QUAFF Year in Review
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About QUAFF Quality Ale and Fermentation Fraternity (QUAFF) is a 501(c)(7) organi- zation made up of men and women dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of homebrewing and beer evaluation in the greater San Diego area. We share knowledge, methods, new brewpub and micro- brewery discoveries, and good homebrew at monthly meetings and special events. From it’s humble beginnings with only a handful of members, QUAFF has grown to over 300 active members. Having changed the monthly meeting location numerous times to accommodate the growing size of the club, QUAFF meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month and takes up the entire outdoor patio space at Randy Jones All-American Grill in Mission Valley, San Diego, CA. In addition to the monthly meetings, QUAFF manages two large homebrew competitions every year. America’s Finest Homebrew Competition (AFC) occurs every February and QUAFF manages one of the National Homebrew Competition Round 1 locations. As part of the San Diego brewing scene, there is no shortage of volunteer opportunities for QUAFF mem- bers to participate in beer festivals, homebrew competitions and other beer related events. For exam- ple, Stone Brewing has their anniversary party every year, requiring hundreds of volunteers, and the en- tire proceeds are distributed to four local charities. This year, the 17th anniversary, Stone announced that it had raised over one and a half million dollars through the anniversary event alone. Every year QUAFF participates in Big Brew Day and Mead Day. This year’s Big Brew Day was spent at White Labs and Mead Day was held at a QUAFF members house, the Bixby’s. For the past several years QUAFF has hosted and / or participated in Spring and Fall campouts. All of the local homebrew clubs are invited and the campouts provide the opportunity for the homebrewers to socialize, share their homebrew and wonderful cooking skills for the potluck events. BJCP study meetings are held twice a month with one held for the North County QUAFF members at Holiday Wine Cellars in Escondido and a second held at KnB Wine Cellars in the Del Cerro area of San Diego. Topics differ from month to month but generally focus on an ingredient, off-flavor or beer style. Several beers are enjoyed related to the topic. A homebrewing swap meet was held at Societe Brewing this year. The event offered the opportunity for brewers to get rid of equipment they no longer needed. It also didn’t hurt that the event was hosted at Societe and, while not perusing the wares, brewers could enjoy a beer. A homebrew evaluation seminar was held at KnB Wine Cellars headed by Dominic Fountain. Several brewers brought in their latest creations to have them reviewed for comparison to guidelines as well to assist in identifying any off-flavors or issues. The evaluators also helped the brewers review their reci- 2 About QUAFF pes to provide input for any areas of improvement. This year a new QUAFF forum was brought online to assist homebrewers in sharing their ideas. QUAFF has long utilized a mail list to share information, but many topics were repeated and it was determined the best way to support these kinds of issues was in a forum. While not necessarily enjoyed by all QUAFF members, the hope is that these recurring topics will be more accessible on the forum. 3 Letter from the President As we review the events of the past year our members should be proud of the contributions and support to the brewing and beer loving community. Traditionally our first major event is the America’s Finest City Homebrew Com- petition. QUAFF has been sponsoring this event for many years. This year we had a record number entries from all over the United States. Our members cooked meals for over 110 people, supplying a dinner, breakfast and lunch. This year, AFC was a qualifying event for the Master Championship of Amateur Brewers, MCAB. AFC is followed a couple months later with the first round judging for the National Homebrew About QUAFF Competition. Once again this year judged a record number of entries. In March some of the members went international by traveling across the border to help judge the first Ensenada, Mexico Homebrew Competition. This is now an annual event. One of the highlights of the year was the opening of the “Kegged and Bottled” exhibit at the San Diego History Museum. This exhibit chronicled the history of brewing in San Diego from its founding to today. Of particular interest was the exponential growth of this industry in the last 20 years. Prominent in this growth was QUAFF and its members. The exhibit had a large display that featured a panel about the QUAFF Homebrew Club and how its members