Any Interest in a 2nd education Monthly Meeting?

BrewHound · Post by **BrewHound** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:26 pm

I am trying to gather numbers on whether there would be interest in a 2nd educational type brewers meeting each month. This event would have to be sanctioned by the Board of Directors before proceeding, but I am just trying to poll to see if there is enough interest in this before presenting it to the board for consideration.

The meetings would cover different aspects of brewing from polled topics offered to the club. Some topic ideas would be:

Batch Vs. Fly Sparging
Infustion Vs. Decoction Mashing
Beer Judgeing
Style tastings
Group Brews
DIY brewing items
Grain crush characteristics
Grain profiles
Hop profiles
Yeast profiles
etc...

If there are other things you would like to see added please reply with topics you would like to see and I will start to compile a list, then start polling on them. Even if you see it there already reply with things you would like to see. This would help to gauge interest in topic priority.

Thanks

carrisr · Post by **carrisr** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:38 pm

I'd be interested in nearly any topic. But as a beginner I would say the following top my list (in no particular priority):

Judging
Style tastings
group brews
DIY
grain/hop/extract/yeast

One cool idea for group brews might be to do experiments.

I'd be happy to host too. I have a decent place with lots of parking. The downside is I'm not in CR, but just south of Stone City on Fairview Rd (County Home Rd). That might be too far for some to drive. It would be really nice for outdoor meetings if the weather is nice. We can even build a fire out here.

Randy

tompb · Post by **tompb** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:21 pm

I think it's a great idea. I don't know why we couldn't do it during a regular meeting though. A normal meeting runs long enough we could do a couple hours structured and then have social time. It would be more of an issue of having an area were everyone could sit in a group. I think that way it would be easier to control the bar mentality we get into during most of the meeting. Let's get more input.

BrewHound · Post by **BrewHound** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:47 pm

That is my concerns about doing it at the meeting. If we were to do this on the regular meeting night about the only way it would work is if it happen first before anything else (before we get into the beer). My other concerns would be providing enought isolation from those who are not interested in the event/demonstration to keep it on task as well as time contraints. As stated some of the ones my other club had ran upwards 2 1/2 hours. That with the regular meeting would eat up all the time and provide no social time. The final large reason is to intice people who only want the learning aspect and not to be near drunk people.

However once the poll reveils enough demand I will start another to determine whether the club wants it broken off or the regular meeting devided.

Sent from Jeremy Orchuk's iPhone!

On Mar 22, 2010, at 7:21 PM, "tompb" <brew-events@crbeernuts.org (brew-events@crbeernuts.org)> wrote:

I think it's a great idea. I don't know why we couldn't do it during a regular meeting though. A normal meeting runs long enough we could do a couple hours structured and then have social time. It would be more of an issue of having an area were everyone could sit in a group. I think that way it would be easier to control the bar mentality we get into during most of the meeting. Let's get more input.

Runamok Brewing

Jesus must have been a yeast. Who else could turn water into wine?

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Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 7:42 pm

My biggest concern would be attendance. I would be concerned the folks showing up to the first tasting would tend not to show up to the general meeting. Have a tasting as a sub meeting might work best, but people would have to be serious about making it happen as in the past we have learned that folks get easily distracted.

From: BrewHound [mailto:brew-events@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 7:54 PM
To: brew-events@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Re: Any Interest in a 2nd education Monthly Meeting?

That is my concerns about doing it at the meeting. If we were to do this on the regular meeting night about the only way it would work is if it happen first before anything else (before we get into the beer). My other concerns would be providing enought isolation from those who are not interested in the event/demonstration to keep it on task as well as time contraints. As stated some of the ones my other club had ran upwards 2 1/2 hours. That with the regular meeting would eat up all the time and provide no social time. The final large reason is to intice people who only want the learning aspect and not to be near drunk people.

However once the poll reveils enough demand I will start another to determine whether the club wants it broken off or the regular meeting devided.

Sent from Jeremy Orchuk's iPhone!

On Mar 22, 2010, at 7:21 PM, "tompb" brew-events@crbeernuts.org)> wrote:

: I think it's a great idea. I don't know why we couldn't do it during a regular meeting though. A normal meeting runs long enough we could do a couple hours structured and then have social time. It would be more of an issue of having an area were everyone could sit in a group. I think that way it would be easier to control the bar mentality we get into during most of the meeting. Let's get more input.

Runamok Brewing

Jesus must have been a yeast. Who else could turn water into wine?

Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)

BrewHound · Post by **BrewHound** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:29 pm

That would most likely eleminate anything other that tastings, such as DIY events. As they take up sustantially more time. That would also eliminate judging beers because that would require filling out BJCP score sheets. Which is why the judgings were removed from the meeting in the first place.

