April 2024

April 7th marks National Beer Day. The day that the Cullen-Harrison Act (signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt) went into effect, which allowed the legalization of beer sales in the U.S. Have a beer and celebrate this great day! 

Monthly Meeting

• Date: April 20th

• Time: 11 am – 12 pm

• Location: *** Colorado Sake Co. ***

• Address: 3559 Larimer St, Denver, CO 80205

April’s meeting is at Colorado Sake Co. The owner, William, will talk to us about his business and the process of Sake making, including Q&A time. Colorado Sake Co. is the place for authentic Japanese cuisine and Sake in Colorado! 

Quarterly Happy Hour

• Date: May 1st

• Time: 6pm - 8 pm

• Location: Burns Family Artisan Ales Barrel House

• Address: 2505 W 2nd Ave #13, Denver, CO 80219

Mark your calendar and join us at Burns Family Artisan Ales in South West Denver. Let’s have a pint or two together at this really fun location.

Olympics Quarterly Challenge

The June quarterly challenge is the Olympics. If you attended the March meeting, and chose to participate, you received a random country. For this challenge you will need to ferment something representative of the country you received. Didn’t make it to the March meeting and want to participate? Email lakewoodfermentationclub@gmail.com letting us know and we will get you a country. Submissions are due at Old 121 by end of day June 9th.

Soup It Up! Homebrew Competition

Can we take 1st place as the top club in this competition and sweep the Heavy Medal winners with club members? Let’s go all in and enter big into the Soup It Up! homebrew competition!

• Remember to use LFC24 for $1 off each entry. Click here for the competition registration link.

• Entries are due 4/19 at Tom’s Brew Shop.

• Award ceremony is 5/11 at 3 pm at Tom’s Brew Shop.

Education Corner

Tips to Improving Mash Efficiency

• Mill your grain more finely. Even consider double milling (I went from 63-68% up to 75-78% by doing this).

• Check your pH and that it is between 5.2 - 5.4

• Mash length - try increasing the time, especially when mashing lower than 150.

• Stir the mash - try doing this every 10 minutes for the first 30-40 minutes.

• Recirculate or sparge longer.

Checking pH, correctly milling your grain, and a few other items can improve mash efficiencies. Yet, remember that it is better to be able to re-brew the same beer twice and hit the same numbers, rather than trying to get the best efficiency.