Well it’s that time of the of year again; ramping up to SODZ meeting season and restarting presidents corners. It’s been a long summer so this may be a longer President’s corner, also, as tradition dictates, I’m drinking as I write. I am currently sitting at Brew Hub in Lakeland FL enjoying my second flight. Unfortunately I do not have the J. Peterman catalog skills of Ben Siefker to describe the beers; I do like the light colored ones (jk, Toppling Goliath oatmeal stout is also tasty). Unfortunately I can’t do 6 flights to try all 24 as they have to much hops for Rachel to share with and high alcohol is the trend in FL. Just getting a water refill right now, as if breathing the air outside didn’t satiate my need for water. Got a nice private tour of the shiny state of the art brewery and really wished I could take a look at more of the detailed plans from an engineering perspective as they were installing a new state of the art canning line that will zip around the ceiling.

So onto SODZ business, well maybe… Back to brewery tours first. So thanks to their senior brewmaster we got a club tour of the AB facility in Columbus this summer, very cool for an engineer like me. I learned that their bottles and cans are pasteurized but kegs are not and wondered what the differences would be. Unfortunately a tour for a group that big (50) couldn’t get samples there so we went out another day and got a fresh bottle and a fresh draught pint of Budweiser, conclusion… Different! I found the bottle to be more hoppy and the draught to have more delicate malt and nice subtle yeast nuances. Fun tour for all I have heard from. Back to the craft beer scene we recently had some club members open a new brewery, Ill Mannered in Powell, congratulations guys! Former club president Vic Gonzales officially claimed his title as brewmaster for Pig Skin brewery, congratulations! We also have another big(ger) brewery coming to town from Scotland, some may have heard. The brewery with a TV show that has actually been continued, BrewDog, has a very ambitious plan to open in Canal Winchester by May 2016.

Back to club specific stuff (I warned you it was long), Rachel and I hosted the picnic this summer at her mom’s buisness, the Glass Rooster Cannery. From the feedback I have gotten it went really well. If anyone has suggestions my inbox is always open (seriously, gmail just keeps increasing the limit).

Is that long enough? Probably not… All homebrewers are big readers right? Shit I ran out of stuff to say. Oh well see you Monday! Oh brew for Beer For Boobs!

Sláinte!
Will