T.R.A.S.H. Homebrewers

For our June club meeting, club member Chris Meta has invited us to his home. In addition to offering us space for our typical meeting activities, Chris will be providing lunch for anyone who wants to eat. Summer is now upon us, so it should be a great day to spend time with other brewers, sample each other's beer, and exchange some real time feedback.

Also keep in mind that this will be our last meeting before NHC. If you're bringing some beer out there, this would be a great time to offer up some samples get some feedback from the club. I'm sure anyone who's not making it out would enjoy a chance to see what we're bringing.

June Meeting

• Chris Meta's House
• 1501 Oakwood Dr, Mt Lebanon, 15234 (map)
• Saturday, June 22 @ 2:00pm (rsvp)
• $5 if you plan on eating.

Additional Details

• Bring bottles/kegs of homebrew for some real time feedback.
• If you're eating, please contribute $5 to reimburse Chris for lunch.
• Please RSVP on the anyvite page so that we know you're coming.

RSVP Today!

• http://anyvite.com/c7igdx3drf

If you're looking for parking, Chris suggests that you avoid Oakwood Dr, and park on Vallimont Dr instead (his house is on the corner of the two). Ridge Circle Dr is another good option.

Our summer meetings are always a good time, and I'm sure this one will be no different. Should be a great time!

Once all the entries have been judged and all the scores have been tabulated, it's time for us to gather for a chance to honor the best beers, enjoy each other's company, and of course: finish all that left-over beer. It's also a great opportunity for you to pick up your score sheets just 24 hours after we wrap up the competition.

Post-Competition Banquet

• Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery (map)
• Sunday, May 19 @ 4:00pm
• Tickets can be purchased for $35 here.

Additional Details

• Pick up your competition score sheets.
• Dinner includes salad and a chose of entree from a subset of Rock Bottom's menu.
• Sample all the left-over 2nd bottles.

Buy Tickets Now!

• http://anyvite.com/ptu0m6ou0u

Whether you entered the competition or not, you're more than welcome to join us for the event. Tickets include a side salad plus a choice of entree from a subset of Rock Bottom's menu. You also get a chance to try all those 2nd and 3rd place beers that didn't advance to the best of show round. If you're looking to have a full pint of something, you can also buy a beer from Rock Bottom.

We'll be in the Sing-Sing side of the restaurant, so there will be plenty of space to bring along your friends and show off what the homebrew community is all about.

Thank you to everyone who has entered our 23rd annual competition. We have met our entry limit for this year. Please make sure to drop off your bottles by the end of business tomorrow at any of our acceptable drop off locations. You can view our drop off locations below, we look forward to judging your brews on May 18th!

South Hills Brewing Supply
2212 Noblestown Road
Greentree, PA 15205
412.937.0773 / web

South Hills Brewing Supply
2526 Mosside Blvd (Rt. 48)
Monroeville, PA 15146
412.372.8119 / web

Country Wines
3333 Babcock Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
412.366.0151 / web

Ruffled Wine & Brewing Supplies
616 Allegheny River Blvd.
Oakmont PA, 15139
412.828.7412 / web

Porter House Brew Shop
1284 Perry Hwy
Portersville, PA 16051
724.368.9771 / web
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The club has been invited once again to participate in the annual Sharp Edge Beer Fest. The event is scheduled to take place the same weekend as the National Homebrew Conference in Philadelphia, so we're looking to see if there is enough interest from people who won't be able to make it out to Philly.

Some Details

• The Great European Beer Fest (details)
• Sharp Edge Beer Emporium (directions)
• June 29 & 30, 2013 (Saturday and Sunday)
• Contact Bill Caraway to participate.

Available Sessions

• Saturday, June 29 from 3:00-6:00pm
• Saturday, June 29 from 7:00-10:00pm
• Sunday, June 30 from 2:00-5:00pm

If you serve your beer at one of the sessions, you get tickets for you and a guest to attend some other session. Also keep in mind that the Sharp Edge encourages brewers to bring European beer styles. That's not a strict requirement, but it's something to aim for.

In addition to featuring beer from some local homebrewers throughout craft beer week, Bocktown is giving the club an opportunity to promote homebrew at the Robinson on the final Saturday afternoon of craft beer week. We'll be handing out homebrew samples and passing out TRASH postcards with information on what we're all about.

