Tag Archives: Brewers Guild

Change of Office at the Æ Brewers Guild

30 Saturday Apr 2022

Posted by in Arts & Sciences, Brewing

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Greetings Populace and Brewers of Æthelmearc!

As of Thursday April 28 at 7PM, Master Madoc Arundel stepped down as Head of the Royal Æthelmearc Guild of Brewers, Vintners, and Meadhers, and we, Mistress Elska á Fjárfelli, assisted by Guild Deputy Lady Violeta de Valencia, are taking over leadership of the Brewers Guild.

Lady Violeta and I would like to thank Master Madoc for the awesome job he did with the Guild, growing its presence in person as well as online. I can’t think of saying our thanks any better than old-time brewer Master Artemius of Delftwood: “You fostered and advanced guild and mentored many of the members. You encouraged many of us to try new recipes and gave honest feedback that helped us all grow as brewers. The kingdom has benefited from your efforts on many levels. Thank you very much for your service and guidance over the years.” Thank you from the bottom of our heart!

Naturally, we jumped right into the job and are busily coordinating Guild participation both at Æthelmearc War Practice and of course at Pennsic Royal. Our new Guild Chamberlain Lord Jean Phillipe from St. Swithin’s Bog started inventory of the Guild equipment right away to make sure everything is spic and span come Pennsic Bar time, with a hopeful early appearance of the bar at War Practice. And don’t worry, we will track down you active brewers and see what we can coordinate for Pennsic bar donations soon (please PM or email us).

For those who are not as familiar with the two of us – or just itching to get out and share a good home brew – the Brewers Guild, in collaboration with Bardic Champion Master Morien MacBain, will host a Brews & Bardic in the Barn Social Friday evening from 4 to 8PM in the Great Hall during War Practice (stay tuned for more on this event). Come say hi, share a brew, admire the Guild bar & taps, and hang out to enjoy the song & stories! After two years of Plague, I am betting there are some stories…!

Again, thank you, Master Madoc, for your service to the Æthelmearc Brewing community, and for your offer to stay on as Guild Webminister. We hope to do you proud. Understandably, the Guild is not quite the same now as when we the Plague first manifested and we figure it best to start back up with a clean slate. If you consider yourself an active brewer and/or active Guild Officer, please reach out (sooner rather than later) so we can update the Guild Roster, etc.

Lady Violeta and I look very much forward to help the Guild back on its feet, and welcome back our brewers, vintners and meadhers. Now go forth, and ferment All The Things!

Mistress Elska and Lady Violeta
Head of the Brewers Guild, and Deputy

Learn more about the Æthelmearc Brewers Guild here

 

Raising the Horn at the Region 5 Brewers Guild Championship

03 Sunday Mar 2019

Posted by in Arts & Sciences, Brewing, Competitions

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Here’s to the raising of the horn and tapping of the cask at the Region 5 Brewers Guild Championship!

At the Feast of the Seven Deadly Sins, held in the Barony of Delftwood, the local chapter of the Æthelmearc Brewers Guild held its annual Region 5 Brewers Championship. This year we chose to use the judging format of each entrant being both judge and juried. This meant that not only did the entrant judge their competitor’s entries, they also judged themselves – a format I find works well with smaller groups and which tends to be quite informative for all involved. It’s sort of like a brewer’s roundtable with notes.

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Richard and Robert tapping the first draft.

The competition drew in seven competitors, both from within Region 5 and without, with a combined effort of nine brew entries. We tasted and discussed these nine entries, ranging from dry to sweet and from wine to beer. There was fruit wine, a simple mead, a mead made with concord grapes in the tradition of Roman oenomels, a spicy herbal ale made with rosemary, a traditional fourteenth-century braggot, and a Rauchbier made with homemade smoked malt.

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A well-appreciated tasting.

While the Roman oenomel and the many-herbal beer gave them a run for their money, it was the braggot and the Rauchbier that ran with the prices. I am proud to proclaim Master Gille MacDhonuill winner of the (out-of-region) brewing competition with his braggot, which was based on Curye on Inglysh. And I’m even more proud to proclaim The Honorable Lord Robert of Ferness to be the brewing champion of Region 5, with his oak barrel-aged Rauchbier. Both received a quart of extra-dark homemade maple syrup and a handwoven inkle band.

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The little keg made a second appearance during Feast.

Well done, and a loud Vivat to our participants: Gille MacDhonuil, Cormacc mac Gilla Brigde, Robert l’Etourdi, Robert of Ferness, new brewers Julia and Richard, and defending Region 5 Champion Cristina inghean Ghriogair. Thank you for making this an unforgettable event – and thank you, little keg, for not exploding all over the rented-hall carpet!

Yours in service,
Elska á Fjárfell
Region 5 representative of the Æthelmearc Brewers Guild

Tasty Sharing at Æcademy Brewers Round Table

15 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by in Arts & Sciences, Brewing, Event Reports

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By Lady Elska á Fjárfella, round table host.

brewersAt the Æthelmearc Fall Æcademy, the Brewer’s Guild was invited to host a Brewer’s Round Table as it was blessed with a wet site. Initially scheduled in the main class room, we quickly packed up and invaded the quiet, out-of-the-way Troll table as it was a wee bit noisy (had nothing to do with us…).

With about a dozen brewers ranging from novice to Laurel and from all parts of our kingdom, we proceeded to have an informative and tasty round table on the topic of Fall fruit, in any shape or form.

 Many had brought tasty samples of fruit-flavored beverages. Madoc Arundel graced us with a Belgian Tripel, and he later confessed he thoroughly enjoyed the citrus melomel brought by novice brewer Cristina Inghean Ghriogair, who supplied us with several choices, ranging from blackberry wine made with baking yeast (from a traditional family heirloom recipe) and dandelion wine to  plum wine, apple citrus, and a raspberry cordial sampled together with dark chocolate. Her favorite was the mixed fruit rum someone had contributed. Leioolfr Grimr shared a blueberry cordial sweetened with beet sugar, or cherry, he did not quite remember…

My contribution was an example of how using fruit can throw a learning curve. I brought two bottles of red currant mead, based on a red raspberry mead recipe. Substituting one-to-one currants for raspberries made for a rather tart mead, which I personally did not quite like. Back sweetening with a little honey made all the difference, I thought. It was interesting to find that some people liked the tart original, some preferred the sweetened, and most wondered if downscaling the currants to lower the tartness might also lessen the currant flavor, which nobody wanted to mess with… so, surprising to me, the consensus was to not mess with the recipe , and make those dry wine lovers happy!

We traded some secrets, such as where to get grape juice in bulk (many local vineyards growing their own grapes sell plain grape juice, ready to ferment), shared some tips (freezing whole fruit helps free up the fruity goodness, and using a masticating juicer is not ideal as it is difficult to ferment apple sauce), and, as always, we had a great time.

 Thank you Æthelmearc Æcademy for inviting us, and thank you all for coming!