The club returned to Rhythm and Brews in Cambridge on June 13th for our monthly meeting. This was our first visit since Rhythm and Brews had their soft opening in May, and members were glad to finally be able to order a pint from the tap rom and take some bottles home from the brewery that has supported us so much in 2018.
Rhythm and Brews are finalizing sound treatments in the brewery before a grand opening celebration later this Summer.
Our Club Equipment Manager, Andrew Ash, brought the new club Jockey Box to show off and explain how it works. Full members can now request to borrow the jockey box for free from the club. This is great if you have any upcoming outdoor summer parties!
During the meeting announcements, we had our regular discussion of upcoming competitions, with our Competitions Director Jamie Fowler. There were two main competitions on the minds of members; the first being the Niagara College Brewing Competition. This competition includes some special beer categories – Ontario Pale Ale, Québécoise Rousse, Bière D’épinette/Spruce Beer and Canadian Ice Beer. Submissions for that are due on July 17th – pay close attention to the forum for an opportunity to have your beers transported from KW to Niagara for the competition. The second competition we’re all thinking about is the Fall Funks competition with Short Finger Brewing Company. While the submissions are not due for some time yet, the fact that this competition focuses on mixed fermentation beers means many of us will want to be brewing for this sooner rather than later. We had one more competition to add to this list though…
We had an exciting announcement from our Special Events Director Steven Oliver. We are running an internal club competition with Wellington brewery to decide on a recipe to use for club representation at Welly Caskfest. Welly Caskfest is held at the brewery each September – a weekend of entertainment, many experimental beers, special beers, variations of the classic, and many collaborations, all on cask! Because of the time constraints this competition will not run for very long, and the winning beer will have a strict brewability requirement (save your longterm mixed ferments for Funks!). Steven is finalizing the submission details now, but what we can tell you is that this is open to current Full Members only. There’s no cost and no feedback – this is a simple, informal, best-of-show-type showdown judged by the Welly crew. We only require 1 bottle of each beer. No style restrictions per se – but must not rely on extended aging to be eligible. The winning beer will be brewed on the 5 hL pilot system at Welly – to be put into cask for Caskfest and with the rest into bottles or cans to be sold out the Welly retail shop. The top brewers will have the opportunity to join for the brew day. Should make for a great time! So save a bottle of your recent standout brew(s). We need submissions before the end of July. Those that attended the meeting got a week head start (one of the benefits 😛). This will definitely be tight to design a beer for specifically if you are naturally carbing in bottle – but not impossible for the determined.