Event Details

• Homebrew Showcase at Bocktown (details)
• Bocktown Robsinson (map)
• Saturday, April 27 @ 1:00pm
• Contact Mike Beattie to participate.

This is another great opportunity introduce a wider audience to homebrew. If you're interested in bringing a keg or otherwise helping out, we'd love to hear from you. Even if you can't make it, you can help us spread the word and get some beer enthusiasts to stop by!

Rivertowne's new production brewery is hosting the first ever PCBW Pro-Am Rendezvous. They're planning for an beer fest featuring both homebrew and commercial beer. TRASH members are invited to bring a keg of homebrew and serve samples to event participants. The best beer of the night, as voted by the combined votes of homebrewers and commercial brewers will be brewed commercially at the Rivertowne Pour House in Monroeville. With only a handful of homebrewers currently signed up, there's a pretty good chance that any given homebrewer could bring the winning beer.

Event Details

• PCBW Pro-Am Rendezvous (details)
• Wednesday, April 24 @ 6:00pm
• Rivertowne Brewing Company (map)
• Contact Mike Beattie if you want to participate. (no need to buy a ticket)

Beer Details

• We need to tell Rivertowne which beer we're bringing by 4/19.
• Rivertowne will supply ice, but we need to supply CO2 and serving hardware.
• Feel free to invite your friends! Participants can bring a few guests each.

The event has a max capacity of 20 homebrewers, so be sure to let me know if you plan on bringing a keg.

As part of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week, the club is sponsoring a homebrew demo at Soergel Orchards in Wexford, PA. We're targeting anyone in the community who is interested in homebrew but doesn't know where to start. In addition to brewing a relatively simple extract batch, we'll be serving samples of the finished product, and talking through each of the steps in the brewing process.

The Details

• Soergel Orchards in Wexford (map)
• Tuesday, April 23 @ 6:30pm
• Have your friends sign up today!

If you want to come along and represent the club, contact Mike Beattie. If you have friends who might be interested in learning to brew, you can direct them at the event page we're using to track RSVPs.

Registration for the 23rd Annual TRASH Homebrew Competition ("TRASH 23") is now open!

As of sometime Sunday night, we have been accepting brewer registrations and homebrew entries. For the second year in a row, both judging and the subsequent banquet will be held over the course of a single weekend at Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery (Pittsburgh location). The date is a little later than previous years (May 18), but we think that provides some comfortable distance between our competition, NHC first round, and Pittsburgh's Craft Beer Week (PCBW).

TRASH 23 Details

• Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery (map)
• Banquet: May 19, 2013 (event starts at 4:00pm)
• Judging: May 18, 2013 (judging starts at 9:00am)
• Entry Deadline: May 4, 2013

This year's awards include two different opportunities to see your beer scaled up to a commercial scale. East End Brewing Co. is sponsoring the East End Sessionable Award for the most highly ranked beer under 4.5% ABV. Rock Bottom is sponsoring a similar prize for the best of show beer (give or take a few minor restrictions). We're also rounding up a long list of sponsors looking to contribute prizes for flight winners.

Next Steps

• Competition Overview — A quick summary to get you started.
• Competition Details — Complete details, including rules and drop-off locations.
• Brewer Registration — Each brewer must register once.
• Bottle Entry — Fill out a separate bottle registration form for each entry.
• Volunteer Registration — Volunteer as a judge or steward.

We're capping entries at 500, so be sure to register soon!

For our April club meeting, we'll be headed out to Carson Street Deli: a great source of quality beer and another good friend of the local beer community. Not all that long ago, the deli was purchased by a fellow homebrewer: Mike Murphy. At the time of the sale, Mike also acquired a liquor license and started selling beer right along side the sandwiches the shop has always been known for. Just this past summer, he expanded from an existing 4-tap kegerator to about 20 taps of excellent (and often local) beer.

April Meeting

• Carson Street Deli (map)
• Sunday, April 28 @ 1:00pm
• No Meeting Fee!

Other Details

• Bring bottles/kegs of homebrew for some real time feedback.
• No meeting fee. Buy a sandwich or a beer to support our host.
• Please RSVP on the anyvite page so we know you're coming.

RSVP Today!

