Thank to all who came to our Annual Chili Cook off and Election meeting this past Saturday. We had 10 chilis to taste and judge. All were amazing, but Neil Saund took home the prize for best chili, with Michael Musgrave’s as runner up missing the tie by one vote. A fabulous Pumpkin Mole by Parker Waechter won most unique chili.

Also going on at the meeting was brew led by our very own Dan White who made Carl Townsend’s Weizenbock that we had the privilege of brewing with Firestone on Halloween. We ended up with 18 gallons of beer that was put in 4 carboys. Carl and Dan plan to ferment each one with a different yeast. 6 gallons will be fermented with Bavarian Hefeweizen yeast, 5 with American Hefeweizen yeast, 5 gallons with both Bavarian and American Hefeweizen yeasts, and 2 gallons with dregs from Firestone Feral One, Russian River Consecration, and Allagash Farm to Face.

The other major event that took place was our election for next years board. Each nominee gave a speech to the attendees about why they should be selected. Here is a summary of what each person had to say:

PRESIDENT

Lloyd Johnson wants to

• help keep this club heading in a direction that benefits all members and see the growth of our passion, homebrewing. Finish the current ventures, that the current board has started, as well as bring back some of the old traditions we’ve lost, and hopefully start some new ones to come.
• help promote home brewing by bringing back the monthly style home brew competition, where club members bring their home brew in the style of the month to have the chance to win a gift certificate to the Culver City Home Brew Store.
• promote education by bringing back Big Brews where club members bring their brewing sets, to do multiple brews in one day, in one location so that they can see multiple processes in home brewing from many different levels of extract to all grain
• schedule different different education events such as hop evaluations, off flavor testing, Cicerone training, BJCP Judge training and evaluating the test requirements, and much, much more
• work on accomplishing our goal of becoming a 501(3)(c) non profit.

Ian Fraser wants to

• bring back some of that inclusiveness that created the growth of the club as well as the comradery that went along with it
• bring back the big brews to enhance the educational aspects, the bus trips to educate the knowledge of various breweries and the experiences of their brewers
• train the next generation of leaders so that they have a vision of the club going forward that maintains our history in the process

VICE PRESIDENT

Michael Musgrave says he is

• thankful for the great structure, reputation and relationships Brian, Tad and Ramesh have contributed and are leaving as their legacy
• honored to work alongside the existing board members and looking forward to growing the club together
• stoked and already mapping out our First Friday schedule for ’16!”

TREASURER

Timothy Bardet says

• hes been member since the second meeting
• he wants to come back as treasurer and serve as he did in previous years in this position
• he’ll do a great job because “Everybody likes to get paid out!”

Tania Musgrave says

• Our friendly club culture has drawn her to more and more meetings and events, and is proud to be a member.
• Having spent time with the current treasurer, Ramesh, she feels that she knows and is prepared for the position duties.Would be honored to take over as Treasurer.
• she is organized and has previous fundraising experience with a non-profit and love new challenges

Also up for voting is Club Member of the Year. The nominees are:

Ramesh Johnston
Tad Johnston
Andrew Whittle
Lloyd Johnson
Carl Townsend

If you were not able to attend the meeting, please send your vote no later than Saturday November 21st to [email protected].

We discussed at the meeting that the holiday party on December 12th will require lots of volunteers for set up, clean up, food and beer. Stay tuned for where to sign up.

Thank you to all who contributed to a successful meeting by bringing chili and beer.

Cheers

Ramesh Johnston