WIZARD's Club News

Club meetings this quarter will be October 16, November 20, and December 18 all at Deja Brew in Shrewsbury. Check our web page, call Strange Brew or call Deja Brew for directions.

The following are the combined minutes for the April through September 2007 club meetings:

Given the success of this year's New Brewer's Night and last February's recommendation to repeat it, we are now looking for a coordinator for this year's event. The coordinator will arrange web postings, design and distribute a new brochure and arrange a few limited activities and/or demos for the meeting. This is a great opportunity for a new club member to get involved. Please let Bill or Greg know if you're interested in this vital role.

The club's fall brew day was discussed. It might be too late for early October this year, maybe we could do a brew day on November 3rd for "Teach a Friend to Brew Day." It was agreed the topic would be further discussed by email which has already begun.

Greg was re-elected club president and Bill was re-elected club treasurer at the June meeting. Congratulations to both of them.

Carl has volunteered to look into club memberships cards - as long as we ask him again in January.

The annual Holiday Party was discussed. dave suggested it be held at Bill's again this year. Bill graciously accepted. All club members are encouraged to bring their calendars to the October meeting so that we can pick a date early for this annual event.

WIZARD's Recent Events

Thirteen WIZARDS and guests made it to all or part of this year's pub crawl. Needless to say, a good time was had by all. Enjoy the pictures and commentary from the trip (editor's note: Greg forgot to bring his notebook so our notes are a little sparse this year):

• Nutbrown Ale is less than desirable.
• Colonial Ale - The tastes of corn and wheat are a little overbearing for a blonde ale. Perhaps a bit oxidized?
• Mild - Greg gives this top marks. Hints of coffee and chocolate highlight this quaffable yet full bodied English mild. Bill had the keg version and found it it a tad too much roast for his tastes but agreed the cask was excellent.
• Pilgrim's Porter - Duca gives this a so-so. Had one but not another.
• John Harvard's Pale Ale - nice beer. Too citrusy for an English Ale, not hoppy enough for an American. Darja liked this one. Craig agreed with Greg and felt it wasn't hoppy enough.
• Provincial ale - missing something but enjoyable. Malty but not hoppy. Deb liked this one.

• Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA - Nice and hoppy, everyone who had it, liked it.
• Lindeman's Belgian Kriek Beer - Suzanne described it as delicious, fruity, sweetness.
• Cambridge Brewing CO. Amber Ale - Nice beer, malty, not a lot of hops or sweetness and a lingering grain profile (whatever that means).
• Grendel's Ale - Our spies tell us this one was a lot like Sam Adams.

• Theakson's Old Peculiar - Kind of pleasant in a good sort of way.
• Boddingtons - The cascading faucet pour seemed to be the big draw on this one.
• Harpoon UFO - Creamy, wheaty, pretty good.
• Newcastle Brown Ales - A little sweet and nutty but definitely too old to still be serving.
• Fullers London Pride
• Lagunitas IPA

• Lindeman's Pomme - aroma of green apply Jolly Rancher candies. Nice and light, Duca described it as a good beer to balance you out on a long day of drinking.
• Ipswitch Stout - An earthy, full bodied stout with light hints of roast and coffee.
• Chimay Abbey Pale Ale -
• Harpoon IPA - Clean and predictable as ever.
• Corsendonk Pale Ale

A decent place, but not especially a great beer bar, to have a beer while we waited for table to be ready at Redbones.

• Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
• Guinness

At least a partial list, in no particular order, courtesy of Mike:

• Koelsch (don't recall the brewer): I found it was pleasantly hoppy and flavorful, for such a light beer.
• Sierra Nevada Pale Ale: Bill had no comments, but I observed rapid consumption, so I conclude he was liking it.
• Harpoon Danish Farmhouse Ale: Carl and I say "Nice, malty, low hops, yeast really comes through".
• Racer 5 IPA: Very citrusy, balanced (Beth liked it especially).
• Doppelbock (brewer??): Chewy (Duca liked it. It was one that I regretted not sampling).
• Doblen Chouffe Double (Triple?) IPA (Pardon any misspelling): Greg & Dave gave it a thumbs up! Very hoppy, with a tang of Belgian yeast (Dave says "its not as good as the Pickup Porter").
• Vodka (ok, so not a beer. sue me): Deb says it's "Great!"
• Margarita (ok, sue me twice; you'll get the same amount - nothing): Lois says "Excellent! Nice lime flavor".
• Harviestoun "Bitter & Twisted": Bill says "well balanced" and "very nice". I had a hard time even spelling it (and I was reading it off the board!).
• Piraat Belgian Strong Golden Strong Ale (brewer??): I think Greg was drinking this, I couldn’t tell by then...
• Lachouffe Hoblin Tripel IPA - no comments

FOAM joins us for Brew Day	At the BOS Judges Table	Greg inspects the prize stash
Don collects his prize	Ken and Liz take in the action	Carl collects his prize

The June meeting once again brought the 2007 version of the summer swill-off! This year's swill-off theme was Canadian Beers and the tasting featured Molson Canadian, Molson Ice, Labatt's Blue Light, Labatt's Blue and Molson Golden. Thirteen club members were hand to participate in the swill off and their collective comments appear below. Congratulations to this year's winner - Molson Canadian - and thanks to this Mike and Vik for coordinating this year's event.

#1: Molson Canadian - Like all of this year's entry, this was a crystal clear beer. Other words used to describe this beer included bright golden color; slight aroma of corn; dry, sweet, prickly finish; not much hop or malt flavor. Chuck indicated this one was f'ing good!

#2: Labatt's Blue - Words used to describe this beer included light hope aroma; sweetness in the aroma; little bitterness in the taste and some flavor, more than the others.

#3: Labatt's Blue Light - Words used to describe this beer included palest in color; basically no aroma; lightest body; flawless, very clean but no taste.

#4: Molson Golden - Words used to describe this beer included skunked (but not as bad as #5); reasonable body; creamy mouthfeel; some bitterness but no hop flavor.

#5: Molson Ice - Words used to describe this beer included skunked overpowers all aromas; clear, light golden in color; metallic dry chalky flavor, more body than #1; astringent; lingering sourness; horrible, not good.

Our July Meeting featured a special guest - JoAnne Carilli-Stevenson from White Labs where we talked moe about yeast than anyone could imagine!