Join MASH this month at Twin Elephant Brewing to welcome Bolero Snort Brewing as our special guest. The boys from Bolero were one of MASH’s first guests way back in 2013 and we are excited to welcome them back to hear all about their new production space.
Twin Elephant Brewing Company
13 Watchung Ave.
Chatham, NJ 07928
Tuesday, February 18th
7:30 pm
Don’t forget that MASH members are welcome to drop off beer to be anonymously evaluated by one of our 19 BJCP judges. Simply register at onlinebeerscores.com and bring your numbered bottle.
As always, meetings are open to all but please note this does not mean Twin Elephant is open to all. Attendees should be there to attend a MASH meeting not simply for Twin Elephant beer. Attendees are also encouraged to bring homebrew to share and a sample glass to help cut down on cup waste.
2020 MASH Board Candidate Statements
Eric Blaine
Hi MASH,
I’d like to formally offer my humble service to the club board again for 2020 and get myself on the ballot next month. I’ve been brewing for 10 years or so and sometimes make a decent beer or two. I also have some experience with beer judging and have served as the Motown MASH Judge Coordinator for the past two years. I really enjoy all of the activities and educational and social opportunities that the club offers and would like to do my part to support the club again this year.
-Eric
Stuart Blake
I would like to nominate myself for the Education Committee Chair for 2020. Please find my statement below:
My name is Stu Blake and I have been homebrewing for 8+ years. I have also recently concluded a short 2.5 year stint as a contract brewer under the brand 2nd Act Beer. Ever since the beginning beer experience I’ve always been passionate in learning more about the malted grain beverage I love. Whether it be about specific ingredients, the processes and sub-processes for productions, intricacies of fermentation, how to drink and taste, or even the business side of the industry, I always feel like there is more to learn. One of the best ways to do this is through interacting with other people, which is why MASH is so valuable. As the education committee chair I intend to expand on the work Steve Ashton and the rest of the committee has done to this point. I plan to formalize our tasting sessions with more focus on specific styles and beer characteristics so members can more effectively pin-point specific qualities of beer. For example, in the pale ale style we would participate in three activities for the tasting session:
1. Blind ingredient identification: select fruit and ingredients that mimic aromas in pale ale styles such as orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime, etc. Blind smell these items and be able to identify them consistently.
2. Taste standard example: Everyone sample Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and go through beer tasting sheets. These sheets take us through not only the characteristics of color, aroma, taste, and finish but also what qualities are coming from yeast, hops, and malt AND the intensity of each quality. This is great practice for being able to evaluate a beer and being able to discuss with others gives us the ability to give context with how what we taste compares to others’ experiences.
3. Side-by-side tasting: do the same tasting exercise but with 2-3 pale ale examples. This will help to show subtle nuances between different beers of the same style. These will be curated as to maximize the effectiveness of the exercise.
The tasting evenings we currently have are great and I want to continue these, more as bottle shares and/or beer pairing evenings with certain types of cuisine. However, I feel we were missing a learning component to these and something we can all take away to enhance our future beer drinking experiences. By focusing on these specific aspects on a single style, we can use the same techniques as we extrapolate the greater palette of available beers.
In addition to this I’d like to conduct other small, extracurricular educational sessions such as cicerone and BJCP study sessions. In the end, I will look to the rest of the committee and MASH as a whole for input on what interests them the most. I will use this input to put together targeted events and help to bring in educators to our club meetings to expand our knowledge on topics that we all want to learn about.
Thank you for our consideration and regardless of the election’s outcome I am excited for this next year in MASH!!
Best regards,
Stuart Blake
Richard Cohen
A vote for Rich is a vote for homebrew. I’ve been a homebrewer for almost seven years and drinking beer for a bit a longer. I’ve been a member of MASH since the club’s beginning in December of 2012. MASH has been a great network of homebrewers and friends. We have accomplished a great deal in the past seven years and I look forward to helping that continue.
My past two and half years on the MASH Board have allowed me to help spread the good word about the homebrewing hobby, MASH as a major homebrew club force in New Jersey and beyond, and continue to improve the reach and reputation of Motown MASH. I’d like the opportunity to continue in this role.
When not brewing or drinking beer, I can be seen at an occasional rock show, running a 5K or hanging with my nine cats. I also sport a killer moustache (or so I’ve been told). Life is good. MASH makes it better.
Rich Cohen
Micha Stark
My name is Micha Stark and I would like to run for the MASH Board. I brewed my first batch of home-brew about 5 years back, a Belgian Triple, and fell in love with it. I found MASH and joined about 5 months later. I was welcomed with open arms and open bottles and instantly knew I wanted to be a part of it. Much of my growth as a brewer was inspired by our meeting topics, activities, and the enthusiastic encouragement of my fellow MASHers. As I’ve matured as a home brewer, my involvement with MASH has grown. I served as the 2017, 2018, & 2019 Motown MASH Cellar Master as well as a member of the board in 2018 & 2019. I would like to serve a great group of brewers who all are so willing to share their time, knowledge, and most importantly, a good beer while growing the local brewing community.
-Micha
Megan Van Dyk
I am writing to submit a statement of interest for election to the MASH board.
What I love most about homebrewing and beer is the community and culture of the craft. I am so proud of the way MASH has strengthened not only our local community, turning strangers into friends, but elevated homebrewing and beer across New Jersey. Guided by the strengths and interests of our members, MASH remains a homebrewing social club focused on learning, passion, and connection. As a board member, I will help foster these connections and center the ideas and needs of our members so that all people feel welcome and can continue to increase their beer and brewing knowledge and skills, and have fun doing so.
Karl Weiss
I brewed my first batch of beer at the end of 2007 and knew immediately that I had found the best hobby in the world. What started with a spaghetti pot on the oven has now evolved to a 200-square foot home brewery with a three vessel, overly complicated, electric brew rig and fermentation chambers controlled via the internet. I have been an active member of MASH since the third meeting and had the privilege of serving on The Board since 2015. Being the MASH president for the last four years has been amazingly rewarding, and challenging at times, but I have absolutely enjoyed the ride. I would love to continue on The Board to help grow homebrewing not only within Morris County but throughout the State through collaborations with other homebrew clubs, pro breweries and the NJ Brewers Association. Vote me onto YOUR board to help continue OUR clubs rise to be one of the best in the nation!
Cheers,
Karl Weiss
2020 Membership Drive
The 2020 membership drive is now in full swing! Dues are $25 for American Homebrewers Association (AHA) members and $30 for non-members. Not a member? Join using this link to support MASH and the AHA: Join the AHA
All members are requested to please fill out the following form before joining. It will ask for your AHA member number and expiration date as well as some other fun information.
https://forms.gle/4zKpkjtvXYHNnQn98
Dues can be paid in cash at the meeting or sent ahead of time using PayPal to [email protected]. Be sure to select the “FRIENDS AND FAMILY” payment option.
MASH Work Shirts
MASH Tastings
Save The Date
- February 21: Hudson Valley Homebrew Competition Entries Due
- February 21-22: War of the Worts
- February 28-29: Garden State Homebrew Competition
- February 29: Big Brew Beer Fest
- March 14: Hudson Valley Homebrew Competition
- March 21: NHC 1st Round Judging- NYC
- April 4: NHC 1st Round Judging – Philly
- August 7 – 9: MASH 2020 Vermont Trip
- November 21: Motown MASH