Some light reading for your lunch break.

Welcome to the 2nd edition of the 2014 Wort Hogs Quarterly newsletter!  We’ve got lots on tap in this edition, so make sure you pay attention so you don’t miss out on all the up and coming beer happenings in the area.

1.  Jason Bryant’s Silver Medal at NHC!
2.  Jasper yeast now available!
3.  Wild Hog Brew Days @ Lost Rhino sign up
4.  Old Ox Brewery opening!
5.  NovaBrewfest Reminder!  Volunteers needed
6.  Rest of the year competition schedule
7.  New BJCP Styles
8.  Lost Hog Barrel Release
9.  Educational Topic for July
10. BrewLoCo update

1. Jason Bryant’s Silver Medal in BJCP Category 19: Strong Ales.  Congrats Jason!  Check out his official standing and other winners here.  I’ve had the pleasure of tasting this beer and it truly is an exceptional example of the style.  But we all already knew Jason was capable of brewing exceptional beers.

 

1. Jasper Yeast available now!  Club member and beer yeast aficionado/expert Jasper has started selling yeast strains he has cultivated from around the area.  Currently available at Kettles and Grains in Leesburg.  They currently have the Ashburn strain for sale – and soon will be selling his Ale yeast.  Stop in and try fermenting some beer with local yeast!

 

1. Wild Hog Brew Days!  July 10th & 11th – If you’d like to join us in brewing the next collaboration beer with Lost Rhino please sign up here.  Please only sign up if you are able to attend, attendance is limited and we want to ensure everyone who wants to go can attend.  If you can only make it for part of the day please say so in your comments when you sign up.

 

1. Old Ox Brewery Opening!  Currently scheduled for a June 26th opening, they’ll also be pouring beers at the Nova Brewfest!  Stop by their tent and chat with the brewers and sample their beers. Help welcome a new and great brewer into the area!  Check out their website here.

 

1. Nova Brewfest Reminder!  This weekend!  Are you looking for something to do Saturday or Sunday?  Want to try some beers from some of the new breweries in the region?  Just looking to people watch?  You should go check out the Nova Brewfest this weekend at Morven Park.  Better yet – sign up as a volunteer and get free tickets to the festival.  It’s a great way to chat with local brewers and fellow beer geeks.  Info here.

 

1. Remaining 2014 Competition Schedule – Here is the competition schedule for the rest of 2014.  Remember – only the top 6 scores are counted in the competition – so it’s not over yet.July 9 — India Pale Ale – BJCP 14
   August 13 — No competition. Meet at brewery or brewpub (TBD)
   September 10 — European Amber Lager – BJCP 3
   October 8 — Co-brew: Pumpkin or Vegetable beer – see BJCP 21A. Co-brew teams get 2 additonal BOTY points (a co-brew team consists of one or more people with whom you “normally” don’t brew)
   November 12 — Cider & Mead – BJCP 24, 25, & 26: Mead / BJCP 27 & 28: Cider
   December 10 — Christmas ales/Holiday spice (BJCP 21B)

 

1. New BJCP styles! Those of you who attended NHC may have heard rumors about the BJCP changing their style guidelines(finally!) to address new beer styles and the evolving home brewing community.  For example – there is now actually a category for American Sour beers!  Huzzah!  And there was much rejoicing…well from me anyways.  But other exciting things like a “Specialty IPA” Category.  No more entering your Black IPA into category 23 alongside that weird(yet delicious) Basil beer from Chad.  They are talking about implementing this by the end of the year, so keep your eyes open!  If you had any intention of getting your BJCP certification it looks like now may be a good time to take the test if you can before the test changes again – or the content you’ve been learning goes away.  More info here.

 

1. Lost Hog Barrel Release – If you scrolled here first because you thought I was going to tell you it was ready and set…I’m sorry, but we still have no release date set for the Lost Hog barrel aged beers (Red Wine, Port, and Flanders Style Sour).  Lost Rhino is still waiting on the label approval from TTB, and unfortunately they are moving slowly.  I assure you – they taste delicious, and they will be worth the wait (they’ll all age quite nicely.)  Once we know – you will too!

 

1. Educational Topic for July – In case you missed it – we’ve been hosting our educational discussions before our meetings standard start time.  Typically we kick off around 6:35 and go right up until the meeting start time.  July’s topic is Hops!  Delicious, resiny, piney, sticky, sweet, HOPS!  We’ve also got a special guest presenter – Daniel Carrol from Pleasant Valley Hops will be talking to us a bit about growing hops and answering questions you may have about the process. We’ll also talk a bit about utilizing your hops and getting the most out of them.

 

1. BrewLoCo Update! – Brew LoCo is in the build-out phase. Opening this summer in Lansdowne and working with some exciting vendors. Please stay tuned, see and like them on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/brewloco

   ) and look for an upcoming vendor announcement at www.BrewLoCo.com

Well that just about wraps up this quarters edition of the Wort Hog Quarterly.  Get back to brewing, and get those IPA’s ready for July!

Cheers!
-Matt