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Forest
City Brewers
Barley News
Our
First Meeting at Old Chicago
The Forest City Brewers held their November meeting at Old Chicago for the first time ever.
The members all seemed to enjoy themselves as usual, this humble reporter being, most definitely, no exception.
We were seated at tables arranged side by side in the form of a large square which in my opinion gave the meeting a feeling of togetherness. Others may have been turned off by the more rigid seating style.
I personally found the noise drifting over from the patrons seated in the dining area to be a bit distracting during the times when someone was addressing the group. This problem did correct itself as the dinner hour passed.
I was slightly surprised upon our arrival in what was supposed our "private" meeting area by the presence of patrons. They did finish up their dinner and no one else was seated in our area for the remainder of the night.
The management of Old Chicago is very anxious to have their establishment become our new home. The beer selection is unparalleled and the service is great. Additionally, the menu suits our tastes well. Being someplace where we are appreciated and wanted is also a pleasant switch. We were provided with a bar server which was a nice added touch. Both Joe and Josh mentioned that if we required anything please let them know and it would be provided. They said that if we had any suggestions or criticisms about the venue they would be corrected the following month.
At the second Novemebr meeting, held in the basement of LT's, members voted on changing our location to Old Chicago and the idea was soundly defeated.
The consensus among members present at the second November meeting was that the dining room at Old Chicago was just too loud to be a good meeting place for our group. Other venues that have been suggested include Der Raskeller, All the BrewHa, and continuing at LT's. We'll be discussing this again at the December meeting. So bring any ideas you might have and be prepared to argue for whichever venue you find most appealing. |
NOTE
FROM PRESIDENT (PRO TEM)
Thanks to everyone who showed up for the second November meeting. I thought the turnout was great. We held the club elections and I'm proud to present the following officers who will preside in 2002:
* President: Pat Cunningham
* Treasurer: Nikki Lawson
* Secretary: Rich & Maryanne Theyerl
* Activity Director: Ken Lonergan
* Director of Communications (Media Mogul): Andy Friedl (appointed)
We've had another great year. In addition to our ever-improving monthly competitions, some of the highlights included:
* Summer Picnic - thanks to Nikki & Keith Lawson
* Taste of the Stateline - thanks to Ken Schulz
* The club pub tour - thanks to Ken Lonergan
* Taste of the Mid-west - thanks to Jim Didier (Haji-Haji)
* Oktoberfest - thanks to Lynn & Barb Foster
* Christmas Party - Thanks again to Richard & Maryanne Theyerl
Also we've recently seen the opening of a Rockford based home brew supply shop, All The BrewHa located north of LT's at Liberty Square, 929 South Alpine Rd. Operated by club members Mike and MaryKay Teefey, you should all make it a point to visit them soon. If you were planning to place an order for brew supplies, please visit All The BrewHa first.
I have enjoyed my stint as president pro-tem, but am now looking forward to passing the reigns to Pat. I want to thank all of you for the support you have given me. I have enjoyed my association with FCB the past ten years and I look forward to at least ten more. It is of course the members who make it an enjoyable experience and I feel confident that our new and returning officers will do an excellent job of preserving the continuity of membership, programs and special events.
Just a reminder, dues are payable ($25) starting in January.
Please pay your dues prior to the March meeting.
See you on the 19th at LT's for the final meeting of the year. Unfortunately we have lost our room downstairs, so look for our group on the main floor.
Roger Hosfeld -- President Pro tem
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COMPETITION
RESULTS
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Winners
for December
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Style---
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1st
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2nd
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3rd
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3rd
-- |
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Open
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1st
--
--
2nd
--
--
3rd
--
--
4th
--
-- |
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Styles
for 2001-2002
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2001
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Nov.
Pale Ale
Dec. Open |
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2002
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Jan.
Porter
Feb. Bock
Mar. Irish Amber
Apr. Belgian Ale
May Maibock |
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WEB
MASTER NEWS
Website administrator and communications officer Andy Friedl asked that submissions to our website be simply
e-mailed to him for posting. There is no way for members to post their own news on the
website unless you use the Brew Board. Our website is located at the following URL...easy
- http://drink.to/fcb
hard -
Andy's
email address is : afriedl@charter.net
.....
SECRETARY'S
NOTES FROM LAST MEETING
Help needed with Homebrewer of the Year!
Due in part to my own poor housekeeping skills, in part to our computer woes, and in part to an unexpected change of power over the summer we have no idea how the scoring is going for the Brewer of the Year title. What we need from any member that might have them are old copies of the Barley News. Specifically April, May, September and October. From this information we should be able to reconstruct the standings. |
TREASURER'S
REPORT
Beginning checkbook balance as of 9/6/01--$638.66
Judging $18.00
New Memberships $25.00
Ending checkbook balance as of 10/01/01 $681.66
And that's all there is to it!
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The Fifth Annual FCB Christmas Party!
Once again it was a rousing success. Rich and Maryanne both invited people from their respective jobs which, as in the past, increased the diversity of the crowd, the noise level and made the whole damn thing tax-deductible.
Thanks to Pat Cunningham who retrieved his CO2 tank from home we were all able to have homebrew on draft. Lynn Foster also supplied an excellent barley wine. Sorry Lynn, during cleanup I forgot and threw away your nice flip top bottles. We owe you five or six bottles.
The food brought by members was excellent. People enjoyed cigars, drink, food and company.
We once again distilled brandy in our small still, which, in our inebriated state was quite drinkable.
We are already making plans for next year's bash.
Newsletter
Archive
November
2001
October
2001
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