News

TRASH 22 is just around the corner!

The TRASH 22 Homebrew, Cider, and Mead competition has been scheduled, and it's already quickly approaching. This year's event will take place on March 10th with the post-competition banquet the following day. Based on the recent growth in the number of entries, we have decided to move both events to a larger venue: the Rock Bottom Brewery in the Waterfront shopping area. That relatively early date means the deadline for entries is Saturday, February 25th! If you were planning on brewing any more entries, then you better get on it.

For anyone who hasn't participated in a competition in the past, the club's competition is a great opportunity to give it a try. In exchange for a few dollars and two bottles of homebrew, you get detailed feedback from experienced judges. Entries that score particularly well even have a chance to take home prizes and medals for their achievement. The very best entries even have chance to have their beer brewed by a local brewer!

For complete details, stop by the competition web site: http://trashhomebrewers.org/competition

Our TRASH annual campout/picnic has been scheduled for Friday June 15 thru Sunday June 17. For those of you who don’t know, or are new to TRASH, this is a flagship event for our group and this year we are doing it big and right! You certainly will not want to miss this weekend. We have reserved The Trillium Lodge, which is a private lodge on 40 acres in OhioPyle!   Want more details?  Read on ... 

Good news for those participating in the 'Christmas Beer Buy'!

The first 12 cases of the Christmas beers have been filled. There are three cases remaining to be sold for the second 12 cases to be filled. It's first come first served on these last three so don't delay!

The case price for this year's beer by will be emailed out to each of the buyers this coming week.  The Christmas beer pickup will be on December 17 from 11 am to 2 pm at the Tomino residence in Pleasant HIlls.

If you would like to reserve one of the last 3 cases available or have any questions, please contact Don or Pam at pamtomino@aol.com.

Christmas time is here again and so are the TRASH Christmas variety cases of beer! For those of you who are unfamiliar with this very popular tradition, each year the club buys 12 different cases of Christmas beers, then makes 12 variety cases. Each case contains 2 bottles of every beer.

The first 12 members to email their requests will be on the list to purchase a variety case. Cases must be sold in multiplies of 12. Last year we sold 24 cases. The price range will be between $50.00 and $60.00 depending on how many Belgium beers are included.

If you would like to participate, please do so by emailing your name, phone number, number of cases requested, and any special beer you would to see in the case to Don Tomino at pamtomino@aol.com by December 1st.

In the past few years, the cases have gone very fast!

Don't wait...order now!

Cheers and Happy Holidays!

AHA Big Brew is a celebration of National Homebrew Day (May 7th). Each year homebrewers around the world invite family and friends to their brewing site on the first Saturday in May to celebrate the holiday. Everyone is encouraged to help out with the brew, enjoy the fun and join in on a world-wide toast at noon Central time.  Last year over 5000 pople joined in the celebration.

This year long-time TRASH member Chip Reich who has volunteerd to host the event. Chip will be brewing a 10 gallon batch of something special in celebration of the AHA 'National Homebrew Day'. It just might be one of this year's 2001 'Big Brew' recipes or it could be one of Chip's 'closet recipes'.

If you'd like to join in on the action, drop Chip a line at: ronald.reich@us.army.mil or give a call at 757.273.2455.
He'll be brewing at: 4422 Inland Ave in West Mifflin. 

Preparations for this year's homebrew competition are well underway. We already have a location set aside for judging and a slew of prizes coming in from both national homebrew suppliers and local businesses with a passion for beer. Plus, for the first time ever, we even have a post-competition banquet set up for the following day.

Details galore at the competition website: trashhomebrewers.org/competion.

And, to purchase your banquet ticket, visit the competition page on EventBrite:  http://trashcompetition.eventbrite.com/

It was just brought to my attention that there was a glitch with the account registration approvals. If you registered for an account and it has not been approved please Let me know what username you registered as.

