September 2023

It’s September already, GABF and Octoberfests are starting! What a great time of year as the weather is still warmer as fall nears. And with all the rain we’ve had, it has been so much greener than normal.  Isn’t Colorado a great place to be?

Have you submitted and dropped off your September quarterly challenge, Sunday is the due date.

Monthly Meeting

• Date: September 16th

• Time: 10 am – 12 pm

• Location: Old 121

• Address: 1057 S Wadsworth Blvd, Lakewood, CO 80226

September’s meeting is our fermentation and food pairing quarterly challenge. This is a great time to meet other members and taste some great fermentations (and food!). This event is welcome to all, whether you entered the quarterly competition or not.

For those that created a quarterly challenge entry, remember to bring:

• 3-4 additional bottles (or bottle equivalent) of your beverage

• The food you paired your fermentation to go with

• Any serving plates, forks, etc. needed

At the end of our meeting, we’ll announce the winners from the more formal judging (without the food pairing). There will also be a club vote for the best in person fermentation and food pairing!

GABF Meet Up

If you bought your GABF ticket for the member session (from 12-4pm on September 23rd), let’s meet outside the line a little bit before 11 and get in line together at 11. If you’re late or running into chaos, don’t hesitate to reach out.

LFC Tumblers Fundraiser

Do you want to help us do even more great fermentation stuff? Have you seen the LFC tumblers? They’re so rad! These are for sale and available for purchase at the meeting! Paid Member fee is $30/tumbler and non-paid member (including for a plus 1) fee is $40/tumbler. 

Quarterly Happy Hour

• Date: October 24th

• Time: 6pm - 8 pm

• Location: Sunroom Brewing

• Address: 3242 S Acoma St, Englewood, CO 80110

Join us at Sunroom Brewing in Englewood, behind the Gothic Theater, where we’ll get to meet owner’s Melanie and Matthew. It will be a great evening, just before the holiday season begins. Let’s have a pint or two together and get to know one another in Englewood and an iconic Colorado area.

Education Corner

Cleaning and sanitizing are so greatly important. Do you find yourself rushing or cutting corners on this step? As we go about our fermentations, we’ll spend so much time on the other parts of the process from spending time researching recipes to gathering ingredients to caring so much about mash temperatures and what a brew day entails. Cleaning and sanitation might be the least fun step but they are just as important, if not more so, as the other steps in our process. Here’s some quick tips to help:

• Don’t rush! Give each step the time that the chemicals you are using require.. And remember it is a two step process - clean and then sanitize. Both steps are important and serve different purposes.

• A spray bottle, sealed bucket or tote, keg, etc. with sanitizer that was made with distilled water is usually reusable and can save money.

• Don’t be cheap and think ordinary dish soap or detergent can suffice for cleaning. If you’re using a cleaning alternative to something like PBW, research it to make sure it can clean at the level for our fermentations.

• Don’t use abrasive sponges or brushes, etc. that can scar plastics and equipment. Doing so only creates hidden areas for wild bacteria and yeast.