• http://anyvite.com/k4aarukf2y

As with the last few meetings, we will not be assigning official stewards. You're more than welcome to bring a keg, but any other vessel will work just as well. When we've taken this approach in the past, it has encouraged a wide variety of homebrew and increased brewer-to-brewer engagement. We see no need to mess with a policy that's working.

Questions? Comments? Feel free to contact the the officers.

For our March meeting, the club will make its way to the new brewing facilities of East End Brewing Company. East End has been a friend of the club for a long time — supporting our annual competition each year with the the East End Sessionable Award. Scott Smith, who I would call the "founding brewer" and owner, even has his roots in homebrew.

Our meeting coincides with the second half of Sunday Growler hours; but traffic beyond just the club should be fairly sparse. We'll start with our normal meeting activities in the growler fill area but will eventually take a guided tour of the brewery. We're all brewers, so I'm sure the tour will include much more detail than what the average public tends to see. This is definitely a meeting you don't want to miss!

March Meeting

• East End Brewing Company
• Sunday, March 10 @ 1:00pm
• No Meeting Fee!

Other Details

• As usual, bring bottles/kegs of homebrew for some real time feedback.
• Bring a growler if you want to fill it up while you're there.
• The club won't be providing food, so you may want to eat beforehand.
• Please RSVP on the Anyvite site so we can predict the head count.

RSVP Today!

• http://anyvite.com/2ienjaqm1n

As has become the tradition, we won't have any official stewards for this meeting. If you want to bring a keg, go for it; otherwise, you can bring beer in any vessel you like. What's important here is that we share homebrew and offer constructive feedback.

Questions? Concerns? Feel free to contact the officers.

For our February club meeting, we're headed up to 1 For The Road — a bottle shop and tap room up in Wexford. This time around, the guys at 1 For The Road have been kind enough to host us at no cost. Just show up, bring some homebrew, and consider buying a pint or hot dog to support their business while you're there.

February Meeting

• 1 For the Road Tap Room
• Sunday, February 24 @ 1:00pm
• No Meeting Fee!

Additional Details

• Bring bottles/kegs of homebrew for some real time feedback.
• Dues are due! Bring and extra $15 to renew your membership.
• Please RSVP so we can approximate a head count.

RSVP Today!

http://anyvite.com/gxhcymb8cw

Because the last meeting worked out so well, we're sticking with our new policy on stewards. If you want to bring a keg, you're more than welcome to. If that's not your style, then bring along bottles, a growler, or whatever format works best for you. What's important here is that we share homebrew and offer constructive feedback.

Questions? Feel free to contact the officers with any questions.

It's about time we kick off another year of brewing, beer education, and just plain good beer.

The club will be kicking off the new year with a club meeting at James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy. For those of you who aren't familiar with James Street, it's a relatively new addition to the North Side that has done an excellent job of supporting and promoting craft beer and the local beer community. They also serve up some good food to go along with that beer. The club will be meeting in the downstairs speakeasy, which is accessible via the stairwell in their main dining room.

January Meeting

• James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy
• Sunday, January 20 @ 1:00pm

Additional Details

• Meeting Dues are $15 for both members and non-members.
• Bring bottles/kegs of homebrew and get some real-time feedback.
• Please RSVP so we can approximate a head count.

RSVP Today!

http://anyvite.com/events/home/ma8gppzew8

For stewards, the club is trying something a little different this time around. We will not be designating official stewards but are still encouraging members to bring a keg if they like. Of course, you are also welcome to skip the keg and bring whatever bottle format works best for you.

Questions? Feel free to contact the officers with any questions.

As announced at our last club meeting, it is once again time for our annual holiday party. This is a great opportunity for long-time members, newer members, and everyone in between to share an evening of good beer and German food from Penn Brewery. As with all of our events club members are welcome and encouraged to bring along reasonable number of guests.

If you plan on attending, you must either pre-register or purchase tickets prior to November 26 so that we have an accurate head count for Penn Brewery. The link above will take you to a page where you can choose either option. All members who pre-register will be expected to pay full ticket price at the door. Members and guests who do not register ahead of time will be charged an additional $5 up-charge at the door.

Christmas time is right around the corner 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.

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 .

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

Don't wait...order now!

Cheers and Happy Holidays!

TRASH members..Please come to July 21 meeting - 3:00 gathering time. Here is the address for Chris Meta our gracious host..

Chris Meta
1501 Oakwood Dr
Pittsburgh, PA 15234