  He’s got a good sized hop growing and processing operation, including a Wolf Harvester, with a good many varieties of hops.  Northern Eagle pelletizes them for him.  Chuck told us about some intricacies of raising hops, to get good yield.  It’s a big job, expensive, and labor intensive, with spraying for mold, etc.  We need to go visit.  And he’s raising lots of grains, too, including rye. 

Independent Craft Brewer Seal was unveiled by the Brewers Association.  This should make it much easier for us to identify true Craft Beer, and support our local independent breweries. 

The 2017 National Homebrew Convention was in Minneapolis, Minn., a good many of us attended, a few from TCBM, and a few others from UNYHA & ABC.  We visited some local Breweries and Brew Pubs on the Wed.  Thurs. was the 2nd round judging, start of the seminars, and Thurs. evening there was a brew fest, with many local breweries serving their best.  Friday there were more seminars, and Club Night, the undisputed best part of it all.  Saturday there were more Seminars, and another big party, no banquet.  Many of your favorite PodCast folks were there, and most of the significant HB equipment BA-CraftBeerSeal.jpgand ingredient suppliers were there. 

I manned the BeerSmith booth for a while, and helped with the big raffle on Sat.  Brad will be releasing Ver. 2.4 of the BeerSmith SW soon. 

Zoo Brew was held at the Ross Park Zoo, June 17th.  Binghamton Brewing was there!  

Also on June 17th, The Southern Tier Empire Wine Festival & Brewfest was at the Broome County Fairgrounds, in Whitney Point.  

By the time of this writing, the Deposit Lumberjack Festival was history.  Bernie, Bob, Donna and I poured for Farmhouse, and had a very good time.  We poured samples, 8 oz. cups for $3, and 12 oz. cups for $5, along with Binghamton Brewing, Roscoe, Band Wagon, Diversion, Galaxy and Clemson Brothers.  There was also a Cidery. 

Syracuse’s Empire Brewfest is July 22nd, at the Syracuse State Fair Grounds, on Chevy Court at the New York State Fairgrounds. 

The Longshot HB Contest entry deadline is July 25th. 

Belgium Comes to Cooperstown is Aug 4 & 5.  It sells out early.  

August 12th will be Binghamton Brewing’s Anniversary party, 2 to whenever.  Stay tuned for details.

Rochester’s Flour City Brewers Fest is at the Public Market, Aug 18.  Madison Co. Hop Fest is Sept. 16.  Sudsy Brews and Fiery Foods is Sept. 23.  Then there’s the GABF (Oct. 5 - 7). 

Knickerbocker Battle of the Brews judging will be held Oct. 21st, it’s a good contest at the Albany Pump Station.

New York Craft Brewers Festival is Dec. 2nd.  Over 50 Breweries, and lots of food included for $45, on-line, $20 Designated Driver, in Syracuse at the Landmark Theatre.  5 to 8 pm.  This is put on by the NY State Brewers Association, should be a lot of brewers there.  Apparently, there was one June 10th, too.   

My hops are doing well, Fuggles have some hops, not mature just yet, and there are blossoms and small hops on the others.  How are yours doing?  

It’s time to pay your BIER dues, so we can send in a roster and the annual payment for our AHA Liability Insurance, and that means $3.50 per member for your dues.  See the link for details.  Please PayPal to Dave King (2), or send a check.  The roster needs to be sent in by Aug. 1.  

Frank Haining passed away recently, he was a great Homebrewer, BJCP Beer Judge, mentor and good friend.  His contributions to Homebrewing and judging were strong in Broome County, but extended to much of NY State and PA.  He will be greatly missed.  We raised a glass to toast him.

We got to the beers:

Chris Rhoades – Pale Ale, nice malt and hop flavors, well made, 60 IBU may be a little high for a Pale Ale, but very tasty, not an entry beer for novices, but we hop heads appreciate it.  

Chris Rhoades – Cherry Sour, kettle soured with yogurt, similar flavor to a Belgian Kriek, nice level of sour, and a good strong cherry flavor.  Great addition to a full range of offerings.  He also expects to have an IPA, light ale, Imperial Stout, and a Raspberry Wheat.   

Kris & Tom – Chili Limeade, amazing, good flavor compliments, not too hot, with chili powder added to fermented limeade.  10+% ABV.    

Kris & Tom – Orange Cervesa with Pepper Corns, another amazing flavor combination from this brewing duo.  This was a cheap kit, tweaked up.

Matt – Cream Ale, same as May’s offering, still a good solid, easy drinker.  Clean, well made, good for summer.    

Jim Burt – Basic IPA, no mods, not NE, etc.  Just a fine basic IPA, with harvested Conan yeast, for a 5.8% ABV hop blast, especially in aroma.

Bob -  Bourbon Barrel Porter, Northern Brewer Kit, BIAB, and he added some lactose with the Bourbon, good balance, nicely done, Bob.

Tom & Kris – Maple Stout, made with their tree sap and pecans, 20 yr. old recipe, nice blend,

Rich – IPA, good nose from 4 oz. dry hop.  Very nice IPA, Rich is one of our IPA experts.  

Dave King (2) – IPA, with a bit of harshness in the finish, apparently due to a recent dry hop with Simcoe Cryo Hops, a sample from the AHA National Conference.  It’s getting better, and was much worse right after dry hopping.     

Gordon – Snow Plow Porter, a kit brewed last winter, when the snow plows were too late, so good time to brew.  Gordon used “medium priced” Bourbon & oak chips. 

Jason – Far East Lemongrass Wit, nice refreshing lemony Wit bier, dry finish, with Lemon Grass “dry hop.”  Good summer change up for IPA lovers.         

Donna – Stony Joe, a Golden Mocha Stout, from Stony Creek, nice light, easy drinking chocolate & coffee flavors, with a big coffee nose.                                                                                               

Dave Scheel – Susquehanna Sasquatch Russian Imperial Stout, a big RIS, similar to Yeti, hence, the name.  Rye, flaked wheat and lots of hops.  9.2% ABV, with great dark and roast malt flavors.  We had this last Jan., at 6 mo, of age, and it was great then, too.   

Got dues from lots of folks, up to 37 members for 2017 – 2018, you’ve got until Aug. 1 to get in on the insurance.     

Good meeting, thanks to our great brewers, including Binghamton Brewing.  See you all at our August meeting, August 9th.  Kevin Winter, from Doc’s will be introducing us to some new malts he’s carrying.  Stay cool.

Dave