Sorry for the inconvenience.
-Jeff Bearer

It's coming early this year. We've gotten our competition act together much sooner than the previous two years: the judging will take place on Saturday, April 9, with entries due March 26. We're also making plans for a branch new post-competition banquet on the following day (April 10).

Whether your a seasoned brewer, or just starting out, the competition is an excellent way to gather intelligent feedback for your homebrew. For each entry, you can expect hand-written score sheets with ratings, comments, and suggestions for improvement--including comments from at least 1 experienced beer judge.

To make entry easier, we've moved it online this year. Just stop by the competition section of the TRASH site and fill out the required brewer and bottle registration forms. Once you've filled out the forms, you can bring two bottles and a $6/bottle entry fee to any of the participating drop-off locations or ship it directly to the competition registrar.

Questions? Concerns? You can send them directly to the competition organizers.

Christmas time is here again and so are the TRASH Christmas variety cases of beer. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this tradition, each year we buy 12 different cases of Christmas beers, then make 12 variety cases. Each case contains 2 bottles of every beer. The first 12 members to email their requests will be on the list to purchase a case. Cases must be sold in multiplies of 12. Last year we sold 24 cases. The price range will be between $50.00 and $60.00 depending on how many Belgium beers are included.

If you would like to participate, please do so by emailing your name, phone number, number of cases requested, and any special beer you would to see in the case to Don Tomino at pamtomino@aol.com by 12/10/2010. Once all the beer has been selected, I will notify everyone by phone with the exact cost so that you can decide if you would like to buy a case.

In the past few years, the cases have gone very fast! Don't
wait...order now!

Cheers!

Peter K
TRASH President

The results of the TRASH XX homebrew competition have been posted here. We are stilling working out the East End Award and hope to announce its winner within the next week. Thank you for all of your entries and thanks to all of the judges for helping with the judging. We hope to get results mailed out to entrants within the next few weeks. Thanks Again!

Peter Kozlowski
TRASH XX Organizer

Information about this year's homebrew competition has been posted to the website. Check the competition page of the website, or copy and paste the link directly into your broser: www.trashhomebrewers.org/trashxx Deadline for entry drop off is July 3. Please contact myself if you would like to steward and/or judge at the competition. More information is available on the competition page. Cheers!

Peter K
TRASH XX Organizer

The TRASH XX Homebrew competition will take place on Saturday, July 17, 2010 at the Sharp Edge Brasserie in Peter's Township, PA. The details of the competition are still being worked out, but we hope to have everything worked out soon. Entry deadline will likely be in early July. Judges, stewards and volunteers will definetley be needed. Look for more info soon. Cheers!

Peter K
TRASH President / Competition Organizer

A small group of homebrewers / beer geeks with an idea to bring the National Homebrew Conference to Pittsburgh in 2012 is currently being formed. In case you are unaware, the NHC is the largest gathering of homebrewers in one location ever at any one time during the year. Check out this website http://www.ahaconference.org/ to see what this years conference has to offer. This is an open call to any active/inactive/never-active TRASH members and/or affiliates that would like to join in the effort to bring the conference to Pittsburgh. The idea is still in the planning phase but we are hopping to have a formal proposal to the American Homebrew Association by the end of February. If you have interest in joining this group or questions about what is needed, please contact me at peter_kozlowski@fastmail.fm.

Cheers!

Peter K

Thanks to everyone who endured the wet weather to come out and tailgate before the Pirate's game. It was a good time for all in attendance. Please join us for our next meeting ath Armand Houle's House on October 10, and/or at Blue Dust in Homestead on Sunday, November 8 (don't worry Steelers are playing Monday night that week). Also, don't forget to sign up for the Cider Press. Look for more info about all of these events in the newsletter. Cheers!

Peter K
TRASH President

The votes are in, and it wasn't even close! TRASH was voted by by attendees at the Steel City Big Pour as "Best of Fest". Congratulations to all the TRASH members whose hard work and awesome homebrew made this honor possible!