Brew Year Resolutions

The New Year is upon us, and it is time for us to resolve to change ourselves for the better--and what better way to do so than to make a small amount of Brew Year Resolutions! Resolution #1: Enter, judge, steward, and attend the Upper Mississippi Mash-Out--January 27-29 Go to mnbrewers.com for details. The word on the street is that this might be a throw-down between the MHBA and the SPHBC, to be won by the club with the most points! And who can resist the scrumptious catered beer banquet that precedes the awards ceremony? Never entered a homebrew contest?--there's a category just for you folks. Resolution #2: Commit yourself and your brew kettle to defeating QUAFF (and all other homebrew clubs) in the AHA Nationals competition in April and June. Many folks have sent me a list of beers that they promise to brew and enter this year, and we already have a 12-point lead on QUAFF going into the competition, thanks to Kris England's first place in the Smoked and Wood-Aged club-only competition! Don't delay--send me your list of what you will brew and enter, please! Each entry helps much, but we definitely need more folks to volunteer to brew lagers of all sorts, light ales, Scottish ales, porters, IPAs, weiss beer, Belgian and French ales, and spiced and smoked ales. That's categories 1, 3-6, 9, 12, 14-16, and 21-22 for those of you checking your 2005 BJCP style guidelines at bjcp.org! Remember to sign up to judge and steward this early April event when the time comes, because the Twin Cities are a first-round judging site! No shipping hassles for our entries! Resolution #3: Convince, coerce, cajole--heck, just DRAG a fellow homebrewer to a club meeting. More people means more ideas, more energy, and MORE BEER! Thanks for your attention, and let's work together (after the dust from the UMMO grudge match settles) to be the American Homebrewers Association's CLUB OF THE YEAR! John (Mr. "obsessed with MN being the AHA Club of the Year")