March 2004

Editors Note: [Please submit any beer related information or articles to the newsletter editor at m@ttjarvis.com or call me at 342-2203. The ‘deadline’ is the 3^rd Sunday of the month.]

Last Meeting:

Extract Brew Session (by M Jarvis)

For the upcoming Club-Only Extract Competition, Mark Smith hosted a brew session at his house on Saturday, March 6^th. Denny, Mark, Brandt, Ben and myself set up our gear and had some fun like the ‘old days’ with extract brewing…. Man, that’s a LOT less work!! A Porter, a few Pale Ales and a ‘Cream Swill’ were created that day, with judging to take place at an upcoming club meeting. Best of luck all!

Hop Raising and St. Patty’s Day Party (by M Jarvis)

For those arriving early for the party, Scott Weech treated us to Hops 101 – Everything You Wanted To Know About Raising Hops But Were Afraid To Ask class. He even brought several bags of rhizomes for the taking and an informational pamphlet. Thank you Professor Weech!

The St. Patty’s party that followed was well attended, and the club raised some serious bucks with a not-so-silent auction of several bags of goodies. Thanks Russ and Amber for hosting, and thanks Debbie for putting the auction together, and to Chuck for once again providing some good stuff and toys for the offering. Good food, good beer, good fun!

WE HAVE A WINNER!

Big time congrats to Chuck Link for taking first place in the club’s Mead competition which was judged during the party. As the steward for the event I had the opportunity to do some Quality Control on all the entries, and we had some serious competition with over 10 meads battling it out for the coveted chance to represent the club in the AHA nationals. Chuck’s Raspberry Mead was some truly fine stuff – just wish he had some more! He even brought out some of the last bottles of some goodies from as far back as 1997! Rod Surcamp delighted everyone with a tasty mead from 1994! WAY TO GO CHUCK!!!

Slurp and Burp Competition: KUDO’s to Denny for a 2^nd place with his Alt beer! To my knowledge, Denny, Rob Hudson (Bock) and Bill Miranda (Belgian Saison and Oatmeal Stout) all entered the comp and got good scores – good work guys!

Next Meeting:

Friday, April 16th – Portland Pub Crawl – See Robin’s comments below. Also see Russ’s comments below…

Thursday, April 22nd – 6:30pm - CBS Extract competition judging at Matt's (1697 Cal Young Road, Eugene, 342-2203). Tutorial on Yeast Washing and Propagation following the judging.

Saturday, May 1^st – 9am - Big Brew 2004 at Denny’s (91557 Poodle Creek Rd., Noti). See Robin’s comments below.

And Now a Word from President Robin Chitwood:

3/29/04

Plans for the Portland Pub Crawl are coming together well. Obviously there are far too many good beers to be sampled in Portland to get to in one weekend. Russ will have to make some careful choices when putting together the itinerary. It looks pretty definite from our meeting at Sam Bond’s that a majority favor leaving Eugene on Friday April 16th and returning on Sunday. Some others may drive up on Saturday. Those who drive are welcome to park their cars and ride the bus around Portland for a small contribution. The Friday departure time has not been settled yet and it may take another meeting to fix a time. We should consider leaving Eugene early enough to avoid rush hour traffic in Portland.

May 1st is the AHA annual Big Brew Day. Denny Conn is hosting the CBS registered Big Brew site. The idea behind this is to get as many people as possible to brew at one site on the same day. This year’s featured recipes are Baltic Porter, Imperial IPA and Irish Red Ale. Bring your gear and head out to Denny’s place, 91557 Poodle Creek Rd., Noti. It starts at 9 am. (Please check with Denny by April 24^th if you plan to brew so he can make sure to provide space – mj). It’s a great opportunity to watch how other folks brew and see some interesting equipment, even if you don’t want to brew that day.

So far I know of about half a dozen club members who plan to attend the National Homebrewers Conference in Las Vegas, June 17th – 19th. This annual extravaganza features eleven speakers, the “Club Night” party on Friday night, The Grand Banquet on Saturday night and the Hospitality Suite is open 24-7. Anyone else who plans to attend please let me know so we can stay in touch at the event.

If you have not paid your dues this year and wish to remain an active member you will need to act soon. You can send payment to our treasurer, Debbie Davis, 2655 Ridgemont Dr. Eugene, OR 97405. As an added bonus, paid-up members get a 50% discount on the bus fare for the Portland pub - crawl. Cheers, RC.

And Now a Word About the Pub Crawl from Russ:

Pubcrawl

Update 4/1/04

Looks like the pubcrawl is still a go. We had a few people drop from the crawl and their names are listed on the table as strikeout. Please let me know if I made any mistakes or I need to include more information. If your name is on the list and you have decided to drop out please let me know because we still have some interested people in attending the pubcrawl and the bus is maxed out. In this update I have tried to include the location of where people are staying, if I have your information wrong please let me know.

