September 2024

One of my favorite times of year, when breweries start releasing beers made with wet hops. That time is upon us, the time for harvest would have been mid-late August. So we should start seeing wet hops beers welcoming us into fall. 


Monthly Meeting

September's meeting is the tasting for our All ‘Bout Colorado Challenge. We’ll taste the quarterly challenge entries and hear from each participant about what they made. A reminder for folks to bring in 2-3 samples of your entry. After tasting, the winners will be announced. This event is welcome to all, whether you entered the quarterly competition or not. 


All ‘Bout Colorado Quarterly Challenge

Reminder entries are due at Old 121 Brewhouse by September 15th at 6 pm. Dont forget to fill out an entry form, click here. On the entry form you will tell the judges what made your entry All 'Bout Colorado.


Oktoberfest

Who’s ready for Oktoberfest? There are events all month long, anyone making it to all of them? Keystone just did their event Labor Day weekend. Vail has two weekends of events Sept 6th-8th and Sept 13th-15th. Breckenridge has their event coming up Sept 13th-15th. Denver also has 2 weekends Sept 20th-22nd and Sept 27th-29th.


Club Brew Day

We will be making a Pumpkin Ale, hopefully with enough time to bring some to October’s meeting. Stop by for all or a portion, the beer taps will be flowing and there will be some kind of food. Feel free to bring some homebrew to share! 


Great American Beer Festival Tickets

Tickets for this year's Great American Beer Festival (Oct 10th-12th) are now available. If you want to attend we will plan a club meetup for the Saturday afternoon session. This year is a little different as there will only be 1 session on Saturday from 12:30-4:30pm. More info on the GABF website


Education Corner

Cider Me Up?

I remember making my first cider, my wife was drinking what I made. She’s not a beer person. Over 3 weeks we had kicked a keg on our own. Many people think of Angry Orchard when cider is mentioned, yet cider does this sweet and cloying. The art of making cider is similar to wine, where post-fermentation adjustments are made to dial in the flavor profile sought.


Like any fermentation, there is a vast range of fermentations that are possible. Many advanced cider makers make or buy their own juice from custom vineyards. Fermentations can be controlled or even wild fermentations (where the yeast from the apples is used). 


If you haven’t tried a Cider, try this Brulosophy recipe. It is a basic process and simple recipe using store bought juice. Their process includes adding berries, which can also be skipped. When back sweetening, mix and taste as you’re adding the frozen juice, so that you’re matching the level of sweetness you prefer. A word of warning, this works best if you’re a kegger. However, if you bottle, it is still possible. Bottle up still cider. For this, do a little research/Googling to understand the correct amount of Potassium Sorbate and Campden tablets to add.