Mid Columbia Zymurgy Association

You may have noticed a change around here, and hopefully it’s a change for the better!  We have now switched our site over to WordPress, which will allow us and you, our fellow zymurgians, to see and do more than ever before.

Across the top of the homepage are links both back to the homepage and to a handy “About Us” section, detailing some of the who, what, where, when, and why of the club.  On the right, you will find a search toolbar, useful club information including our official Constitution and Bylaws, other clubs we are associated with, as well as an event calendar.  You can comment on any post that you see here, as long as you have your username and password.  Don’t remember your password?  You can have it emailed to you, no charge!

So poke around, read up on past articles, and comment away!

Our next MCZA club meeting will be held on Thursday, October 20 at Ice Harbor Brewery.  Tasting begins at 7:00pm and business will get under way at 7:30pm.  Topics to be discussed this month include, but are not limited to:

• Fall Megabrew – our next club Megabrew will go down at Ice Harbor on Saturday, October 29th.  Be sure to attend the meeting to hear about the style, when things will be getting under way, and to pre-pay for your spot in line.  From Article IV, Section 3 of the bylaws section of the official MCZA Constitution and Bylaws: “Money collected from Megabrew subscribers is directed to the treasurer and the order that payment is received is noted on the sign-up list, which is maintained by the Organizer or treasurer.”  To put it another way, we will dispense the Megabrew concoction in paid order, so make sure you pay and pay early for your place.
• National Homebrew Day – Saturday, November 5, members of our club are invited to bring their brewstands from home, and will be brewing all day and be available for questions.  Whether you are an experienced homebrewer looking for tips or ideas on how to build a new stand, or a novice who hasn’t brewed a day in his life, come down and get schooled!
• Quarterly Club style- as we discussed at last month’s meeting, our quarterly styles are a rye (both American and German) and pumpkin beer.  We will not be providing recipes this time, but be sure to check out their respective BJCP style guidelines at http://www.bjcp.org/docs/2008_Guidelines.pdf.  American Rye is style 6D; German Rye is 15D; and the pumpkin beer would fall under style 21A.  Both styles will be judged at our December club meeting.

Hope to see you all next Thursday, Oct. 20!

At the September club meeting, there was much debate/discussion over whether our next club style brew should be an American Rye or a pumpkin beer. Since we are so good at making up our minds, especially when it comes to tasty beer, it was decided that we will go ahead and do BOTH!

That’s right! Feel free to make either a rye (American or German) or pumpkin beer (or both!), and we will plan on judging all entries at the December club meeting. The catch?: We will not be providing a recipe for either style of beer, however we do plan on providing the BJCP style guidelines for each.

So, get to brewing, and bring your creation(s) with you in December. Cheers!

Bring your loved ones and your appetite and join your peers on Saturday, October 8 at the MCZA Fall Picnic! The picnic will be held at Bill and Traci Allan’s starting at 5:00pm. Their address is 902 W. 42nd Ave., in Kennewick. A map of their location can be found here.

There will be some BBQ and beer provided, but please feel free to bring along a side and any homebrew that you would like to share. This event
is family-friendly, so the little ones are certainly welcome! Last year was a great turnout, even if the weather didn’t want to cooperate. Let’s help make this year’s picnic one to remember!

So pack up your loved ones and growlers, and we hope to see you Oct. 8!