Hope to see you there. Thanks in advance to Dave for hosting!

What? People in a homebrew club like hops? Odd notion, but it’s true. We’ll be celebrating the bitter blossom at the next meeting. Check your e-mail for details!

P.S. You might want to bring some water. Your tongue might appreciate the change of pace as the official theme includes the terms “irresponsibly” and “hopped.”

Check it out here.

Check out more photos here.

A beer blogger, Michael Kuykendall, also attended his first meeting, recording an episode for his podcast/website: East Coast Beer Cast. Check for it on Friday. There are two new additions to the recipes page, the 2-year Anniversary Smoked Honey Stout from the club brew session this month and Brian B’s Black IPA that he brought to the meeting last week. Black IPA is a variation on IPA that has been popping up relatively recently around the country, sometimes called Cascadian Dark. Stone has a commercial example, as does Southern Tier. As always, if you sample a beer at a meeting and want the recipe, make sure to notify the brewer and Sam and they’ll get it on the Web site. Next month is the Cherry Blossom competition, so come ready to judge your favorite entry!

Now aren’t you glad you watched the whole thing? The recipe of the stout will be posted to the Recipes section.

Here’s some more photos from the brew session.

The theme of the month is high gravity, so bring your homebrew with OG of 1.070 or greater and we’ll shake off the cold and snow. As always, if you’ve kept your heating bills low by already drinking all of your brew, bring some commercial beer or snacks (homemade snacks a plus!).

There is also a club brew session this Sunday, Feb. 21, at Mike T’s house. For directions join the discussion group here. The beer will celebrate the two-year anniversary of DCHB. The brew of choice for the session is a moderately strong stout, using as many local ingredients as possible. Look for the beer to show up in a few months at the monthly meeting before it is stowed away for future anniversaries. The final recipe will be posted in the Recipes section here at DCHombrewers.com.

Hope to see you all Wednesday!

The theme of the month was holiday beers, indicating a slightly higher gravity, spicy brew. But alas, maybe the theme was announced too late, for there not a  holiday beer in sight — at least on the homebrew front. Some Delirium Noel and Clipper City Yule Tide was on hand on the commercial side.

A new tradition emerged as well. Two members had both expressed interest in hosting the February meeting. To decide who would host, there was to be a coin toss — but who gets to pick heads or tails? Bang, a new tradition is born. To determine who gets to pick, a drink-off was held. The host, Mike D, chose a Rouge Hazelnut Brown for the drink-off brew and decided the two members would fill their tasting glasses for the amount. The two would quaff the beer as quickly as possible and then place (or slam) their cups down on Martin and Mike’s outstretched palms.

So the rules have been established. If there is a “dispute” among club members, there will be drink-off/coin toss. The host gets to pick the beer and the amount of beer in the drink-off.

Please feel free to add any details of the night in the comments. Hope to see everyone at the February meeting, which is themed “High Gravity.” Happy brewing!