I think you are seriously under estimating both aspects. There were several of us talking at Matts house at the last meeting. I made an off handed remark as joke stating that is why I come to the meeting because the great beers that some of the guys bring. I was shot down quite rapidly that the reason most are there is to socialize with their brewing brothers. This was my experience with my previous club as well. The larger of the two meetings was always the social/agenda meeting. The Tuesday meeting was usually between 5 - 10 people. I will continue to poll the data and the board can then at least make an informed decision on the topic.

Mr T wrote:My biggest concern would be attendance. I would be concerned the folks showing up to the first tasting would tend not to show up to the general meeting. Have a tasting as a sub meeting might work best, but people would have to be serious about making it happen as in the past we have learned that folks get easily distracted.

From: BrewHound [mailto:brew-events@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 7:54 PM
To: brew-events@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Re: Any Interest in a 2nd education Monthly Meeting?

That is my concerns about doing it at the meeting. If we were to do this on the regular meeting night about the only way it would work is if it happen first before anything else (before we get into the beer). My other concerns would be providing enought isolation from those who are not interested in the event/demonstration to keep it on task as well as time contraints. As stated some of the ones my other club had ran upwards 2 1/2 hours. That with the regular meeting would eat up all the time and provide no social time. The final large reason is to intice people who only want the learning aspect and not to be near drunk people.

However once the poll reveils enough demand I will start another to determine whether the club wants it broken off or the regular meeting devided.

Sent from Jeremy Orchuk's iPhone!

On Mar 22, 2010, at 7:21 PM, "tompb" brew-events@crbeernuts.org)> wrote:

: I think it's a great idea. I don't know why we couldn't do it during a regular meeting though. A normal meeting runs long enough we could do a couple hours structured and then have social time. It would be more of an issue of having an area were everyone could sit in a group. I think that way it would be easier to control the bar mentality we get into during most of the meeting. Let's get more input.

Runamok Brewing

Jesus must have been a yeast. Who else could turn water into wine?

Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)

Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:09 pm

Then perhaps it needs to be more structured like the judging and we start off with this as being a Quarterly meeting and if participation and demand continue we bump it up. We would also need a volunteer to help facilitate these meetings. I think they would be widely user driven but someone would still need to make sure they organize the meeting topic and place.

From: BrewHound [mailto:brew-events@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 9:29 PM
To: brew-events@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Re: Any Interest in a 2nd education Monthly Meeting?

That would most likely eleminate anything other that tastings, such as DIY events. As they take up sustantially more time. That would also eliminate judging beers because that would require filling out BJCP score sheets. Which is why the judgings were removed from the meeting in the first place.

I think you are seriously under estimating both aspects. There were several of us talking at Matts house at the last meeting. I made an off handed remark as joke stating that is why I come to the meeting because the great beers that some of the guys bring. I was shot down quite rapidly that the reason most are there is to socialize with their brewing brothers. This was my experience with my previous club as well. The larger of the two meetings was always the social/agenda meeting. The Tuesday meeting was usually between 5 - 10 people. I will continue to poll the data and the board can then at least make an informed decision on the topic.
Mr T wrote:
My biggest concern would be attendance. I would be concerned the folks showing up to the first tasting would tend not to show up to the general meeting. Have a tasting as a sub meeting might work best, but people would have to be serious about making it happen as in the past we have learned that folks get easily distracted.

From: BrewHound [mailto:brew-events@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 7:54 PM
To: brew-events@crbeernuts.org (brew-events@crbeernuts.org)
Subject: Re: Any Interest in a 2nd education Monthly Meeting?

That is my concerns about doing it at the meeting. If we were to do this on the regular meeting night about the only way it would work is if it happen first before anything else (before we get into the beer). My other concerns would be providing enought isolation from those who are not interested in the event/demonstration to keep it on task as well as time contraints. As stated some of the ones my other club had ran upwards 2 1/2 hours. That with the regular meeting would eat up all the time and provide no social time. The final large reason is to intice people who only want the learning aspect and not to be near drunk people.

However once the poll reveils enough demand I will start another to determine whether the club wants it broken off or the regular meeting devided.

Sent from Jeremy Orchuk's iPhone!

On Mar 22, 2010, at 7:21 PM, "tompb" brew-events@crbeernuts.org (brew-events@crbeernuts.org))> wrote:

: I think it's a great idea. I don't know why we couldn't do it during a regular meeting though. A normal meeting runs long enough we could do a couple hours structured and then have social time. It would be more of an issue of having an area were everyone could sit in a group. I think that way it would be easier to control the bar mentality we get into during most of the meeting. Let's get more input.

Runamok Brewing

Jesus must have been a yeast. Who else could turn water into wine?

Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)

kurtford · Post by **kurtford** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:18 pm

I think this is a great idea to set up a separate meeting to do this but believe that the participation and attendance may lack.

