October 2020 meeting

SOB Octoberfest!

It was almost just like old times. These wort shares are going to have to continue if this keeps happening! Attendance at the September Octoberfest meeting was superb. Guess that’s what happens when you provide free beer and brats!

25 people came out of hiding to attend and no less than 11 different Octoberfests hit the ground running. A world of different palettes were uncovered from this experiment: case in point – two that were fermented with the same yeast resulted in very different tastes!

We also signed up two new members on the spot! Welcome new members Brent Bowman and Michael Gumtow to the SOB fold.

Thanks to all those who brought their wort share beer along; to Kurt Weina, for donating and cooking the food and to Zach and Ian, for providing the wort, setting up the beer garden and bringing out samples of their own Octoberfest and a special sampling of their forthcoming Doppelbock, which by the way, will is now on tap!

Coming up in October is the Wine, Mead and Cider Competition, to be held at Rushford Meadery and WInery in Omro.

We also wanted to mention that Fox River will be brewing Dick Waltenberry’s winning entry in the SOB beer competition on Friday, October 2nd, beginning at 7am! Only five people will be admitted and masks must be worn.

One last note. We think not all of the members received the notice about the Octoberfest tasting. We apologize for that are are going over the membership list with a fine tooth comb to make sure all members receive club communication. Thanks for understanding!

July 2020 Meeting

Society of Oshkosh Brewer’s July Meeting

Although a somewhat rainy day, the SOBs practiced safe social distancing in the

O’Marro’s banquet hall where plenty of room was left between tables as members judged entries in the annual SOB club only competition.

New Faces:

We welcomed one new member during our July meeting. Michael Gumtow heard about the SOBs during a visit to the Cellar and knew he had to see what the buzz was all about. He even took advantage of some club benefits by entering the club competition. Welcome, Michael.

Treasurer’s Report:

Dues will be collected during the August meeting at a discounted rate of $10. Please plan to renew your membership at that time.

Reminder’s:

August Meeting: The August meeting will once again be the club’s annual picnic. We

will take the time to breakaway from the normal business/education moments of the club to enjoy some much need camaraderie. We are meeting on August 19th at the Menominee Park pavilion near “little Oshkosh.” The club will be providing meat for the event and we are asking members to bring a dish to share. As always this is a family friendly event. Naturally, there will be beer (we are SOBs after all) and games to enjoy. See you all there.

Lake Arrowhead Beer Camp: The SOBs have been invited back the Lake Arrowhead Beer camp for the third year in a row. If you have never had the opportunity to attend, the campground provides the club three sites, where we partake in brewing, serving during the beer walk, and imbibing. If you are interested the event is held on the weekend of August 28th-30th.  There is still room left for those interested in camping.

SOB Mead/Wine/Cider Competition: Our second annual mead/wine/cider competition is coming up in September. Any mead/wine/cider you have brewed is eligible for entry. We are hosting the event at Rushford Meadery. Winning beers will be chosen by BJCP judges Shane and Laurel and a “Best in Show” beverage will be chosen by the club

membership.

SOB Bus Trip: We had to postpone our bus trip until October but have plans to come back strong with a trip to Green Bay breweries. The details are still in the works, expect more information on the upcoming bus trip soon.

Casks and Caskets:

Due to COVID restrictions we have elected to cancel Casks and Caskets this year. Our foremost concern is for the health and safety of our members and the community. We do not feel that we can offer a sufficient level of safety during such a large event. We will be developing plans to hold a scaled down version of the event for members. More information coming soon.

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  Annual Beer Competition:

  During the July meeting the club participated in the annual beer competition. This was an open style competition, meaning that a wide range of styles were submitted. Head brewers from the local breweries acted as the judges for the competition, choosing the most true to style beer from the 13 beers entered; thank you to Zach and Ian from Fifth Ward, Jody from Bare Bones, Andrew from Fox River, and Mike from High Holder. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place trophies were awarded to the top three, most to style beers as chosen by the panel of judges. Additionally, the

  1st placebrewer will be memorialized on the traveling trophy and have their beer brewed at Fox River Brewing Company this fall. A “People’s Choice” beer was also selected from the entries by the membership during the July meeting. This brewer is awarded the “People’s Choice” medal. The results of the competition are as follows:

  1st: Dick Waltenberry – English Porter

  2nd: Kurt Weina – Vienna Lager

  3rd: Mike Engel – Experimental Beer (Imperial Porter with Vanilla and Bourbon)

  Peopls’s Choice: Kurt Weina – Vienna Lager

  Thank you to all brewer’s who participate in this year’s competition. Thank you to all members who assisted in selecting the “People’s Choice” beer. We were exceedingly surprised by the similar results of the membership and judges scoring this year. And again, thank you to the judges for taking the time to judges beers made by these SOBs!

May 20, 2020 virtual meeting

May Virtual Meeting Minutes:

12 SOBs loaded up the WebEx meeting for what we hope is our last online meeting. COVID has had a large effect on our plans for the year; many of our usual events have needed to be canceled or drastically changed to reflect safer social interactions. Our number one goal is the health and safety of our members, so we used this meeting to discuss event planning for the rest of the year.

June Meeting:

Like many events and gatherings, we have had to cancel our live meetings for the past three months. However, as businesses and organizations are finding better, more safer ways to operate in the midst of COVID we feel that we are going to have the chance for a live meeting in June.  The location is not yet confirmed but we should expect an outdoor venue with ample room to spread out. More details to come soon.

Big Brew Day:

Although we were unable to meet as a group in early May to participate in the official Big Brew Day the club would still like to hold a Big Brew Day style event. We believe that meeting outside will afford adequate possibility for social distancing. With added hand sanitizing stations, we fully believe this would be a great way for the SOBs to reunite and partake in our usual camaraderie. We have thought about holding the event in tandem with a wort share at Fifth Ward. More details to come soon.

Wort Share:

Our friends at Fifth Ward have offered the opportunity for the SOBs to join in a wort share sometime in June. The wort would be post-boiled Octoberfest style. Members would be able to take some of the wort home and ferment however they desire with whatever additions the desire to achieve a final beer. More details to come soon.

SOB Picnic:

Every August the SOBs meet for a picnic to celebrate our friendship. We should expect nothing different this year. The date (third week in August) will remain the same, but the details might look a little different. More details to come soon.

Casks and Caskets:

Unfortunately, with many local businesses, including our sponsors, feeling the effects of reduced business over the last three months we do not feel at this time that we will be able to plan a full-blown Casks and Caskets. We rely heavily on funds from our sponsors to host the event and we do not feel at this time it would be appropriate to ask for such an investment. We would still like to hold a C&C type event, but on a smaller scale and limited to SOB members and their family.  More details to come soon.

Bus Trip:

Assuming conditions continue to improve the SOBs would like to take a trip to Green Bay in October. We would visit some great breweries and share some great laughs. More details to

come soon