Toast
“To Norm – patron saint of the barstool throne. Where every pint felt like coming home. May our taps run steady, our laughter loud, and may every brewer make Norm proud. To cold beer, good friends, and never drinking alone. Cheers to Norm!”
Guests/New Members
28 members were present.
Who is Brewing?
- The current club total is 212 BUs.
Upcoming Events
- 15 JUL – ReBrew 2
- 02 AUG – Mead Day
- 06 AUG – SBL Monthly Meeting at Coastal Empire
New Business
- Cheryl has a 275 gallon tote available that was acquired from the Botanical Gardens. It is useful to capture rain water. See Cheryl if you want it.
Committee Discussion
Brew News
None
Treasurer’s Report
Gene gave his report of the overall SBL budget.
Barrel Committee
- Barrel 1 – The Duchesse Red – Still going.
- Barrel 2 – Lambic – John E. will pull a sample and send a message in the group chat.
- Vince will check to see what options we have for a new barrel. The general concensus is that we will make a mojito mead using honey left over from Domras Cup. We are looking for a tequila or rum barrel.
- We could possibly raffle the old barrel at Domras Cup.
Merch
- The print shop is working on embroidery but there is no date yet for that. They are also working on sourcing the work-type shirts. They are very accommodating and even have a “bring your own shirt” program. They will add our logo/design to whatever you bring in.
They are creating a design for ReBrew shirts as well for event volunteers. John E. is waiting for beer name approval before moving forward with the overall design.
The Bridge Run is actually happening again this year, and members said that they would like a new shirt design for that. John E. will work on this.
Competitions
- ReBrew – 15 JUL, Service Brewing. We have 10 entries this year. We will need help setting up for the event starting at 5:15 pm and we will also need help with tear down for 45 minutes after. There will be about 150 GAWP members present. Beer name approval will be finalized in the next couple days. Participants should drop their kegs off the day before and Service will store them for us. Water pickup is tonight and participants should contact Henry or Andres to pickup if not available tonight.
GAWP is providing $30 per participant for ingredients. Henry will provide the items so see him for that.
Participants should bring 2 bottles of their beer to the July meeting at 6pm for BJCP-style judging. We will use 100% electronic scoresheets for judging.
- Uber Open – 23 AUG at the Eckles’. Make sure you have a ride home!
Old Business
BJCP Cider Judging
John W. and Vince are working on procuring New England style ciders for the next class.
Website
Kristen is waiting to hear back from Chris W. to complete the website transfer and setup.
Upcoming Stammtisch
- July – Cheryl and Dave, 26 JUL
- August – Eckles in conjunction with Uber Open, 23 AUG
Tech Talk
Jeremy and Scott discussed the use of PET fermenters and pressure fermentation. Anvil no longer sells the PET fermenters so Scott was looking for a different option. They discovered that PET kegs can be used for pressure fermentation, especially for lagers. Jeremy and Scott would like to do a group order of PET kegs
You can ferment in elevated temperatures if you ferment under pressure and it will still yield the expected esters in certain styles, as long as the correct yeast is used. They use a ball lock disconnect and you can transfer using that. The ball float allows you to transfer from the top, leaving trub behind with no oxygen introduction. You would use a spunding valve with pressure release to monitor carbon dioxide pressure and release if necessary. You can also bottle condition in the keg if you do not wish to do pressure fermentation. If you pressure ferment, you could serve from the same vessel right away. You can also use the CO2 pressure from one keg to push cleaner/sanitizer through to numerous other connected kegs. The whole process will result in less CO2 being utilized from the tank, which decreases costs for brewers.
Member Discussion
Chris S. is interested in coordinating a club trip in May/June 2026. We plan on traveling to the U.K. with other potential options targeting ciders.
Lee expressed interest in a local trip this year, possibly to Charleston. We can designate sober drivers or get a charter bus (which can become expensive). It could be a day trip or a long-weekend. We could use the trolly for free to go from brewery to brewery. Another option is traveling to Helen, GA for the Oktoberfest celebration. Lee will look into the charter bus for a day trip to Charleston and get back to the club with pricing.
Chandler mentioned that we need to be rcruiting new members. Multiple ideas were discussed by members including having a graphic designer make a flyer to display at every local brewery. We could have the club provide ingredients for a joint brew day. Since AHA events are pre-planned ahead of time, members should receive advanced notification with proper planning so that more people can join. Kristen noted that she tells bartenders and others about the club whenever out in Savannah, including those serving mead at Savannah Bee Company.