I feel if someone wants tips and tricks or to be judged or get an honest opinion(not just "that's good" every time they bring something new) we should go through at the end of the meeting notes. Everyone takes a sample from the beer(s) provided and give honest feedback. The person that is putting that beer out there to be judged and told what to do(for learning purposes) needs to understand that we are not putting down the beer but are helping you improve the beer and your future brews.

Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:34 pm

Help me clear this up, are we looking at an educational tasting once a month where we learn to hone in our tasting skills and understand styles of beer as well as give feed back to fellow club members or are we talking about hosting an educational topic each month and focusing on some aspect of brewing in discussion and maybe demonstration?

I want the group to have a clear vision of what were shooting for?

From: kurtford [mailto:brew-events@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 11:19 PM
To: brew-events@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Re: Any Interest in a 2nd education Monthly Meeting?

I think this is a great idea to set up a separate meeting to do this but believe that the participation and attendance may lack.

I feel if someone wants tips and tricks or to be judged or get an honest opinion(not just "that's good" every time they bring something new) we should go through at the end of the meeting notes. Everyone takes a sample from the beer(s) provided and give honest feedback. The person that is putting that beer out there to be judged and told what to do(for learning purposes) needs to understand that we are not putting down the beer but are helping you improve the beer and your future brews.

Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)

brownbeard · Post by **brownbeard** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:22 pm

Mr T wrote:Help me clear this up, are we looking at an educational tasting once a month where we learn to hone in our tasting skills and understand styles of beer as well as give feed back to fellow club members or are we talking about hosting an educational topic each month and focusing on some aspect of brewing in discussion and maybe demonstration?

I want the group to have a clear vision of what were shooting for?

Why not both? Alternate demonstrations and focused tastings. Do we really have enough demonstrations for monthly "mini meetings"? Alternating would keep it fresh and allow for diverse education. I think this is a good idea. With the understanding that the attendance will more than likely be smaller and more random. However, a monthly tasting style or demonstration announcement at the meeting would allow folks to decide whether they wish to attend the next mini meeting.

kurtford · Post by **kurtford** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:07 am

I'm all for a monthly education meetings outside of the regular meeting. Maybe we can set it up so we meet on the 1st Thursday(education meeting) and the 3rd Thursday (regular meeting). I had a lot of fun just with the three of us at the pyment meeting talking about brewing and judging. I would love to do more with the club no matter how big or small.

Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:17 am

It would be ideal to make this a set place and time. We could probably do demonstrations and education at like third base but could not bring in beer unless they would order it for us.

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Matt F · Post by **Matt F** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:23 am

This is shaping up to be a great idea. We have had lot of these ideas over the years. The key to this entire concept will be the execution. I think we could shoot for a regular gathering, but it will need to have a specific topic and person in charge of that topic before it can happen. The key pieces are:

1) The topic, be it judging, specific style tasting, DIY etc..
2) Person to take charge of the chosen topic
3) Place (we don't even know where we are meeting in April yet)
4) Date and time

We can't do #4 until the first three items are established. This may seem obvious, but in almost all facets of life I find great ideas and no execution. I don't want to come off negative because I really like the idea and I don't want this one lost because of lack of execution. One example of a successful venture was the Madison Beer Tour in 2008. One person developed the idea, came up with a plan and then executed that plan. I happened to be the one that made that happen. We had 18 people participate in the that trip and everyone I talked to seemed to enjoy the tour. What may have went unoticed is that trip took a lot of time and planning to make it happen. I wish I still had that kind of time to provide to the group but I know I am still not in the game right now. This venture could be great but someone will have to take each of these meetings by the horns.

carrisr · Post by **carrisr** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:25 am

What originally was looking for was a more semi-formal way of getting feedback on my beers, how to fix any flaws, and to get some experience with BJCP styles. What I envisioned was for people who wanted feedback to bring their beers, and someone would walk us through how the eval process works, then people could give feedback like a round table. So less formal than what I imagine the official judging is like, but still very useful feedback. At the same time, I could learn more about a range of styles. It might also encourage more people to enter the real competition too.

The downsides I can see about doing this at regular meetings are the time it might take, the fact that taste/olfactory senses quickly become saturated, and I didn't want to put off people who just want a social gathering of brewers.

We could set a style for each meeting, but I would leave the option for people to bring whatever they want feedback on.

When it was suggested to do other types of education I was all for that as well. I know that I have a lot to learn, so I will welcome any opportunity to do so.

If we are concerned that it wouldn't draw enough people we could always have people sign up on the boards. Set a minimum and if not enough people can or want to attend then don't do it.

kurtford · Post by **kurtford** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:36 am

We could just set it up just like the regular meeting with someone hosting every month. After I did the pyment judging I have no problem host any more small events like this one is shaping up to be.

Cedar Rapids Brewing Society