Head Kahuna Korner
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Mike Hall

The April meeting at John Phillips' house was a planning meeting. The first
item on our agenda was a postponement of the Porter and Stout Atom Masher Only
competition from April to June. We hadn't given much notice (less than a month)
and we thought that everyone would have a better chance to brew if we did it
later. And just so we wouldn't have that problem again, we went ahead and set
up the category for our next AMO comp, to be held at the September meeting.
According to a vote of those present, the category will be Scottish Ales, Brown
Ales and Bitters. That's a pretty wide selection of styles, so we should get
lots of entries. If you're interested in running the contest in June or
September, come to a meeting and volunteer!

We also did a lot of planning for the picnic on May 18th. John Stewart has
already reserved the North Mesa Park for the day, and is working on making sure
that the water is turned on this year for brewing. In case you haven't been to
one of our picnics in the past, this is a great day to do a demo brew, play
horseshoes, play volleyball, eat some burgers and brats (after sticking a
couple of bucks in the donation jar), bring some potluck dishes to share, or
just sit back and quaff a few. There's even a rumor that we'll have some live
music, courtesy of a friend of Pete Veverka (owner of Piper's Ale House).
Bring the spouse, the kids, the dog, the curious neighbor or friend.

Our meeting this month will feature a presentation of a video entitled "Beer:
Pharaoh's Liquid Gold". This show aired on A&E a couple of months ago. It mixes
archaeology with beer-making, postulating the procedures that ancient Egyptians
used to coax the sacred beverage from the grain. Be there!

I talked with Brad Kraus (via email) recently about his latest brewing
adventure. He's going to be the brewmaster at a new brewpub in Santa Fe!
They're doing the preliminary work now, and hope to open Wolf Canyon Brewpub
sometime in July. The brewpub will be located in the old Legends Restaurant at
9885 Cerrillos Road (Hwy 14), just south of the Santa Fe Outlet Center. In
Brad's words: "We plan to offer 6 beers on tap plus 2 cask conditioned ales on
beer engine. I would consider the menu to be American fare with some New
Mexican specialties, priced $5-$13 both lunch & dinner. Our appetizer bar will
be open late (midnight) for those people wanting a late night snack with their
craft brewed beer." It will certainly be good to have Brad brewing in Santa Fe
again. Welcome back, Brad!

You may now return to your regularly scheduled beer, already in progress...