Departure Time

Information gathered at the meetings indicate that the majority of people can leave Eugene anytime on April 16^th and return to Eugene on April 18^th (afternoon ?). Since most people can leave at anytime on the April 16^th we will depart Eugene at 10:00 AM and arrive in Portland around 12:00 PM. The departure time will give us time to hit a few pubs and check into our rooms and then hit some more pubs.

Departure Location

Departure location has not been determined yet. One possibility is the LTD Park and Ride on River Road or possibly at my house. Have any ideas please let me know.

Hotel Information

Looks like www.hotwire.com still has rooms available at the Hilton for $51/night (4/1/04).

Room Sharing

People who are interested in sharing a room please notify me or send an email to the group that you are interested in sharing rooms/suites (refer to table). Also, if interested in a sleep space on the bus please RSVP.

Pub Crawl Itinerary

Currently working on the map and schedule and will send out a update in the near future.

Name	Number of People	Number of Days	Departure Day/Time	Return Day/Time	Comment
Russ/Amber Kazmierczak	2	2	Friday/ Anytime	Sunday/ Anytime	Amber 2 nights. Stay at Hilton
Nate Sampson	1	2	Friday/ Anytime	Sunday/ Anytime	Looking for roomate
~~Rob Hudson~~	1	~~1 or 2~~	~~Friday/ Anytime~~	~~Saturday/ Evening~~	~~Not sure about two days~~
Robin Chitwood & Karen French	2	2	Friday/ Anytime	Sunday/ Anytime	Staying at Hilton
Lupe Gardner	2	2	Open	Open	None
Steve McCornack	1	2	Friday	Sunday	Stay on bus, son, or possibly looking for floor space.
Scott/Tina Ellison	2	2	Open	Open	Staying at ?
Christine Jump	1	2	Friday/see comment	Sunday/ Evening	Staying at ?
Debbie Davis & Lori Liudahl	2	2	Saturday/Morning	Sunday	Will drive themselves and stay at Marriot
Rod Surcamp	1	2	Friday/ Anytime	Open	Staying at Hilton
Ron Hulka	1	2	Whenever	Open	Will sleep on bus.
~~Chuck Link~~	~~1 or 2~~	2	~~Friday/ Anytime~~	~~Open~~	~~Let him know departure time.~~
Greg Bolt	1	2	Friday/ Later	Open	Staying at the Hilton
Mark/Lisa Dillion	2	2	Friday/ Anytime	Open	Staying at the Hilton
Julius & Jody	1	2	Friday/ Anytime	Open	Jody one night. Staying at the Hilton
Kent/Janie	2	2	Friday/ late morning	Open	Staying at the Hilton
Brandt Weaver	1	2	Friday/ Anytime	Whenever	Looking for a roommate
Chip & Kris	2	1 or 2	Whenever	Whenever	Trip dependant on brewery production schedule. Staying at ??
Liz Laughlin	1 or 2	1 or 2	Whenever	Whenever	Staying at ???
Thomas Reszke	1	1	Friday Evening	See Comment	Will drive up after work and stay with friends.
~~Chris Studach~~	~~1 or 2~~	2	~~Not sure~~	~~Not sure~~	~~Not sure about going at this time.~~
~~John Wilson~~	1	~~Not Sure~~	~~Not Sure~~	~~Not Sure~~	~~Would like to go, but needs to check schedule (tentative)~~
~~Mat Jarvis~~	1	~~Not Sure~~	~~Not Sure~~	~~Not Sure~~	~~Tentative~~
~~Mark Smith~~	1	~~Not Sure~~	~~Not Sure~~	~~Not Sure~~	~~Tentative~~
Total on bus drive to and from Portland	25	Bus driver indicated that 25-30 people would comfortably fit on the bus to and from Portland			Robert/Debbie Davis, Thomas Reszke indicated they will drive.
Total on bus for pub crawl (includes tentative people)	28	Bus driver indicated that 25-30 people would comfortably fit on the bus to and from Portland			Includes people who drove themselves

News You Can Use Department:

From Jamie Floyd: “You can tell the Cascade crew that I put Terrapin Ale on tap and the beloved Iron Brewer, formerly known as Hops for Hay. Next week brings the arrival of Hop Rex!”

Haven't paid your dues this year? Please send a check for $20 (individuals) or $25 (families) made out to "Cascade Brewers Society" to Debbie Davis, c/o CBS, 2655 Ridgemont Drive, Eugene, OR 97405. Note that you can subtract $5 if you opt for not receiving a paper copy of the newsletter.

Also, don’t forget that our club website is growing bigger every day! See what Denny has done with www.hbd.org/cascade

Club Information: For over 20 years, Cascade Brewers Society is a sometimes formal, but mostly informal club devoted to the appreciation and art of creating fine alcoholic beverages (you know; beer, mead, cider, and wine). For more information regarding the Cascade Brewers Society, please contact Kent Macdonald at 935-5711 or Robin Chitwood at 342-2397.