went on to kick start the San Diego craft brewing revolu- tion. Never before has a homebrew club been featured so prominently in a museum display. QUAFF members were a major factor in supporting the exhibit. A number of members served as docents for the display, guiding and explaining the exhibit to its many visitors. Additionally QUAFF was instrumental in organizing a major “Introduction to Homebrew” event within the exhibit. This event brought homebrewers and homebrew from all the San Diego clubs together for a large public tasting. This was instrumental in exposing many people to the wide variety of beer styles and flavors. In May over 40 club members lent their expertise to the North Park Craft Beer Festival. In its 4th year the North Park Festival brings together over 30 local brewers. QUAFF members have always been the first to volunteer to assist with the setup, management and pouring for the event. In June over 25 members traveled to Philly for the National Homebrew Conference. Club members served as judges, stewards and administration for the final round of the competition judging. One of our members also gave a presentation. In October over 20 club members traveled to Denver for the Great American Beer Festival. Members served as table captains, stewards, officials and support for the competition. QUAFF has a history of par- 4 Letter from the President ticipating in this great event. 2013 was a good representation of how QUAFF gets involved in the community. I’m sure we’ll see this continue and grow in 2014. It makes me honored to be the current president of this outstanding fra- ternity. -Larry Stein President, QUAFF Homebrew Club 5 Club Updates San Diego Suds Sorority by Juli Goldenberg, founder In October 2013, QUAFF sponsored the formation of San Diego’s first women’s homebrew club, San Diego Suds Sorority. Our mission is to build a social network of women brewers in San Diego, and to encourage interested women to become involved in homebrewing. Our members range in experience from BJCP- certified judges to interested women that have yet to brew. At our monthly meetings, we provide a place to share homebrew and hold discussions in a small and friendly forum (currently 6-10 attendees at each meeting). Additionally we hold one weekend activity per month. In January we hosted a Brewing 101 tutorial to get all members up-to-speed on the basics of brewing. This tutorial will be repeated quarterly for new members. Our February activity will be bottling the beer from our tutorial. For our March activity, we have been invited to participate in International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day. Here we will have the opportunity to assist two women brewers from Stone Brewing in brewing their collaboration beer at Hess Brewing. San Diego Suds Sorority continues to encourage and support women homebrewers. I am so proud of our progress over the past few months, and I am excited to watch the club continue to grow! Club Only Competitions by Eric Woltz, Club Only Competition Coordinator In early 2013, I assumed the role of Club Only Competition Coordinator, replacing Kim Sparrow. Shortly thereafter, in May 2013, the American Homebrewer’s Association eliminated the Club Only Competition and associated Homebrew Club of the Year award and replaced it with the Radegast Club of the Year Award. In an effort to continue improving the quality of member’s beers, the QUAFF board wisely supported my decision to continue performing QUAFF club only competitions within the club. In addition, this has al- lowed a greater degree of creativity in the types of competitions and the styles brewed in an effort to im- prove the brewing abilities of the members. QUAFF club only competitions are now performed every other month with points awarded for entering and additional points for placing in the competition. The brewer with the most points at the end of the year obtains the coveted QUAFF Homebrewer of the Year award and title. In 2013, Travis Hammond was awarded the QUAFF Homebrewer of the Year at the Oktoberfest picnic. 6 January January 4, 2013 Rip Current at O'Brien's by Bill Batten Friday, January 4th, rang in the official debut of Rip Current beers at O’Brien’s, and many QUAFF’ers were in attendance to help fellow QUAFFers Paul Sangster & Guy Shobe celebrate. Of course, they had already launched their beers the day before at Churchill’s in North County, but I for one was glad to see these beers this far down south. While Red Flag seemed to be a big hit, the Milkstache Stout was also popular that night judging by all the ‘staches’. Of course the Paddling Out Pale and the Barrier Reef Brown also drew much praise from pa- trons, many of whom weren’t even aware of Rip Current Brewing before tonight.