Mid Columbia Zymurgy Association

Our third-Thursday monthly meeting will be this Thursday, May 17 at Ice Harbor. Per usual, we will begin at 7:00pm, with business getting under way around 7:30pm.

First off, a huge thank you to all of the club members who volunteered their time at last weekend’s UnTapped Blues and Brews Festival! The weather was perfect, the music was sublime, and our Session IPA was well-received. Also, a big thanks goes out to Dave Nichols for last Friday’s MCZA reception at the Clover Island IHB. Around 10-12 people showed up (including the very busy Mr. Nichols!) and had a great time. Thank you to those who came out last weekend and helped represent the MCZA!

For those of you who have brewed the club quarterly style (Belgian Wit), we will be judging it at this week’s meeting. Please try to bring a few 22 oz. bottles or a growler for club members to sample and judge.

We may also discuss possible plans for an MCZA event this summer (Yakima River float, anyone?). Hope to see you there!

Come join your fellow members in celebrating National Homebrew Day by participating in Big Brew on Saturday, May 5. Club members are invited to bring down their own homebrew stands to Ice Harbor and brew a batch, or, if you’d rather leave your equipment at home, come watch how others in the club do their thing. Come ask questions, learn how a variety of homebrewing systems work, and have a pint! We generally get started around 8am, and will have a commemorative toast at 10am. Hope to see you there!

Just a (late*) reminder that we will be meeting tonight, April 19, at 7:00pm at Ice Harbor Brewing. Topics may/may not include the club quarterly style and the UnTapped Blues and Brews Festival.

Per usual, business will get underway around 7:30pm. Hope to see you there!

(* Apologies for said lateness; Ms. Publicist was a tad busy changing her prefix to “Mrs.”!)

Our club quarterly style this go around is a Wit. The recipe we are going off of was part of AHA’s Big Brew in 2011, called “Must Be the Season of the Wit”. You can find the recipe for both extract and partial-mash set ups here.

Remember, we are all meant to use this recipe to try to brew the  beer as best we can to the BJCP style guidelines. The guidelines for a Belgian Witbier, #16A, can be found here.

We aim to hold our club competition for this style at the May meeting. So get brewing, and have fun!

Just a friendly reminder that our spring Megabrew is going down tomorrow, Saturday, March 31 at Ice Harbor Brewing, beginning at 8:00am. Plan on coming early and helping out. You can also pay for your spot in line, as well as your yearly dues if you have not paid them already.

The tentative grain bill for this session IPA includes the following:

• 300# GW Pale malt
• 110# Pilsner malt
• 25# Cara-pils
• 25# Crystal 40
• 25# Crystal 80
• 25# Wheat malt

Chinook and Centennial hops will make an appearance, perhaps with others…

Some members of the group will be milling the grains tonight at IHB at 5:00pm; if you would like to go down and help out/bug them, you are more than welcome! If you have any questions, contact info@mcza.org. Otherwise, hope to see you tomorrow at Ice Harbor!