June 20, 2024
Fossil Cove Brewery, Fayetteville, AR
- Attendance: 15
- Homebrews: 15
Meeting started at 7:15 PM by Kevin Elsken with a toast by Keith Linn.
Last Month
- Brewer of the Month: Ben Farhner
- Beer of the Month: Ben Farhner’s sour gruit stout
- Ass of the Month: Keith Linn
Guests
- Harold and Rex
Beers were introduced and an intermission taken to sample the beers.
Meeting reconvened at 7:42 PM.
Old Business
Budget
- Kevin Elsken reviewed this year’s proposed budget and pointed out that the club is short on its membership goal for the year by about 12 members. The club is open to ideas on driving membership.
Iron Brewer Competition
- Q2 2024: Pepper Beer (30A), due July 2 at OZ
- Q3 2024: Imperial Stout (20C), due October 17 at FLOPS
- Q4 2024: Bière de Garde (24C), due January 7 at OZ
Brewer of the Year Points
- Kevin Elsken clarified the rules around points for charitable events
- If a member supplies any quantity of beer to a charitable event, they receive a flat 200 points.
- If a member serves or volunteers in one or more capacities at a charitable event, they receive a flat 100 points.
- If a member supplies beer and volunteers, they may receive a maximum of 300 points.
- Big Brew Day does not count a charitable event, but it does count as a brew-in.
- Kevin Elsken addressed large versus small homebrew competitions, noting that members are responsible for supplying Greg Newman with information about the competition, including how many beers were entered and any other relevant information so the officers may decide if it qualifies as large or small.
AHA Membership
- Kevin Elsken encouraged members to join the AHA if they haven’t already.
Great Southern Beer Festival
- The event was moved to Saturday, June 22.
- Club members discussed equipment being brought to the festival, including jockey boxes, tents, and banners.
- Kevin Elsken made a point of stating that he is indeed in possession of both banners.
New Business
Arkansas Gazette
- The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette featured an article about small town breweries, featuring an interview with Patrick Bohannan about Black Howler—but no mention of FLOPS!
Weiz Guys Big Brew Day Competition
- The club submitted Keith Linn’s two Big Brew Day beers to the competition.
- Kevin Elsken proposed amending the Brewer of the Year point schedule for next year to encourage participation in this event. Greg Newman seconded the motion, and the club passed it.
- The club needed to select a charity in the event that FLOPS places in the competition. Greg Newman proposed the Benton County Relief Fund or similar tornado relief fund for the area. Kevin Elsken made a motion to support this, Greg Newman seconded it, and the club passed it.
Plan for the Second Half of the Year
- Kevin Elsken reached out to Dr. Scott Lafontaine at the University of Arkansas about their brewing program, and reported that he is primarily focused on rice beers and low-to-no-alcohol beers at this time. He also suggested some students may be able to come to the club meetings to give presentations. Kevin left the ball in his court.
- Kevin Elsken also reached out to Dr. Amanda McWhirt at the University of Arkansas about their hop breeding program, but has not heard back yet.
- The club would like to do a collaboration brew with Boston Mountain or Black Howler, but no plans have been made yet.
- The club would also like to focus on growing membership the rest of the year and is looking for ideas.
- Greg Newman will reach out to lapsed members to see what the club can do to draw them back in.
- Potential cross-marketing with the cooking community.
- More emphasis on wine & cider.
- Members are encouraged to suggest other ideas!
Club Administration
- The club officers plan to have new club bylaws completed by the end of the year.
- Keith Linn introduced an SMS marketing campaign at the May meeting. The club officers will discuss refinements to this system at the next officers meeting before rolling it out full scale.
Hop Schedule
- Historic Arkansas Museum Hop-Off
- July 12 in Little Rock, AR
- Entry deadline is ?
- No entry fee
- $200 cash prize!
- More info here
- The Hard Redz Summer Brew Off
- July 13 in Newton, KS
- Entry deadline is June 29
- $8 per entry
- More info here
- Summer SMaSH 2024
- July 13 in St. Louis, MO
- Entry deadline is June 30
- $10 entry fee
- More info here
- Mead Stampede
- July 18 in Oklahoma City, OK
- Entry deadline is June 30
- $10 per entry
- More info here
- 2024 Ozarks Open Season
- July 20 in Springfield, MO
- Entry deadline is July 12
- $9 per entry
- More info here
- 7th MO MASH IN
- August 16 in St. James, MO
- Entry deadline is August 12
- $9 entry fee
- More info here
Miscellaneous
- Club social
- Club members voted for Great Southern Beer Festival as the primary club social this month.
- Club members also plan to attend Mad Rooster’s 1st Anniversary event on June 29 at 1 PM.
- Officer reports
- Greg Newman encouraged members to host a brew-in or be a featured brewer.
- Daniel Stubblefield has talked to several prospective members at the brewery in the past week, but no bites yet.
- Keith Linn designed and printed stickers for FLOPS. He would like to give them out at events, festivals, etc. to raise awareness about the club (and potentially raise money, too).
- Greg Newman reported that Greenhouse Aleworks in Rogers is out of commission right now due to the tornado, and their building is getting torn down.
- Keith Linn also reported that Anuway is only taking online orders while they clean up from tornado damage.
- James Harvey gauged club interest in doing some volunteer food packing on a Saturday morning. He will send out more information about this.
- James Harvey also extended an invitation to join a group already planning to attend the Oktoberfest in Tulsa this fall. He will send out more information about this as well.
- Ric is planning a brew-in on July 13. Randy Germann suggested he be a featured brewer too.
- Kevin Elsken took a moment to rant about the lime & coconut Kölsch that took Brewer’s Choice at the Art of Home Brew Showcase last month.
Education
- Kevin Elsken presented on and hosted a discussion about yeast, including dry vs. liquid yeast, repitching yeast, etc.
Brewer of the Month
- 1st place: Keith Linn
- 2nd place: Kevin Elsken
- 3rd place: Greg Newman
Beer of the Month
- Keith Linn (tied with Kevin Elsken but Keith being brewer of the month broke the tie)
Ass of the Month
- Patrick Bohannan for not mentioning FLOPS in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article! For shame.
Meeting concluded at 8:57 PM.
