November 2024 Meeting Minutes

November 21, 2024

Fossil Cove Brewery, Fayetteville, AR

• Attendance: 15
• Homebrews: 23

Meeting started at 7:11pm by Kevin Elsken with a toast by Daniel Stubblefield.

Last Month

• Brewer of the Month: Ben Farhner
• Beer of the Month: Ric Bailey’s Bière de Garde
• Ass of the Month: Daniel Stubblefield

Guests

• Allison, works at Orthodox
• Jeff, friend of James Harvey
• Natalie, walked in from Fossil Cove
• Imro, friend of Daniel Stubblefield

Beers were introduced and an intermission taken to sample the beers.

Old Business

Iron Brewer Competition

• Q4 2024: Bière de Garde (24C), due January 7 at OZ
• OZ will select their 2025–2026 styles at their December meeting.
• FLOPS selected the following styles for 2025–2026:
  • Belgian Dark Strong
  • Vienna Lager
  • Rauchbier
  • Irish Stout

Germannfest

• Some stats from Randy Germann:
  • 91 people
  • 4 sponsors
  • 19 beers on tap
  • 16 lbs of brats
  • 30 gal of beer consumed
  • A good time and thanks to everyone that attended!

New Business

Club insurance

• Club insurance through AHA has been renewed successfully after the expiration snafu.

Frost Fest 2025

• February 1, 2025, 1–6pm (setup 9am–12pm)
• FLOPS received an official invite for the club to participate.
• The club would receive a $300 stipend for participating. The officers need to determine how that would affect the club as a non-profit.
• If members are interested in participating, plan on brewing for it soon!

U of A Hop Program

• Daniel Stubblefield brought in some hops to share from the U of A hop program:
  • Cashmere
  • Crystal
  • Zeus
  • Red Vine
• Amanda McWhirt will be coming in to give an education presentation at the January meeting.

Q3 Iron Brewer Results (Imperial Stout)

• 1st place: Kevin Elsken
• 2nd place: Alex Smith
• 3rd place: Doc Farmer

Bylaws

• Greg Newman made a motion to accept the new club bylaws, Ty Weston seconded the motion, and the members passed it by a vote.

Hop Schedule

• Bluebonnet 2025
  • March 21–22, 2025 in Fort Worth, TX
  • Entries due January 25, 2025
  • $15 per entry
  • More info here
• Bière de Rock
  • February 1, 2025 in Aurora, CO
  • Entries due January 11, 2025
  • $9 per entry
  • More info here
• Bataille des Biѐres
  • February 1, 2025 in Lafayette, LA
  • Entries due January 18, 2025
  • $10 per entry
  • More info here
• Bluegrass Cup
  • February 8, 2025 in Lexington, KY
  • Entries due January 30, 2025
  • $10 per entry
  • More info here
• Kansas City Bier Meisters
  • February 22, 2025 in Kansas City, MO
  • Entries due February 2, 2025
  • $12 per entry
  • More info here
• Déjà Brü
  • February 22, 2025 in St. Paul, MN
  • Entries due February 7, 2025
  • $10 per entry
  • More info here
• David Johnson relayed that the women’s shelter event will happen again in 2025, likely in late March or early April.

2025 Officer Nominations

• Kevin Elsken gave a shout out to the 2024 officers and what they’ve accomplished this year:
  • Reworked the Brewer of the Year point system to better reflect the club goals
  • Purchased a club tent and a second banner
  • Implemented bookkeeping software
  • Invested in a Certificate of Deposit
  • Updated check signers
  • Wrote and approved new club bylaws
• Kevin Elsken discussed the board of directors and officer positions.
• Nominations were taken for open officer positions for 2025:
  • Vice President
    • Greg Newman nominated Randy Germann, who accepted
    • David Johnson nominated himself (he also serves at the VP for OZ)
    • Randy Germann subsequently forfeited his nomination to David Johnson so it will be a no-contest vote.
  • Hop Scheduler
    • James Harvey nominated himself
  • Communications Chair
    • Greg Newman nominated Ric Bailey, who accepted

Miscellaneous

• Ken Gill mentioned that Anubrew in Rogers is planning to reopen in about two weeks.
• Ken Gill gave away some glassware.
• Ty Weston gave away some hats.
• Alex Smith gave away some equipment.
• Social Event
  • OZ is having their social this month at New Province on December 14, 3–5pm
  • Daniel Stubblefield made a motion for FLOPS to host their holiday social at Black Howler on December 14 at 6pm after OZ’ social, Randy Germann seconded the motion, and members approved it by a vote.
    • Note: The location has since changed to Mad Rooster in Fayetteville.
  • There will be a bottle exchange, so please bring beer!
• Daniel Stubblefield proposed a group tattoo of a hop & skull design. David Johnson and Matt Daniels are also already interested.
• Great Southern Beer Fest 2025
  • James Harvey mentioned that Ale-truism is not interested in throwing the event next year and Larry McCallister is out because he will be opening his brewery. OZ wants to launch an exploratory committee to see if it’s feasible for OZ and FLOPS to put on the event themselves.
  • David Johnson proposed putting an event together between the clubs in place of GSBF.
  • Randy Germann proposed hosting a homebrew competition instead of an open event.
  • James Harvey made a motion to elect two people from FLOPS to join the exploratory committee, Forrest Adams seconded the motion, and members approved it with a vote. Daniel Stubblefield and Greg Newman nominated themselves to join the committee and were approved by members.
• Randy Germann shared his experience brewing MoreBeer’s flash brewing Hefeweizen kit. He will report back with more details once the batch is done.
• James Harvey promoted the food bank volunteer event that he organizes. He just did it again last Saturday with OZ members. Members should contact him if they are interested in participating.
• James Harvey promoted going to Oktoberfest in Bamburg next year. There are already 6–8 others interested. Members should email him if they are interested in going.
• David Johnson has a liter of HopKick available. Members should let him know if they’re interested in some. It works for hop water, soda, etc. in addition to beer.

Brewer of the Month

1. Daniel Stubblefield
2. Kevin Elsken
3. Tom Maddock, Ben Farhner, Randy Germann

Beer of the Month

• Daniel Stubblefield’s Bière de Garde

Ass of the Month

• James Harvey for not knowing the Brewer of the Month rules and being deaf.

Meeting concluded at 9:10pm.