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| Monthly Meeting: Tuesday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m. Click to join Sensory Analysis Happy Hour: Thursday, April. 29 at 8 p.m. Click to join President’s Message The word saison literally translates to season. In appreciation of the arriving spring weather and the prospects of more outdoor time and friendly gatherings, we are celebrating this month with a Club Only Competition and a mini sensory analysis, both featuring Saison. Join us at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 20, where we will be sharing the results of our first Club Only Competition (CoC) of the year and hearing from all of the brewers and BJCP judges who brewed and judged the beer. Learn about the recipes, ingredients, and techniques used to craft the beers as well as the impressions and sensory analysis of the entries. The BJCP describes saison as “a pale, refreshing, highly-attenuated, moderately-bitter, moderate-strength Belgian ale with a very dry finish. Typically highly carbonated, and using non-barley cereal grains and optional spices for complexity, as complements the expressive yeast character that is fruity, spicy, and not overly phenolic. Less common variations include both lower-alcohol and higher-alcohol products, as well as darker versions with additional malt character.” Interestingly, these style guidelines leave a tremendous amount of room for brewer creativity and ingenuity. This is very appropriate for a beer that can be brewed to fit any season. To help calibrate the club to the style, we will also be hosting a mini sensory analysis of Two Roads Brewing’s Workers Comp Farmhouse Ale, a popular and delicious regional example of the style, during our meeting. This beer is widely available and designed and brewed by Phil Markowski, who is the former brewer at Southampton Publick House, the author of the BJCP book Farmhouse Ales: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition, and widely respected for his knowledge of and craftsmanship in creating saisons and farmhouse ales.  Join our April meeting via Zoom Our Sensory Analysis Happy Hour at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 29 will feature a lineup of sessionable, yeast forward Hefeweizens. We have a great list of beers to analyze this month including a classic German example, a well known regional hefeweizen (using authentic open-top fermentation), and a local beer from an OG NJ brewery. Weihenstephaner – Hefe Weissbier // A veritable classic – and the star of our beer ensemble Troegs – DreamWeaver Wheat // Our dream begins with open-top fermentation. At high krausen, a foamy, rocky yeast head crests the sides of the fermenter releasing notes of black pepper and spicy clove. Unfiltered and cloudy with yeast, it’s slightly tart and downright refreshing. Ramstein – Blonde Hefe-Weizen // Our fresh traditional German-style Weiss Beer. Malty wheat bouquet brimming with clove and banana aromas. Wheat and barley balance with imported German noble hops. Unfiltered for a natural flavor. The finish is malty, smooth and refreshing. Join our April Sensory Analysis via Zoom A Note About Virtual Meetings Over the past year, we have used both Zoom and Google Meet to host our club meetings, happy hours, and sensory analysis. Most recently the club has been using Goolge Meet, which was being offered for free by Google. As of March 31, Google stopped offering Meet for free and so the board decided to switch back to using Zoom for all club meetings, as we felt that Zoom provided a better user experience and we had less technical glitches and challenges connecting to Zoom and Meet. In an effort to make our digital lives as simple as possible, we will be using the same Zoom meeting info for all club functions. This should make keeping track of links and joining events easier and less error prone for our members. We welcome your feedback on your experience so that we can continue to improve the way in which we connect and collaborate together. The official MASH zoom meeting info for all MASH functions is as follows: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5120245789?pwd=bUtKdFhRQnd3R3BONEVaVkxhd0tHZz09 Meeting ID: 512 024 5789 Passcode: GoMASHGo COMPETE Upcoming Homebrew Competitions – Garden State Homebrew Competition – awards ceremony on April 24th. – Buzz Off – registration is open now through May 22nd  It’s not too late to renew your 2021 Membership. Dues remain $25 for AHA members and $30 for those who haven’t joined yet. While you don’t have to be a member to attend our monthly meetings, members get exclusive perks, including membership to our Mash New Jersey Slack, our running chat of all things homebrew and beer. And stay tuned for the reveal of our 2021 membership glass! “Member up” using this form. You can then send payment via MASH’s Paypal at mashnewjersey@gmail.com or via Venmo to Board Treasurer Micha Stark @starkm1. |