January 17,2016  Happy New Brew Year! Thank You to Tilted Axis and their great staff for their hospitality and hosting us. I would like to send out our condolences to Dan McDaniel and his family. His mom passed away unexpectedly, shortly after Christmas. We raise a glass and toast your mom's memory and her life.
  The club discussed a few topics at the meeting this month. First, we have announced the 2nd Annual Brewers Challenge. This time we will be brewing Category 20, subcategory a,b,c That's Porters and Stouts. Please use the new 2015 bjcp guidelines for this style. The competition starts now and we are looking at judging and awarding in April. Eligible brewers must have currently paid their membership dues for 2016, to participate. Bottles must be brown, at least 10oz, have no distinguishing marks or labels. No markings on caps. No flip top bottles. There will be 1 entry per brewer. Brewer will provide 3 bottles for judging. Bottles will be assigned a number on check in. The bottle labels are already on the site for download. And the entry form will be posted shortly. More information will follow.
  If you are interested in entering any of your award worthy brews in competition, Sicilianos market is hold a competition open to homebrewers. They are located just outside of Grand Rapids. You can check out their website for more info.
  As you know by now, the seasonal favorite, HopSlam has been released. Good luck at finding it. And when you do , enjoy.
  We discussed the club beer that was on tap at Tilted Axis for a short time. It was tasty. And talked about possibly doing it again. Maybe for the Big Brew Day (National Homebrew Day) May 7th,2016. More about that when Mike Mullins gets the chance to discuss it with Doug. Alice Mullins has the menu from Tilted Axis with our club compilation on it. She will get copies for anyone interested in having one. Kinda cool to see our club in print.
  Usually Rochester Mills holds a Big Brew day the Saturday before National Homebrew Day. most of the brewers that attend have brewed in previous years for it. Tony and I attended last year. Even if you aren't brewing you can come out and check out the event and support your fellow brewers. Maybe get some tips and check out what other brewers equipment consists of.  This is held at the Rochester Mills Production Facility, not the brew pub.
  May 7,2016 is National Homebrew Day. We will be brewing on site at Tilted Axis again this year. Come on out and join us for a fun and informative brew day. And a chance to toast our fellow brewers.
  July , the Michigan Beer Cup Competition will get under way. I would love to see most of our brewers enter this. You guys and gals are the best, and our club has done well in this comp in previous years. The beer cup competition will be looking for volunteers and judges to help out for the judging. If you have not done it before, This is a great time and very informative.
  Now as I said at the meeting, It is never too early to start talking Michigan Homebrew Festival. This will be in August. For those of you that have been there, You know what a great time it is. And for those of you who haven't and were thinking you may want to go. I say you only live once. This is an awesome end of the season event. We will be talking about it more as it approaches.
 I also want to mention the World Expo of Beer (WEB) will be happening in Frankenmuth, on May 21-22,2016. This event is always fun. And if you would like to volunteer to pour for any of the breweries, you can go to their website and apply. Or buy tickets and plan your weekend getaway. They book up pretty fast for accommodations. So if you plan on spending the weekend out there, better book soon.
  Does anyone have any suggestions for future club meetings, topics, queries, questions that they may want to hear more about? Anyone got any great plans for what they may be doing for brewing this year or upgrading their brewing systems?  Let's talk about it. maybe a pub crawl?  Well, till our next meeting, Brew Strong my friends.

December 20,2015
   Happy Brew Year!!!  Well our last meeting of the year was a success. Thank You to,  Donna and Rob Zaiki, for hosting our annual Christmas Party. There was plenty of yummy food and beer to be had by all. The gift pass was also, a success. I hope everyone is enjoying their gifts. We did not discuss any club business. Just the business of craft beer and good times. The January meeting will be on January 17, 2016 at Tilted Axis, at 3 pm. We will be discussing plans for another club competition. Dues are also, DUE. We will talk a little about the club beer that was on tap at Tilted Axis for a short time.
  Of course with a New Year we have to mention Michigan Homebrew Fest in August. It is never too early to talk about camping. May 7th is the Big Brew Day (National Homebrew Day). July the Michigan beer cup should be happening.We will also, be looking for any ideas for future club meetings. Examples would be: tastings, day trips, guest speakers, club brews, meeting subjects etc. Looking forward to seeing everyone. Happy New Year and Happy Brew Year.