The formal part of the evening covered discussion on the arrangements of the up coming club wine and beer completion to be held in late September. The Regional competitions were discussed and those attending have had travel arrangements organised by … Continue reading →
About 10 club members enthusiastically boarded the mini bus that had been hired from a firm that we always use without incident. Off we went and as we rose up the slope to the oaks layby at the top of … Continue reading →
Well it’s been a long time since there was a report from club meetings so a catchup is necessary. At the March 14 Meeting we all learnt the ins and outs of large scale making of kiwifruit wine from our … Continue reading →
I know I am not alone in discovering the secondary ferment has gone off because its oxidised. You know the signs, vinegary smells, a milky film covering the the surface. Professionals have an amoury of tricks to avoid this such … Continue reading →
For this meeting night the club visited the Zeelandt Brewery in the Esk Valley on Highway 5. Chris Barker has built a brewery and makes German style beers. He worked in breweries in England and New Zealand before starting out. … Continue reading →
Our guest speaker Roland Norman owner and winemaker of Tukipo River Estate gave us a background of himself and how he came to set up his vineyard and winery. He has a background of being a wine merchant in London. … Continue reading →
With the meeting formalities dispensed with we got on with the annual baking competition judging. Our guest judge was unable to attend so the Beer Breads were judged by all present. A show of hands declared Robyn the winner. Following … Continue reading →
These were held on the 3rd of August. Our neighbours, Central Hawkes Bay Winemakers and Brewers Club, were invited to enter and 67 entries of beer, wine and liqueurs were judged on the day. Some close competition took place with … Continue reading →
After the meeting formalities our speaker Tim Creagh, viticulturist from the E.I.T. in Hawkes Bay gave us a wonderful history of the grape vine and some of the functions of different parts of the plant. Interestingly the species would have … Continue reading →
Quite a good turnout for this meeting. Sometimes the winter months keep a few at home by the fire. Once the organisational part of the meeting was put to bed we had a friendly Housie night. We had 4 draws … Continue reading →
I came across this method mentioned on some Aussie Beer Forums. Apparently water restrictions in the last “Big Dry” motivated experimentation. Some brewers use special airtight food grade quality containers but I haven’t found that necessary. My version is when … Continue reading →
A smaller than usual attendence at this meeting. However it was good to see John back after a long ailment and hope we see him regularly in the future. We welcomed two visitors and hope they gleaned something of interest … Continue reading →
I got this from Jim… Hi Everybody, Just wanted to let you know about Beer Appreciation Day III coming up on Saturday, March 2… eight days and counting! We’ve managed to pull together our biggest range of beers to date, … Continue reading →
This is to be held at Brian’s place on the afternoon of 2nd Feb from 4 ish onwards. The CHB club is invited to this event so members remember when you bring your salads or whatever bring enough to feed … Continue reading →
After general business the members present partook in a blind tasting of 5 commercial, but not boutique, draught beers. Those involved were Ranfurly, Skippers(a Brew sold by The Mill), Double Brown, DB Draught and Waikato Draught. While there were differences … Continue reading →