January DUFF Outing Tomorrow - Friday

Greetings DUFF

The January 'meeting' is coming up tomorrow Friday,  January 8th, at 6:00 pm at the Barn Bar and Restaurant in Baraboo Wisconsin. I haven't made any special arrangements (Jim may have?), it's just come, bring your wife, kids, friends etc. and grab a table hopefully near everyone else. Here's an information page with map links to the Barn. I have no idea what kind of crowd we'll encounter but I've heard they have 150 or so different kinds of beer to try so we'll have something to do before and and after dinner.

Leave Homebrew at Home (or at least in the car!)

Unless we've been told that it's O.K. to bring samples of homebrew, I don't. Bars have important liquor licenses to maintain, and bringing and sharing un-taxed alcoholic beverages onto their property is something I leave up to them to decide if they are willing to permit. I have not heard an O.K. given at this outing, although they did allow us to bring samples at the outdoor brew this fall (but that was outside). To be on the safe side, check before bringing any homebrew inside the Barn.

Hops Boom or Bust?

I heard from another friend about a recent article in the La Crosse Tribune, like this one I think. Is this the beginning of a new hops craze? If it is, Gorst Valley seems to be out front and they'll be the ones making the money, those that join in the second wave or aren't in it for the long haul tend to be the losers. I had a good harvest of over eight pounds last year and will expand this year but nothing like an acre. Maybe I'll grow enough to help Pete make 'Wisconsin' brew?

I'll be digging Cascade rhizomes in a few months and should have some to share. Maybe we can plan a hops swap/brew day in the spring and invite other clubs and growers from around the state? My last homebrew was made with all my own Cascade and Glacier varieties and is a pretty good brew.

I want to plant a small patch of Barley this year as well. One of my goals is to make beer completely from scratch! I've got a bushel or so of seed around somewhere if I can find it, and I'll test the germination to see if it's still good. That should be fun!

See you all tomorrow evening.

Mel