I thought this was interesting.
http://www.thetinwhisker.net/hchb/BA_List_Domestic_Non-Craft_Brewers.pdf

Alpha Acid Test - A Hoppy Event

My Daughter, her husband (coolcliff), and I attended a beer tasting event at Lafayette Brewing Company yesterday. The format was an interesting one. Ten beers were on hand, all identical with one small exception.

Beer Tasting at Soupleys

What an enjoyable way to spend an hour or so. Friday afternoon Soupleys on Dixon had a FREE beer & wine tasting. Susie and I went immediately to the beer section and were met by Blake Montgomery who said we needed to start with the 4 beers from Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City. Starting with their IPA (which is wonderful), then moving through the Saison, Belgian Triple and Quad. All are excellent, Blake knows beer.

Technical Enough For Yha!

I know we have some members that like to get very technical in their brewing process.

Check out http://thebrewingnetwork.com/

Recent shows include a talk on beer clarity and beer color. If you like geeking out on beer you will get your fill here.

Theoretical Malt Yields

Here is some information on typical barley malt theoretical yields that I found at John Palmer's web site. He had listed these as maximum yields. In this case maximum = theoretical.
http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter12-4-1.html

Typical Malt Yields in Points/Pound/Gallon

Mashing and Sparging Techniques

At our upcoming December club meeting we will be discussing mashing and sparging techniques and how they might affect yield or brewhouse efficiency. As part of this discussion for the all grain brewers please come prepared to report on the following for your brewhouse:

Mash Efficiency Calculation

So how is mash efficiency calculated? Well, each grain has a theoretical yield that is specified by the malt house. Actually there are more than one yield specified and these yields differ by the coarseness of the grind and moisture content. But the one most often used by homebrewers is the fine crush dry yield. This yield is specified in gravity points per lb per gallon of wort. If you have purchased malt in 50 or 55# bags you will find this yield on a label usually attached to the bag. If you don't have the specific theoretical yield for the grains in your brewhouse you can just use the typical values that are widely published for each type of brewing grain. Your brewhouse efficiency is then calculated as a percent of the theoretical yield. Most brewing software can do this calculation for you. Following is an example of how this calculation is done.

November Meeting

The project for this month was spiced beer. Several examples were brought in, but before they were tapped, a little business was done.
This year's Indiana Brewer's cup winners (Matt, Jeff, Larry & Jon were all present) got a bit of an ego boost when it was pointed out that this year's competition was one of the largest in the country!
Next year's meeting formats will be divided up into 3 types of meetings.

1. Informative - a set topic for discussion
2. Competition - everyone brew a specific style, i.e. porter, pale ale, IPA
3. Homebrew Evaluation - Detailed scoring & organized tastings of what we've brewed.

READ ON FOR A WRAP-UP OF THE NOVEMBER MEETING

AHA New Website

The American Homebrewers Association has launched their new website. The link is listed to the right. It is designed to be more interactive and very educational for all levels of homebrewers. How to's, Pimp my system, recipes, Homebrewopedia, competitions & results (including Best of Show for the 2009 IN. Brewer's Cup) and much more.
Well worth a look and adding to your favorites.

Good Homebrew Reading

I'm looking for suggestions on good sources of information for homebrewers of all abilities.
I just ran across the BeerSmith blog that has some excellent info on all aspects of brewing. From growing hops & mashing methods, to the Burton Union Blow-off.
I know, I'd never heard of it either, even though I have done a version of it. I can now amaze other homebrewers with the depth of my knowledge when I tell them I use the Burton Union Blow-off instead of telling them I stick a hose in the top of my carboy.
I've put a link to the right side of this page for the BeerSmith blog, go take a look.
If you have any web sites or blogs you follow, let me know and I can add them here.

Halloween Party 2009

The 2nd annual HCHBC Halloween party was another grand success. It was a clear cool evening at Sean and Stacy's lovely home. After a questionable day of rain, the sky cleared up, the sun shone brightly before setting and the stars came out. And then the temperature began to drop. We were all quite thankful that Sean was able to get his fire going after a shaky start with some damp wood.

Howard County Homebrew Club's next big step

This could be the next step for the club. It has been talked about getting a web presence before with little response, only one attempt with little to no support. So here's another chance to get the ball rolling. From this blog, we can report to all on the activities we have, share photos and allow responses and comments.

Larry's Big Day

It was a record for the Broadripple Brewpub for the tapping of a Best of Show beer! As best as we could count, 48 people attended the event. Coming from as far as Wisconsin to help Larry & Susie celebrate the tapping of Susie's Sweet Stout, this year's Best of Show award winning beer from the Indiana's Brewers Cup.