ECHO-Gram: July 20th, 2010
Michael Theobald
ECHO-Gram: July 20th, 2010
The Emerald Coasters Homebrew Org (ECHO)
Beer and Homebrewing News for Panama City and Northwest Florida.
NEXT ECHO EVENT:
24 July 2010: Brew Day at Beefs LH. (11:00 am – 1:00 pm) Come brew with us! We have 3 confirmed batches to be brewed for upcoming events. We will be sampling our club Cherry-wood smoked amber on tap and sharing club brews. We will also be discussing the finer points of Jockey Box design and have “The Beast” on display (see below). We’ll also have the tip jar out to collect donations to help complete the project.
ECHO PROJECTS:
“Project Jockey Box” – We’ve made significant progress on our jockey box, informally dubbed by Jesse as “The Beast” because it weighs in at a hefty 58.2 lbs empty. Pledges were made on the forum to raise enough to purchase this antique jockey box off Craig’s List from a collector on Panama City Beach. Thanks to all of you who have pledged donations and we ask the support of those who have not yet done so to help us raise funds for hardware to complete the project. We are still a long way from raising enough to complete the project, so every little bit helps.
This masterpiece is tongue and groove solid red oak over a galvanized sheet metal lined cooler and a cast brass faucet from Baltimore’s Gunther Brewery. Apparently this brewery had a long brewing history from Pre-prohibition until it finally closed its doors in 1959 after being purchased by Hamms. The coil is stainless and pretty rough, but the rest is certainly restorable. We plan to add four (4) Perlick faucets (2 on each side of Gunther) and our 5-circuit cold plate once the cooler is restored. The existing coil might make a future project immersion chiller. We hope to raise enough funds and expertise to complete the restoration before the Emerald Coast Beer Fest in September. But of course, that all depends on you.
CALENDAR:
7 Aug 2010: AHA National Mead Day. ECHO will not have an event this day but we encourage you to make Mead on your own today!
14 Aug 2010: Project Day! We’ve collected money and bought some hardware. Today we’ll meet at a workshop [TBD] to work on our Jockey box, have a BBQ, sample beer and have fun.
2 Sep 2010: Business Meeting. [Location: TBD] Logistics coordination for the Emerald Coast Beer Fest and PC Oktoberfest.
10 – 11 Sep 2010: Emerald Coast Beer Fest, Pensacola. This will be ECHO’s first year as a club serving our beer at the Friday Night charity fund-raiser. Hotel details are on the website. The charities which this year's Festival is supporting are:
Big Brothers/Big Sisters:
Helps children reach their potential through professionally supported,
one-to-one relationships.
The Independence Fund: Provides
the necessary tools to assist our wounded veterans in regaining their
independent living, and physical and emotional well-being.
The Belmont Arts & Cultural Center: Provides art education in the Belmont-Devilliers community with the goal of revitalizing that community's art and cultural heritage.
However, the main event for all homebrewers is really Saturday. It will be a chance to meet and greet the professional brewers from some of the best craft breweries in America. There will be over 75 beers on tap and all the leftovers from the night before. Challenge the other clubs in the Beer Olympics. A business meeting is scheduled of all the homebrew clubs from the region to plan regional events. Big Bob’s Barleywine Bash kicks off at 8pm.
More details of the festival can be found at: http://emeraldcoastbeerfest.com/ However, the brewers section contains the behind the scenes Saturday agenda (above) not available to the general public. Access is password protected and available on our forum.
1 – 2 Oct 2010: Panama City Oktoberfest. We will again be partnering with the Knights of Columbus to serve homebrew along side their charity bratwurst sales. See the forum for details and tap list.
MISCELLANEOUS:
- Interested in a bulk grain or hops order? We have discussion in the forum to see if there is sufficient interest—our order is standing at 16 bags and we need just 4 more to complete it.
- Reminder – don’t wait until the last minute to make hotel reservations for Emerald Coast Beer Festival. They sell out every year. Hotel Information below. This is the official hotel for the event. It’s convenient to Seville Quarter for the first night and it’s the site of the second day’s events.
Days Inn Pensacola Beach Front is located on a barrier island directly on the Gulf of Mexico. This is an outstanding hotel with a complimentary continental breakfast. Click on the link to the left to reserve your room. 16 Via De Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach, FL 32561. Make hotel reservations directly with the Days Inn Pensacola Beach at 1-800-934-3301.
- If you want to attend ECBF, but can NOT provide a keg to serve, your Friday Night ticket is $10 at ECHO member prices and MUST be ordered from Mike Theobald in advance. Otherwise, tickets are available from a ticket outlet for $25. Day of the event $30
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