The Barley Whispers

Official Newsletter of the Forest City Brewers 

January 2008 Edition

Next meeting will be held at Shooter’s Bar and Grill

Wednesday January 16^th,  2008 at 7:00 PM  

Table of Contents:

·        President’s Notes -                               Page 1

·        Meeting Notes -                                    Page 1

·        Website Notes  -                                   Page 1

·        Club Event Notes –                              Page 1

·       Competition Corner –                        Page 1

President’s Notes:

Well, this is it. My last President’s Notes column. I tried a few different things over the past two years as President for the club. Some worked, some didn’t. Some were supported, some weren’t. In the end, I hope that people will feel that the club is at least a little better now than it was when I started. Hopefully, some of the things that worked and were supported will be continued. The only way for the club to grow and improve is by support from the members.

Some of you know that I have been a Realtor for as long as I have been in this club. Well, now that I have a two year old son at home to consider, I have taken a new job. I am currently working in the IT department at Alpine Bank. Some of you also know that I recently moved from my home in Machesney Park to a new home in South Beloit. I’m telling you all this because it is likely that I won’t be coming to as many Forest City Brewer’s meetings for awhile. However, now that I live 5 minutes from downtown Beloit, I will still be attending meetings at Stateline Brewing Society. I have mentioned the club a few times at our meetings. If you are interested in joining us for our meetings, just let me know, or check out the link at the bottom of the FCB webpage. You should see the webpage, it’s extra nice now that Andy shelled out the big bucks for our own domain name. Extra nice. We usually have a dozen or so people in attendance at our meetings and we sample homebrews and tasty microbrews shared by our members. There is no membership fee to join.

http://www.statelinebrewingsociety.com/

Meeting Notes:

At the December meeting, the officers for 2008 were announced as follows:

President – Chuck Nolen

Vice President – (By Committee) Trish Phillips and Darin Kolls

Events Director – Dave Denale

Treasurer – Steve Hall

Congratulations to our new officers and a big thanks to our returning officers for their continued support.

There was some discussion about changes proposed to the monthly contest awards, points, and Homebrewer of the Year awards. There will be some changes made to the contests in 2008 to encourage participation, and reward dues paid members.

Then we sampled our monthly contest brews. Great participation this month with 14 homebrews to sample.

Style Contest – Winter/Spiced Ales           Open Contest

1.  Samantha Barcelona                            1.  Mike Coisman – IPA

2.  Brian States                                          2.  Dave D./Pat C.         – American Stout

3.  Ken Scultz                                             3.  Chris Baar – Porter 

Congratulations to Samantha who was a first time winner, and Brian States who took second place at his very first meeting. Great job, and welcome aboard!                                                                   

Honorable Mention –  Katherine Suprenant, Alex Segneri, Chad Trank,

Trish Phillips, Steve Hall, Ken Scultz                                                                              

Website Notes:

Points and stuff are updated through December.

Club Event Notes:

The next Taster’s Guild meeting  will meet at The Oasis Micro Pub on

February 6^th 2008. Please visit the website for more information.

Competition Corner:

Drunk Monk is coming up in March. This contest gets bigger every year. Any ribbons earned at this one are a big deal. Brew up your best and REPRESENT!