January 18, 2024
Fossil Cove Brewery, Fayetteville
- Attendance: 19
- Homebrews: 25
Meeting called to order with a toast by Keith Linn.
New Attendees
- John Lee
- Brian & friend, were sitting in the room before the meeting started
- Patrick, walked through the wrong door but was interested in the club!
Old Business
Reigning Brewer of the Month
- Greg Newman
Reigning Ass of the Month
- Steve Weathers
New Officers
- Kevin Elsken is the new President.
- Ben Farhner is the new Secretary.
- Ken Gill is the new Hop Scheduler.
Frost Fest
- February 3rd 2–7pm at the Washington County Fairgrounds.
- Ty & Alex interested in serving.
- James Harvey made a motion for the club to buy & maintain a CO2 tank for events. Motion was not seconded.
- Randy Germann will bring a tent for FLOPS to use.
- James Spurlin made a motion for the club to buy a tent for events. Kevin Elsken seconded the motion, but it was not put to a vote.
Club Financials
- Time to renew memberships! Members can give $20 to our treasurer, Chris Abel, or pay $22 online via PayPal.
- Kevin Elsken presented an overview of the financials from 2023 and where the club stands today.
- The officers need to finalize a budget before the next meeting to present to the club.
Iron Brewer Competition
- Q4 2023: English Porter entries were due at this meeting. Judging will happen this or next weekend, possibly at Social Project.
- Q1 2024: Specialty Cider (C2F), April 18 (FLOPS)
- Q2 2024: Pepper Beer (30A), July 2 (OZ)
- Q3 2024: Imperial Stout (20C), October 17 (FLOPS)
- Q4 2024: Bière de Garde (24C), January 7 (OZ)
Upcoming Competitions
- Bluebonnet Brew-Off: Entries accepted January 2–27
- National Homebrew Competition: Entries can be registered January 27–March 15. Must be an AHA member before registering! Entries due May–June (specific dates forthcoming)
- NWA Women’s Shelter Home Brew: February 17 12:00pm–3:00pm. Social Project will brew a batch of the winning beer! Sign up here.
- Home Brew Showcase in Siloam Springs: May 11
- Room for around 25 brewers
- Looking for feedback on the event
- A lot of voiced support for brewer’s choice award
- They will add the club logo to marketing material to help promote the club
New Business
Brewer of the Year Points
- Over the last few months of 2023, beer of the month was also tracked in addition to brewer of the month.
- Kevin Eslken made a motion to recognize beer of the month with points in 2024. Patrick seconded the motion, and the motion passed with a vote.
- Kevin Elsken made a motion to create a subcommittee to review the brewery of the year point system and propose any changes to club. Greg Newman seconded the motion, and the motion passed with a vote. The subcommittee is composed of Kevin Elsken, James Spurlin, and Ken Gill.
Beer Feedback
- By show of hands, there was a consensus that club members want feedback on their beers.
- Greg Newman created a QR code that links to a Google Form for providing feedback as an alternative to writing on the voting sheets, which was distributed for a trial run at the meeting.
- Greg Newman proposed redesigning the voting sheets and laminating them for reuse, possibly assigning numbers to beers to simplify submitting feedback.
Club Social
- Randy Germann made a motion for Frost Fest to be the club social this month, even though it’s in February. Kevin Eslken seconded the motion, and the motion passed with a vote.
Officer Reports
- Chris Abel reported that the club has money!
- Keith Linn gave an update on the finance committee: Keith has worked out a preliminary budget, and will reconvene the committee to review it before presenting it to the officers at the next officers meeting.
New Breweries
- Origami Sake is putting on a tasting at Maxine’s Taproom on Monday, January 22 at 5pm, featuring Japanese pub snacks. Origami Sake will also be at Frost Fest.
- Greenhouse Aleworks is now open in Rogers.
Miscellaneous
- James Harvey is going to Oktoberfest 2024 in Munich, Germany and is extending the invitation to club members to go along with him.
- Ty Weston made a motion for the club to pay for Frost Fest tickets for club members who want to go, but the motion was not seconded.
- Greg Newman suggested a pre- or post-Frost Fest social event to avoid the cost.
- James made a motion to do a joint club social with both FLOPS and OZ members at a local brewery each month. I don’t recall if this motion was seconded or voted on but I like it.
- Patrick Bohannan offered to do an education piece on brewing pepper beers. He also offered peppers to anyone who wants them, because he has so many.
The Great Southern Beer Festival
- The event is on April 27 in downtown Springdale. Larry McCallister shared the vision for the event, which is being put in partnership with Ale-truism.
- There will be a separate homebrew village with its own entry fee.
- FLOPS can support the event by providing manpower, particularly to help monitor the event exits along the bike trail. FLOPS will get credit for any manpower they provide, whether or not members are bringing or serving beer.
- James Spurlin is leading the committee for day-of planning. Their first meeting is January 31 at GOAT LAB. James will send out an email with more details.
Education
- Kevin Elsken handed out index cards requesting education topic ideas. Gathered lots of ideas!
- Kevin Elsken gave a presentation on yeast pitch rates.
Brewer of the Month
- Greg Newman with 9 votes
- Randy Germann with 6 votes
- Tom Maddock with 4 votes (missed his sheet before announcing)
- Alex Smith & Kevin Elsken tied with 3 votes (announced as 3rd place before Tom’s sheet)
Beer of the Month
- Greg Newman with 5 votes for his FOMO IPA
Ass of the Month
- Kevin Elsken, new president and self-proclaimed Mr. Asshole, took the vote
