| Monthly Meeting: Tuesday, February 18th from 7:00 pm to 9:00PM (Early start! Arrive at 6:45PM for a 7 PM start. Hard end at 9 pm. This is not a brewery so bring homebrew/cider to share) The Wine Barrel 1886 Springfield Ave, Maplewood, NJ 07040 |
 |
| Join us on Tuesday, February 18th from 7:00PM to 9:00PM at the Wine Barrel in Maplewood for our February meeting. Note that this month we are starting earlier than normal, as we have a hard stop at 9PM. Unlike typical meetings this is not a brewery, so bring homebrew/cider to share. For any members competing in the Garden State Homebrew competition, feel free to bring your entries to the meeting. We will be holding elections to the board! See below for details and candidates. Special Presentation: Fusel Alcohol & Whiskey with Paul OdellThis month, we’re also featuring a special presentation by Paul Odell, diving into the world of fusel alcohols and we’ll be tasting a selection of whiskeys. A must-attend for anyone looking to refine their brewing knowledge, and help detect when these wind up in our beer. Brewers’ Duel: A Battle of Northern English Brown Ales! Get ready for an epic showdown! This month’s Brewers’ Duel features Micha Stark and Mike Parks, each crafting their best take on a Northern English Brown Ale. Come help us judge, as well as be part of the selection of the next brewers.NOTE ON PARKINGPlease see the map below on where to park at the Wine Barrel for this month’s meeting: |
| Club-Only-Competition Reminder Our March Club-Only-Competition is big beers entered in last February’s Club-Only-Competition, now aged one more year. |
 |
| 2025 Board Elections Join us at the February meeting to elect the 2025 board. Below are candidate statements for those running for a board seat this year: Richard Cohen I would like to formally announce my candidacy for the 2025 MASH Board. I plan to be an active club member and participate in as many MASH events as possible. I will try to brew for all of the Club Only Competitions and help out with Motown MASH and our new New Jersey Mini-MASH. If needed I can collaborate with other members to brew an occasional beer and will support the club in any capacity. The more of us that are active, the better the club can be. So you may be wondering what my qualifications are. Well, I have been active in the financial services field for 29 years, with 4 ½ years of legal services before that. While I have called New Jersey home for most of my life, I also spent a few years in upstate New York, New York City, Maryland and Colorado. I have raised about 15 cats since my high school days, and attended 783 concerts since Junior High. If you want to know about my beer experience, I like beer. I drink beer. Oh, and I also have been homebrewing beer for almost 12 years. I joined MASH in December 2012 at the organizational meeting, and joined the Board in 2017. For the past five years I have posed as the club’s President, trying to steer us in the right direction since the beginning of the Pandemic in 2020. I think I am ready to continue in a leadership role – all I need is your vote. A vote for Rich is a vote for Homebrewing. To quote our former president Karl “Yes, that is really my beard” Weiss, “Go, MASH, Go!” Rich “Yes, that is really my moustache” Cohen Eric Blaine It’s me, Eric. In 2019 I joined the MASH board as the lead of the communications committee and served as judge coordinator for Motown MASH. In 2020, I served as the head of the competitions committee and again as Motown MASH Judge Coordinator. In 2021, I was the head of the communications committee and the Motown MASH Competition Organizer. In 2022 I needed a break and stepped away from the board and in 2023 I rejoined to work on our website and many membership items such as merch and bookclub. In 2024 I helped save the club a lot of money by totally revamping our website and how we host it. I also organized the world famous advent calendar. I am excited to spend 2025 continuing to help support our club and its members. MASH is an important part of my life and I feel strongly about contributing to the club and giving back to all of its members. I’ve been brewing for 13 years or so and love to save old bottles of homebrew to age and then share at meetings. Being a part of MASH has enabled me to become friends with all of you, learn a ton about how I can improve my approach and process for brewing, become a beer judge, take an amazing trip to Vermont, go on fun beer bus trips, and drink a lot of great homebrew. I want to make sure that MASH continues to be a resource for others to get the same benefits that I have and so I pledge to do my part to support the club, its members, and the amazing NJ homebrew community in 2025. I look forward to serving the club again this year! Dan Perrigan I’ve been homebrewing since 2020. I was talked into entering some beers into the Motown Mash contest by John at Double Tap in 2023 and ended up getting a 3rd place ribbon. He then said “Now you need to join the homebrew club. Talk to that guy with the big moustache”. And the rest is history. After about a year in the club I decided it would be nice to help plan and make decisions so I ran for Board. It’s been a year now and I’ve really loved being part of this group. I would like to run again this year and help grow this club even more in 2025. Paul Jones Paul has been brewing for over a decade, and joined Mash in 2022. He gravitated towards competitive brewing as a way to grow and improve his beer, and has entered many BJCP competitions. He is the builder of RateMyHomebrew.com and a Certified BJCP judge. Micha Stark My name is Micha Stark and I would like to be a part of the MASH Board. I brewed my first batch of homebrew about 10 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 homebrewer, my involvement with MASH has grown. I served as the 2017 – 2024 Motown MASH Cellar Master as well as a member of the board in 2018 – 2024. I enjoy serving 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. Cheers! Bryan Hoppe I would like to stand for election to the board for 2025. I am grateful to have served this year on the MASH board, and would like to serve again. I’m proud of the work MASH does, and would like to continue to contribute. I’ve been brewing on-and-off for years, and transitioned to all-grain in 2015. I’ve learned a lot from this community, both technical brewing skills as well as a higher appreciation of sensory analysis in general. This year I upgraded my BJCP rank from recognized to certified, all due to things I’ve learned from this community. I look forward to continuing to learn, and to help the board continue sharing these experiences with others. |
| Key Dates: March 18: MASH monthly meeting at Untied Brewing April 15: MASH monthly meeting at Varitage Brew Works April 19: Bottle Sort for Mini MASH Homebrew Competition May 17: Light Rails and Ales brewery crawl. See Discord for details May 20: MASH Monthly meeting (Location TBA) June 17: MASH Monthly meeting at Twin Elephant Upcoming Homebrew Competitions: March 15: Garden State Homebrew Competition Judging March 18: Club Only Competition: Big Beers Aged One Year March 22: Judging for National Homebrew Competition in NYC March 23: Garden State Homebrew Competition Best-of-Show and Awards April 26: Mini MASH Homebrew Competition “A Kingdom Divided” June 17: Club Only Competition: SMASH (Single Malt & Single Hop) July 15: Club Only Competition: Can-You-Brew-It British Brown (Sam Smith Nut Brown Ale) August 19: Club Only Competition: Brandon Hurr Memorial Kolsch November 18: Club Only Competition: Clone of Rich and Steve’s Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale |